
Class '- ^^ I 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



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A COMPLETE 



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K^ -L 



FKOM 



1673 TO 1884 



embracing 

The Physical Features of the Country; its Early 

Explorations ; Aboriginal Inhabitants ; French and 

British Occupation ; Conquest by Virginia ; 

Territorial Condition, and Subsequent 

Civil, Military and Political 

Events of the State. 



K 



BY 



ALEXANDEK DAVIDSON AND BEENAED STUVE. 



ILI.XJSTRA.TED. 



SPRINGFIELD, ILL. : 

H. W. KOKKER, PUBLISHER. 

1884 



Entered aeeordiiig to Act of Congress in the year 1884, 

Br H. W. ROKKEB, 

in the oiTiee of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



H. W. ROKKER, 

Printer, Stereotyper and Binder, 

Springfleld,Ill. 



D'- '-^ 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. 



PAGE. 



I. GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS - 1 

K. TOPOGRAPHY. RIVERS, SOIL AND CLIMATOLOGY. 

Origin of the Prairies; Table of Temperature and Rainfall H 

in. ILLINOIS ANTIQUITIES: THE MOUND BUILDERS 23 

IV. THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS. 

Algonqnins and Iroquois; Illinois Confederacy; Sacs and Foxes; Kicka- 
roos; Mascoutins; Plankishaws; Potawatamies; Art of Hunting; General 
Councils; Constitution of the Indian Family; Methods of Sepulture; 
Belief in a Future State; Why the Red Race should give way to the 
White 30 

V. OPERATIONS OF THE MISSIONARIES-EXTENT OF THEIR OPERA- 
TIONS UP TO 1673. 

The French on the St. Lawrence; LaSalle Discovers the Ohio 53 

VL EXPLORATIONS BY JOLIET AND MARQUETTE-1673-1675 59 

VIL EXPLORATIONS BY LaSALLE. 

The Griffin; Fort Creve Coeur 67 

Tin. TONTI'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE IROQUOIS 79 

IX. FURTHER EXPLORATIONS BY LaSALLE. 

His Indian Colony on the Illinois; Discovers the Mouth of the Mississippi 
and takes possession of all the Country in the name of the King of 
France; Builds Fort St. Louis on Starved Rock; His Colony in Texas... 91 

X. 1700-1719-ILLINOIS A DEPENDENCY OF CANADA AND PART OF LOUI- 
• SIANA. 

The Government a Theocracy; Operations of Crozat 108 

XL 1717-1733-ILLINOIS AND LOUISIANA UNDER THE COMPANY OF THE 
WEST. 
John Law-His Banking Operations; The Mississippi Scheme; Founding 
of New Orleans; Mining for the Precious Metals in Illinois; The Span- 
iards via Santa Fe seek the Conquest of Illinois; They are met and over- 
whelmed by the Missouris; Fort Chartres built; Extermination of the 
Natchez; Operations of the Company of the West in Illinois 115 

XII. 1732-1759-ILLINOIS AND LOUISIANA UNDER THE ROYAL GOV- 
ERNORS. 
War with the Chickasaws; Death of Gov. D'Artaguette; Commerce of 
Illinois; Manners and Cjistoms of the French; Common Field; Commons; 
Intercourse with the Indians; Avocation and Costume of the People; 
Mode of Administering the Law; Operations of the Ohio Company; Fort 
DuQuesne; M. DeVilliers of Fort Chartres defeats the Virginians at the 
Great Meadows; War between the French and English Colonists 124 



IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

XIII. 1759-1763— THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC; ATTACK UPON DETROIT. 
Destruction of the British Posts and Settlements 137 

XIV. SIEGE OF DETROIT; PONTIAC RALLIES THE WESTERN TRIBES. 
His Submission and Death 150 

XV. ILLINOIS AS A BRITISH PROVINCE. 

Partial exodus of the French; Their dislilce of English Law, and the resto- 
ration of their own by the Quebec Bill; Land Grants by British Com- 
mandants; Curious Indian Deeds; Condition of the Settlements in 1765, 
by Capr. Pitman; Brady's and Meillets' Expeditions to the St. Joseph in 
1777—1778 162 

XVL CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS BY GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 173 

XVIL CLARK OBTAINS POSSESSION OF VINCENNES. 

Treaties with the Indians; Vineennes falls into the hands of the English 
and is recaptured by Clarli 184 

XVIIL 1778-1787-ILLINOIS UNDER VIRGINIA. 

The French take the Oath of Allegiance; Illinois County; American Immi- 
grants; LaBalme's Expedition; The Cession of the Country and Delays 
Incident thereto; No Regular Courts of Law; Curious Land Speculation. 202 

XIX. ILLINOIS UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NORTHWEST TER- 
RITORY. 

Ordinance of 1787; Organization of St. Clair County; Bar of Illinois in 1790; 
Impoverislied condition of the French; Indian Hostilities, 1783 to 1795; 
Randolph County; American Immigration; Sickness; Territorial Assem- 
bly at Cincinnati; Notable Women of Olden Time; Witchcraft in Illinois. 210 

XX. 1800-1809-ILLINOIS AS PART OF THE INDIANA TERRITORY. 

Its Organization; Extinguishment of Indian Titles to Lands; Gov. Harri- 
son's Facility in this; Land Speculations and Frauds on Impi-ovement 
Rights and Headrights; Meeting of the Legislature at Vineennes in 1805; 
Statutes of 1807 232 

XXI. 1809-ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 

Opposition to division; Jesse B. Thomas: Gov. Edwards; Nathaniel Pope; 
Territorial Federal Judges; The Governor avoids the meshes of the 
Separationists and Anti-Separationists; Condition and Population of the 
Territory 241 

XXII. INDIAN TROUBLES IN ILLINOIS PRECEDING THE WAR OF 1812. 
The Country put in a State of Defence by the organization of Ranging 

Companies and the building of Block Houses and Stockade Forts; Gov. 
Edwards sends an envoy to Gomo's Village; Battle of Tippecanoe; 
Indian Council at Cohokia 247 

XXIII. THE MASSACRE AT CHICAGO; EARLY HISTORY OF THE PLACE. 260 

XXIV. ILLINOIS IN THE WAR OF 1812. 

Gov. Edwards' Military Campaign to Peoria Lake; Gen. Hopkins with 2,000 
Mounted Kentucky Riflemen marches over the prairies of Illinois; His 
force Mutinies and marches back; Capt. Craig burns Peoria and takes 
all its inhabitants prisoners; Second Expedition to Peoria Lake; Indian 
Murders; Illinois and Missouri send two expeditions up the Missouri in 
1814; Their Battles and Disasters 268 

XXV. CIVIL AFFAIRS OF THE ILLINOIS TERRITORY FROM 1812 TO 1818. 
Sleeting of the Legislature; The Members; Laws; Conflicts between the 

Legislature and Judiciary; Curious Acts; Territorial Banks; Commerce; 
First Steamboats; Pursuits of the People 283 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE 

XXVI. ORGANIZATION OF THE STATE GOVEllNMENT. 

Administration of Gov. Bond; Our Northern Boundary; First Constitu- 
tional Convention and somettiing of the instrument framed; Gov. Bond; 
Lieut. Gov. Menard; Meeting of the Legislature and election of State 
Otficers; First Supreme Court; Hard Times and First State Bank; Or- 
ganization of Courts - '^^>^ 

XXVIL ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. COLES. 

A resume of Slavery in Illinois from its earlie.st date; Indentured Slaves; . 
Black Laws; Life and Character of Gov. Coles; The effort to make Illinois 
a Slave State in 1824 309 

XXVIII. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 

Legislative— Reorganization of the Judiciary; Chief Justice "Wilson; Hub- 
bard as Governor ad interim; Population of 1820; Visit of LaFayette 328 

XXIX. ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. EDWARDS. 

Compaignof 1826; The Gubernatorial Candidates; Contest between Daniel 
P. Cook and Joseph Duncan for Congress; Character of Edwards' 
speeches; His charges against the State Bank Officers and result of the 
inquiry into their conduct; Repeal of the Circuit Court System; Gov. 
Edwards' claims for the State title to all public lands within her limits . . 335 

XXX. 1830-A RETROSPECT. 

Advance of the settlements; Note; Galena, its early history; Origin of the 
term "Sucker;" Douglas' humorous account of it; Trials and Troubles of 
Pioneers in new countries; European Colonies; Financial condition of 
the State; Trade and Commerce; Early Mail Routes; Newspapers and 
Literati; Politics of the People; Militia System 346 

XXXI. ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. REYNOLDS. 

The Gubernatorial Candidates; Their Lives and Characters; The Cam- 
paign; The Wiggins' Loan; Impeachment of Supreme Judge Smith; 
W. L. D. Ewing Governor for 15 days 363 

XXXIL BLACK HAWK V/AR. 

VTinnebago Hostilities; Indians unable to resist the encroachments of the 

Miners; Coalition with the Sioux; Attack on a steamboat; Compelled to 

sue for Peace. 
2. Sacs and Foxes; Black Hawk; Keokuk; Sac Villages: Invasion of the 

State; Militia and Regulars brought into requisition; March to the scene 

of danger; Black Hawk compelled to enter into a treaty of peace 370 

XXXIIL 1832-SECOND CAMPAIGN OF THE WAR. 

Black Hawk induced by White Cloud to recross the Mississippi; Refuses 
to obey the order of Gen. Atkinson to return; State forces reorganized; 
March to Rock River and unite with the Regulars; Army proceeds up the 
river in pursuit of the enemy; Battle of Stillman's Run; Call for fresh 
troops; The old forces disbanded 381 

XXXIV. 1832-THIRD CAMPAIGN OF THE WAR. 

Requisition for additional troops; Attack on Apple Creek Fort; Capt. 
Stephens' Encounter with the Indians; Organization of the New Levies; 
Battle of Kellogg's Grove; Battle of the Wisconsin 390 

XXXV. 1832— CLOSE OF THE WAR. 

Pursuit of the Indians; Battle of Bad Axe; Arrival of General Scott; 
Treaties with the Indians; Eastern tour of the Prisoners; Death of Black 
Hawk 401 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

XXXVI. 1S:^4-1838-ADMINISTRATI0N OF GOV. DUNCAN. 

The Campaign; Life and Cliaracter of Duncan; More State Banks and 
what became of them; Slavery Agitation by Lovejoy; his death 416 

XXXVII. STATE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SYSTEM 433 

XXXVIII. 1838-1842-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. CARLIN. 
Continuance of the subject of Internal Improvement; Collapse of the grand 

system; Hard Times; Reorganization of the judiciary in 1841 441 

XXXIX. 1842-1846- ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. FORD. 

The Campaign; Life and Character of Gov. Ford; Lt. Gov. Moor; Means of 
Relief from Financial embarrassments; The State at the turning poiot; 
Restoration of her credit 462 

XL. THE ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 

Trials and troubles'incident to its construction 474 

XLI. 1840-4-MORMON8 OR LATTER-DAY SAINTS. 

Joe Smith; Prophetic mission; Followers remove to Missouri; Expulsion 
from the State; Settlement in Illinois; Obnoxious Nauvoo charter and 
ordinance.^; Arrest and acquittal of Smith; His assassination 489 

XLII. 1844-6-MORMON WAR. 

Manner of Smith's death; Character of the Mormons; Apostles assume the 
government of the Church; Trial and acquittal of the assassins; Saints 
driven from the vicinity of Lima and Green Plains; Leading Mormons 
retire across the Mississippi; Battle at Nauvoo; Expulsion of the inhab- 
itants 508 

XLIIL ILLINOIS IN THE MEXICAN WAR 522 

XLIV. CONSTiTUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1847, AND SOMETHING OF 
THE ORGANIC LAW FRAMED BY IT 543 

XLV. 1846-1852- ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. FRENCH. 

Lives and characters of the Gubernatorial candidates; Funding of the 
State debt; Refusal of the people to give the Legislature control of the 
2-mill tax; Township organization; Homestead Exemption; The Bloody 
Island Dike and a speck of War; State policy regarding railroads 551 

XLVI. THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 

Congressional grant of land; Holbrook Charter; Bondholders' scheme; 
The 7 per cent, of its gross earnings; Passage of its Charter; Benefits the 
Company, the State, and individuals; Note; Jealousy of politicians on 
account of its glory; Correspondence of Messrs. Breese and Douglas 571 

XLVIL OUR FREE OR STOCK BANKS. 

How a bank might be started; The small note act; Panic of 1854; Revulsion 
of 1857; Winding up 585 

XLVIIL 185.3-1857-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. MATTESON. 

Democratic and Whig Conventions; Sketches of the Gubernatorial candi- 
dates; Financial condition and physical developmentof the State; Legis- 
lation 1853-5; Maine Law and riot at Chicago; Our Common Schools and 
trials in the establishment of the Free School system 599 

XLIX. DUELS IN ILLINOIS AND ATTEMPTS AT DUELS. 

Affairs of honor and personal difficulties 618 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

L-1852-1856-ORGINZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 

The Illinois Wilmot Proviso; Dissolution of the Whig party; Repeal of the 
Mo. Compromise; Intense political feeling: Douglas denied free speech 
in Chicago; Knownothingism; Democratic and Republican Conventions 
of 1856; Result of the campaign; Lincoln's plea for harmony at the Chi- 
cago banquet 635 

LI-1857-1861-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. BISSEL. 

Life and character of the Governor;" Gross attack upon him in the Legisla- 
ture on account of his dueling affair; Turbulence of party strife and want 
of official courtesy; Disgraceful action in organizing the house; Appor- 
tionment bills of 1857-9: Canal scrip fraud; The McAllister and Stebbins 
bond 656 

LII-OUR SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 

Their lives and characters; Senatorial contest between Lincoln and 
Douglas in 1858. 679 

LIII-1861-1865-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. YATES. 

Party conventions of 1850; The two great labor systems of the country in 
direct antagonism; Life and character of Gov. Yates; Lieut.-Gov. Hoff- 
man: Condition of the State and comparative growth since 1850 716 

LIV-ILLINOIS IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 

Slavery; Sectional antagonism; Secession; Inauguration of Lincoln; Call 
for volunteers; Proclamation of Gov. Yates; Uprising of the people 722 

LV-1861-1864-ILLINOIS IN THE REBELLION. 

Unprecedented isuccess in furnishing men; Patriotic efforts of women; 
Military operations within the State 732 

LVI-1861-2-ILLINOIS IN MISSOURI. 

Battles of Lexington, Monroe, Charleston, Fredericktown Belmont and 
Psa Ridge 746 

LVII-1861-2-ILLINOIS ON THE CUMBERLAND, TENNESSEE AND MIS- 
SISSIPFL 

Battles of Forts Henry and Donelson; Capture of Columbus, New Madrid 
and Island No. 10 757 

LVIII-1862-ILLINOIS IN NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. 

Battle of Pittsburg Landing, Mitchell's campaign; Siege of Corinth 709 

LIX-1862-ILLINOIS IN KENTUCKY, NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND 
MIDDDE TENNESSEE. 
Battles of Perry ville, Bolivar, Britton's Lane, luka, Corinth and Stone 
River 785 

LX-1862-3-ILLINOIS IN THE VIKCSBURG CAMPAIGNS. 

Movements on the Mississippi, Battles of Coffeeville, Holly Springs, Par- 
ker's Cross Roads, Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post 799 

LXI-1863-ILLINOIS IN THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles of Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills and Black 
River; Grierson's Raid; Siege and capture of Vicksburg 811 

LXII-ILLINOIS IN THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN. 

Battles of Chicamauga.Wauhatchie, Lookout.Mountain and Mission Ridge; 
Relief of Knoxville 82.': 



VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

LXIII-1864-ILLINOIS IN THE ATLANTA AND NASHVILLE CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles of Rocky Face Mountain, Besaca, Now Hope Church, Peach Tree 
Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Aiatoona, Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville. 836 

LXIV-1864-5-ILLINOIS IN THE MERIDIAN CAMPAIGN. 

Red River expedition. Reduction of Mobile; Sherman's March to the Sea; 
Reduction of .Wilmington; March through the Carolinas; Close of the 
War 851 

LXV-POLITICAL AND PARTY AFFAIRS DURING THE REBELLION. 

Sentiments of the Illinois Democracy in;the winter of 1860-1; Patriotic feel- 
ing on the breaking out of hostilities, irrespective of party, as inspired 
by Douglas; Revival of partisan feeling; Constitutional Convention of 
1862; Its high pretensions; Conflict with the Governor; Some features of 
the instrument framed; It becomes a party measure; The vote upon it; 
Party Conventions of 1862; The last Democratic Legislature; Frauds in 
passing bills; Reaction among the people against the Peace movement; 
Mihtary arrests; Suppressing the Chicago Time.t; Secret Politico-Mil- 
itary Societies; Democratic mass Convention of June 17th, 1863; Republi- 
can mass Convention, Sept., 1863; Peace meetings of 1864. Note— Chicago 
Conspiracy 866 

LXVI-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. OGLESBY. 

Republican and Democratic State Conventions of 1864; Lives and charac- 
ters of Oglesby and Dross; Prosperity and condition of the State during 
the Rebellion; Legislation, political and special, in 1865-7: Board of Equal- 
ization established; Location of the Agricultural College; Illinois Capi- 
tals and their removal; History of the Penitentiary 907 

LXVII-1869-73-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. PALMER. 

Repviblicau and Democratic State Conventions; Life and character of Gov. 
Palmer; Legislation, the tax grabbing law. Lake Front bill, etc.; The 
Convention of 1870; The great Chicago fire 929 

LXVIII-1873-1877-AD MINISTRATION OF GOV. BEVERIDGE. 

Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1872; Elections and organiza- 
tion of the legislature; Life and Character of Gov. Beveridge; Stormy 
opening; Railroad commissioners; The revision of 1874; The committee 
andrevisor; The farmers' movement; The election of 1874— conventions 
and candidates; The "Haines" Legislature; The refunding act; Sketch 
of Speaker Haines; Illinois in the Centennial; The educational display; 
The Agricultural Board; Glenn's claim; Gov. Beveridge's closing mes- 
sage; extracts; State charities— history and development 945 

LXIX-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. CULLOM. 

Party conventions in 1876; Sketches of Gov. Cullom and Lieut.-Gov. 
Shuman; Election of Judge Davis senator; Life and services of Senator 
Davis; Railroad commissioners; The revenue system; The Southern 
penitentiary; The July riots; East St. Louis, Chicago and Braidwood 
campaigns; The National Guard; The Appellate Courts; State "Boards;" 
Health, Pharmacy, Labor Statistics; Election in 1878; Revenue again; 
Pardons; State house bonds; Election of Senator Logan; Lite and 
character of Gen. Logan; The Socialists; Political conventions of 1880; 
Candidates; Election; Sketch of Lieut.-Gov. Hamilton; General legis- 
lation; Special session 967 

LXX— 1883-1885-ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. HAMILTON. 

Earlydife in Ohio; Emigration to Illinois; Boyhood life on a farm; Early 
education; Enlisted and mustered in Union Array; College hfe and study 
of law; Practice; Elected State Senator; Legislative record; President 
pro tern, of the Senate; Nominated for Lieut.-Governor; Campaign of 
1S80; Becomes Governor; Principal events and acts of his administration, 986 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX 



CHAPTER. PAGE. 

LXXI-1818-1885-PUBLIC CHARITIES OF ILLINOIS 1006 

LXXII-THE RAILilOAD QUESTION-LEGISLATION AND LITIGATION. 

The preliminary condition; The constitutional convention; Popular sen- 
ment; Legislative action; Dissatisfaction; Attempts to enforce the Laws; 
Judge Wood's decision; The Lexington case; Judge Lawrence's decision 
and its results; The act of 1873; The eighth section; The schedules; The 
"Grangers;" Financial depression; Renewed litigation; warehouses; 
Court of "Last Resort;" Justice Field's dissent; Other cases; The Neal 
Ruggle's case ; Conclusion 1019 



PREFACE 



Although Illinois, whose grassy plains have been styled the 
Eden of the new world, contains the oldest permanent settlements 
in the Valley of the Mississippi, and in her strides to empire 
is destined to become the first State of the Union, her history 
has been strangely neglected. Fragments have been written at 
different times, but only of detached periods, and embracing 
but a small part of the two centuries which have elapsed since 
the first explorations. To supply this deficiency and furnish a 
history commensurate with her present advancement in power 
and civilization is the object of the present work; whether it 
has been accomplished remains to be seen. 

Not having taken any part in the shifting and instructive 
drama enacted by those who have directed the affairs of State, 
no rankling jealousies have been engendered to distort conclu- 
sions ; no undue predilections to warp the judgment. Measures 
have been estimated by their results ; men by their public acts. 
While no disposition has existed to assail any one, it must be 
remembered that none are faultless, and to speak well of all 
is the worst of detraction, for it places the good and the bad 
on a common level, 

A principal aim has been to render the work complete. A 
large amount of matter has been inserted never before published 
in connection with the history of the State ; yet important facts, 
though familiar, have always been preferred to new ones of 



XII PREFACE. 



minor significance. The main consideration, however, has been 
to render it truthful. In the wide field which has been gleaned, 
every available source of information has been carefully con- 
sulted, and it is believed a degree of accuracy has been secured 
which will compare favorably with that of other similar efforts. 
Still there will always be room for improvement, and any cor- 
rections which may be offered by parties who have witnessed 
or been connected with events described, will be thankfully re- 
ceived and inserted in future editions of the work, the object 
being to make it a complete repository of reliable facts for the 
general reader, the politician, the lawyer, and all who may wish 
to become acquainted with the history of our noble State. 

To the many in different parts of the State who have fur- 
nished information, or aided us by valuable suggestions, we 
return our thanks, especially to Messrs. Rummel and Harlow, 
Secretaries of State, for the use of public documents, and to 
the proprietors of the State Journal and State Register, for access 
to their valuable files. 

Springfield, Dec. 19th. 1873. 



PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 



Something more than ten years have elapsed since the His- 
tory of Illinois, so faithfully and intelligently written, was 
submitted to the great reading public. And while, in that 
time, it has found its way quite generally into the homes of 
residents of the State, and been warmly welcomed by scholars 
and readers everywhere ; and while it has been most potent in 
extending among the people a knowledge of the early explora- 
tions of this part of the Mississippi Valley, of its rich and 
boundless geological deposits, the remarkable fertility of the 
soil and the diversity of its products, it is also true that the 
story of its early settlement, of the great political struggles 
ending in the firm establishment of civil and political freedom, 
of its rapid growth, of the schemes of internal improvement, 
of its seasons of financial embarrassment and consequent dis- 
tress of the people, of the wise statesmanship of its leaders, 
the establishment of its system of free schools and its chari- 
table institutions ; and then of its truly phenominal develop- 
ment from a group of frontier settlements to a great, populous, 
intelligent and wealthy State, as here so graphically told, is 
well calculated to excite the keenest interest, and to awaken in 
the mind of every true lllinoisan a just and honorable pride 
in his State. Here, too, is found a faithful account and a just 
estimate of the great civil, political and military men, the 
brilliancy of whose achievements and renown have shed im- 
perishable lustre and honor upon the State. 



XIV PUBLISHER S PREFACE. 



To meet the pressing demand for the work, and at the same 
time answer the just expectation of an intelligent public, the 
publisher has found it necessary to cause the text to be care- 
fully revised and corrected in the light of the latest research, 
and to extend and enlarge the work by the introduction of new 
matter of the greatest general interest and utility. 

Presented in its present form, printed upon the finest laid 
paper, profusely illustrated and beautifully bound, and at a 
cost within the reach of all, the History of Illinois may well 
be regarded as the People's Book, especially designed for their 
information and education, and in every way worthy the 
people and the State. 



Chapter I. 
GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



Oil the geological structure of a country depend tlie i^ursuits of 
its inhabitants and the genius of its ci\alization. Agriculture is the 
outgrowth of a fertile soil; mining results from mineral resources; 
and from navigable waters spring navies and commerce. Every 
great branch of industry requires, for its successful development, 
the cultivation of kindred arts and sciences. Phases of life and 
modes of thought are thus induced, which give to different com- 
mimities and states characters as various as the diverse rocks 
that underlie them. In like manner it may be shown that their 
moral and intellectual qualities depend on material conditions. 
Wliere the soil and subjacent rocks are profuse in the bestowal of 
wealth, man is indolent and effeminate ; where effort is required to 
live, he becomes enlightened and virtuous; and where, on the sands 
of the desert, labor is unable to j)rocure the necessaries and com- 
forts of life', he lives a savage. The civilization of states and 
nations is, then, to a great extent, but the reflection of phj^sical 
conditions, and hence the propriety of intioducing their ci^il, polit- 
ical and military history with a sketch of the geological substruc- 
ture from which they originate. 

Geology traces the history of the earth back through successive 
stages of development to its rudimental condition in a state of 
fusion. Speculative astronomy extends it beyond this to a gaseous 
state, in which it and the other bodies of the solar system consti- 
tuted a nebulous mass, without form and motion. When, in the 
process of development, motion was communicated to the chaotic 
matter, huge fragments were detached from its circumference, 
which formed the i^rimary planets. These retaming the rotary 
motion of the sun, or central mass, in turn threw off other and 
smaller fragments, thus forming the secondary planets, as in the 
case of the moon which attends the earth. All these bodie»s are 
similar in form, have a similar motion on their axes, move substan- 
tially in a common plane and in the same direction, the result of 
the prqiectile force Avhich detached them from the jiarent mass. 
These facts are strong evidence that the sun, and the planetary 
system that revolves around it, were originally a common mass, 
and became separated in a gaseous state, as the want of cohesion 
among the particles would then favor the dissevering force. From 
the loss of heat they next passed into a fluid or plastic state, the 
point in the history of the earth where it comes within the range 
of geological investigation. 

MTiile in this condition it became flattened at the poles, a form 
due to its dim-nal rotation and the mobihly of its particles. At a 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



further reduction of temperature its melted disk was transformed 
into a crust of igneous rock. A great many facts render it almost 
certain that the vast nucleus within this enveloping crust is still 
an incandescent mass. Compared with its enormous buft, the 
external covering is of only filmy thickness, the ratio of the two 
being as the pulp and peel of an orange. In this world- crucible 
are held in solution the Gl elementary substances, which, variously 
combining, produce the great variety of forms, energies and modes 
of being, which diversify and enliven terrestrial natiu-e. From the 
same source the i)recious metals have been forced into the fissures 
of the superincumbent rocks, whither the miner descends and 
brings them to the surface. Volcanoes are outlets for the tremen- 
dous forces generated in these deep-seated fires. As an evidence 
of their eruptive x)ower, Vesuvius sometimes throws jets of lava, 
resembling columns of tiame, 10,000 feet in hight. The amount of 
lava ejected at a single eruption from one of the volcanoes of 
Iceland, has been estimated at 40,000,000,000 tons, a quantity suffi- 
cient to cover a large city with a mountain as high as the tallest 
Alps. By the process of congelation, which has never ceased, 
the rocky crust which rests on this internal sea of fire is now 
sujjposed to be from thirty to forty miles in thickness. The outer 
or upper portion of it was the most universal geological formation, 
and constituted the floors of the primitive oceans. The rocks com- 
posing it are designated unstratitied, because they occur in u-regular 
masses, and igneous from having originally been melted by intense 
heat. The vast cycle of time extending through their formation 
and reaching down to the introduction of life on the globe, consti- 
tutes the Azoic age. The earth's siu-face, consisting of arid wastes 
and boiling waters, and its atmosphere reeldng with poisonous 
gases, were wholly incompatible with the existence of plants and 
animals. By the continued radiation of heat the nucleus mthin 
the hardened crust contracted, and the latter, to adapt itself to the 
diminished bulk, folded into huge corrugations, forming the' prim- 
itive moimtain chains and the first land that appeared above the 
face of the waters. The upheaval of these vast ijlications was 
attended with depressions in other parts of the surface constituting 
the valleys and basins of the original rivers and oceans. Through 
the agency of water the uplifted masses were disintegrated and the 
resulting sediment swept into the extended depressions. Here it 
settled in parallel layers and constitutes the stratified rocks. In 
some localities these are entirelj^ wanting, in others many miles in 
depth, while their average thickness is sujiposed to be from six to 
eight miles. 

The plain, separating the stratified from the imstratified rocks, 
runs parallel mth the oldest part of the earth's crust, \\lien 
solidification commenced it was the surface, and as induration 
advanced toward the centre the crust thickened by increments on 
the inside, and, therefore, the most recently formed igneous rocks 
are the farthest below the surface. Stratification commenced at 
the same plain and extended in an upward direction, and hence 
the most recent deposits are nearest the surface, when not displaced 
by disturbing causes. 

In the silent deptlis of the stratified rocks are the former creations 
of i^lants and animals, which lived and died during the slow- 
dragging centuries of their formation. These fossil remains are 



GEOLOGY. 6 

fragments of history, which enable the geologist to extend his 
researches far back into the realms of the past, and not only deter- 
mine their former modes of life, but study the contemporaneous 
history of their rocky beds, and group them into systems. The 
fossiliferous rocks are not only of great thickness but frequently 
their entire structure is an aggregation of cemented shells, so 
numerous that millions of them occur in a single cubic foot. Such 
has been the profusion of life that the great limestone formations 
of the globe consist mostly of animal remains, cemented by the 
infusion of mineral matter. A large part of the soil spread over 
the earth's surface has been elaborated in animal organisms. First, 
as nourishment, it enters the structure of plants and forms veget- 
able tissue. Passing thence as food into the animal, it becomes 
endowed with life, and when death occurs it retiu-ns to the soil and 
imparts to it additional elements of fertility. The different systems 
of stratified roclvs, as determined by their organic remains, are 
usually denominated Ages or Systems. 

TheLaurentian System or Age is the lowest, and therefore 
the oldest, of the stratified series. From tlie effects of great 
heat it has assumed, to some extent, the character of the igneous 
rocks below, but still retains its original lines of stratification. A 
principal effect of the great heat to which its rocks were exposed 
is crystallization. Crystals are frequently formed by art, but the 
most beautiful specimens are the products of nature's laboratories, 
deep-seated in the crust of the earth. The LaOTentian system 
was formerly supposed to be destitute of organic remains, but 
recent investigations have led to the discovery of animals so low 
in the scale of organization as to be regarded as the first appear- 
ance of sentient existence. This discovery, as it extends the origin 
of life bacliward through 30,000 feet of strata, may be regarded 
as one of the most important advances made m American geology. 
Its supposed beginning, in a considerable degree of advancement 
in the Silurian system, was regarded by geologists as too abrupt 
to correspond with the gradual development of types in subsequent 
strata. The discovery, however, of these incipient forms in the 
Laurentian beds, renders the descending scale of hfe complete, 
and verifies the conjectures of physicists that in its earliest dawn 
it should commence with the most simple organisms. 

The Huronicm System, hke the one that precedes it, and on 
which it rests, is highlj^ crystalline. Although fossils have not 
been found in it, yet from its position the inference is they once 
existed, and if they do not now, the great transforming power of 
heat has caused their obliteration. This, and the subjacent system, 
extend from Labrador southwesterly to the great lakes, and 
thence northwesterly toward the Arctic Ocean. They derive their 
names from the St. Lawrence and Lake Hiu-on, on the banks of 
which are found their principal outcrops. Their emergence from 
the ocean was the bu-th of the North American continent. One 
face of the uphft looked toward the Atlantic, and the other toward 
the Pacific, thus prefiguring the future shores of this great division 
of the globe, of which they are the germ. Eruptive forces liave 
not operated with sufficient iDower to bring them to the surface in 
Illinois, and therefore the vast stores of mineral wealth, Avhich they 
contam in other places, if they exist here, are too deep below the 
surface to be made available. 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The Silurian Afje, compared with the more stable formations of 
subsequent times, was one of commotion, in which fire and water 
played a conspicuous i^art. Earthquakes and volcanoes furrowed 
the yielding- crust with ridges, and threw up islands whose craggy 
summits, here and there, stood like sentinels above the murky 
deep which dashed against their shores. The i)resent diversities 
of climate did not exist, as the teniperatm*e was mostly due to the 
escape of internal heat, which was the same over every part of the 
surface. As the radiation of heat in fntui-e ages declined, the sun 
became the controlling power, and zones of climate appeared as 
the result of solar domination. Uniform thermal conditions impar- 
ted a corresponding character to vegetable and animal life, and 
one universal fauna and flora extended from the equator to the 
poles. These hardy marine tj^ies consisted of Kadiates, MoUuslcs 
and Articulates, three of the foiu- sub-kingdoms of animal life. 
Seaweed, which served as food for the animals, was the only plant 
of which any traces remain. During the Silurian age jSTorth 
America, like its inhabitants, was mostly submarine, as proved by 
wave-lines on the emerging lands. There lay along the eastern 
border of the continent an extended ridge, which served as a break- 
water to the waves of the Atlantic. The region of the Alieghanies 
was subject to great elevations and depressions, and the latter 
largely preponderating, caused the deposit of some twelve thousand 
feet of strata. Although mostly uncler water, there was added to 
the original nucleus of the continent formations now fouiul in oSTew 
York, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, isiagara lime- 
stone, a Silurian formation, is found over a large extent of country 
in northern IlUnois, beyond the Uniits of the coal-fields. It is a com- 
pact grayish stone, susceptible of a high polish, and at Athens 
and Joliet is extensively quarried for building i)uri>oses, and 
shipped to different parts of the State. The new Capitol is being 
erected of this material. The Galena limestone, another Silurian 
deposit, is interesting, from the fact that it contains the lead and 
zinc ores of the State. St. Peters sandstone belongs also to the 
same system. Besides outcropping in a number of other localities, 
it appears in the bluffs of the Illinois, where it forms the island- 
hke plateau known as Starved Kock. In some localities, being 
composed almost entirely of silica and nearly free from coloring 
matter, it is the best material in the West for the nnmufacture of 
glass. 

The Bevonian Age is distinguished for the jntroduction of Verte- 
brates, or the foiu'th sub-kingdom of animal life and the beginning 
of terrestrial vegetation. The latter appeared in two classes, the 
highest of the flowerless and the lowest of the flowering plants. 
The LepidodencUou, a noted instance of the former, was a majestic 
upland forest tree, which, during the coal period, grew to a hight 
of 80 feet, and had a base of more than 3 feet in diameter. 
Beautiful spiral flutings, coiling in opposite directions and crossing 
each other at fixed angles, carved the trunks and brandies into 
rhomboidal eminences, each of which was scarred with the mark 
of a falling leaf. At an altitude of 60 feet it sent ofl" arms, each 
separating into branchlets covered with a needle-like fohage, des- 
titute of flowers. It grew, not by internal or external accretions, 
as plants of the present day, but like the building of a moiuuncnt, 
by additions to the top of its trunk. Mosses, rushes and other 



GEOLOGY. 



dmiiinitiye flowerlcss plants are now the only surviving represen- 
tative of this eryptoganiic vegetation, Avhicli so largely predomina- 
ted in the early botany of the globe. Floral beauty and fragrance 
were not characteristic of the old Devonian woods. No bird 
existed to enliven their silent groves with song, no serpent to hiss 
in their fenny brakes, nor beast to j)iu-sue, with hideous yells, its 
panting prey. 

The vertebrates consisted of fishes, of which the Ganoids and 
Pla'coids were the principal groups. The former were the fore- 
runners of the reptile, which in many resi)ects they closely resem- 
bled. They embraced a large number of species, many of which 
grew to a gigantic size; but with the exception of the gar and 
sturgeon, they have no living representatives. The Placoids, 
structiu-all}' formed for advancement, still remain among the 
•highest types of tlie present seas. The shark, a noted instance, 
judging from its fossil remains, must have attained ' 100 feet in 
length. Both groups lived in the sea, and if any fresh water 
animals existed their remains have either perished or not been 
found. So nimierous were the inhabitants of the ocean, that the 
Devonian has been styled the age of fishes. In their anatomical 
structure was foreshadowed the organization of man; reptiles, 
birds and maumials being the intermediate gradations. The con- 
tinental sea of the preceding age still covered the larger part of 
North America, extending far northwest and openuig south into 
the Gulf of Mexico. In its shallow basins were deposited sand- 
stones, shales and limestones, which westerly attained a thickness 
of 500 feet, and in the region of the Alleghanies 1,500 feet. The 
great thickness of the latter deposits indicated oscillations, in 
which the downward movement exceeded the upward. Shallow 
waters, therefore, interspersed with reefs and islands, still occu- 
l^ied the sites of the Alleghanies and Eocky Mountains, which 
now^ look down from above the clouds on the finished continent. 
The St. LaAA-rence and the Hudson may have existed in miniature, 
but the area of land was too small for rivers and other bodies of 
fresh water of considerable extent. In the disturbances closing 
the Devonian age additions were made to the smiace in Iowa, 
Wisconsin and Illinois. The two resulting formations in this State 
are the Devonian limestone and the Oriskany sandstone. There 
are outcrops of the former in the bluffs of the Mississippi, Rock 
and Illinois rivers. It contains a great variety of fossils, and is 
used for building material and the manufacture of quicklime. The 
latter appears in Union, Alexander and Jackson comities, and is 
used to some extent in the manufacture of glass. 

The Carboniferous Age opened with the deposition of widely 
extended marine formations. Added to the strata previously 
deposited, the entire thickness in the region of the Alleghanies, 
now partially elevated, amounted to 7 miles. Wide areas of per- 
manent elevation occui-red between the 34:th and 45th degrees of 
latitude, end)raciug most of the territory between the eastern con- 
tinental border and tlie States of Kansas and Nebraska. Farther 
westward, and resulting fiom the gradual emergence of the Pacific 
coast, was an inteiior sea whose shallow waters still fiowed over 
the site of the Pocky Mountains. The winter temperature near 
the poles was (iO degrees. A stagnant and stifiing atmosphere 
rested upon the area now constituting the United States and British 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



America. The McKenzie river, now filled with icebergs, theu 
flowed through verdant banks to a coral sea, having the same tem- 
perature as the Gulf of Mexico at the i)resent day. The most prom- 
inent feature of the age was the formation of coal. Being carbon- 
ized vegetable tissue, the material furnished for this purpose was 
the vast forest accumulations pecidiar to the period. Vegetation, 
commencing in the previous age, had now attained an expansion 
which greatly exceeded the growth of prior or subsequent times. 
Invigorated by a warm, moist and winterless climate, and an 
atmosphere surcharged with carbonic acid gas, vast jimgles spread 
over the marshy plains, and impenetrable forests covered the 
upland slopes and higlits. The gTacefid lepidodendron, now fidly 
developed, was one of the principal coal producing plants -, sub- 
serving the same pm-pose and associated with it was the gig;mtic 
conifer, a member of the pine family. The ancient fern, another 
coal lilant, grew to a hight of 80 feet. Its trunk, regularly fretted 
with scars and destitute of branches, terminated in a croMTi of 
foliage rivaling that of the palm in profuseness and beauty. The 
sigillarid, however, as it contributed most largely to the produc- 
tion of coal, was the characteristic plant of the period. The 
trunk, which rose from 40 to GO feet high from its alternate flutiugs 
and ribs, appeared like a clustered column. At an altitude of 25 
or 30 feet it sei^arated into branches, covered ^vith a grass-like 
fohage intermingled with long catkhis of obsciu-e flowers or strings 
of seed, arranged in whorls about a common stem. The structure 
of the trunk was peculiar. One, 5 feet in diameter, was surrounded 
with a bark 13 inches in thickness; within this was a cylinder of 
wood 12 inches in thickness, and at the center a pith 10 inches in 
diameter. Such a tree would be useless as timber, but the bark, of 
which they largely consisted, was imi)er\ious to mineral solutions, 
and valuable for the production of coal. The calamites, growing 
Mith the sigillarids, covered with dense brakes the marshy flats. 
Their hollow stems, marked vertically with flutings and horizon- 
tally with joints, grew in clumps to a liiglit of 20 feet. Some 
species were brancldess, while from the joints of others sprang 
branches, subdividing into whorls of branchlets. 

The vast accumulatiou of vegetable matter from these and other 
carboniferous plants, either imbedded in the miry soil in which it 
grew, or swept from adjacent elevations into shallow lakes, became 
covered with sediment, and thus was transformed into coal. It 
has been estimated that 8 perpendicular feet of wood were re- 
quired to make 1 foot of bituminous coal, and 12 to make 1 of 
anthracite. Some beds of the latter are 30 feet in thickness, and 
hence 3(30 feet of timber must have been consumed in theu* pro- 
duction. The process of its formation was exactly the same as 
practiced in the manufacture of charcoal, by burniug wood under 
a covering of earth. Vegetable tissue, consists mostly of carbon 
and oxygen, and decomposition must take place, either under 
water or some other impervious covering, to prevent the elements 
from forming carbonic acid gas, aiul thus escaping to the atmos- 
jdiere. Conforming to these requirements, the immense vegetable 
growths formmg the coal-fields subsided with the surface on which 
tliey grew, and were buried beneath the succeeding dei)osits. 
Kova Scotia has 76 different beds, and Illinois 12; and conse- 
quently, in these localities there were as many different fields of 



GEOLOGY. 



verdure overwhelmed in the dirt-beds of the sea. Thus, long be- 
fore the starry cycles had measured half the history of the un- 
folding- continent, and when first the exi^anding stream of life 
but dimly reflected the coming- age of mind, this vast supply of 
fuel was stored away in the Tocky frame-work of the globe. Here 
it slumbered till man made his appearance and dragged it from 
its rocky lairs. At his bidding it renders the factory animate 
■with humming spindles, driving shuttles, whirling lathes, and clank- 
ing forges. Under his guidance the iron-horse, feeding- upon its 
pitchy fragments, bounds with tireless tread over its far reaching 
traclv, dragging after him the products of distant marts and climes. 
By the skill of the one and the power of the other, the ocean 
steamer plows the deep in opposition to Mdnds and waves, m along 
its watery home a highway for the commerce of the world. 

Prior to the formation of coal, so great was the volume of car- 
bonic acid gas in the atmosphere that only slow breathing and 
cold-blooded animals could exist. Consequent upon its conversion 
into coal, all the preceding species of plants and animals perished, 
and new forms came upon the stage of being -with organizations 
adapted to the improved conditions. In the new economy, as at 
the present time, stability is maintained in the atmosphere by the 
reciprocal relations subsisting between it and the incoming types. 
The animal inspires oxygen and expires carbonic acid gas ; the 
vegetable inspires carbonic acid gas and expires oxygen, thus pre- 
serving the equilibrium of this breathing medium. The coal-fields 
of Eiu-ope are estimated at 18,000 square miles, those of the United 
States at 150,000. The Alleghany coal-field contains 60,000 square 
miles, -with an aggregate thickness of 120 feet. The Illinois and 
Missouri 00,000 square miles, and an aggregate thickness in some 
localities of 70 feet. Other fields occm- in different localities, of 
various thicknesses. In IlUnois, three-fourths of the surface is 
underlaid by beds of coal, and the State consequently has a greater 
area than any other member of the Union. There are 12 different 
beds, the two most imi>ortant of which are each from 6 to 8 feet 
in thickness. The entire carboniferous system, including the coal- 
beds and the intervening strata, in southern Illinois is 27,000 feet 
in thickness, and in the northern part only oOO. 

Next to the immense deposits of coal, the Burlington, Keokuk 
and St. Louis limestones are the most important formations. 
They receive their appellations from the cities whose names they 
bear — where their lithological characters were first studied — and 
in the vicinities of wliicli they croj) out in Illinois. The Burling- 
ton furnishes inexhaustible supplies of building stone and quick- 
lime, but is mostly interesting on account of the immense number 
of interesting fossils which it contains. Along its northern out- 
crop Crinoids are found in a profusion unequalled by that of any 
locality of similar extent in the world. Though untold ages have 
ela])sed since their incarceration in the rocks, so perfect has been 
their preservation, their structure can be determined with almost 
as much precision as if they had perished but yesterday. The 
Keokuk is extensively used for arcliitectural ])urposes, and fur- 
nished the material for the celebrated Mormon Temple at Nauvoo, 
the new Post-oifice at Springfield, and the Custom Houses at 
Galena and Dubuque. It contains some of the most interesting 
crystals found in the State. These consist of hollow splieres of 



8 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

quartz and chalcedony of various sizes, and lined on tlie inside 
with crystalets of different minerals. Tons of specimens have 
been taken from Hancock coimty and distributed over the United 
States and Europe, to ornament the cabinets of mineralogists. 
The St. Louis is almost pure carbonat of lime, and the best ma- 
terial in the State for the manufactiu-e of quick-lime. It is largely 
quarried at Alton. 

Tlie Age of Beptiles is distinguished for changes in the conti- 
nental borders, which generally ran within their present limits. 
The sub-maruie outlines of the Bay of Xew York, and the coiu-se 
of the Hudson, indicate that the adjacent shores during the early 
part of this age were beyond their present limits. Southward the 
sea line ran within the present shore, the distance increasing from 
00 miles in Maryland to 100 in Georgia, and 200 in Alabama. 
The Texan gulf-shore, and that of the peninsula and State of 
Cahfornia, Avere parallel, and mostly within their present positions. 
These borders were fringed with deposits, while inland the trough 
of the old continental sea was becoming more shallow. The alti- 
tude of the Alleghanies had nearly reached theii" present highi. 
The Eocky Mountains, in the transition from the close of the 
present to the beginning of the subsequent age, began slowly to 
emerge from the waters under wliicli they had hitherto slumbered. 
The Gulf of Mexico formed a deex) bay extending to the mouth of 
the Ohio, and, protruding itself northwesterly, covered the region 
of the Rocky Mountains. It may have connected with the Arctic 
Ocean, but observations have been too limited to trace it with cer- 
tainty beyond the head waters of the Missouri and Yellowstone. 
These are, therefore, among the more i-ecently formed rivers, and 
cannot be compared with the primeval St. Lawrence and Hudson. 
The Mississippi was a stream of not more than one-half its present 
length and volume, falling into the gulf not far from the site of 
Cairo. The Ohio drained substantially the same region it does at 
the present time. In the earlier part of the age the geographical 
distribution of fossils indicates a common temperature, from Beh- 
ring Strait in the ]!^orthern to that of Magellan in the Southern 
Hemisphere. In the latter part, however, a difference is percep- 
tible, indicating also a difference of temperature and the com- 
mencement of climatic zones. This change, caused by the i)artial 
upheaval of mountain chains north of the Equator, and the de- 
cline of internal heat, marked a new era in the physical history 
of the globe. As the result, ciuTents commenced tlowing in the 
ocean ; the constant monotony of previous ages was broken by 
the pleasant diversities of changing seasons ; life was imparted to 
the atmosphere, and the breeze came forth laden with the breath 
of spring; the tempest madly burst into being and began its work 
of destruction, and the trade-winds commenced blowing, but it 
was reserved for a future age to make them the common carriers 
of the ocean's commerce. 

The principal formations of the age, none of which exist in 
Illinois, were sandstones, chalks and limestones, interstratified 
with deposits of salt and gypsum. Their absence can be explained 
either upon the supposition that the surface of the State was either 
above the waters in which they were deposited, or, having originally 
been deposited, they were subsequently swept away by denuding 
agencies. The former was perhai)s the case, as no aqueous action 



GEOLOGY. 9 



could have operated with sufficieut power to remove all traces of 
tbeir former existence. The characteristic ]>laiits of the coal age, 
uow declining, were replaced by cycads and many new forms of 
conifers and ferns. The cycad was intermediate in character, 
resembling the fern in the opening of its foliage, and the palm in 
its general habits. It was now in the full zenith of its expansion, 
wliile the fern was dying out and the conifer was yet to be devel- 
oped. More than 100 angiospernis made their appearance, one-balf 
of them closely allied to the trees of modern forests and the fruit 
trees of temperate regions. In the latter part of the age the palm, 
at present the most perfect type of the vegetable kingdom, was 
also introduced. New animal species made their appearance, 
attended by the extinction of all pre-existuig forms. Kep tiles 
now reachecl their culmination, the eartli, sea and air, each having 
its i)eculiar kind. Their fossil remains indicate a large nmnber of 
both Ijerbiverous and carniverous species, which in many instan- 
ces attained a length of 00 feet. The ichthyosaurus, a prominent 
example, united in its structure parts of several related annuals, 
having the head of a hzard, the snout of a porpoise, the teeth of 
a crocodde, the spine of a tish and the paddles of a whale. Its 
eyes, enormously large, were arranged to act both like the telescope 
and the microscope, thus enabling it to see its prey both night and 
day, and at all distances. It subsisted on fish and the young of 
its own species, some of which must have been swallowed several 
feet in length. Associated with it was the Pleiosaurus, an animal 
resembling it in its general stracture. A remarkable diiference, 
however, was the great length of neck possessed by the latter, 
which contained 40 vertebrae, the largest number that has ever 
been found in aninuds livhig or fossil. These two reptiles for a 
long time ruled the seas and kept the increase of other animals 
within proper limits. But the most gigantic of reptile monsters 
was the Iguanodon. Some individuals were 00 feet long, 15 feet 
round the'largest part of the body, had feet 12 feet in length, and 
thighs 7 feet in diameter. The most heteroclitic creature was the 
Pterodactyl. It had the neck of a bird, the mouth of a reptde, 
the wings of a bat, and the body and tad of a mammal. Its curi- 
ous organization enabled it to walk on two feet, fly like a bat, and 
creep, climb or dive in pursuit of its food. The age is also remark- 
able as the era of the first mammals, the first birds, and the first 
conuuon fishes. 

The Mammalian Age witnessed the increase of the mass of the 
earth above the ocean's level three-fold. The world-constructing 
architect, the coral insect, built up Florida out of the sea, thus 
completing the southern expanse of the continent. Its eastern 
and western borders were substantially finished, and superficially 
its greatpl a teaus, mountain chains and river systems, approximated 
their present geograjdiical aspects. The Rocky Mountains were 
elevated to a liight of 7,000 feet, the Wind Eiver chain 0,800, the Big 
Horn Mountauis 0,000, Pike's Peak 4,500. The upheaval of the 
Eocky Mountain region greatly enlarged the Missouri, previously 
an inconsiderable stream, adding to it the Yellowstone, Platte, 
Kansas and other tributaries. The Lower Mississippi was formed 
and discharged its vast volume of accumulated waters near the 
present coast hue of the Gulf. The elevation of mountain masses 
to snowy altitudes cooled dowoi the temperature and introduced 



10 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

substantially the present climates. In Eiu'ope the change was 
gradual from tropical to subtropical and temperate; in North 
America abrupt. As a consequence the botany of the latter 
opened with the oak, poplar, dogwood, magnolia, fig, palm and 
other plants closely resembling those of the present day. 

Of the animals the Mammoth was remarkable. Unlike the 
elephant of the present day, they were covered with a reddish avooI 
intermingled with hair and black bristles, the latter being more 
than a foot in length. Vast herds of these huge creatures, nearly 
three times as large as the present elephant, their living represen- 
tative wandered over the northern part of both hemis])heres. 
An individual in a perfect state of preservation was found in 1790, 
encased in ice, at the mouth of the river Lena. It still retained 
the wool on its hide, and otherwise was so free from decay, that 
its flesh was eaten by dogs. Their remains are abundantly distrib- 
uted over the northern part of the United States, imbedded usually 
in marshes where the animals were perhaps mk^ed while in search 
of food or water. A large fossil specimen was recently exhumed 
in Macon county, Illinois, 2 miles southeast of Illiopolis, in the 
edge of Long Point Slough, by the side of an oozy spring. The 
fossils have "been found in other localities of the State, and the 
prames may have been places of frequent resort. Contemporane- 
ous with them were the Dinotherium and Megatherium, and other 
creatures of the most gigantic proportions. The magnitude of the 
Mammoth seems almost fabulous, but that of the Dinotherium 
probably surpassed it. One of its most remarkable features was 
its enormous tusks, projecting from the anterior extremity of the 
lower jaw, which curved down hke those of the walrus. Like the 
rhinoceros, it lived in the water, and was well adapted to the lacus- 
trine condition of the earth common at the time it flourished. The 
Megatherium, belonging to the sloth family, was also of colossal 
dimensions. Its body, in some instances 18 feet long, rested on 
legs resembhng columns of support rather than organs of locomo- 
tion. Its spinal column contained a nerve a foot in diameter; its 
femur was three times the size of the elephant's, while its feet 
were a yard in length and more than a foot in width. The tail 
near the body was two feet in diameter, and used with its hind 
legs as a tripod on which the animal sat when it wielded its huge 
arms and hands. 

Toward the close of the age oscillations occurred ia the northern 
part of the contment, greatly modifying the condition of its sur- 
face. During the upward vibration vast glaciers spread over 
British America and the contiguous portion of the United States. 
These fields of ice, becoming filled with hard boulders, and mov- 
ing southwardby expansion, ground into fragments the underlying 
rocks. The sediment was gathered up by the movmg mass, and 
when a latitude sufficiently warm to melt the ice was reached, it 
was spread over the surface. Accumulations of this kind consti- 
tute the drift which extends from New England westward beyond 
the Mississippi, and from the 39th parallel northward to an un- 
known limit. In Illinois, mth the exception of small areas in the 
northwestern and southern parts of the State, it covers the entire 
surface with a varying stratum of from 10 to 200 feet iii thickness. 
Here, and in other parts of the West, not only glaciers, but ice- 
bergs, were connected with its distribution. The waters of the 



GEOLOGY. 11 



lakes then extended southward perhaps to the highlands, crossing 
the State from Grand Tower east toward the Ohio. This barrier 
formed the southern limits of this sea, and also of the drift which 
was distributed over its bottom by floating bodies of ice filled with 
sediment previously detached from the glaciers farther north. The 
upward movement of the glacial epoch was followed by a depres- 
sion of the surface below its present level. The subsidence in 
Connecticut was 50 feet; in Massachusetts, 170; in New Hamp- 
shire, 200; at Montreal, 450; and several hundred in the region of 
Illinois and the Pacific. Previously the adjacent Atlantic seaboard 
extended into the sea beyond its present limits ; now it receded, 
and the St. La^vTeuce and Lake Champlain became giilfs extend- 
ing far inland. As the result of the down-throw the temperature 
was elevated, causing the glaciers to melt, and a further dissemi- 
nation of the drift. Eegular outlines, due to the dinamic forces, 
ice and water, were thus imparted to the surface, which a subse- 
quent emergence brought to its present level. Order, beauty, and 
utility sprang into being and harmony with man, the highest t;y^e 
of terrestrial life, now in the dawn of his existence. 

The Age of Man commenced with the present geological condi- 
tions. The great mountain reliefs and diversities of climate at- 
tending the present and the close of the preceding age, largely 
augmented the variety of physical conditions which modify vege- 
table and animal life. Multiplying under these diverse influences, 
the present flora exceeds 100,000 species. The palm alone, culmi- 
nating in the present era, and standing at the head of the vegeta- 
ble kingdom, embraces 1,000. Commensurate with the variety of 
plants is the extent of then- distribution. They are found univer- 
sally, from Arctic snows to Tropical sands, growing in the air and 
water, covering the land with verdure, and ministering to the 
wants of their cousins, the different forms of animal life. In the 
jungle the wild beast makes his lair; the bird builds her nest in 
their sheltering leaves and branches, and subsists on their fruits ; 
and man converts them into innumerable forms of food, ornaments 
and material for the construction of his dwellings. In the oak 
and towering cedar their forms are venerable and majestic ; grace- 
ful and beautiful m the waving foliage and clinging A-ine, and pro- 
foundly interesting in their growi;h and structure ; crowned with 
a floral magnificence greatly ti^anscending their predecessors of 
previous ages, they give enchantment to the landscape, sweetness 
to the vernal breeze, and refinement and purity to all who come 
within their influence. As in the case of plants, a diversity of 
physical conditions has impressed a multiplicity and variety upon 
the animals. The approximate number of species at the present 
time is 350,000, each sub-kingdom numbering as follows : Eadi- 
ates, 10,000 ; Mollusks, 20,000 ; Articulates, 300,000 ; Vertebrates, 
21,000. Of the existing Vertebrates, Fishes embrace 10,000 ; Eep- 
tiles, 2,000 ; Bhxls, 7,000, and Mammals, 2,000. With the appear- 
ance of Man on the stage of being, in the latter part of the pre- 
ceding age, many types of the lower animals, in which magnitude 
and brute ferocity were prominent characteristics, became extinct. 
Their successors, as if harmonizing with the higher hfe developing 
in their midst, were generally reduced in size, less brutal in their 
nature, and more active, beautiful and intelligent. 

Eecent discoveries have shown that the appearance of man, in- 



12 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Stead of being confined to the geological age which bears his name, 
must be extended back to an indefinite ijeriod. His remains and 
the relics of his art show that he was a contemporary of the mam- 
moth ; that he Avitnessed the mnndation that buried the northern 
plains of the Old and ^STew Worlds under the sea of ice ; and that 
even before that time, when sub-tropical animals disported them- 
selves in the forests of middle Europe, have traces of his existence 
been discovered. Though the absolute time of his advent cannot 
be determined, he doubtless was an inhabitant of the earth several 
hundred thousand years before he was sufficiently intelhgent to 
l)reserve the records of his own history. His appearance as the 
head of the animal kingdom marks a new stage in the unfoldment 
of terrestrial life. His claim to this preeminence is based on the 
sni)eriority of his mental, moral and spiritual endo^^Tneuts. Having 
an miderstanding capable of endless progression in knowledge, he 
is able to study the laws of natiu-e and make them subserAient to 
his will and wants ; to institute systems of government for his 
protection, and to hold in subjection the lower animals, however 
greatly they may exceed him in size or physical strength. He is 
the only terrestrial being capable of comi)rehendiug the nature 
of moral relations ; of distinguishing right from wrong, and of deri- 
ving hap])uiess from the practice of vutue and suffering in conse- 
quence of vice. In his reverence for the Deity and aspirations for 
immortality he is removed still further from the animal plane, and 
stands as a connecting link between the latter and spirit exist- 
eu(;e. 

The present age still retains, in a diminished degree of activity, 
the geological forces of previous periods. Extensive flats at many 
points along the Atlantic coast, and the deltas and other alluvial 
formations of rivers, are slowly extending the present surface. 
The latter, in many places, is becoming modified by the produc- 
tion of peat-beds : in volcanic regions, by the ejection of lava, and 
in paroxysmal disturbances, extensive areas are still subject to 
elevations and depressions, evidently a continuation of prcAdous 
oscillations. As observed by Moravian settlers, the western coast 
of Greenland, for a distance of 600 miles, has been slowly sinking 
during the last four ceiituries. The border of the continent, from 
Labrador southward to Xew Jersey, is supposed to be undergoing 
changes of level, but more accurate observations will be necessary 
to determine the extent of the movement. 

Like the uninterrniited course of human history there are no 
strongly drawn lines between the ages and their corresponding 
system of rocks and organic remains. Culminent phases occur, 
giving distinctiveness to the center of each and distinguishing it 
from others. The germ of each was long working forward in the 
past before it attained its full development and peculiar character, 
and extended far uito the future for its decline and final extinction. 
There is, hence, a blending of i)eriods and their jiroducts, and, 
whde centrally well defined, their beginnings and endings are 
T\athout lines of demarkation. The ratios, representing the com- 
parative length of each age as determined by the thickness of its 
rocks and the rate of tlieir formation, are as follows: Salurian, 
including the Laurentian and Huronian, 49; Devonian, 15; Car- 
boniferous, 15; Eeptilian, 23; Mammalian, 18. In consequence 
of the constantly varying conditions attending the growth of rocks, 



GEOLOGY. 13 

these resiilts are only approximations to tlie truth. They are, 
however, sufficiently correct to give the proportionate diu-atiou of 
these great geological eras, and will doubtless, by future research, 
be rendered more accurate. Could definite intervals of time be 
substituted for these ratios, the most ample evidence exists to 
prove that the results would be inconceivably great. Even with- 
in the period of existing causes, the mind is startled at the tre- 
mendous sweep of ages required to effect comparatively small 
results. The w-aters of Lake Erie originally extended below the 
present Falls of Niagara, and the cataract, in subsequently pass- 
ing from the same point to its present position, excavated the 
intervening channel of the river. Allowing the rate of movement 
to be one nich per year, which is perhaps not too low an estimate, 
it would require 380,000 years to pass over the six miles of retro- 
cession. Judging from this estimate, what time would be required 
to excavate the canon of the Colorado, which is 300 miles long, 
and has been worn a large part of the distance through granite 
from 3000 to 6000 feet in depth ? Captain Hunt, who for many 
years was stationed at Key West, and whose opportunity for 
observations was good, estimates that the coral insects, which 
have built up the limestone formations of Florida, nnist have 
required more than 5,000,000 years to complete their labors. 



Chapter II. 
THE TOPOGRAPHY, RIVERS, SOH. AND CLIMATOLOGY. 



The Rivers and Topography of the State are based upon and cor- 
respond with its geological formations. The snrftice, inclination 
and the direction of the interior drainage faces the southwest. 
Rock river, flo^^^ng southwesterly through one of the most beau- 
tiful and fertile regions, enters the Mississippi just below the 
Upper Rapids. The Desplaines, rising in Wisconsin west of Lake 
Michigan, and flowing southward, and the Kankakee, rising in 
Indiana, south of the lake, and flowing westward, form the Illinois. 
The latter stream, the largest in the State, coiu-ses across it in a 
southwesterly direction and falls into the Mississippi not far from 
the city of Alton. The Kaskaskia rises near the eastern boundary 
of the'State and the 40th parallel of latitude, flows in a southwest 
du-ection, and forms a junction with the Mississippi not far from 
the to"\\Ti which bears its name. These and other smaller streams 
flow through valleys originally excavated in solid limestone by 
ancient rivers anterior to the formation of the drift. The latter 
material was subsequently deposited in these primitive water 
coiu'ses from 10 to more than 200 feet in thickness, and now forms 
the channel of the existing streams. For the formation of these 
ancient river beds of such great width and frequently excavated 
several hundred feet in hard carboniferous rocks, the diminished 
waters now flo\\4ng within their lining of drift are wholly inade- 
quate. Furthermore, the alluvial valleys which the rivers now 
occuj)y are far too broad to correspond with the present volume 
and swiftness of the waters. The alluvial bottoms of the Illinois 
are nearly equal to those of the Mississippi, though the latter has 
a cm-rent twice as rapid and a quantity of water 6 times as large 
as the former stream. The smaller streams of the State occupy 
vaUeys flUed ^dth drift, through which the waters have been Tinable 
to cut their way to the ancient troughs below. Owing to this, the 
stratified rocks in many localities have never become exposed, and 
it is difficidt for the geologist to determine the character of the 
underlying formations. 

Though the surface of the State is generally level or slightly 
undulating, there are some portions of it considerably eleva- 
ted. The highest simimits are found along the northern border 
between Freeport and Galena, known as the mounds. The culmi- 
nant points of altitude are 200 feet above the surrounding country, 
575 above the waters of Lake Michigan, 900 above the junction 
of the Ohio and Mississippi, and 1,150 above the ocean. The tops 
of the mounds coincide ^vith the original elevation of the surface, 
and their present condition as isolated hills is due to denuding 



TOPOGRAPHY AND RIVERS. 15 

forces which have carried away the surrounding strata. Mounds 
occur in other places, some of them having- a hight of 50 feet, and 
frequently a crown of timber uiion their summits, which gives them 
the appearance of islands in surrounding seas of prairie verdure. 
Besides the mounds there are in the State 5 principal axes of dis- 
turbance and elevation. The most northerly of these enters it in 
Stephenson county, crossing Rock river near Dixon, and the Illinois 
not far from LaSalle. On the former river it brings to the surface 
the St. Peters sahdstone; on the latter, magnesian limestone, a 
Silurian formation. At LaSalle the coal strata are uplifted to the 
surface from a depth of 400 feet, which shows that the disturbance 
occurred after theu' formation. On the Mississippi, in Calhoun 
county, there occurred an upheaval of the strata, attended \^dth a 
down- throw of more than 1,000 feet. On the south side of the 
axis the Burlington limestone of the subcarboniferous series had 
its strata tilted up almost perpendicular to the horizon. On the 
north side the St. Peters sandstone and magnesian limestone were 
elevated, and form the bluff known as Sandstone Cape. This 
bluff, at the time of its elevation, was doubtless a mountain mass 
of 1,500 feet in hight, and has since been reduced to its present 
altitude by the denuding efi'ects of water. The same axis of dis- 
turbance, trending in a southeastern direction, crosses the Illinois 6 
miles above its mouth, and farther southward again strikes the 
Mississippi and disappears in its channel. Farther down the river 
another uplift dislocates the strata near the southern line of St. 
Clair county. This disturbance extends by way of Columbia, in 
Monroe county, to the Mississippi, and brings to the surface the 
same limestone and the St. Peters sandstone. Again, farther 
southward, an uj)lifted mountain ridge extends from Grand Tower, 
on the Mississippi, to Shawneetown, on the Ohio ; on the west of 
the Mississippi it brings the lower Silmian rocks to the surface ; in 
Jackson county, Illinois, it tilts up the Devonian hmestone at an 
angle, of 25 degrees; and farther eastward the subcarboniferous 
Limestone becomes the surface rock. The last important point of 
disturbance occurs in Alexander county, constituting the Grand 
Chain, a dangerous reef of rocks, extending across the Mississippi 
and forming a bluff on the Illinois shore 70 feet high. Passing 
thence in a southeastern direction, it crosses the Ohio a few miles 
above Caledonia, in Pulaski county.* 

The Formation of the Soil is due to geological and other physi- 
cal agencies. From long habit we are accustomed to look upon it 
without considering its wonderful pro]3erties and great importance 
in the economy of animal life. Not attractive itself, yet its ])ro- 
ductions far transcend the most elaborate works of art ; and hav- 
ing but nttle diversity of appearance, the endless variety which 
pervades the vegetable and animal kingdoms springs from its pro- 
lific abundance. Its mysterious elements, incorporated in the struc- 
ture of plants, clothes the earth with verdure and pleasant land- 
scapes. They bloom in the flower, load the breeze with fragrant 
odors, blush in the clustering fruit, whiten the fields with harvests 
for the supply of food, fiu-nish the tissues which, wi'ought into 
fabrics, decorate and protect the body, and yield the curative 
agents for healing the diseases to which it is subject. From the 
same source also proceed the elements which, entermg the domain 

*Geological Survey of Illinois, by A. H. Worthen. 



16 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of animal life, pulsate in tlie blood, suffuse the cheek with the 
glow of health, speak in the eye, in the nerve become the recipi- 
ents. of pleasure and pain, render the tongue vocal with music and 
eloquence, and liU the brain, the seat of reason and throne of the 
imagination, with its gloAving imagery and brilliant fancies. But 
while the soil is the source of such munificent gifts, it is also the 
insatiable bourne to which they nuist all return. The lofty tree, 
spreadhig its vast canvas of leaves to the winds, and breasting 
tlie storms of a thousand years, finally dies, and undergoing de- 
composition, enriches the earth in which it grew. The king of 
beasts, whose loud roar can be heard for miles, and whose im- 
mense power enables him to prey upon the denizens of his native 
jungles, cannot resist the fate which at length consigns his sinewy 
frame to the mold. Even the lord of the lower world, notmth- 
standing his exalted ijosition and grasp of intellect, must likewise 
suffer physical death and mingle ^ith the sod that forms his 
grave. 

The soil w^as originally formed by the decomposition of rocks. 
These, by long exjiosure to the air, water and frost, become disiu- 
tegrated, and the comminuted material acted upon by vegetation, 
forms the fruitful mold of the surface. When of local origin, it 
varies in composition with the changing material from which it is 
derived. If sandstone prevails, it is too porous to retain fertiliz- 
ing agents ; if limestone is in excess, it is too hot and dry ; and if 
slate predominates, the resulting clay is too wet and cold. Hence 
it is only a combination of these and other ingredients that can 
properly adapt the earth to the growth of vegetation. Happily 
for Illinois tlie origin of its surface formations precludes the pos- 
sibility of sterile extremes arising from local causes. As we have 
stated before, almost the entire surface of the State is a stratum 
of drift, formed by the decomposition of every variety of rock, 
and commingled in a homogeneous mass by the agents employed 
in its distribution. This immense deposit, varying from 10 to 200 
feet in thickness, required for its production jihysical conditions 
which do not now exist. We must go far back in the history of 
the i)lanet, when the Polar world was a desolation of icy wastes. 
From these dreary realms of enduring frosts vast glaciers, reaching 
southward, dipped into the waters of an inland sea, extending 
over a large part of the upper Mississippi valley. These ponder- 
ous masses, moving southward with irresistible power, tore im- 
mense boulders from their parent ledges and incorporated them 
in their structure. By means of these, in their furtlier progress, 
thej^ grooved and planed down the subjacent rocks, gathering up 
and carrying with them part of the abraded material and strew- 
ing their track for hundreds of miles with the remainder. On 
reaching the shore of the interior sea huge icebergs were projected 
from their extremities into the waters, which, melting as they 
floated into warmer latitudes, distributed the detrital matter they 
contained over the bottom. Thus, long before the plains of Illi- 
nois clanked -^ith the din of railroad trains, these ice-formed navies 
plowed the seas in which they were submerged, and distributed 
over them cargoes of soil-producing sediment. ]^o mariner walked 
their crystal decks to direct their course, and no pennon attached 
to their glittering masts trailed in the winds that urged them for- 
ward ; yet they might perhaps have sailed under the flags of a 



SOIL. 17 

liiindred succeediiifi; empires, each as old as tlie present nationali- 
ties of the earth, during' the performance of their labors. This 
splendid soil-forming deposit is destined to make Illinois the great 
centre of American wealth and population. Perhaps no other 
country of the same extent on the face of the globe can boast a 
soil so ubiquitous in its distribution and so universally producti\'e. 
Enriched by all the minerals in the crust of the earth, it necessa- 
rily contains a great variety of constituents. Since plants differ 
so widely in the elements of which they are comi)osed, this multi- 
plicity of composition is the means of growing a great diversity 
of crops, and the amount produced is correspondingl}' large. So 
great is the fertility, that years of continued cultivation do not 
materially diminish the yield, and should sterility be induced by 
excessive working, the subsoil can be made available. This ex- 
tends from 2 to 10 and even 20 and 30 feet in depth, and when 
mixed with the mold of the surface, gives it a greater producing 
capacity than it had at first. Other States have hinited areas as 
productive, but nearly the entire surface of Illinois is arable land, 
and when brought under cultivation ^\i\\ become one continued 
scene of verdure and agricultural profusion. With not half of its 
area improved, the State has become the granary of the continent ; 
far excels any other member of the Union in packing jjork ; fat- 
tens more than half of all the cattle shipped to the Eastern mar- 
kets, and if prices were as remunerative, could furnish other 
products to a corresponding extent. Graded to a proi^er level, 
and free from obstructions, the State has become the principal 
theatre for the use and invention of agricultural implements. 
Owing to the cheapness attending the use of machinery, with a 
given amount of capital, a greater extent of lands can be culti- 
vated. The severity of the labor expended is also proportionately 
diminished, and those engaged in husbandry ha^^e time to become 
acquaijited with the theoretical as well as the practical part of 
tlieir duties. The ])ro found philosophy involved in the growth of 
plants furnishes a field for investigation and experiment requiring 
the highest order of talent and the most varied and extensive at- 
tainments. Agriculture, aided by chemistry, vegetable j^hysiology 
and kindred branches of knowledge, will greatly enhance the pro- 
ductiveness of the land. Thus Avith the advantages of science, a 
superior soil, and the use of machhiery, agricultiue will always 
i-emain the most attra(;tive, manly and jirotitable branch of indus- 
try in which the people of Illinois can engage, contributing more 
than any other pursuit to individual comfort, and proportionally 
adding to the prosperity of the State. The cultivation of the soil 
in aU ages has furnished employment for the largest and best jjor- 
tion of mankind ; yet the honor to which they are entitled has 
never been fully acknowledged. Though their occupation is the 
basis of natioiml prosperity, and uj^on its ])rogress more than any 
other bi'anch of industry dei)ends the march of civilization, yet 
its history remains to a great extent unwritten. Historians duly 
chronicle the feats of the warrior who ravages the earth and beg- 
gars its inhabitants, but leaves unnoticed the labors of him who 
causes the desolated country to bloom again, and heals with the 
balm of plenty the miseries of war. When true worth is duly re- 
cognized, instead of the mad ambition Avhich subjugates nations 
to acquire power, the heroism which subdues the soil and feeds 

9 



18 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tlie world, will be the theme of the poet's song- and the orator's 
eloquence. 

The Origin of the Prairies has been a source of specnlation. 
One theory is that the soil resulted from the decomposition of 
vegetable matter under water, and that the attending conditions 
were incompatible with the growth of timber. According to this 
view, prairies are at present in process of formation along the 
shores of lakes and rivers. During river freshets the heaviest 
particles settle nearest the channel, and here by repeated deposits 
the banks first became elevated above the floods. These natural 
levies becoming sufficiently high, are overg•ro^^■n with timber and 
inclose large areas of bottom lands back from the river, by wliich 
they are frequently inundated. Tlie waters on these fiats, when 
the fiood subsides, are cut off from the river and form sloughs, 
frequently of great extent. Their shallow and stagnant waters 
are first invaded by mosses and other aquatic plants which grow 
under the siuface and contain in their tissues lime, alliuuina, and 
silica, the constituents of clay. They also subsist immense niTui- 
bers of small mollusks and other diminutive creatures, and the 
constant decomposition of both vegetables and animals forms a 
stratum of clay corresponding with that which underlies the fin- 
ished prairies. As the marshy bottoms are by this means built 
u}) to the siu'face of the water, the mosses are then interndxed 
with coarse grasses, which become more and more abundant as the 
deptli diminishes. These reedy i)lants, now rising above the sur- 
face, absorb and decompose tlie carbonic acid gas of the atmos- 
pliere, and convert it into Avoody matter, which at first forms a 
clayey mold and afterwards the black mold of the prairie. The 
same agencies, now operating in the ponds skirting the banks of 
rivers, originally formed all the prairies of the Mississippi Valley. 
We have already seen that the surface of the land was submerged 
during the dispersion of the drift, and in its slow emergence after- 
ward, it was covered by vast sheets of shallow water, which first 
formed swamps and subsequently prairies. The present want of 
liorizontality in some of them is due to the erosive action of water. 
Tlie drainage, moving in the direction of the creeks and rivers, at 
k'ugth furrowed the surface with tortuous meanders, resulting 
finally in the present undulating prairies. The absence of trees, the 
most remarkable featm-e, is attributable first to the formation of 
ulmic acid,AA'hich favors the growth of herbacious plants and retards 
that of forests ; secondly, trees absorb by their roots large quantities 
of air, which they cannot obtain when tlie surface is under water or 
covered by a compact sod; and thirdly, they require solid points 
of attachment which marshy flats are unable to furnish. AVhen, 
however, the lands become dry and the sod is liroken by the plow 
or otherwise destroyed, they produce all the varieties of arbores- 
cent vegetation common to their latitude. Indeed, since the settle- 
ment of Illinois, the woodland area of many localities extends far 
beyond its original limits. 

The foregoing theory requires a large, unvarying quantity of 
water, while another, perhaps equally plausible, is based on aque- 
ous conditions ahnost the reverse. It is well know^n that the 
diflerent continental masses of the globe are in general surrounded 
by zones of timber, and have wdtliin them belts of grasses, and 
centrally large areas of inhospitable deserts. On the Atlantic side 



PRAIRIES 19 

of North America tliere is a continnoii.s wooded region, extendiug 
from Hudson Bay to the Gnlf of Mexico, wliile on the Pacific a simi- 
lar arborescent growth embraces some of the most gigantic speci- 
mens of the vegetable kingdom. Within these bands of timber, 
which approach each other in their northern and southern reaches, 
are the great prairies extending transversely across the Mississippi 
Valley, and having their greatest expansion in the valley of the 
Missouri. Farther westward, from increasing dryness, the grasses 
entirely disappear, and the great American Desert usurps their 
place. This alternation of forest, prairie, and desert, corres- 
I)onds with the precipitation of moisture. The ocean is the great 
source of moisture, and the clouds are the vehicles employed for 
its distribution over the land. From actual measurement it has 
been ascertained that they discharge most of their water on the 
exterior rim of the continents ; that farther toward the interior 
the amount precipitated is less, and flaally it is almost entu'ely 
supplanted by the aridity of the desert. In a section extending 
across the continent from New York to San Francisco, the amount 
of rain-faU strikingly coincides with the alternations of wood-land, 
prairie, and desert. The region extending from New York, which 
has an annual rain-faU of 42 inches, to Ann Arbor, having 29 
inches, is heavily covered with timber; thence to Galesburg, 111., 
having 26 inches,* is mostly prairie interspersed with clumi^s of 
forest ; thence to Fort Laramie, having 20 inches, it rapidly 
changes to a continuous prairie ; thence to Fort Yimia, ha^ing 
only 3 inches, it becomes an inhospitable desert ; and thence to 
San Francisco, having 22 inches, it changes to luxuriant forests. 
Illinois is thus within the region of alternate wood and prairie, 
with the latter largely predominating. This vride belt, owing to a 
difference of capacity for retaining moistiu^e, has its eastern and 
western borders thrown into irregular outlines, resembling deeply 
indented bays and projecting headlands. As the result of decreas- 
ing moisture, only 90 arborescent species are found in the wooded 
region which on the east extends a considerable distance into 
Illinois, and all of these, except 6, disappear farther westward. 
The diminished precipitation in Illinois, and the great valley east 
of the Mississippi, while it has an unfavorable effect on the growth 
of trees, seems rather to enhance the gro^vth of crops. In fiu'ther 
confirmation of this theory, the same physical laws which have 
diversified North America with forest, prairie, and desert, have 
l^roduced similar effects upon other continents. Hence it is that 
South America has its Atacama, Africa its great Sahara, Europe 
its barren stepi^es, and Asia its raiidess waste of sand and salt, 
extending through more than 100 degrees of longitude. AU these 
desert places, where local causes do not interfere, are girt about 
by grassy plains aiul belts of forest. 

* The siib.joiiipfl table has been kindly furnished us by Prof. Livingstone, of Lombard TJnl- 
rersity. It will be seen that the mean annual temperature of Galesburg is 48 degrees, and its 
mean annual precipitation of moisture 24 inches. The sonthern and western portions of the 
State slightiv exceed the above figirres: 



Jan. 


Feb. 
24°. 14 


Mar. Apr. 

3 p, 3 s 
30O 25 '490; 23 


May. 


June. 

P 
3 =• 

70° 32 


July. 


Aug. 


Sep. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Ann'l 


P 


14 


g 
GO" 


29 


590 40 


2 2. 
£ 5' 

711; 43 


a 
3 

C30 


33 


2 1 S. 

3 a 


P|P-P 
390 U 260 


18 


1 1- 
480 26 



20 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Some eminent physicists refer the treeless character of the great 
grassy pkiius to the mechanical and chemical character of the soil. 
Perhaps, in the constantly varying physical conditions of different 
localities, the forces alluded to in these theories advanced, may all 
co-operate to produce these great grassy expanses, which consti- 
tute so large a part of the earth's surface. To Illinois they are 
inexhaustible soiu-ces of wealth, and as intimately connected with 
her destiny as the great coal lields which underlie them. Both are 
the expression of natural law, both destined to furnish the State 
with the elements of future greatness and power, and both j)ro- 
l)hetic of labor, intelligence and the enjoyment of a noble man- 
hood.* 

The Climatology of the State, in common with other countries of 
the same latitude, has four seasons. The melting snows of winter, 
generally attended by rains, convert the rich soil of the prairie into 
mud, and render early spring the most unpleasant part of the year. 
The heat of summer, although more intense than in the same lati- 
tude on the Atlantic, is greatly relieved by the constant breezes 
which fan the prairies. Autumn, with slowly diminishing heats, 
terminates in the serene and beautiful season known as Indian 
summer. Its mild and uniform temi)erature, soft and hazy atmos- 
phere, and forests beautifully tinted with the hues of dying foliage, 
all conspire to render it the pleasant part of the year. Next come 
the boreal blasts of winter, with its social firesides, and tinkling 
bells in the mystic light of the moon, as meriy sleighs skim over 
the level snow-clad prames. The winter has its sudden changes 
of temperature, causing colds and other diseases arising ii^om 
extreme vicissitudes of weather. This is the most unfavorable 
feature of the climate, which in other respects is salubrious. The 
general belief that Illinois is scourged by bilious diseases is sub- 
stantially unfounded. It is Avell known that the pioneers of Ohio, 
Indiana and Michigan suffered far worse from malarious diseases 
than those who first subdued the soil of Illinois. The cause of 
this is apparent. The malaria of marshes and unsul)dued sods in 
wooded districts, excluded from the light of the sun and a free 
circulation of air, is far more malignant than that of the prairie 
having the full benefit of these counteracting agents.t 

The most distinguishing feature of the climate is its sub-tropical 
summers and the arctic severities of its winters. The newly 
arrived English immigrant is at first inclined to com})laiu of these 
chmatic extremes, but a short residence in the country soon con- 
\dnces him that many of the most kindly fruits and plants could 
not be cultivated and matured without them. Owing to this tropical 
element of the summer, the peach, grape, sweet potato, cotton, 
corn and other plants readily mature in Illinois, though its mean 
annual temi)erature is less than that of England, where their cul- 
tivation is impossible. These facts show that a high temperature 
for a short season is more beneficial to some of the most valued 
plants than a moderate temperature long continued. This is well 
exemplified in the cultivation of our great staple, maize, or Indian 
corn, which, wherever the conditions are favorable, yields a greater 
amount of nutriment, with a given amount of labor, than any 

*See Geogi-aphical Surveys of the State, aud Foster's Physical Geography of the Missis- 
sippi Valley. 

tFoeter's Physical Geography. 



CLIMATOLOGY. 21 



kno^ra cereal. It was origiiially a tropical grass, tmd wlieii culti- 
vated in regions of a higli aaul protracted temperature, exhibits a 
strong tendency to revert to its original (;ondition. In the Gulf States 
it grows to a greater hight than farther northward, but its ;\*ield of 
seed is correspondingly less. In the valleys opening seaward along 
the Pacilic slope, it attains a medium size, but fails to mature for 
the want of sufftcient heat. Hence the districts of its maximum 
production must be far north of its native latitudes, and Iuiao the 
benefit of short but intense summer heats. In Illmois and adja- 
cent parts of the great valley its greatest yield is about the 4:1st 
parallel, and though far less imposing in its appearance than on 
the Gulf, its productive ca|>acity is said to be four-fold greater 
than either there or on the Pacific. It is wonderfid that a plant 
should undergo such a great tiansforunxtion in structiu^e and nat- 
ural habits, and that its greatest producing capacity should be 
near the northern limits of its possible cultivation. These facts 
suggest questions of great scientific value relative to the develop- 
ment of other j^lants by removing them from their native localities. 

One of the causes which assist in imparting these extremes to 
the climate may be thus explained. The different continental 
masses during the sununer become rapidly heated under the influ- 
ence of the sun, while the surrounding oceans are less sensitive to 
its effects. As the result, the lands bordering on the sea have a 
coraxiaratively mild temperatiu-e, while the interior is subject to 
intense heat. During winter, for similar reasons, the interior 
becomes severely cold, while the sea-girt shore stiU enjoys a much 
milder temperature. But a greater modifying influence upon the 
climate are the muds to which it is subject. The source of these 
is at the equator, where the air, becoming rarified from the eflects 
of heat, rises and flows in vast masses toward the poles. On 
reaching colder latitudes it descends to the earth, and as an under- 
current returns to the equator and supplies the tropical vacuum 
caused by its previous ascent. If the earth were at rest, the two 
under and tr\vo upper currents woidd move at right angles to 
the equator. But, OAving to its daily revolution from west to east, 
the under-currents, as they pass from the poles toward the equator 
where the rotation is greatest, fall behind the earth, and that in 
the northern hemisphere flows from the northeast, and that in the 
southern from the southeast. In like manner the upper-currents, 
flowing from the greater velocity of the equator toward the less at 
the poles, get in advance of the earth ; and the one in the north 
flows from the southwest, and the other in the south from the 
northwest. If the globe were a i^erfectly smooth sphere, the flow 
of the winds as abo^'e described would be uniform, but the foimer 
being crested with mountain chains, the latter are broken into a 
gxeat variety of local currents. In a belt of about L'.j degrees on 
each side of the equator, the under-currents blow with the greatest 
regulaiity, and are called trade-winds, from their importance to nav- 
igation and commerce. 

In makuig an application of these great primary currents to the 
valley of the jMississippi, and consequently to Illinois, it will be 
seen that the southwest winds, descending from their equato- 
rial altitude, become the prevailing winds of tlie surface in our 
latitude. Besides these, the northeast trade-winds, in then- i)ro- 
gress toward the equator, impinge against the lofty chain of the 



22 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Andes, and are deflected up the Mississippi Valley and mingle 
with the winds from the southwest. In their passage along- the 
Andes Mountains, and across the Caribbean Sea and the Mexican 
Gulf, they become charged with tropical heat and moisture. On 
entering tl)e great central valley of the continent, walled in on 
both sides by impassable mountaui barriers, they are directed far 
northward, and, mingling with the southwest winds, dispense their 
waters, warmth and fertility, which are destined to nuike it the 
greatest theatre of human activities on the face of the globe. 
These winds, from local causes, frequently veer about to different 
points of the compass ; and in Illinois and other prairie States, 
where there are no forest belts to break theu' force, frequently 
sweep over the countrj'^ with the fury of toruadoes. Almost every 
year has recorded instances of the loss of hfe and property from 
this cause, and even ui the great northern forests are tracks made 
by their passage, as well dehned as the course of the reaper thi'ough 
a field of grain. 



Chapter III. 
ILLINOIS ANTIQUITIES— THE MOUND BUILDERS. 



It is the opinion of antiquarians that three distinct races of 
people lived in North America prior to its occupation by the present 
population. Of these the builders of the magnificent cities whose 
remains are found in a number of localities of Central America 
were the most civilized. Judging from the ruins of broken columns, 
fallen arches and the crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyr- 
amids, which in some places for miles bestrew the ground, these 
cities must have been of great extent and very populous. The 
mind is almost startled at the remoteness of their antiquity, when 
we consider the vast sweep of time necessary to erect such colossal 
structures of solid masonry, and afterwards convert them into the 
present utter wreck. Comparing their complete desolation with 
the ruins of Balbec, Palmyra, Thebes and Memphis, they must 
have been old when the latter were being built. May not America 
then be called the old world instead of the new; and may it not 
liave contained, when these Central American cities were erected, 
a civilization equal if not superior to that which contemporane- 
ously existed on the banks of the Nile, and made Egypt the cradle 
of eastern arts and science? , . 

The second race, as determined by the character of their ci^^h- 
zation, were the mound builders, the remains of whose works con- 
stitute the most interesting class of antiquities found within the 
linuts of the United States. Like the rums of Central America, 
they antedate the most ancient records ; tradition can fiu'nish no 
account of them, and their character can only be partially gleaned 
from the internal evidences which they themselves afford. They 
consist of the remains of what were apparently tillages, altars, 
temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleas- 
ure grounds, etc. The farthest relic of this kind, discovered in a 
northeastern direction, was near Black river on the south side of 
Lake Ontario. Thence they extend in a southwestern direction 
by way of the Ohio, the i\Iissi.ssippi, Mexican Gulf, Texas, New 
Mexico and Yucatan, into South America. Commencing in Cata- 
raugus county. New York, there was a cham of forts extending 
more than 50 miles southwesterly, not more than 4 or 5 miles 
a]iart, and e^^dently built by a people rude in the arts and few in 
nuuibers. Further southward they mcrease in number and mag- 
nitude. In West Virginia, near the junction of Grave creek and 
the Ohio, is one of the most august monuments of remote antiquity 
found in the Avhole country. A,ccordhig to measurement it has an 
altitude of 90 feet, a diameter at the base of 100 feet, and at the 
summit of 45 feet, while a partial examination discloses within it 



24 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the existence of mauy thousands of hnman skeletons. In Oliio, 
where the mounds have been carefully examined, are found some 
of the most extensive and interesting that occur in the United 
States. At the mouth of the Muskingum, among a number of 
curious works, was a rectangular fort containing 40 acres, encircled 
by a wall of earth 10 feet high, and perforated with openings 
resembling gateways. In the mound near the fort were found the 
remains of a sword, which appeared to have been buried with its 
owner. Eesting on the forehead were fouud three large coj^per 
bosses, plated with silver and attached to a leather buckler. Near 
the side of the body was a plate of siher, which had perhaps been 
the upper part of a copper scabbard, portions of which were filled 
with iron rust, doubtless the remains of a sword. A fort of similar 
construction and dimensions was found on Licking river, near 
Newark. Eight gateways pierced the walls, and were guarded by 
mounds directly opposite each on the inside of the work. At Cir- 
cleville, on the Scioto, there were two forts in juxtaposition ; the 
one an exact circle 60 rods in diameter, and the other a perfect 
square, 55 rods on each side. The circular fortification was sur- 
rounded by two walls, with an intervening ditch 20 feet in depth. 
On Paint creek, 15 miles west of Chillicothe, besides other exten- 
sive works, were discovered the remains of a walled town. It was 
built on the summit of a hill about 300 feet in altitude, and encom- 
passed by a wall 10 feet in hight, made of stone in their natiu-al 
state. The area thus inclosed contained 130 acres. On the south 
side of it there were found the remains of what appeared originally 
to have been a row of furnaces or smith-shops, about which cinders 
were found several feet in depth. In the bed of the creek, which 
washes the foot of the hill, were found wells which had been cut 
through solid rock. They were more than 3 feet in diameter at the 
top, neatly walled with jointed stones, and, at the time of discovery, 
covered over by circular stones. So numerous were works of this 
kind in Ohio it would require a large volume to speak of them in 
detail. 

Along the Mississippi they reach their maximiuii size and contam 
some of the most interesting relics. The number of mounds found 
here at an early day were estimated at more than 3,000, the smallest 
of which were not less than 20 feet in hight, and 100 feet in diam- 
eter at the base. A large number of them were found in Illinois, 
but, unfortunately, most of those who have examined them were 
little qualified to furnish correct information respecting their real 
character. It is greatly to be regretted that the State has never 
ordered a survey of these works by persons qualified to do the 
subject justice. Many of the most interesting have been ruthlessly 
destroyed, but it is believed a sufftcient number stdl remain to 
justify an examination. It may, hoAvever, be safely assumed, from 
what is already known respecting them, that they were substantially 
the same as those found in other parts of the United Stat(?s. 

One of the most singular earthworks in this State was found in 
the lead region on the top of a ridge near the east bank of the 
Sinsinawa creek. It resembled some huge animal, the head, 
ears, nose, legs and tail and general outline of which being as per- 
fect as if made by men versed in modern art. The ridge on which 
it was situated stands on tlie prairie, 300 yards wide, 100 feet in 
hight, and rounded on the top by a deep deposit of clay. Gen- 



ANTIQUITIES — MOUND BULLDERS. 25 

trally, along the line of its summit and thrown up in the form of 
an enibankinent three feet high, extended the outhne of a quadru- 
perl, measuring 250 feet from tlie tip of the nose to the end of tlie 
tail, and lia\dng a width of bodv at the center of 18 feet. The 
head was 35 feet in length, the ears 10, legs GO, and tail 75. The 
curvature in both the fore and hind legs was natiu-al to an animal 
lying on its side. The general outhne of the figure most nearly 
resembled the extinct auimal known to geologists as the Megathe- 
rium. The question naturally arises, by whom and for wha't pur- 
pose was this earth figure raised ? Some have conjectured that 
numbers of this now extinct animal lived and roai'ned over the 
prairies of Illinois when the mound builders first made their appear- 
ance in the upper part of the Mississippi Valley, and that their 
wonder and admiration, excited by the colossal dimensions of these 
huge creatures, found expression in the erection of this figure. 
The bones of some similar gigantic animals were exhumed on this 
stream about 3 miles from the same place.* 

David Dale Owen, a celebrated western geologist, in his report 
to the land office in 1839, refers to a number of figures, similar to 
the one above described, as existing in Wisconsui. He thinks they 
were connected with the totemic system of the Indians who formerly 
dwelt in this part of the country. When, for example a distin- 
guished chief died, he infers that his clansmen raised over his body 
a mound resembluig the animal which had been used as a symbol 
to designate his family. 

Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the western' 
country in 1817, speaking of the mounds in the American Bottom, 
says: "The great mmiber and the extremely large size of some 
of them may be regarded as fiu-nishing, with other circumstances, 
evidence of their antiquity. I have sometimes been induced to 
think that at the period when they were constructed there was a 
population here as numerous as that which once animated the 
borders of the l^ile or of the Euphrates or of Mexico. The most 
numerous as well as considerable of these remains are found, in 
precisely those parts of the country where the traces of a nnmer- 
ous population might be looked for, namely, from the month of 
the Ohio, on the east side of the Mississippi, to the lUinois river, 
and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am per- ' 
fectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of 
several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country." 

Says Mr. C. Atwater, the author of an able work on the antiqui- 
ties of Ohio: " i>f early opposite St. Louis there are traces of two 
such cities, in the distance of 5 miles. They were situated on the 
Cahokia, which crosses the American Bottom opposite St. Louis. 
One of the mounds is 800 vards in cncumference at the base, and 
100 feet in hight." 

The following description of this mound, which is the largest in 
the United States, is condensed from an article in the Belleville 
Uagle : It is situated Gi miles northeast of St. Louis, and is com- 
monly known as the Monk's mound, from the Monks of La Trappe 
having settled on and around it. It is an irregular oblong, ex- 
tending north and south, and its shortest sides east and west. 
The top contains about 3:^ acres, and about half way down the 
sides is a terrace, extenduig the wliole width of the mouiul, and 

*Galena Jeffersoniau, 1803. ~ 



26 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

sufficiently broad to afford sites for a number of spacious build- 
ings. The present want of regularity is due to tlie action of the 
rains, wliicli, diu-ing a long interval of time, lias so changed its 
surface that the original design of its builders has been lost. A 
Mr. Hill, who lived on it, in making an excavation for an ice-house 
on the northwest part, found human bones and white pottery in 
large quantities. The bones, which crumbled to dust on being- 
exposed to the air, were larger than common, and the teeth were 
double in front as well as behind. A well dug by Mr. Hill, Avhose 
dwelluig was on the summit, passed through several strata of 
earth, and, it is said, the remains of weeds and grass were discov- 
ered between the layers, the color of which was still visible and 
bright as when they were first inhumed. The writer thiidcs this 
portion of the American Bottom might with proi)riety be called 
the city of mounds, for m less than a mile square there are (K) or 
80 of every size and form, none of which are more tlmn one-third 
as large as the Monk's mound. They extend hi a westerly direc- 
tion, five miles or more, along the Cahokia. 

Notwithstanding the authorities referred to above, recent obser- 
vations render it highly probable that these mounds are portions 
of the original shore of the Mississippi, which, like islands, were 
not wholly washed away by its waters. Professor Worthen, our 
State Geologist, and others, think that the material of which they 
are composed, and its stratification, correspond exactly in these 
Ijarticulars with the opposite bluff's. 

The greatest evidence of art which they exhibit is their form. 
The base of the large mound, before denudation changed it, had 
the form of a parallelogram, whose well defined right-angles could 
not have resulted from the action of water. Its terrace, and the 
same features which distinguished the mounds on the west side 
of the river at St. Louis, at Marietta, Portsmouth, Paint Creek 
and Cu'cleville, Ohio, and large numbers of them in Mexico, ai-e 
remarkable coincidences, if they are not works of art. It is well 
known that the ancients, instead of throwing up mounds, in 
some instances selected natural elevations and shai)ed them with 
terraces for sites of altars and tem^des, and this seems to liaAe 
been the character of the mounds in the American Bottom. Though 
not oiiginaUy intended for graves, they were subsequently used as 
such by the Indians, that theu' dead might be above the floods of 
the Mississippi. 

But whatever may have been the nature of these, there is no 
doubt as to the artificial character of others in many localities. 
Pioneer evidence states that at an early date copper, and a great 
variety of other implements, exceeding in their workmanship the 
skill of the present Indians, were taken from the mounds of South- 
ern Illinois. The existence of this metal in these earthworks re- 
fers them to the era of the mound builders, as the Indians are 
ignorant of the process of working it, and never used it in the 
manufacture of implements. The copper so frequently discovered 
in mounds in the United States doubtless came from the region of 
Lake Superior. Mines have been examined here extending over 
large areas, the working of which antedates all existing records 
or Indian traditions. Another of the many evidences of tribes, 
who must have inhabited this country at a remote period, was 
found a few years since at the Illinois Salines. Fragments of pot- 



ANTIQUITIES — ^MOUND BUILDERS. 27 

tery, from 4 to 5 feet iu diameter, were exhumed some 30 feet be- 
low the surface, aud had evidently been used in the manufacture 
of salt by the mound builders, or some other ancient people, dif- 
ferent from the present Indians. The artiticial character of these 
works not being- a controverted point, the uiquiry arises who were 
their builders 1 The hypothesis that they were the ancestors of 
the Algonquin and other tribes found living- in their miilst, when 
first visited by Europeans, but illy accords with the evidence fur- 
nished by an examination of the facts. These curious relics are 
fragments of a history which pouit to a people different in physi- 
cal structure from the red men, and greatly in advance of them in 
art and civilization. The latter in general are a tall, rather slen- 
der, straight-limbed people, while the former Avere short and thick 
set, had low foreheads, high cheek bones, and were remarkable for 
theu' large eyes and broad chins. Their hmbs were .short and 
stout, Avhile their whole physique more closely resembled that of 
the German than any existing race. The remahis of their art also 
indicated a people wholly distinct. From these tunuiH have been 
taken silver, iron and copper implements, exhibiting hi their con- 
struction a degree of skill greatly exceeding- Indian ingenuity and 
workmanship. The large number of medals, bracelets, pipes, and 
other instruments made of copper, show that its use among- them 
was much more extensive than that of the other metals. They 
may have possessed the lost art of hardening it, for cut stone is 
occasionally found in some of thek works. The manufacture of 
earthenware was one of their most advanced arts ; vessels made 
from calcareous breccia have been taken from their tombs, equal in 
quahty to any now made in Italy from the same material. A con- 
siderable number of these were urns, containing bones, which ap- 
pear to have been burnt before they were deposited iu them. 
Mirrors, made of isinglass, were of frequent occurrence in the 
mounds. Many of them were large and elegant, and must have 
answered well the purpose for which they were intended. Could 
they speak, they would doubtless tell us that the primitive belles, 
whose charms they reflected, had the same fondness for personal 
decoration that distinguishes their sisters of the present day. 

Their habitations nuist have been tents, structures of wood, or 
some other ])erishable material ; other\Aise their remahis would 
have been numerous. The remains, however, of fire-places, 
hearths and chimneys, imbedded in the alluvial banks of the Ohio 
and ^Muskingum rivers, are frequently brought to light by the ac- 
tion of their waters. Tlie Indians of these locahties never erected 
such works ; while their great depth below the surface, and its 
heavj' growth of trees, is evidence that they were not made by Eu- 
ropeans, hence must be referred to the mound builders. Evidence 
of this kind might be multipUed indefinitely, but what has been 
said is deemed sufticient. 

Not only had the mound builders made considerable progress in 
the arts, but they were not wholly wanting in scientific attainments. 
The lines of nearly all theu' works, where the situation would admit 
of it, conform to the four cardinal points. Had their authors no 
knowledge of astronomy, they could never have determined the 
points of the compass with such exactness as their works indicate. 
This noble science, which in modern times has given us such ex- 
tended views of tlie universe, was among the first in tlie earlier 



28 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

ages to arrest the attention of mankind. The pastoral life of i)rinii- 
tive times, wlien men dwelt in tents, or the open air, with the 
heaA^enly bodies in fnll view, was very favorable to the study of 
astronomy. 

If the mound builders were not the ancestors of our Indians, 
who were they ? The oblivion which has closed over them is so 
comi)lete that only conjectures can be given m answer to the ques- 
tion. Those who do not believe in the cominou parentage of man- 
kind contend that they were an indigenous race of the western 
hemisphere. Others, with more plausibility, think they came froiu 
the east, and imagine that they can see coincidences in the religion 
of the Hindoos and Southern Tartars and the supposed theology of 
the mound builders. An idol was found in a tomb near Kashville, 
consisting of three busts, representing a man in a state of nudity. 
On the head of each were carved the sacred tilh^t and calve with 
which, in ancient Greece, during sacrifices, the heads of the idol, 
the victim, and priest were bound. The Greeks are supposed to 
have borrowed these sacred appliances from the Persians, with 
whom they had ii'equent wars and an intimate maritime inter- 
course. Another idol, consisting of three heads united at the 
back, was taken from a tomb on the headwaters of the Cumber- 
land river. Theii- features, which were expressive, exhibited in a 
striking manner the lineaments of the Tartar countenance. It has 
been further observed that wherever there was a group of mounds 
three of them were uniformly larger and more favorably situated 
than the rest. The triune character of these images and mounds 
are supposed to represent the three i)rincipal gods of the Hindoos, 
Brahmin, Vishnu and Siva. This supi)Osition has been farther 
strengthened by the discovery in many mounds of murex shells, 
which were sacred in the religion of the Hindoos, used as material 
m tlie construction of their idols, and as the musical instruments 
of their Tritons. In digging a well near Nashville, a clay vessel 
was found 20 feet below the surface. It was of a globose form, 
terminating at the top with a female head, the features of which 
were strongly marked and Asiatic. The crown of the head vras 
covered with a cap of pyramidal form resembUng the Asiatic head- 
dress. The vessel was found sitting on a rock from under Avhich 
issued a stream of water, and may liave been used at the fountain 
in performing the ablutions enjoined by some of the oriental re- 
ligions. Indeed, for this purpose the temples and altars of tlie 
Hindoos are always erected on the banks of some river, as the 
Ganges and other sacred streams, and the same practice was ob- 
served by the authors of the American tumuli. 

From evidence of this kind it is inferred that this people came 
from Asia, and that their migrations, like those from Europe at 
the present day, were made at different times and from different 
countries. 

They were no doubt idolators, and it has been conjectured that 
the sun was an object of adoration. The mounds were generally 
built in a situation affording a view of the rising sun. When in- 
closed with walls their gatevfays were toward the east. Tlie caves 
m which they were occasionally found buried alwaj^s opened in the 
same direction. Whenever a mound was partially inclosed by a 
semicircular pavement, it was on the east side. When bodies were 
buried in graves, as was frequentlj- the case, they lay in an east- 



ANTIQUITIES — MOUND BUILDERS. 29 

ern and western direction; and finally, medals liave been fonnd 
representing the snn and liis rays of light. 

At what period they came to this coimtry is like's\dse a matter 
of speculation. From the comparatively rude state of the arts 
among them, it has been inferred that the time was very remote. 
Their axes were made of stone ; their raiment, judging from the 
fragments which have been discovered, consisted of the barks of 
trees interwoven with feathers ; and their military works were such 
as a people would erect who had just passed from the hunter to 
the imstoral state of society. The line of forts akeady referred to, 
in New York, were built on the brow of the hill which was origi- 
nally the southern shore of Lake Erie. By the recession of the 
waters, they are now from 3 to 5 miles distant from their orighial 
limits. The surface, which became exposed by the retirement of 
the waters, is now covered with a vegetable mold from 6 to 10 
inches deep, and it may reasonably be supposed that a long inter- 
val of time was required for the production of the forests by whose 
decomposition it was formed. But a much longer interval would 
be required for the Niagara to deepen its channel and thus cause 
the subsidence of the waters in the lake. 

What finally became of this people is another query which has 
been extensively discussed. The fact that their works extend into 
Mexico and Peru has induced the belief that it was their posterity 
that dwelt in these countries when they were first \'isited by the 
Sjianiards. The Mexican and Peruvian works, with the exception 
of their greater magnitude, are similar. Relics common to all of 
them have been occasionally found, and it is believed that the reli- 
gious uses which they subserved were the same. One of the prin- 
cipal deities of the South Americans was the god of the shining- 
mirror, so called because he was supposed to reflect, like a mirror, 
his di^^ne perfections. The same god was also a Mexican divinity ; 
and while other deities were symbolized by images, this one was 
represented by a mirror, and held in great veneration as the un- 
known god of the universe. Isinglass, common in the mounds in 
the United States, was the material generally employed for the 
construction of mirrors in Mexico ; but in South America, obsidian 
a volcanic product, which answered the same purpose, was more 
frequently used. If, indeed, the Mexicans and Peruvians were the 
progeny of the more ancient mound builders, then Spanish rapacity 
for gold was the cause of their overthrow and final extennination. 

A thousand other interesting queries naturally arise respecting 
these nations which now repose under the ground, but the most 
searcliing investigation can only give us vague specidations for 
answers. No historian has iireserved the names of their mighty 
chieftains nor given an account of their exploits, and even tradi- 
tion is silent respecting them. If we knock at the tombs, no si)irit 
comes back with a response, and only a sepulchral echo of forget 
fulness and death reminds us how vain is the attempt to unlock 
the mysterious past upon which oblivion has fixed its seal. How 
forcibly their mouldering bones and perishing relics remind us of 
the transitory character of human existence. Generation after 
generation lives, moves and is no more ; time has stre^Ti the track 
of its ruthless march with the fragments of mighty empires ; and 
at length not even their names nor works have an existence in the 
speculations of those who take their places. 



Chapter IV. 
THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS. 



The tliird distinct race wliicli, according to ethnologists, has in- 
habited North America, is the present Indians. When visited by 
early Enropean pioneers they were without cultivation, lefinement 
or literature, and far behind their precursors, the mound builders, 
in a knowledge of the arts. The question of their origin has long- 
interested archeologists, and is one of the most difficult they have 
been called on to answer. One hyi)othesis is that they are an 
original race indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. Those who 
entertain this view think their peculiarities of physical structm^e 
preclude the possibility of a common parentage with the rest of 
mankind. Prominent among these distinctive traits is the hak, 
which in the red man is round, in the white man oval, and in the 
black man Hat. In the pile of the European the coloring matter 
is distributed by means of a central canal, but in that of the Indian 
it is incorporated in the fibrous structure. Browni, who has made 
an exhaustive examination of these varieties of hair, concludes 
that they are radically different, and belong to three distinct 
branches of the human family, which, instead of a common, have 
had a trinary origin. Since, therefore, these and other pecidiar 
etlniological features are characteristic only of the aboriginal in- 
habitants of America, it is inferred that they are indigenous to this 
part of the globe. 

A more common supposition, however, is that they are a deriva- 
tive race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples 
of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and when even 
tradition is wanting, any attempt to point out the particular theater 
of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. They are perhaps an 
offshoot of Shemitic parentage, and some imagine, from their tribal 
organization and some faint coincitlences of language and religion, 
that they were the descendants of the ancient Hebrews. Others, 
with as much propriety, contend that their progenitors were the 
ancient Hindoos, and that the Brahmin idea, which uses the sun 
to symbolize the Creator of the Universe, has its counterpart in 
the sun worship of the Indians. They also see in the Hindoo poly- 
theism, with its 30,000 divinities, a theology corresponding with 
the innumerable minor Indian deities, of which birds, quadrupeds, 
reptiles, and lishes are made the symbols. The Persians, and 
other primitive oriental stocks, and even the nations of Europe, if 
the testimony of different antiquarians could be accepted, might 
claim the honor of first peopling America. 

Though the exact place of origin may never be knoAvn, yet the 
striking coincidences of physical organization between the oriental 



INDIANS. 31 



types of mankind and the Indians, point nnmistakably to some 
part of Asia as the phxce whence they emigrated. Instead of 
1800 years, the time of theii" ro^dng■ in the wikls of America, 
as determined by Spanish interpretation of their x^ictographic 
records, the interval has i^erhaps been thrice that period. Their 
religions, superstitions and ceremonies, if of foreign origin, evi- 
dently belong to the crude theologies prevalent in the last cen- 
turies before the introduction of Mahometanism or Christianity. 
Scarcely 3000 years would suffice to blot out perhaps almost every 
trace of the language they brought Avith them from the Asiatic 
cradle of the race, and iutroduce the present diversity of abori- 
ginal tongues. Like their oriental progenitors they have lived for 
centuries without progress, while the Caucassian variety of the 
race, under the transforming power of art, science, and improved 
systems of civil polity, have made the most rapid advancement. 
At the tune of their departure eastward, a great current of emi- 
gration flowed westward to Europe, making it a great arena of 
human effort and improvement. Thence proceeding farther west- 
ward it met in America, the midway station in the circuit of the 
globe, the opposing current direct from Asia. The shock of the first 
contact was the beginning of the great conflict which has since 
been waged by the rival sons of Shem and Japheth. The first 
thought of the Indian, when hostilities commenced on the Atlantic 
border, was to retire westward. It was from beyond the Allegha- 
nies, according to the traditions of their fathers, they had come, 
and in the same undefined region they located their paradise or 
happy hunting ground. To employ an aboriginal allegory, "The 
Indians had long discerned a dark cloud in the heavens, coming 
from the east, which threatened them with disaster and death. 
Slowly rismg at first, it seemed shadow, but soon changed to sub- 
stance. When it reached the summit of the Alleghanies it as- 
sumed a darker hue ; deep murmurs, as of thunder, were heard ; 
it was impelled westward by strong wind, and shot forth forked 
tongues of lightning." 

The movement of the sombre cloud typified the advance of labor, 
science and civilization. Pontiac foresaw the coming storm when 
he beheld the French flag and French supremacy stricken down 
on the plains of Abraham. To the British officer sent westward 
to secure the fruits of \actory, he said: "I stand in thy path." To 
the assembled chiefs of the nations in council, he unfolded his 
schemes of opijosition, depicted the disasters which would attend 
the coming rush of the Anglo-Saxon, and climaxed his invective 
against the hated enemy with the exclamation, "Drive the dogs 
who wear red clothing into the sea." Fifty years after the defeat 
of Pontiac, Tecumseh, emulating his example, plotted the conspi- 
racy of the Wabash. He brought to his aid the powerful influ- 
ence of the Indian priesthood ; for years the forest haunts of his 
clansmen rang with his stirring appeals, and the valleys of the 
West ran A\ith"the blood of the white invaders. But Tecumseh fell 
a martAT? to his cause, and the second attempt to turn back the tide 
of civilization was a failure. The Appalachian tribes, under the 
leadership of Tuscaloosa, next waged a continuous war of three 
years against the southern frontiers. The conflict terminated by 
the sublime act of its leader, who, after a reward had been oflfere-d 
for his head, voluntarily surrendered himself for the good of his 



32 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS, 

countiymeu. After this defeat, tlie southern tribes abandoned 
theu^ long cherished idea of re-estabhshing- Indian supremacy. A 
last and fruitless effort of this kind, by the Sacs and Foxes of IIU- 
V nois, placed the vast domain east of the Mississippi in the hands 
of the ruthless conquerors.* 

AJf/onguins and Iroquois. — Of the several great branches of 
North American Indians, as determined by sameness of language 
and mental and physical type, the oidy ones entitled to considera- 
tion in Illinois history, are the Algonquin, and incidentally the 
Iroquois. Before the encroachments of Europeans caused the re- 
tirement of the Algonquin tribes, they occupied most of the United 
States between the 35th and 60th parallels of latitudes, and the 
60th and 105th meridians of longitude. They were Algonquins 
whom C artier found on the banks of the St. Lawrence, whom the 
English discovered hunting and fishing on the Atlantic coast, from 
Maine to the Carolinas. They were tribes of this lineage whom 
Jesuit missionaries taught to repeat prayers and sing aves on the 
banks of the Mississippi and Illinois, and on the shores of the 
great lakes and Hudson Bay. The same great famdy ^aged war 
with the Puritans of Kew England, entered into a covenant of 
peace with Penn, and furnished a Pocahontas to intercede for the 
life of the adventurous founder of Virginia. 

The starting point in the wanderings of the Algonquin tribes on 
the continent, as determined by tradition and the cultivation of the 
maize, their favorite cereal, was in the southwest. It is conjectured 
as they passed up the western side of the Mississippi Valley, their 
numbers were augraented by accessions from nomadic clans 
passing through the central and southern passes of the Ptoeky 
Mountains. Then, turning eastward across the Mississippi, the 
southern margin of the broad track pursued toward the Atlantic 
was about the 35th parallel, — the limits reached in this direction 
by these tribes. This would place in the central line of march, 
Illinois, and the adjacent regions, where the first European ex- 
plorers found corn extensively cultivated and used as an article of 
food. On reaching the Atlantic they moved northeasterly along 
the seaboard to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, introducing along 
their track the cultivation of maize, without which many of the 
early British colonists must have perished. , Next, ascending the 
St. Lawrence and the great lakes, they spread northward and west- 
ward to Hudson's bay, the basin of Lake Winnipeg, and the valley 
of the Upper Mississippi. In this wide dispersion the original 
stock was broken into minor tribes ; each, in the course of time, 
deviating in speech from the parent language, and forming a dia- 
lect of its own. The head of the migratory column, circling round 
the source of the Mississippi, recrossed it in a southeasterly direc- 
tion above the falls of St. Anthony, and passed by way of Green 
Bay and Lake Michigan into the present limits of lUinois, Indiana 
ami Ohio. Thus, after revolving in an irregular ellipse of some 
3000 miles in diameter, they fell into the original track eastward. 

The territory of the Iroquois lay like an island in this vast area 
of Algonquin population. They had three conllictnig traditions of 
their origin : that they came from the west, from the north, and 
sprung from the soil on which they lived. Their confederacy at 
first consisted of five tribes, — the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, 

*Schoolcraft's, Part 5; Spencer's History of the United States. 



INDIANS. 33 

Cayugas and Senecas, to which a 6th, the Tiiscaroras was after- 
wards added. Each tribe had a separate political organization in 
which the sachems were the ruling spirits. When foreign tribes 
were to be consulted, or the general interests of the confederacy 
required deliberation, the sachems of the several tribes met in 
general council. Hasty writers, judging from their successes without 
carefully studying their character and history, have greatly over- 
rated then- virtues. There is no doubt as to their success in war, but 
it was rather the result of circumstances than inherent worth. oSTot- 
withstanding their much lauded eloquence, diplomacy and courage, 
there is little doubt that the Algonquin tribes of the same latitude 
were in these respects fully their equals. As it regards cranial 
indications, the Iroquois had an excessive development at the 
basilar region, and the Algonquins a larger intellectual lobe, and 
the conduct of the two races corresponds with their cerebral dif- 
ferences. It is well kn own that for the exhibition of brutish ferocity 
in battle, and the fiendish butchery of prisoners, the former were 
without rivals. Missionary evidence states that it was they who 
first taught the Illinois the cruel practice of burning prisoners at 
the stake. But admitting their natural superiority they must have 
lost it by amalgamation, for it was customary with them to repair 
their constant losses in war by adopting into their famihes the 
women and children captm-ed from their Algonquin enemies. 
This infusion of blood, if in a few generations it did not give the 
foreign element the ascendancy, must have greatly modified the 
original stock. Indeed, some of the adopted Algonquins became 
afterwards their prominent chiefs. 

Their success in war was in a great measure the result of local 
and other advantages. Possessing a territory included in the 
present limits of New York, it gave them ready access to the 
nations living on the western lakes ; wiiile the Mohawk and the 
Hudson furnished them a highway to the tribes of the sea-coast. 
Having by savage barbarity converted aU the surrounding nations 
into enemies, necessity taught them the advantage of imion, fixity 
of habitation made them superior in agriculture, while a passion 
for war gave them a preeminence in the arts best suited to gratify 
their inordinate lust for blood. Deprived of these advantages it 
is doubtful whether they would have been long able to cope with 
the tribes which they outraged by incessant attacks. 

The Algonquin tribes were too widely dispersed to admit of a 
general confederacy -, the interposition of great lakes and rivers 
XJrevented concert of action, and hence each community had to 
contend single-handed with the united enemy. Even in these une- 
qual contests they were sometimes the conquerors, as instanced in 
the triumph of the Illinois on the banks of the Iroquois, a stream 
in our State whose name still commemorates the victory. 

It is not, however, in the petty broils of tribal warfare, but the 
fierce conflicts with the civilized intruders upon then- soil, that a 
correct opinion is to be formed of these rival races. In these 
bloody struggles, which decided the fate of the entire aboriginal 
population, it was that the Algonquins evinced their great superi- 
ority. Unlike the Iroquois, who, in their haughty independence, 
disdained to go beyond theii" o^vn narrow realms for assistance, 
and who, in their great thirst for carnage, even destroyed kindred 
nations, the Algonquins formed the most extensive alliance to 



34 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



resist the oiicroaclimeiits of tlieir English destroyers. Such was the 
nature of King Philip's war, who, with liis Algonquin braves, 
spread terror and desohition throughout iS'ew England. P;inic- 
stric'keii at his audacity and success, the Puritans imagined they 
saw dhv portents of calamities in the air and sky, and shadowy 
troojjs of careering horsemen impi'inted on the face of the sun and 
moon. This compactly^ formed confederacy of tribes was over- 
thrown ; but it cost the Colonists, with their superior numbers, 
discipline and weapons, a bloody contest to accomplish it. Such, 
too, was the character of the culminating struggle of the red race, 
some 90 years later, for the dominion of the western wilderness. 
Nevei- before had the Indians exhibited such, feats of courage, 
such skill in diplomacy and such strategy in war; and never before^ 
nor afterwards, were their eft'oi'ts attended with such terrible con- 
sequences. With an Algonquin chief and Algonquin warriors as 
the controlling spirits, a confederacy of continental proportions 
was the result, embracing in its alliance the tribes of every name 
and Imeage, from the northern lakes to the gulf on the south. 
Pontiac, having breathed into them his implacable hate of the 
English intruders, ordered the conflict to commence, and all the- 
British colonies trembled before the desolating fury of the onsets 

Of the tribes of Algonquin lineage which formerly dwelt in 
Illinois, those bearing the name of the State were the most numer- 
ous. Judging li'om the graves which were thickly planted over the 
jjrames, they must at an early date have been a prominent theater 
of aboriginal activities. Long before the intrusion of the white 
man, the stately warrior marshaled his swarthy clans to defend 
the huntuig grounds which embosomed the homes and graves of 
his ancestors. Here, around the lodge fire, the young braves 
listened to the exploits of their aged chiefs and marched forth to 
perform the deeds which w^ere to crown them with a chieftain's 
honors. On the grass-cushioned lap of the prairie, when the 
moon with mellow radiance tiooded the valleys and silvered the 
streams, the red swain went forth to woo his intended mate and 
win her love. Where the game abounded which furnished him 
with food and clothing he built the wigwam in which his faithful 
partner dispensed the hosi^italities of his frugal board. Nature 
disclosed to his untutored mind the simple duties of hfe. The 
opening flower re^■ealed the time for planting corn, the falling leaf 
when to pro\dde for the frosts of winter, and from the lower 
animals he learned industry, prudence and aflection. His own 
wondrous orgaiuzation directed his thoughts to the Great Spirit^ 
and in the spacious temple, lighted by the sun and curtained with 
clouds, where the temi)est offers its loud anthem of j^raise, he 
w^orshipped the God of ISTature. 

The Illinois Cotrfederacy was composed of five tribes: the Tani- 
aroas, Michigamies, Kaskaskias, Cahokias, and Peorias. Albert 
Gallatin, who has prepared the most elaborate work on the struct- 
m-e of the Indian languages, gives the definition of Illinois as real 
or superior men, and derives it from the Delaware word Leno, 
Leni or lUini, as it is variously written by different authors. The 
termination of the woi'd as it is now, and applied to the State and 
its principal river, is of French origin. The Illinois, Miamis and 
Delaw^ares are of the same stock, and, according to tradition, emi- 
grated from the far west, the first stopping in their eastern round 



THE ILLINOIS. 35 



of luigiation in the vicinity of Lake Michigan, the second in the 
territory of Indiana, and the third that of Pennsylvania. 

As early as 1G70 the Jesnit, Father Marquette, mentions frequent 
visits made by individuals of this confecleracy to the missionary 
station of St. Esprit, near the western extremity of Lake Superior. 
At that time they lived west of the Mississii)pi in eight villages, 
whither the Iroquois had driven them from the shores of Lake Michi- 
gan, which received its name from one of the tribes. Shortly after- 
wards they commenced returning eastward, and finally settled 
mostly on the Illinois. Joliet and Marquette, in 1673, descending 
the Mississippi below the mouth of the Wisconsin, on their famous 
voj^age of discovery, met with a band of them on the west bank 
of the river. The principal chief treated them with great hospi- 
tality, gave them a calumet as a pass down the river, and bid 
them a friendly farewell. The same explorers, in their i-eturn voy- 
age up the Illinois, discovered and stopped at the principal town 
of the confederacy, situated on the baidvs of the river 7 miles below 
the present town of Ottawa. It was then called Kaskaskia, and 
according to Marquette, contained 74 lodges, each of which domi- 
ciled scN^eral families. Marquette returned to the village ui the 
spring of 1675, and established the ^lission of the Immaculate 
Conception, the oldest in Illinois, and subsequently transferred 
to the new town of Kaskaskia further southward. 

When, in 1679, La Salle visited the town it had greatly increased, 
numbering, according to Hennepin, 460 lodges, and at the annual 
assembling of the different tribes from 6,000 to 8,000 souls. The 
lodges extended along the banks of the river a mile or more, ac- 
cording to the number of its fluctuating population, which ex- 
tensively cultivated the adjacent meadows and raised crops of 
pumi)kins, beans, and Indian corn. At this time the confederacy 
possessed the country from the present town of Ottawa and the 
lower rapids of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, and, ac- 
cording to the missionary Father Easles, besides the principal 
town occupied some 10 or 12 other villages. In the irruiition of 
the Iroquois, the following year, the principal town was burned 
and the several tribes pursued do^xTL the river to the IMississippi, 
where the Tamaroas were attacked and 700 of their women and 
children made prisoners. These were burned and butchered till 
the savage victors were sated with carnage, when the siu'vivors 
were lead into captivity. With the withdrawal of the enemy the 
ti-ibes returned, rebuilt their town, and in 1682 furnished 1,200 
of tlie 3,800 warriors embraced in LaSalle's colony at Fort Saint 
Louis on tlie Illinois. After this they were forced further south- 
ward by northern nations, and Peoria, Cahokia and Kaskaskia 
be(;ame the centres of the tribes indicated by their names. The 
Tamaroas were associated with the Kaskaskias, and the Michi- 
gamies were located near Fort Ohartres on the Mississippi. While 
here tliey were the centre of Jesuit missioiuiry operations, and 
great efforts were made to convert them to Christianity, but with 
only pai-tial success. 

lu 1729 they were summoned by M. Perrier, Governor-General 
of Louisiana, to assist in the reduction of the Natchez, who were 
disturbing the peace of the province. Ou the breaking out of the 
Chickasaw war they were again called to the assistance of their 
allies, the French, and under one of Illinois' most gallant generals, 



36 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 

the Chevalier D'Artaguette, they successively stormed aud carried 
two of the enemy's strongholds, and would have taken a third but 
for the fall of their heroic leader. 

In common with other western tribes they becajme involved in 
the conspiracy of Pontiac, but from frequent defeats by surround- 
ing tribes, and long contact with civilization, they had lost to a 
great extent the warlike energy, for which, according to tradi- 
tion, they were anciently distinguished. When, therefore, the 
great chief Aasited them in the autumn of 17G4, their zeal did not 
meet his expectations, and he told them if they hesitated, he 
would " consume their tribes as fire doth the dry grass on the 
prairies." Finally, when Pontiac lost his life by the hand of an 
Illinois, the nations which had followed him as a leader descended 
iVom the north and the east to avenge his death, and almost an- 
nihilated the tribes of this lineage. Tradition states that a band 
of fugitives, to escape the general slaughter, took refuge on the 
high rock which had been the site of Fort St. Louis. There they 
were besieged by a superior force of the Potawatamies, whom, 
owing to the great strength of this natural fortress, they easily kept 
at bay. Hunger and thirst, more formidable enemies, however, 
soon accomplished what the foe was unable to effect. Their small 
quantity of provisions quickly failed, and their supply of water was 
stopped by the enemy severing the cords attached to the vessels 
by which they elevated it from the river below. Thus environed 
by relentless foes, they took a last lingering look at their beautifnl 
hunting grounds, spread out like a panorama on the gently rolling 
river, and, with true Indian fortitude, laid down and expired with- 
out a sigh or a tear. From their tragic fate the lofty citadel on 
which they perished received the unpoetical name of " Starved 
Rock," ami years afterwards their bones were seen whitening on 
its summit. The Tamaroas, although not entirely exterminated, 
lost their identity as a tribe in a battle with the Shawnees, near 
the eastern limits of Randolph county. At the commencement of 
the present century the contracting circle of hostile tribes had 
forced the remnants of this once powerful confederacy into a small 
compass around Kaskaskia. When the country was first visited 
by Europeans they numbered 12,000 souls; now they were reduced 
to two tribes, the Kaskaskias and Peorias, and could only muster 
loO warriors. Their chief at this time was a half-breed of consid- 
erable talent, named Du Quoin, who wore a medal presented to 
him by Washington, whom he visited at Philadelphia. In the 
early part of the present century the two tribes under his guidance 
emigrated to the Southwest, and in 1850 they were in the Indian 
Territory, and numbered 84 persons. 

The Sacs and Foxes, who have figured extensively in the history 
of Illinois, dwelt in the northwestern part of the State. The word 
"Sau-Kee," now written "Sac," is derived from "the compound 
word "A-sau-we-kee," of the Chippewa language, signifying yel- 
low earth, and "Mus-qua-kee," the original name of the Foxes, 
means red earth. Though still retaining separate tribal names, 
when living in Illinois they had, by long residence together and 
intermarriage, become substantially one people. Both tribes origi- 
nally lived on the St. Lawrence, in the neighborhood of Quebec 
and Montreal. The Foxes first removed to the West and estab- 
lished themselves on the river which bears their name, empty- 



SACS AND FOXES. 37 



ing into tlie liead of Green Bay. Here they suffered a signal 
defeat from the combined forces of the French and their Indian 
allies, which cansed them afterwards to unite with the Sacs, to pre- 
vent extermination. 

The Sacs became involved in a long and bloody war with the 
Iroqnois, who drove them from their habitation on the St. Law- 
rence toward the West. Ketiring before these formidable enemies, 
they next enconntered the Wyandots, by whom they were driven 
farther and farther along the shores of the great lakes till at length 
they found a temporary resting place on Green Bay, in the neigh- 
borhood of thier relatives, the Foxes. For mutual protection 
against the surrounding nations a union was instituted between 
the two tribes, which has remained unbroken to the present time. 
The time of their migration from the St. Lawrence to the region of 
the upper lakes cannot be definitely ascertained. Green Bay was 
visited in 1669 by Father Allonez, a Jesuit, who established a mis- 
sionary station there, and in the winter of 1672 extended his labors 
to the Foxes, who at first treated him with the greatest contempt. 
Some of the tribe had recently been on a trading expedition to 
Montreal, where thej^ had been foully dealt with by the French, 
and they now took occasion to show their resentment by deriding 
the utterances of the missionary. By the exercise of great pa- 
tience, however, he at length obtained a hearing, and succeeded so 
well in impressing their minds with his religious instruction that 
when he exhibited a crucifix they threw tobacco on it as an offering. 
He soon afterwards taught the whole village to make the sign of 
the cross, and painting it on their shields, in one of their war ex- 
Xjeditions, they obtained a great victory over their enemies. Thus, 
while they knew but little of its significance as a religious emblem, 
in war they regarded it as a talisman of more than ordinary power. 

From Green Bay they moved southward, and shortly after the 
French pioneers visited the country they took possession of the 
fertile plains of Northwestern lUinois, driving out the Sauteaux, 
a branch of ihe Chippewas. In theu- southern migration, accord- 
ing to their traditions, a severe battle occiu-red between them and 
the Mascoutins, opposite the mouth of the Iowa, in which the lat- 
ter w^ere defeated, and only a few of them left to carry the news 
of their disaster to friends at home. Subsequently they formed 
alliances with the Potawatamies and other nations, forced the dif- 
ferent tribes of the Illinois confederacy southward, and after years 
of strife almost exterminated them. In conjunction with the Me- 
nomonees, Winnebagoes, and other tribes living in the region of 
the lakes, they made an attempt, in 1779, to destroy the village of 
St. Louis, but were prevented by the timely arrival of George 
Eogers Clark with 500 men from Kaskaskia. Finally, in the Black 
Hawk war, waged by them against the troops of Illinois and the 
United States, they attracted the attention of the entire nation, 
and won a historical rei^utation. 

Much labor has been expended to ascertain whether the cele- 
brated Chief, Pontiac, was of Sac or Ottawa lineage. If a simil - 
arity in the traits of character, which distinguished him and the 
Sac tribe, could decide the question, the latter might, doubt- 
less, claim the honor of his relationship. It is unnecessary to 
speak of the courage and fighting qualities of Pontiac. That of 
the Sacs and their relatives, the Foxes, is thus given by Drake, in 



38 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

liis " Life of Black Hawk :" " The Sacs and Foxes fought their 
way from the waters of the St. Lawrence to Green Bay, and after 
reaching- that phice not only sustained themselves against the hos- 
tile tribes, but were among the most active and courageous in the 
subjugation, or rather extermination, of the luimerous and i)ower- 
ful Illinois confederacy. They had many wars, offensive and defen- 
sive, with the Sioux, the Pawnees, the Osages and other tribes, 
some of which are ranked amoiig the most fierce and ferocious 
warriors of the whole continent, and it does not appear that in 
these conflicts, running through a long period of years, they were 
found wanting in this the greatest of all savage virtues. In the 
late war with Great Britain, a party of the Sacs and Foxes fought 
luider the British standard as a matter of choice, and in the recent 
contest between a fragment of these tribes and the United States, 
although defeated and literally cut to pieces by an overwhelming 
force, it is very questionable whether their reputation as biaves 
would suffer by a comparison with that of their victors. It is be- 
lieved that a careful review of their history, from the period when 
they first established themselves on the waters of the Mississippi 
do^v^l to the present time, will lead the inquirer to the conclusion 
that the Sacs and Foxes are a truly courageous x)eople, shrewd, 
politic, and enterj)rising, with not more of ferocity and treachery 
of character than is common among the tribes by Mhom they were 
surrounded." 

These tribes, at the time of the Black Hawk war, were divided in- 
to L*0 families, 12 of which were Sacs and 8 Foxes. As marks of dis- 
tinction, each family had its paaticular totemic symbol, represented 
by some animal. There also existed a peculiar custom among 
them of marking each male child at birth with black and white 
paint, each motlier being careful to ajjply the two colors altern- 
ately, so that each family and the entire nation might be divided into 
two nearly equal classes, the whites and the blacks. The object of 
these distinctive marks, which were retained during life, was to 
keep alive a spirit of emulation in the tribes. In their games, 
hunts, and public ceremonies, the blacks were the competitors of 
the whites, and in war each party was ambitious to take more 
scali)s than the other. 

Lieut. Pike, in his travels to the source of the Mississippi, 
in 1805, visited these tribes and found them residing in four prin- 
cipal villages. The first was at the head of the rapids of the river 
DesMoiues, the second farther up on the east shore of the same 
stream, the third on the Iowa, and the fourth on Eock river near 
its entrance into the Mississippi. Tlie latter greatly exceeded the 
others in political importance, and was among the largest and 
most populous Indian villages on the continent. The country 
around it, diversified with groves and prairies, was one of the most 
beautiful regions in the valley of the Mississippi, and gave addi- 
tioiud interest to this time-honored residence of the nation. 
According to Lieutenant Pike, the Sacs numbered 2,850 souls, 
of whom 1400 were children, 750 women, and 700 warriors. The 
total number of Foxes were 1750, of whom 850 were children, 500 
women, and 400 warriors. In 1825, the Secretary of War estinmted 
the entire number of Sacs and Foxes at 4,600, showing in the in- 
tervening period of 20 years a considerable increase of population. 
After the Black Hawk war, these tribes retired to their lands in 



WINNEBAGOES — KICKAPOOS. 39 



Iowa, wlieuce they were finally transferred to the Indian Territory, 
and in 1850 nnmbered some 1000 souls. 

The early traditions of the Winnehagoes fix their ancient seat on 
the west shore of Lake Michigan, north of Green Bay. They 
beUeved that their ancestors were created by the Great Spirit, on 
the lands constituting their ancient territory, and that their title 
to it was a gift from their Creator. The Algonquins named them 
after the bay on which they lived, Ween-ni-ba-gogs, which subse- 
quently became anglicized in the form of Wnniebagoes. They 
were persons of good stature, manly bearing, had the character- 
istic black, circular hair of their race, and were generally more 
uncouth in their habits than the surrounding tribes. Their lan- 
guage was a deep guttural, difficult to learn, and shows that they 
belonged to the great Dakota stock of the West. Anciently, they 
were divided into clans distinguished by the bird, bear, fish, and 
■other family totems. 

How long- they resided at Green Bay is not known. Father Al- 
louez states that there was a tradition in his day, that tliey had 
been almost destroyed in 1G40, by the Illinois. They had also, in 
this connectioji, a tradition that their ancestors built a fort, which 
Ii'win and Hamilton, missionaries among them, tlmik might 
have been identical with the archeological remains of an ancient 
work found on Book river. Coming down to the era of authentic 
history. Carver, in 1700, found them on the Fox river, evidently 
wandering from then- ancient place of liabitation, and approach- 
ing southern Wisconsin and the northern part of Illinois and Iowa, 
where portions of the tribe subsequently settled. The Illinois por- 
tion occupied a section of country on Bock river, in the county which 
bears their name, and the country to the east of it. In Pontiac's 
war, they, with other lake tribes, hovered about the beleaguered 
fortress of Detroit, and made the surrounding forests dismal with 
midnight revelry and war-whoops. English agents, however, suc- 
ceeded in molHfying their resentment, and when the new American 
power arose, in 1770, they were subsequently arrayed on the side 
■of the British authorities in regard to questions of local jurisdic- 
tion at Prairie dn Chieu, Green Bay and Mackinaw. Bi the war 
of 1812, they still remained the aUies of England, and assisted in 
the defeat of Col. Croghan, at Mackhiaw; Col. Dudley, at the 
rapids of the Maumee ; and General Whichester, at the river 
Baisin. In the Winnebago war of 1827, they defiantly placed 
themselves in antagonismto the authority of the general govern- 
ment, by assaulting a steamboat on the Mississippi, engaged in 
furnishing supplies to the military post on the St. Peters. 

The Kiclapoos, in 1703, occupied the country southwest of the 
southern extremity of Lake Michigan. They subsequently moved 
southward, and at a more recent date dwelt in portions of the ter- 
ritory on the Mackinaw and Sangamon rivers, and had a village 
•on itickapoo creek, and at Elkhart Grove. They were more civi- 
lized, industrious, energetic and cleanly than the neighboring 
tribes, and it may also be added more implacable in their hatred 
of the Americans. They were among the first to commence battle, 
and the last to submit and enter into treaties. Unappeasable 
enmity led them into the field against Generals Harmar, St. Clair 
and Wayne, and first in all the bloody charges at Tippecanoe. 
They were prominent among the northern nations, which, for more 



40 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

than a century, waged an exterminating war against tlie Illinois 
confederacy. Their last hostile act of this kind was perpetrated 
in 1805, against some poor Kaskaskia children, whom they found 
gathering strawberries on the jirairie above the town which bears 
the name of their tribe. Seizing a considerable number of them, 
they tie<l to their villages before the enraged Kaskaskias could 
overtake them and rescue their offspring. During the years 1810 
and 1811, in conjunction with the Chippewas, Potawatamies and 
Ottawas, they comtnitted so many thefts and murders on the fron- 
tier settlements, that Governor Edwards was compelled to employ 
military force to suppress them. When removed from Illinois 
they still retained their old animosities against the Americans, 
and went to Texas, then a province of Mexico, to get beyond the 
jurisdiction of the United States. They claimed relationship with 
the Potawatamies, and perhaps the Sacs and Foxes, and Shaw- 
nees. The following tradition respecting the origin of this tribe 
was related in 1812, at the Indian Superintendency at St. Louis, 
by Louis Kodgers, a Shawnee : 

" It is many years ago since the number of the Shawnees was 
very great. They were, on an important occasion, encamped to- 
gether on the prairie. At night one-half of them fell asleep, the 
others remained awake. The latter abandoned the sleepers before 
morning, and betook themselves to the course where the sun rises. 
The others gradually pursued their route in the dh-ection where 
the sun sets. This was the origin of the two nations, the first of 
which was called the Shawnees, and the other the Kickapoos. 
Prior to this separation these nations were considered one, and 
were blessed with bounties above any blessings which are now 
enjoyed by any portion of mankind ; and they ascribe their pres- 
ent depressed condition, and the withdrawal of the favor of Provi- 
dence, to the anger of the Great Spirit at their separation. 
Among the many tokens of divine favors which they formerly en- 
joyed was the art of walking on the surface of the ocean, by 
which they crossed from the East to America without vessels. 
Also the art of restoring life to the dead, by the use of medical 
art, continued for the space of six hours. IsTecromancy and pro- 
phecy were with them at their highest state, and were practiced 
without feigning ; and, in fine, such were the gifts of heaven to 
them that nothing fell short of their inconceivable power to per- 
form. And after the Shawnees have wandered to the remotest 
West, and returned East to the original place of separation, the 
world will have finished its career. It is believed by the Shawnees 
that the consummation of this prophecy is not far distant, because 
they have, in fidfillment of it, reached the extreme western point, 
and are now retrograding their steps." 

A fragment of the Shawnee nation, in early times, dwelt in the 
southeastern part of IlKnois, in the vicinity of Shawneetown, 
which bears their name. The nation, bold, roving and adventur- 
ous, originally inhabited the Atlantic seaboard, between the Alta- 
maha and James rivers. Becoming embroiled in wars with the 
Iroquois, to save themselves some took refuge in the Carolinas 
and Florida. True to their native instincts, in their new location 
they soon came to blows with the owners of the soil, and about the 
year 1730 removed to the Scioto, in the present State of Ohio. 
About 1750, a discontented fraction broke off from the rest of the 



MASCOUTINS — PIANKISHAWS. 41 



nation and went to East Tennessee, and tlience to tlieir location on 
the Ohio, at Sha^meetown. Here, in common with neighboring- 
tribes, they regarded Illinois as sacred ground, and dm-ing Pon- 
tiac's war assisted in repelling the attempts of their English ene- 
mies to get possession of the country in the present hunts of the 
State. Here, too, both themselves and then- brethren on the Scioto, 
obtained arms from the French, for whose supremacy they deluged 
the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia with blood. Such had 
been the atrocity of their conduct, when the war Avas over they at 
first supposed they were excluded from the general amnesty ex- 
tended to other western tribes, and even prepared to murder their 
]n-isoners and resume hostilities. After having, a short time before 
the conquest of Clark, destroyed the Tamaroas in battle, they re- 
joined their kindred on the Scioto. 

The MascouUns were a tribe holding friendly relations with the 
Illinois, and are supposed by some to have constituted a sixth tribe 
of their confederacy. The name, "Mascoutin," is synonymous with 
prairie, and was apphed to this tribe from the circumstance of their 
dwelling on the great grassy plains east of the Mississippi. The 
first European who mentions them is Father Allouez, who found 
them, in 1C()9, on the Wisconsin river. Marquette saw them in 
1073, near the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. Marest 
states that they had formed settlements in 1712 on the Wabash, 
and in subsequent times they ranged over the prairies between the 
Wabash and the Illinois. They were also intimately associated 
with the Foxes and Kickapoos, whom they resembled in deceit and 
treachery. Charlevoix states that the Mascoutins and the Kicka- 
poos united with the Foxes in a plot of the latter against the 
French, but were surprised by the Ottawas and Potawatamies and 
150 of them cut to pieces. After the cession of the French posses- 
sions to the English, Col. Croghan was sent to concihate the western 
tribes. Having descended the Ohio to the site of Shawneetown, 
they, Tvith the Kickapoos, attacked and made him and his men 
prisoners. Under the name of Meadow Indians they are men-^ 
tioned by Gen. Clark, whom, in 1778, they endeavored to cut oft* 
by treachery. Subsequently they appear to have been absorbed 
bv the Kickapoos and Foxes. 

" The Fiankushaics occupied the lower Wabash country on both 
sides of that stream, and west into the Illinois territory as far as 
the dividing ridge between the sources of the streams flowing into 
the Wabash and those falling into the Kaskaskia. They were one 
member of the Mimni Confederacy. This nation, in early times, 
resided on Fox river, Wisconsin, where they were visited, in 1070, 
by Fathers Allouez and Dablon. The latter is lavish in his praise 
of their cluef, stating that he was honored by his subjects as a 
king, and that his bearing among his giiests had all the courtly 
dignity of a civilized monarch. They were also Wsited the same 
year by St. Susson, who was received T\ath the honors of a sham 
battle and entertained with a grand game of ball. He likewise 
speaks in glowing terms of the authority of the chief, who was 
attended night and day by a guard of warriors. The nation 
shortly afterward removed to the banks of the St. Joseph, and 
thence found their way to the Wabash and Maumee. They were 
more largely represented in La Salle's colony, at Fort St. Louis, 
than any other tribe, and were active participants in the con- 



42 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

spiiacy of Pontiac. The confederacy, like that of the Illinois, 
was reduced to the last extremity by repeated attacks from the Iro- 
<]|uois. But they lill a considerable space in western annals, and 
gave birth to Little Turtle, who commanded the Indians at St. 
Olair's defeat. The Piankishaws, after their removal from lUinois, 
were transferred to the Indian Territory, and in 1850 were reduced 
to 107 persons. 

The Fotawatamies are represented on early French maps as 
inhabiting the countiy east of the southern extremity of Lake 
Michigan. At the mouth of the St, Joseph, falling into this part 
of the lake, the Jesuits had a missionary station, which, according 
to Marest, was in a flourishing condition as early as 1712. Here, 
an immeasured distance from civilization, for more than half a 
century the devoted missionaries labored for their si^iritual wel- 
fare. These years of toil and self-denial were, however, little ap- 
preciated, for in Pontiac's war they proved themselves to be 
among the most vindictive of his adherents. Disguising their 
object under the masl*: of friendship, they approached the small 
military post located on the same river, and having obtained in- 
gress, in a few minutes butchered the whole of the garrison, except 
three men. 

From this locality a portion of the tribe passed round the south- 
ern extremity of the lake, into northeastern Illinois. Time and a 
change of residence seems not to have modified theu' ferocious 
character. Partly as the result of British intrigue, and partly to 
gratify their thirst for blood, they perpetrated, in 1812, at Chicago, 
the most atrocious massacre in the annals of the northwest. After 
their removal from Illinois, they found then- way to the Indian 
Territory, and in ISoO numbered 1,500 soids. The following 
legend of the tribe gives their theology and origin: "They 
believe in tw^o great S])irits, Kitchenu)uedo, the good or benev- 
olent spirit, and Matchemonedo, the evil spirit. Some have 
doubts which is the most powerful, but the greater part believe 
that the first is; that he made the world and called all things 
into being, and that the other ought to be despised. When 
Kitchemonedo iu'st made the world he peopled it with a class of 
beings who only looked like men, but they were perverse, ungrate- 
ful, A^icked dogs, who never raised their eyes from the ground to 
thank him for anything. Seeing this the Great Spirit plunged 
theui, with the world itself, into a great lake and dro^aied them. 
He then withdrew it from the water and made a single man, a 
very handsome young man, who as he was lonesome, appeared 
sad, Kitchemonedo took pity on him and sent him a sister to 
cheer him in his loneliness. After many years the young man 
had a dream which he told to his sister. Five young men, said he, 
will come to your lodge door to-night to visit you. The Great 
Spirit forbids you to answer or even look up and smile at the first 
four; but when the fifth comes, you may speak and laugh and 
show that you are pleased. She acted accordingly. The first of 
the five strangers that called was Usama, or tobacco, and having 
been repulsed he fell down and died; the second, Wapako, or a 
pumpkin, shared the same fate; the thu-d, Eshkossimin, or melon, 
and the fourth, Kokees, or the bean, met the same fate; but when 
Tamin or jMontamiu, which is maize, presented himself, she opened 
the skin tapestry door of her lodge, laughed very heartily, and 
gave him a Ixiendly reception. They were immediately married, 



POTAWATAMIES. 43 



and from tliis union the Indians sprang. Taniin forthwith buried 
tlie four unsuccessful suitors, and from their graves there grew 
tobacco, melons of all sorts, and beans; and in this manner the 
Great Spirit provided that the race which he had made should 
have something t<j offer him as a gift in their feasts and ceremo- 
nies, and also something to put into theu" alceeJiS or kettles, along 
with their meat."* 

Portions of the Chippewa and Ottawa tribes were associated 
with the Potawatamies in the northeastern part of the present 
limits of Illinois. They were among the most energetic and jiower- 
ful nations of the northwest, and fought with gieat ferocity in 
most of the wars caused by tlie westward advance of civilization. 
In the conspiracy of Pontiac they were the immediate follov*ers of 
the great war chief, and impelled by his imperious will, at Detroit, 
Mackinaw and other British posts, they were without rivals in the 
work of carnage and death. The iSdutcmix, a branch of the Chip- 
pewas, dwelt on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, and had 
villages on the sites of Kock Island, Quincy and other adjacent 
places. They were driven west of the river by the Sacs and Foxes, 
after which their piincipal town was Davenport. 

All these tribes have now passed beyond the limits of the State. 
Some long since were exterminated, while the degenerate offspring 
of others are found in the Indian Territory' and other parts of the 
west. Inflexible as if hewn from a rock, they were unable to adapt 
themselves to the requirements of civilized life, and could but flee 
before it or perish. Their fast disappearing graves, and the relics 
occasionally turned up by the plow, are 210W the only melancholy 
vestiges of their former existence in Illinois. 

In common with the whole Indian race, their most exalted con- 
ception of glory was success in war, and a knowledge of its arts 
the most valuable attainment. The aged chief looked back to his 
exploits in battle as the crowning acts of his life, while the growing 
youth looked forward to the time when he would be able to win 
distinction by like feats of prowess. Civilization offers to the 
votaries of ambition not only the sword but the pen, the forum, the 
paths of science, the painter's brush and the sculptor's chisel; the 
savage has only the triumphs of the war path. The war par- 
ties of the prairie tribes consisted of volunteers. The leader Avho 
attempted to raise one must have previously distingnished himself 
in order to be successful. He first appealed to the patriotism and 
courage of the warriors, and was careful to intimate that the 
Great Spirit had made kno^vn to him in dreams the success of his 
enteri)rise. Then, painted with veimilion to symbolize blood, he 
commenced the war dance. This performance expressed in panto- 
mime the varied incidents of a successful campaign. The braAes 
entering upon the war-jjath, the posting of sentinels to avoid sur- 
prise, the advance into the enemy's country, the formation of 
ambuscades to strike the uuAvary foe, the strife and carnage of 
battle, the writhing victim sinking under the blow of the war- 
club, the retreat of the enemy, the scalping of the slain, the feast- 
ing of vultures on the putrid bodies, the triumi)hant return of the 
war party to their village and the torturing of prisoners, were all 
portrayed with the vividness and vehemence of actual warfare. 
Warrior after warrior, wishing to volunteer for the expedition, rap- 

*Schoolcial't. 



44 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

idly fell into the dance with the leader. Each one, keeping time 
with the beat of the drum, sped in mazy circles around a common 
centre, until with increased numbers the whole, in movement and 
uproar, resembled the whirhnnd. The several actors taxed their 
muscular energies to the utmost endiu'ance, stamping the ground 
with great fury, throwing theu' bodies into the ditferent attitudes 
of combat, distorting their faces with the frenzy of demons, and 
uttering the war-cry with the frightful shriek of madmen. These 
hideous orgies, waking up all the tire and energy of the Intlian's 
sold, were a iitting prelude to the premeditated carnage. If a 
young man particii^ated in the dance, it was tantamount to an en- 
listment, and he could not afterwards honorably withdraAV. 

The Art of Hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, 
like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love of distinction. 
The male chUdren, as soon as they acquired sufficient age and 
strength, were furnished with a bow and arrows and taught to 
shoot birds and other small game. Success in killing large quad- 
rupeds required years of careful study and practice, and the art 
was as sedulously inculcated on the minds of the rising generation 
as are the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic in the com- 
mon schools of civilized communities. The mazes of the forest 
and the dense tall grass of the prairies were the best tields for the 
exercise of the hunter's skill. No feet could be impressed in the 
yielding soil but they were objects of the most rigid scrutiny, and 
revealed at a glance the animal that made them, the direction it 
was i)ursuing, and the time that had elapsed since it had i^assed. 
Even if the surface was too hard to admit of indentations, such 
were his wonderful powers of observation, he discovered on it 
evidences of a trail from which, with scarcely less certainty, he 
derived the same information. In a forest country he selected for 
his places of ambush valleys, because they are most frequently the 
resort of game, and sallied forth at the first peep of day. In 
ascending the valleys he was careful to take the side of the stream 
which threw his shadow from it, thus leaving his view unobstruc- 
ted in the opposite direction. The most easily taken, perhaps, of 
all the animals of the chase was the deer. It is endowed with a 
curiosity which prompts it to stop in itstiight and look back at the 
api)roaching hunter who always avails himself of this opportunity to 
let lly his fatal arrow. An ingenious method of taking this animal, 
practiced by the Indians on the small tributaries of the Mississippi, 
w^as the use of the torch. For this purpose they constructed their 
bark canoes with a place in front for the reception of a large flam- 
beau, whose light was prevented from revealing the hunter by the 
interposition of a screen. As he descended the narrow streams, 
the deer, seeing only the light, was attracted by it to the banks 
and easily shot. 

But by far the noblest object of the chase which the Indian en- 
countered on the prairies, was the buffalo. It is an animal confined 
to temperate latitudes, and was found in large numbers by the first 
explorers, roaming over the grassy plains of Illinois, Indiana. 
Southern Michigan and Western Ohio. It has a remarkably large 
chest, a heavy mane covering the whole of its neck and breast, horns 
turned slightly upward and large at the base, eyes red and fiery, 
and the whole aspect furious. In its native haunts it is a furious 
and formidable animal, worthy of the Indian's prowess. Like the 



THBIB GENERAL COUNCILS. 



moose and other animals of the same family, nature has bestowed 
on it the most exquisite power of scent. The inexperienced hunter 
of the present day, unaware that the tainted breeze has revealed 
his presence to them, is often surprised to see them urging their 
rapid flight across the prairies, at a distance of two or three mdes 
in advance, without any apparent cause of alarm. He is therefore 
necessitated to dismount and approach them on the leeward, under 
cover of the horse. When within a proper distance he vaults into 
the saddle and speeds forward in the direction of the prey, which 
commences its retreat, getting over the ground with great rapidity 
for animals so unwieldy. Intuitively it directs its course over tlie 
most broken and difiaciilt ground, causing both horse and rider to 
frequently imperil their lives by falling. When wounded they 
sometimes turn with great fury upon their pursuer, and if he hap- 
pens to be dismounted, nothing but the greatest coolness and dex- 
terity can save his life. 

The bow and arrow, in the hands of the tribes which formerly 
ranged the prairies, were said to be more formidable weapons in 
hunting the bufialo, than the guns subsequently introduced by Eu- 
roijeans. The arrows could be discharged with greater rapidity and 
with scarcely less precision. Such, too, was tlie force with which 
it was propelled, that the greater part of it was generally imbedded 
hi the body of the buft'alo, and sometimes protruded from the oppo- 
site side. Deep grooves cut in the side of the missile permitted the 
rapid effusion of blood, and animals, when pierced with it, sur%aved 

only a short time. , -m- • 

One of the modes of killuig the buffalo, practiced by the Illinois 
and other tribes of the West,'' was to drive them headlong over the 
precipitous banks of the rivers. Buffalo Eock, a large promontory 
rising fifty or sixty feet high, on the north side of the Illinois, six 
miles below Ottawa, is said to have derived its name from this 
practice. It was customary to select an active young man and dis- 
guise him in the skin of the buffalo, prepared for this purpose by 
in^eserving the ears, head and horns. Thus disguised, he took a 
position between a herd and a chff" of the river, while his compan- 
ions, on the rear and each side, put the animals m motion, fol- 
lowing the decoy, who, on reaching the precipice, disappeared m 
a previously selected crevice, while the animals in front, pressed 
by the moving mass behind, were precipitated over the brink and 
crushed to death on the rocks below. The Indians also often cap- 
tured large numbers of these buffalo, when the rivers were frozen 
over, by driving them on the ice. If the great weight ot the ani- 
mals broke the ice, they were usually killed in the water, but it too 
strong to break, its smoothness caused them to fall powerless on 
the surface, Avhen they were remorselessly slaughtered, long alter 
supplying the demands for food, merely to gratify a brutal love tor 
the destruction of life. 

Their General Councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. 
Wlien in council they usuallv sat in concentric circles around the 
speaker, and each individual, notwithstanding the fiery passions 
that rankled within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if cast 
in bronze. Before commencing business, a person appeared witli 
the sacred pipe and another with fire to kindle it. Aftp' being 
lighted, it was presented first to the heavens, secondly to the earth, 
thirdly to the presiding spirits, and lastly to the several councdors, 



46 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



each of whom took a wliiff. These formalities were observed with 
as much SL-rupiilous exactness as state etiquette iii civilized courts. 
After the speaker commenced and became anmiated in the discus- 
sion of his subject, his statue-like auditors signified their assent to 
what he said by deej) guttural ejaculations. These gatherings, in 
dignity, gravity and decorum, were scarcely equalled by the deli- 
berative bodies of the most enlightened centres. It is said that 
the Indians were wont to express the greatest surprise on witness- 
ing the levity exhibited l)y li'rench officials, in their public assem- 
blies at Fort Cliartres. 

The Indian council had no authority to give force and validity to 
its enactments. If it decided to engage in war, it had no power 
to enforce its enlistments, and therefore volunteers had to fight 
the battles. If its decrees of jieace were observed, it was not the 
result of compulsion, but due to the confidence which the imfion 
placed in its wisdom and integrity. When councils were convened 
for negotiating treaties, or terms of peace, the presentation of gifts 
was often a part of the x>ioceedings. It was customary on these 
occasions for the orator of the interceding party to rise and pre- 
sent them to those of the assemblage wiio were to be conciliated. 
A particular object was assigned to each gift, which the speaker 
explained as he proceeded in his discourse. Corresponding with 
the various objects to be accojuplished by negotiation, there were 
gifts to propitiate the Great Spirit and cause him to look with favor 
upon the council; to open the ears and minds of the contracting 
parties, that they might hear what was said and understand their 
duty; to inter the boues of the dead, aiul heal the wounds of their 
living friends ; to bury the tomahawk, that it might not again be 
used in shedding blood, and to so brighten the chain of friendship 
that the disaffected tribes might ever afterwards be as one i)eople. 

The thoughts uttered in these councils, and on other public occa- 
sions, were frequently of a high order. Deeply imbued with the 
lo^'e of freedom and independence, their ideas on these subjects 
were generally of a lofty, unselfish and heroic character. Patriot- 
ism, their most cherislied "sirtue, furnished their orators with 
themes for the most stirring appeals. Barrenness of language 
necessitated the frequent employment of metaphors, many of which 
were surprisingly beautiful, simple and appropriate. The frequent 
use of imagery made it diflicult for the interpreter to follow them 
in their figurative vein of thought and do the orator justice. But 
while this was true it was much more irequently the case that the 
translator greatly improved the original. It may also be added that 
some of the most sparkling gems of what purports to be Indian 
eloquence arenothingbut the fanciful creations of writers. Pontiac's 
speeches are frequently referred to as among the best spechnens 
of aboriginal eloquence. The following retort was made by Keokulv, 
in answer to charges preferred against his people by the Siouxs at 
a convocation of chiefs in 1837, at the national capital : 

" They say they would as soon make peace with a child as with 
us. They know better, for when they made war on us they found 
us men. They tell you that peace has often been made knd we 
have broken it. How happens it then that so many of their braves 
have been slain in our country ? I will tell you : They invaded us, 
we never invaded them ; none of our braves have been killed in 



CONSTITUTION OF THE INDIAN FAMILY. 47 

their land. We have their scalps and we can tell you where we 
took them." 

Black Hawk's speech to Col. Eustice, in charge of Fortress Mon- 
roe, when he and his fellow prisoners were set at liberty, is not 
only eloquent, but shows that within his chest of steel there beat a 
heart keenly alive to the emotions of gratitude : 

"Brother, I have come on my own part, and in belialf of my companions, to 
bid j'on farewell. Our irreat father lias at lenoth been pleased to permit us to 
return to our hunting orounds. We have buried the tomahawk, and the sound 
of the rifle will hereafter only bring death to the deer and the buft'alo. Broth- 
er, you have treated the red men very kindl\^ Your squaws have made them 
presents, and you have given them plenty to cat and drink. The mcmor}' of 
your friendship will remain till the Great Spirit says it is time for Black Hawk 
to sing liis death song. Brother, your houses are numerous as the leaves on 
the trees, and your young warriors like the sands upon the shore of the big 
lake that rolls before us. The red man has but few houses, and few warriors, 
but the red man has a heart which throbs as warmly as the heart of his white 
brother. The Great Spirit has given us our hunting grounds, and the skin of 
the deer which we kill there, is his favorite, for its color is white, and this is the 
emblem of peace. This hunting dress and these feathers of the eagle are white. 
Accept them, my brother; I have given one like this to the White Otter. Accept 
of it as a memorial of Black Hawk. When he is far away this will serve to remind 
you of him. May the Great Spirit bless you and your children. Farewell." 

Constitution of the Indian Family. — The most important social 
feature of the prairie and other tribes, and that which disarmed 
their barbarism of much of its repulsiveness, was the family tie. 
The marital rite which i^recedes the family relations requu-ed only 
the consent of the i^arties and their parents, without any concur- 
rent act of magistracy, to give it validity. The husband, with equal 
facility, might also dissolve this tie or increase the number of his 
wives without limit. Though the marriage compact was not very 
strong, the ties of consanguinity were rigidly preserved, and hered- 
itary rights, generally traced through the female line, were handed 
down from the remotest ancestry. For this piu-pose they had the 
institution of the Toteyn, an emblem which served as a badge of 
distinction for different clans or families. This fanuly surname was 
represented by some quadruped, bird, or other object of the ani- 
mal world, as the wolf, deer, hawk, &c. Dilferent degrees of rank 
and dignity were indicated by various totems, those of the bear, 
wolf, and tiutle, being first in honor, secured the greatest respect 
for those who had the right to wear them. Each clansman was 
proud of his ensign, and if a member of the fraternity was killed, 
he felt called upon to avenge his death. As the different members 
of a clan were connected by ties of kindred, they were prohibited 
from intermarriage. A Bear could not marry a Bear, but might 
take a wife from the Wolf or Otter clan, whereby all the branches 
of a tribe or nation became united by bonds of consanguinity and 
frieudshii). By this simple institution, notwithstanding the wan- 
dering of tribes and their \acissitudes in war, family lineage was 
preserved and the hereditary rights of fiu-nishing chiefs, accorded 
to certain clans, was transmitted from generation to generation. 

Though in many of the most endearing relations of life the men, 
from immemorial custom, exhibited the most stolid indifference, 
yet instances were not wanting to show that in their family attach- 
ments they frequently manifested the greatest affection and sym- 
pathy. ]S[o calamity can cause more grief than the loss of a prom- 
ising son, and the father has often given his hfe as a ransom to 



48 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

save him from the stake. A striking- instance of this l^ind occur- 
red in the war of the 17th century between the Foxes and Chippe- 
w^as, near Montreal. In this war the Foxes cai)tured the son of a 
celebrated and aged chief of the ChippcMas, named Bi-ans-wah, 
while the father was absent from his wigwam. On reaching his 
home, the old man heard the heart-rending news, and knowing 
what the fate of his son Avould be, followed on the trail of the enemy, 
and, alone, reached the Fox village Avhile they were in the act of 
kindling the tire to roast him alive. He stepped boldly into the 
arena and offered to take his son's place. " My sou," said he "has 
seen but few winters, his feet have never trod the war path ; but 
the hairs of my head are white; I have hung many scalps over the 
graves of my relations, which I have taken from the heads of your 
warriors. Kindle the lire about me and send my son to my lodge." 
The offer was accepted and the father, without deigning to utter a 
groan, was burned at the stake. Such are the severities of savage 
warfare, amidst which the family is maintained with a heroism 
which has no parallel in civilized life. 

T he Methods of Sepulture, among the Indians, varied in different 
localities. It was common, among the northern forest tribes of 
the United States, to choose elevated spots above the reach of 
floods, for i^laces of burial. Not having suitable tools for nmking 
excavations, they interred tlieu* dead in shallow graves and placed 
over them trunks of trees to secure them from depredation by wild 
beasts. The bodies were sometimes extended at full lengili, in an 
eastern and western direction, but more frequently in a sitting pos- 
ture. The Illinois and other prairie tribes frequently jilaced their 
dead on scaffolds erected on eminences commanding extensive 
and pictiu^esque views. The corpse, after receiving its wrapi)ings, 
was deposited in a rude coffin , fancifully painted with red colors. In 
this condition they were placed on scaffolds decorated with gifts of 
living relatives, and built sufficiently high to protect tliem from 
wolves and other animals of prey infesting the prairies. But judging 
from the remaius of graves, by tar the greater pai-t of the ancient in- 
habitants of Illinois and the adjacent parts of the Mississippi Valley, 
deposited large numbers of their dead in a comnion tomb, and gen- 
erally marked the i^lace by the erection of a mound. The x)iains 
and alluviums of Southern Illinois, have in many places been liter- 
ally sown with the dead, e\incing a density of population greatly 
exceeding that found by the first European explorers of this region. 
The custom of raising heaps of earth over the graves, was iierhajis 
practiced as a mark of distinction for the tombs of eminent person- 
ages, and for such as contained the bodies of warriors slain in bat- 
tle, or were made common repositories for the dead of whole clans 
and villages. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the 
places of sepidture raised by the ancient mound builders, and the 
jDiore modern graves of the Indians. The tombs of the former Avere 
in general larger than the latter, were used as receptacles for a 
greater number of bodies, and contained relics of art evincing a 
higher degree of civilization than that attained by the present ab- 
original tribes. The ancient tumuli of the mound builders have in 
some instances been appropriated as burial places by the Indians, 
but the skeletons of the latter may be distinguished from the osteo- 
logical remains of the former by their greater stature. 



METHODS OF SEPULTURE. 49 



The existence of a future state was regarded by the prairie tribes 
as an actuality, and upon this idea was predicated the custom of 
depositing in the graves of departed friends their favorite iuiple- 
ments, and such as they thought would be useful to them in the 
land of spirits. When a warrior died they placed with him liis 
war-club, gun and red paint, and some times his horse was slain 
upon his grave, that he might be ready to mount and proceed 
to his appointed place of rest in the land of spirits. If a female 
was to be interred, they placed with her a kettle, canoe paddles, 
articles of apparel, and other objects of feminine use and interest. 
No trait of character was more commendable in the Indian than 
his scrupulous regard for the graves of his ancestors. Not even 
the invasion of his hunting grounds roused more quickly his pat- 
riotism and resentmeut, than the ruthless desecration of the graves 
,of his fathers, by the unhallowed hands of strangers. So long as 
any part of their perishable bodies was supposed to remain, they 
were prompted by reverence to Aisit the sacred places where they 
slept, and pour out libations to their departed spirits. 

Man is, by nature, a religious being. The exhibitions of his 
character, in this respect, are as universal as are the displays of 
his social, intellectual and moral nature. No nations, tribes or in- 
dividuals have been found, whatever may be their isolated condi- 
tion or depth of degradation, but they are more or less governed 
by this inherent element. While the rehgious sentiment is univer- 
sal, its manifestations are as various as the different degrees of ad- 
vancement made by its subjects in knowledge. From the ignorant 
idolater who bows down before a lifeless image or some abject form 
of animal life, to the devotee of a more enhghteued theology, the 
devotion is the same, but their theories and practices are infinitely 
diverse. The faculties which make man a worshipping being are 
unchangeable, and may not its manifestations become uniform, 
when the immutable attributes of the deity, and the invariable 
laws instituted by him for the government of the human family, 
are properly studied and understood ? 

The red man of the prairies and forests, like the rest of mankind, 
was also psj- chologically religious. Without speaking of the diver- 
sities of belief entertained by different tribes, only the general fea- 
tures of then' faith can be given. Prominent among these was 
the idea that every natural phenomenon was the S])ecial manifesta- 
tion of the Great Spirit. In the mutterings of the thimder cloud, 
in the augry roar of the cataract, or the sound of the biUows which 
beat upon the shores of his lake-gkt forests, he heard the voice of 
the Great Spuit. The lightning's flash, the mystic radiance of the 
stars, were to him familiar thsplays of a spirit essence which up- 
held and governed all things, even the minute destinies of men ; 
while the Indian attributed to the Great Sphit the good he enjoyed 
in Ufe, he recognized the existence of evil. To account for this, 
without attributing malevolence to the Great Spirit, an autagonis- 
tical deity was created in his theology, whom he regarded as the 
potent ])ower of malignancy. By this duality of deities he was 
carefid to guard his good and merciful God from all imputations of 
,evn by attributing all the bad intentions and acts which afdict the 
human family to the Great Bad Spirit. 

Doubtless, in part, as a result of missionary instructions, the 
Illinois and other branches of Algonquin stock, designated their 
4 



60 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Great Spirit as the Aiitlior of Life, the Uphokler of the Universe. 
They beheved him all-wise, all-powerful, and all-good, aud vari- 
ously assigned him a dwelling place in the sun, moon or indefinite 
skies. They not only distinguished the principle of good and evil 
by two antagonistic gods, but supplied them with an innumerable 
number of minor divinities, whose office was to execute their will. 
These consisted of birds, reptiles, fairies, spirits, and a great va- 
riety of other objects, some being instrumentalities of good and 
others of evil. Under such a niultii)licity of antagonistic powers, 
everything which the Indian saw or heard in the external world 
might be the cause of intense hope or fear, and keep him in per- 
petual doubt as to whether it foreboded good or evil. A prey to 
these mysterious fears, he readily fell into the belief of sorcery 
and other supposed magic influences. From this cause they were 
constantly victimized by their priests, jugglers, and prophets, a 
class who lived by these imj)ositions instead of hunting. 

The belief in a future state was common. According to their 
traditions, which had been modified by missionary teachings, the 
wicked, at death, sink into a dark retributive stream, while the 
good are rewarded with an abode in a delightful hunting ground. 
In their lively imagery, they spoke of this place as the land of the 
blest, or the country of souls, through which meandered gently 
flowing rivers. They suj^posed these streams replete with every 
kind of fish suitable for food, and that those who bathed in them 
were exempt from the ills which afflict life in the present state of 
being. Over the surface, agreeably diversified with hills and val- 
leys, were prairies interspersed with noble forests, under Avhose 
sheltering branches disported the various creations of animal life. 
Birds warbled their sweetest music in waving groves, and noble 
animals grazed on the verdant plains so numerous and prolific that 
the demands of the hunter Avere always met without exhausting 
the supply. No tempest's destructive blast, no wasting pestilence 
nor desolating earthquake, emanating from the Spirit of Evil, oc- 
curred to mar the sweet and varied pleasures of life. Such was 
the Indian's future state of existence, the dwelling place of the 
Great Spirit, who welcomed home at death his wandering children. 
The belief in this terrene elysium, the Indian's most exalted idea 
of paradise, doubtless explains his stoical indifference of death. 
With him 

" Time comes nnsighed for, uiiregrL'tted flies; 
Plciised that he lives, happy that he dies." 

As it regards the Indians in general, it is an adage among those 
whose observations have been the most extensive, that he who 
has seen one tribe has seen them all. This seems to be true, not- 
withstanding their wide geographical distribution, and the great 
extremes of climate to which they are exposed. Whether enjoy- 
ing the great abundance and mild climate of the Mississippi 
Valley, or chilled and stinted by the bleak and barren regions of 
the extreme north and south of the hemisphere, over which they 
are scattered, they have the same general lineaments. "All pos- 
sess, though in varied degrees, the same long, lank, black hair, 
the dull and sleepy eye, the full and compressed lips, and the 
salient but dilated nose."* The cheek bones are prominent, the 
nostril expanded, the orbit of the eye squared, and the whole max- 

*Schoolcraft. 



INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 51 



illary region ponderous. The cranium is rounded, and the diame- 
ter, from front to back, less in some instances than between the 
sides. The posterior portion is flattened toward the crown, while 
the forehead is low and retreating. The hair, which in the white 
man is oval, and in the black man eccentrically elhptical, is inva- 
riably round. Not only its cylindrical form, but its great length 
and coarseness, are found m all the diversified climate in which 
this people is found. When contrasted with the Em^opean, they 
are found mentally and physically inferior. No measm-ement Has 
been instituted to determine their average statm-e, whereby the 
ditference between them and the races of Europe, in this respect, 
can be accurately determined. Shenandoah was feet 3 inches 
high ; Logan, 6 feet ; Eed Jacket, 5 feet 8 mches, and the distin- 
guished Fox chief, Keokuk, G feet 2 inches. These celebrated 
uistances doubtless exceeded the majority of their countrymen in 
hight, as all rude and uncultivated races admire superior physical 
development, and generally consult prominence of stature ui the 
selection of then- leaders. While their stature may average with 
that of the European, in muscular power and endurance they are 
surpassed. In feats of agility, connected with rmining and hunt- 
ing, they are scarcely equal to their white competitors ; while in 
all labors requiring compactness of muscle and protracted exer- 
tion, the latter are always the victors. In the severe labor of 
rowing, and the carrying of heavy burdens across the portages of 
the northwest, it was observed that the French boatmen of Illinois 
and Canada exhibited the greatest strength and endurance. The 
European also excels them in brain development and mental 
power. The facial angle, whicdi indicated the volume of the intel- 
lectual lobe, has in the European an average of 80 degrees, while 
that of the Indian is only 75. The superiority of the former in 
this respect, and in the size and activity of his brain, is in keeping 
with their respective conditions. The history of the one is a 
history of human progress ; that of the other details the struggles 
of a race perishing before the advance of civOization, which it is 
neither able to adopt nor successfully oppose. 

Much has been said and written in regard to the unjust en- 
croachments of white men upon the territory of the Indiaais. No 
doubt much hardship has grown out of the manner in w^hich their 
lands have been taken, yet the right of civHized races to demand 
a part of their vast domain, even without their consent, when it 
could not be obtained otherwise, can hardly be questioned. The 
earth was designed by the Creator for the common habitation of 
man, and it is his destiny and duty to develop its resources. 
When, therefore, the occupants of any region .ftiil to accomplish 
these objects, they must be regarded as unfaithful stewards, and 
give way to those who have the abihty to make it >ield the largest 
supphes and support the greatest number of inhabitants. Had 
the Indians, w^ho refused to become tillers of the soil, been suf- 
fered to retain possession of the hemisphere over which they 
roamed, some of the most fertile portions of the globe must have 
remained a wilderness, thus defeating the object of the Creator, 
and doing great injustice to the rest of mankind. Failing to 
make a proper use of this heritage, they have lost it, but behold 
the gam ! At the touch of civilization the wnlderness has been 
made to blossom hke the rose. Herds and harvests have followed 



52 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the track of the pale-faced pioneer, and teeming millions of a 
higher life have taken the place of a few wandering hunters and 
fishermen. After Columbus made known to Europeans the exis- 
tence of the new world, priority of discovery was considered as 
conferrmg upon the governments under whose patronage it was 
made, the right of extinguishing the Indian title. England, in 
the exercise of tliis right, treated tlie Indians substantially as she 
did her own subjects. She respected their claims to occupy and 
use the country for their own benefit, but did not permit them to 
alienate it except to her own people, in accordance with the prin- 
ciple of English law that all titles to lands are vested in the 
crown. The United States, by the acquisition of independence, 
succeeded to the right of the mother country, and has forced upon 
them similar restrictions, and accorded the same privileges. In 
every instance the government has extinguished their title by 
treaty or purchase. It must, however, be admitted that in many 
instances these treaties grew out of wars provoked by frontier 
settlers, for the sole purpose of demanding territory in the way of 
reprisal. It must also be added, that when lands have been 
obtained by purchase, the consideration was frequently of the 
most trivial character. 



Chapter Y. 

OPEEATION OF THE MI SSIOITAEIES— EXTENT OF 
THEIR EXPLOEATIONS UP TO 1673. 



Although commercial enterprise is perhaps the principal agent 
for the dissemination of civihzation in the undeveloped regions 
of the globe, its extension into the Mississippi valley was due to a 
different cause. Pioneers, actuated by a religious fervor and 
enthusiasm hitherto without a parallel in the history of the world, 
were the first to explore its trackless wilds, and attempt to teach 
its savage inhabitants the refinements of civilized hfe. These 
self-denying- explorers belonged mostly to the Jesuits or the Society 
of Jesus, a famous religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola, a 
Spanish Imight of the sixteenth century. He gave out that 
the constitution of his order was given him by immediate in- 
spiration. ISTotwith standing his high pretensions, he at first 
met with little encouragement, and the Pope, to whom he applied 
for the authority of his sanction, referred hun to a committee of 
cardhials. The latter decided that his proposed estabhshment 
would not only be useless, but dangerous, and the Pope refused 
to give it his approval. To overcome the scruples of the Pope, in 
addition to the vows of other orders he required the members of 
his society to take a vow of obedience to the Pope, whereby they 
bound themselves to go whithersoever he should direct them in 
the service of religion, without requiring anything from him as a 
means of support. In other orders the primary object of the 
monk is to separate himself from the rest of the world, and in the 
solitude of the cloister to practice acts of self-mortification and 
purity. He is expected to eschew the pleasures and secular affairs 
of life, and can only benefit mankind by his example and prayers. 
Loyola, on the contrary, preferred that the members of his society 
should mingle in the affairs "of men, and they were accordingly ex- 
empted from those austerities and ceremonies which consumed 
much of the time of other orders. Full of the idea of huphcit 
obedience which he had learned from the profession of arms, he 
gave to his order a government wholly monarchical. To a general, 
who should be chosen for life from the several provinces, the 
members were compelled to yield not only an outAvard submission, 
but were required to make known to him even the thoughts and 
feelings of their inner hfe. At the time this offer was made, the 
papal power had received such a shock from the refusal of many 
nations to submit to its authority, that the Pope could not look 
upon it with indifference. He saw that it would place at his dis- 
posal a body of the most rigorously disciplined ecclesiastics, 
whose powerful infiuence would enable him to repel the violent 

53 



54 HISTORY OF ELLINOIS. 

assaults with which the papal system was everywhere assailed. 
He therefore authorized the establishment of the order, and ap- 
pointed Loyola its first general. The result i)roYetl the discern- 
ment of the Pope, for the enginery he thus put in motion at no 
distant day extended its influence to the uttermost limits of the 
earth. Before the termination of the 10th centurj^, the society 
furnished the educators in most of the Catholic countries of 
Europe, a privilege which exerted a more controlling influence in 
moulding national character than that which emanates from all 
other sources combined. Although taking a vow of poverty, it 
managed to rapidly increase in wealth. Under the pretext of 
f>romoting the success of their missions, they obtained the privi- 
lege of trading with the nations they were endeavoring to convert, 
and thus frequently became the masters of extensive commercial 
enterprises. 

Besides the Jesuits, the Eecollet monks bore a conspicuous part 
in the history of the French-American possessions. They were a 
branch of the Franciscan order, founded in the early part of the 
13th century by St. Francis of Assisi, a madman, saint or hero, 
according to the difierent views entertained respecting him. Like 
all other saints, he became the subject of supernatural visitations, 
consisting-, in his case, largely of dreams revealing to him the 
nature of the work which providence had called him to perform. 
In entering upon the labors of his mission he dressed in the rags 
of a beggar, and at last presented himself in a state of nudity to 
the Bishop of Assisi, and begged the mantle of a peasant. He 
next robbed his father, to get means to build himself a chapel ; 
crowds gathered to listen to his fanatical appeals, and Europe 
soon became dotted over with the convents of his order. In the 
course of time the Franciscans lost the vigor for which they were 
first distinguished, but the Kecollets, a reformed branch of the 
order, at the time of the French exi)lorations still retained much 
of its pristine spirit. These two orders, and incidentally that of 
St. Sulpice, played an important part in the exploration and colo- 
nization of the Mississippi valley. 

The St. Lawrence and its chain of lakes entering the continent 
on the east, and the Mississippi from the south, are the two great 
avenues through which Euroi^eans first made their way to Illinois, 
The former opening with a broad estuary into the Atlantic, 
directly opposite Europe, first diverted a portion of its Gallic emi- 
gration to the regions drained by its tributaries. Pioneers, led by 
the indefatigable Jesuits, soon reached Illinois, and made it an 
important centre in the vast schemes projected by the French 
court for the possession of the Mississippi valley. 

The French on the St Lawroice. — As early as 1535, four 
years before the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto, Jacques 
Cartier conducted an expedition to the St. Lawrence, Avhich he 
ascended as far as the island of Orleans. Several attempts were 
shortly afterward made to plant colonies in the newly discovered 
region, but they failed in consequence of the inclemency of the 
climate and hostilities of the natives. France, at that tiiue, was 
too much engaged in wars to further exhaust her resources in 
forming settlements, and it was not till lOOS that a permanent 
colony was established. During this year Champlain, a bold 
navigator, with a number of colonists, sailed ui) the St. Lawrence, 



EARLY EXPLORERS. 55 



and landed at the foot of the lofty promontory which rises in the 
angk^ formed by the confluence of the St. Charles. Carpenters 
were set to work, and within a few weeks a pile of buildings rose 
near the water's edge, the first representatives of the spacious 
churches, convents, dwellings and ramparts which now form the 
opulent and enterprising city of Quebec. These buildings consti- 
tuted the headquarters of Chaniplain, and were surrounded by a 
wooden Avall pierced Avith openings for a number of small cannon. 
To secure the friendship of the Hurons and neighboring Algon- 
quin nations, Chainplain was induced to assist them in a war 
against the Iroquois, inhabiting the country south of the St. Law- 
rence. Victory attended his superior arms, but it aroused the 
implacable hate of these tribes, and for a period of 90 years they 
<3ontinued to wreak their fury upon the Indian allies of France, 
and materially contributed to the flnal overthrow of her power. 

In 1015 Chaniplain retiu'ued to France, and brought back with 
Iiim four KecoUet monks. Great was the astonishment of the 
Indians at first beholdhig these mendicants, clad in their rude 
gowns of coarse gray cloth. Their first care was to select a site 
and erect a convent, the completion of which was honored by the 
<;elebration of mass. All New France participated in the myste- 
rious rite, while from the ships and ramparts of the fort cannon 
thundered forth an approving salute. Theii' great object was the 
salvation of the Indians, and unappalled by the perils that awaited 
them, tbey met in council and assigned to each his province in the 
vast field of labors. As the result of unwearied eftbrt, they estab- 
lished missions from Kova Scotia to Lake Hm^on, but finding the 
task too great for their strength, they apphed to the Jesuits for 
assistance. The followers of Loyola eagerly responded to the 
invitation, and Canada for the first time saw the order which, in 
after years, figured so extensively in her history. Though suffer- 
ing nuist be their fate, and perhaps martyrdom"^ their crown, they 
penetrated to the most remote regions and visited the most war- 
like tribes. Missions were established on the Straits of St. Mary, 
the northern shores of Lake Huron, the tributaries of Lake Michi- 
g'du, and finally among their inveterate enemies, the Iroquois. 

Chaniplain, after having acted as governor for a period of 27 
years, died on the Christmas of 1635, a hundred years after the 
first visit of Cartier, and was bmied in the city he had founded. 
Sharing with others of his time the illusion of finding a passage 
across the continent to the Pacific, he made voyages of discovery 
with a view of finding the long-sought commercial highway. lia 
one of his excursions he discovered the lake which bears his name, 
and was among the first Euroiieans who set their feet on the 
lonely shores of Lake Huron. What indescribable thoughts must 
have thrilled his bosom as he looked out on its broad expanse, or 
perhaps awed by its majestic sohtiules, he listened with strange 
delight to the loud refrain of its billow-lashed shores. 

Discovery of the Ohio by LaSallo, lOOO.— After the death of 
Chaniplain, the next actor in the field of exploration was Eobert 
Oavalier, better known as LaSalle. His father's family was among 
the old and wealthy burghers of Eouen, France, and its several 
members were frequently entrusted with important positions by 
the government. Eobert Avas born in 1013, and early exhibited 
the traits of character which distinguished him iu his western 



56 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

career. Having- a wealthy father, he enjoyed ample facilities for 
obtaining an education, and made rapid progress in the exact 
sciences. He was a Catholic, and it is said a Jesuit ; but judging 
from his subsequent life, he was not a religious enthusiast. The 
order of Loyola, wielded at the centre by a single will so compli- 
cated and so harmonious, may have attracted his youthful imagi- 
nation. It was, however, none the less likely that when he found 
himself not at the centre, but moving in a prescribed orbit at 
the circumference, he would leave it. Having an individuality 
which could not be moulded by a shaping hand, he was better 
qualified for a different sphere of action. He therefore parted 
with the Jesuits on good terms, with an unblemished character^ 
for his lofty ambition completely divested him of the petty ani- 
mosities to which groveling minds are subject. 

He had an older brother living in Canada — a priest of the order 
of St. Sulpice — and it was this circimistance which induced him 
to emigrate to America. His connection with the Jesuits deprived 
him, under the laws of France, from inheriting the property of 
his father, who died shortly before his departure. He, however^ 
received a small allowance, and with this, in the spring of 1606^ 
arrived at Montreal. Here he found a corporation of priests,, 
known as the Seminary of St. Sulpice, who were disposing of 
lands on easy terms to settlers, hoping by this means to establish 
a barrier of settlements between themselves and the hostile 
Indians. The sui^erior of the seminary, on hearing of LaSalle's 
arrival, gratuitously offered him a tract of land situated on the 
St. Lawrence, 8 miles above Montreal. The grant was accepted, 
and though the place was greatly exposed to the attacks of savages, 
it was favorably situated for the fur trade. Commencing at ouce 
to improve his new domain, he traced out the boundaries of a pal- 
isaded village, and disposed of his lands to settlers, who were to 
pay for them a rent in small annual installments. 

While thus employed in developing his seigniory, he commenced 
studying the Indian languages, and in three years is said to have 
niade rapid progress in the Iroquois, and eight other tongues and 
dialects. From his home on the banks of the St. LaAvrence, his 
thoughts often wandered over the '■'■ wild unknown world toward 
sunset," and like former explorers, dreamed of a direct westward 
passage to the commerce of China and Japan. While musing 
upon the subject, he was visited by a band of Senecas, and learned 
from them that a river called the Ohio, rising in their country^ 
flowed into the sea, but at such a distance that it required eight 
months to reach its mouth. In this statement the Mississippi and 
its tributary were considered as one stream, tind with the geo- 
graphical views then prevalent, it was supposed to fall into the 
gulf of California. 

Placing great confidence in this hypothesis, and determined to 
make an exploration to verify it, he repaired to Quebec, to obtain 
from Governor Courcelles his approval. His plausible statements 
soon won over to his plans both the Governor and Intendant 
Talon, and letters patent were issued authorizing the enter- 
prise. No i^ecuniary aid being furnished by the government, and 
as LaSalle had expended all his means in improving his estate, he 
was compelled to sell it to procure funds. The superior of the 
Seminary, being favorably disposed toward him, bought the 



DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED. 57 



greater part of Ms improvement, and realizing 2800 livres, lie 
purchased four canoes and the necessary supplies for the expedi- 
tion. 

The Senimary, at the same time, was preparing for a similar 
exploration. The priests of this organization, emulating the 
enterprise of the Jesuits, had established a mission on the north- 
ern shore of Lake Ontario. At this point, hearing of populous 
tribes further to the northwest, they resolved to essay their con- 
version, and an expedition, under two of their number, was fitted 
out for this purpose. On going to Quebec to procure the neces- 
sary outfit, they were advised by the Governor to so modify their 
plans as to act in concert with LaSalle in exploring the great 
river of the west. As the result, both expeditions were merged 
into ofie— an arrangement ill-suited to the genius of LaSalle^ 
whom nature had formed for an undisputed chief, rather than a 
co-laborer in the enterprise. On the 6th of July, 1GG9, everything 
was in readiness, and the combined party, numbering 24 persons^ 
embarked on the St. Lawrence in 7 canoes. Two additional 
canoes carried the Indians who had visited LaSalle, and who were 
now acting as guides. Threading the devious and romantic mazes 
of the river in opposition to its rapid current, after three days 
they appeared on the broad expanse of Lake Ontario. Their 
guides led them thence du-ectly to their village, on the banks of 
the Genesee, where they expected to find guides to lead them to 
the Ohio. LaSalle, only partially understanding their language, 
was compelled to confer with them by means of a Jesuit priest, 
stationed at the village. The Indians refused to fiu-nish a con- 
ductor, and even bimied before their eyes a prisoner from one of 
the western tribes, the only person who could serve them as 
guide. This and other unfriendly treatment which they re(>eived, 
caused them to suspect that the Jesuit, jealous of thek enterprise, 
had intentionally misrepresented their 'object, for the purpose of 
defeating it. With the hope of accomplishing their object, they 
Ungered for a month, and at length had the good fortune to meet 
with an Indian from an Iroquois colony, situated near the head 
of the lake, who assured them that they could there find what 
they wanted, and ofi'ered to conduct them thither. With 
renewed hope they gladly accepted this proffered assistance, and 
left the Seneca village. Coursing along the southern shore of the 
lake, they passed the mouth of the is'^iagara, where they heard for 
the first time the distant thunder of the cataract, and soon arrived 
safely among the Iroquois. Here they met with a friendly recep- 
tion, and were informed by a Shawnee prisoner that they could 
reach the Ohio in six weeks' time, and that he would guide them 
thither. Dehghted with tliis unexpected good fortune, they pre- 
pared to commence the joiu-ney, when they unexpectedly heard 
of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One 
of them proved to be Louis Joliet, a young man of about the age 
of LaSalle, and destined to acquire fame'by his explorations in 
the west. He had been sent l)y Talon, the intendant of Canada, 
to explore the copper mines of Lake Superior, but had failed, and 
was now on his return. Giving the priests a map representing 
such parts of the upper lakes as he had visited, he informed them 
that the Indians of those regions were in great need of spiritual 
advisers. On receiving this information, the missionaries decided 



58 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

that the Indians must no longer sit in darkness, and thonglit that 
the discovery of the Mississi]:>pi might be effected as easily by a 
northern route, through these tribes, as by going farther south- 
ward. LaSalle, remonstrating against their determination, in- 
formed them that this direction was impracticable, and in case 
they should visit that region, they would perhaps find it already 
occupied by the Jesuits. He had, for some time, been afflicted 
with a violent fever, and finding his advice unheeded, he told the 
priests that his condition would not admit of following them 
further. The plea of sickness was doubtless a ruse to effect a 
separation ; for the invincible determination of LaSalle never 
permitted an enterprise which he had undertaken to be defeated 
by other considerations. A friendly parting was arranged, and 
after the celebration of mass, LaSalle and his men fell back to 
Lake Ontario, while the Suli)icians descended Grand river to 
Lake Erie. 

The latter prosecuted their journey up the lakes, and on arri- 
ving among the Indians of whom Joliet had spoken, they found, 
as LaSalle had surmised, Marquette and Dablon established 
among them. Learning, too, that they needed no assistance from 
St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron saint, they 
retraced their steps, and arrived at Montreal the following June, 
without having made any discoveries or converted an Indian. 

The coiu'se pursued by LaSalle and his party, after leaving the 
priests, is involved in doubt. The most reliable record of his 
movements is that contained in an anonymous paper, which pur- 
j)orts to have been taken from the lij^s of LaSalle himself, during 
a visit subsequently made to Paris. According to this statement, 
he went to Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passed 
thence to a tribiitary of the Ohio, south of Lake Erie, followed it 
to the principal river, and descended the latter as far as the falls 
at Louisville. It has also been maintained, that he reached the 
Mississippi and descended it some distance, when his men de- 
serted, and he was compelled to return alone. It is stated in the 
same manuscript, that the following year he embarked on Lake 
Erie, ascended the Detroit to Lake Huron, and passed through 
the strait of Mackiiuiw to Lake Michigan. Passing to the southern 
shore, he proceeded by land to the Illinois, whicli he followed to 
its confluence with the Mississippi, and descended the latter to 
the 3Gth degree of latitude. Here, assured that the river did not 
fall into the gulf of California, but that of Mexico, he returned, 
with the intention of at some future day exploring it to the mouth. 

The statement that he visited the falls of the Ohio, is doubt- 
less correct. He himself affirms, in a letter to Count Frontenac, i 
in 1677, that he discovered the Ohio, and descended it to the falls. 
Moreover, Joliet, his rival, subsequently made two maps repre- 
senting the region of the Mississippi and the lakes, on both of 
which he states that LaSalle discovered and explored the Ohio. 
It is, perhaps, also true that LaSalle discovered the Illinois, but 
that he descended either it or the Ohio to the Mississippi before 
the discovery of Joliet, is improbable. If such had been the case, 
he certainly would have left written evidence to that effect, as in 
the case of the Ohio especially, when the priority of Joliet's dis- 
covery had become a matter of great notoriety. 



Chapter VI. 
EXPLOEATIONS BY JOLIET AND MAEQUETTE— lG73-'75. 



LaSalle had explored one, and perhaps two, routes to the Miss- 
issippi, but as yet the upper portion of the great river had 
probably never been seen by any European. The honor of inau- 
gurating the successful attempt to reach this stream is due to M. 
Talon, who wished to close the long and useful term of his servi- 
ces, as the Intendant of Canada, by removing the mystery which 
enshrouded it. For this purpose he selected Louis Joliet, a fur 
trader, to conduct the expedition, and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit 
missionary, to assist him. 

Talon, however, was not to remain in the country long enough 
to witness the completion of the enterprise. A misunderstanding 
arose between him and Governor Courcelles in regard to the juris- 
diction of their respective offices, and both asked to be recalled. 
Their requests were granted, and early in the autumn of 1672, 
Count Frontenac arrived at Quebec, to take the place of the 
retiring governor. He belonged to the high nobility of France, 
was well advanced in life, and a man of prompt and decided 
action. Though intolerant to enemies, he partially atoned for this 
fault by his great magnanimity and devotion to friends, while his 
charm of manners and speech made him the IVuorite and orna- 
ment of the most polished circles. His career in Canada, at first, 
was beset with opposition and enmity, but its close was rewarded 
with admiration and gratitude for his broad \iew» and unshaken 
firmness, when others despaired. 

Before sailing for France, M. Talon recommended to Frontenac 
Joliet and Marquette, as suitable persons to execute his projected 
discoveries. The former was born at Quebec, in 1045, of humble 
parentage. He was educated by the Jesuits for the priesthood, 
but early abandoned his clerical vocation to engage in the fur 
trade. Though renouncing the priesthood, he still retained a par- 
tiality for the order which had educated him, and no doubt this 
was the principal reason which induced Talon to labor for his 
appointment. Possessing no very salient points of character, he 
yet had sufticient enterprise, boldness and determination properly 
to discharge the task before him. 

His colleague, Marquette, greatly surpassed him in bold out- 
lines of character. He was born in 1037, at Laon, France. Inheri- 
ting from his parents a mind of great religious susceptibility, he 
early united with the Jesuits, and w^as sent, in 1000, to America 
as a missionary, where he soon distinguished himself for devotion 
to his profession. To convert the Indians he penetrated a thousand 
miles in advance of civilization, and by his kind attentions in their 

51) 



60 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

afflictions, won their affections, and made them his lasting friends. 
Softening- theii' savage asperities into smoothness and i)eace by 
the blended piu-ity and hnmility of his own life, he was the most 
snccessfnl of all the missionaries in developing their higlier and 
better feelings. His extensive acqnaintance with the Indian lan- 
gnages, now enabled him to act in the threefold capacity of" inter- 
preter, explorer and missionary, 

Joliet ascended the lakes and joined his companion at the Jesuit 
mission, on the strait of Mackinaw, where, for several years, he 
had been instructing the Ott'awas and Hurons. With 5 other 
Frenchmen and a simple outfit, the daring explorers, on the 17th 
of May, 1073,, set out on their perilous voyage. Coasting along 
the northern shore of Lake Michigan, they entered Green Bay, 
and passed thence up Fox river and Lake Winnebago to a village 
of the Mascoutins and Miamis. Marquette, who never siiliered 
the beauties of nature to escape his attention, speaks in eloquent 
teims of the broad prairies and tall forests which he saw from the 
summit of the hill on which it was situated. His admiration of 
the scenery was, however, greatly exceeded by the joy which he 
experienced at beholding a cross planted in the midst of the place, 
and decorated with some of the most valued of Indian impale- 
ments. With due ceremony they were introduced to a council of 
chiefs, when Marquette, pointing to Joliet, said : " My friend is an 
envoy of France, to discover new countries, and I am an embas- 
sador from God, to enlighten them with the truths of the gospel."* 
The speaker then made them some presents, and asked for guides 
to conduct them on their way. Though the Indians regarded their 
journey as extremely hazardous, these were granted, and the 
voyagers re-embarked in their canoes. All the village followed 
them down to the river, wondering that men could be found to 
undertake an enterprise so fraught with dangers. Their guides 
led them safely through the de\aous windings of the river, beset 
with lakes and marshes overgrown with wild rice. The seed of 
this i)lant largely furnished the Indians with food, and subsisted 
immense luimbers of birds, which rose in clouds as the travelers 
advanced. Arriving at the portage, they soon carried their light 
canoes and scanty baggage to the Wisconsin, about three miles 
distant. France and papal Christendom were now in the valley 
of the Mississippi, ready to commence the drama in which, for the 
next succeeding 90 years, they were the principal actors. 

Their guides now refused to accompany them further, and 
endeavored to induce them to return, by reciting the dangers they 
must encounter in the further prosecution of the journey. They 
stated that huge demons dwelt in the great river, whose voices 
could be heard at a long distance, and who engulfed in the 
raging waters all who came within their reach. They also repre- 
sented that, should any of them escape the dangers of the river, 
fierce and Avarring tribes dwelt on its banks, ready to complete the 
work of destruction. Marquette thanked them for the informa- 
tion, but could not think of trying to save his own perishable 
body, when the immortal souls of the Indians alluded to might be 
eternally lost. Embarking in their canoes, they slowly glided 
down the Wisconsin, passing shores and islands covered with 
forests, lawns, parks and i^leasure grounds, greatly exceeding in 

•Monette's Valley of the Mississippi, 124. 



JOLIET AND MARQUETTE. 61 

their natural beauty the most skillful training of cultured hands. 
The 17th of June brought them to the mouth of the river, and 
with great joy they pushed their frail barks out on the Hoods of 
the lordly Mississippi. Drifting rapidly with the current, the 
scenery of the two banks reminded them of the castled shores of 
their own beautiful rivers of France. For days of travel they 
passed a constant succession of headlands, sei)arated by grace- 
fully rounded valleys covered with verdure, and gently rising as 
they recede from the margin of the waters. The rocky summits 
of the headlands, rising high above their green bases, had been 
wrought by the corroding elements into a great ^-ariety of fantas- 
tic forms, which the lively imagiimtion of Marquette shaped into 
towers, gigantic statues, and the crumbling ruins of fortifications. 
On going to the heads of the valleys, they could see a country of 
the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhabi- 
tants, yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under 
the fastidious cultivation of lordly proprietors. By and hy great 
herds of buffalo appeared on the opposite banlis, the more timid 
females keeping at a safe distance, while the old bulls ajiproached, 
and through theii' tangled manes looked defiance at the strange 
invaders of their grassy realms. 

Near a hundred miles below the mouth of the Wisconsin, the 
voyagers discovered an Indian trace, leading from the western 
shore. Joliet and Marquette, leaving their canoes iu charge of 
their men, determined to follow it and make themselves acquainted 
with the tribes of this region. Moving cautiously through prairies 
and forests, rendered beautiful by the verdure aiul bloom of July, 
they discovered a village near the banks of the river and two 
others on a hill half a league distant. Commending themselves 
to the protection of Heaven, they approached and shouted to at- 
tract attention. When the commotion, excited by their unexpected 
salute, had partially subsided, four elders advanced with uplifted 
calumets to meet them. A friendly greeting ensued, and after in- 
forming the Frenchmen that thej' were Illinois, they conducted 
them to their village. Here they were presented to the chief, who, 
standing near the door of his wigwam in a state of comjilete 
nudity, delivered an address of welcome : "Frenchmen, how blight 
the sun shines when you come to visit us ; all our village awaits 
you, and you shall enter our wigwams in peace." After entering 
and smoking a friendly pipe, they were invited to visit the great 
chief of the Illinois, at one of the other villages. Followed by a 
motley throng of warriors, squaws, and children, they proceeded 
thither and were received with great courtesy by the cliief. On 
entering his wigwam, filled with the dignitaries of the tribe, Mar- 
quette announced the nature of theii' enteri^rise, asked for informa- 
tion concerning the Mississippi and alluded to their patron, the 
Governor of Canada, who had humbled the Iroquois and compelled 
them to sue for peace. This last item of information ^as good 
news to these remote tribes, and drew from their chief the compli- 
ment that the "presence of his guests added flavor to their tobacco, 
made the river more calm, the sky more serene and the earth more 
beautiful."* Next, followed a repast, consisting of hominy, fish, 
and buffalo and dog's meat. The Frenchmen partook sumptuously 

Discov. of the Great West. 



62 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of all the dishes, except the last, which they failed to apijreciate, 
although one of the greatest Indiau delicacies. The generous 
hosts, with true forest courtesy, as they dished out the different 
articles, tirst blew their breath upon each morsel to cool it, and 
then, with their own hands, placed it in the mouths of their guests. 
They endeavored to x>ersuade the exjilorers, by depicting the great 
dangers they would incur, to abandon theii' object. Finding that 
their efforts were unavailing, on the following day they hung on 
the neck of Marquette a sacred calumet, brilliantly decorated with 
featliers, as a protection among the tribes he was about to visit. 
The last mark of respect which the chiefs could now offer their 
departing friends, was to escort them with 600 of their tribesmen 
to the river, where, after their stolid manner, they bade them a 
kindly adieu. 

Again they were afloat on the broad bosom of the unknoAMi 
stream. Passing the mouth of the Illinois they soon fell into the 
shadow of a tall promontory, and with great astonishment beheld 
the representation of two monsters painted on its lofty limestone 
front. According to Marquette, each of these frightfrd figures had 
the face of a man, the horns of a deer, the beard of a tiger, and 
the tail of a fish so long that it passed around the body over the 
head and between the legs. It was an object of Indian worship, 
and greatly imj^ressed the mind of the pious missionary with the 
necessity of substituting for this monstrous idolatry, the worship 
of the true God.* Before these figures of the idols had faded from 
their minds, a new wonder arrested their attention. They ran 
into the current of the Missouri, sweeping directly across their 
track, and threatening to engidf them in its muddy waves. Frag- 
ments of trees were drifting in large numbers, which must have 
come from a vast unknown wilderness, judging from the magni- 
tude of the stream which bore them along. Passing on, it was 
ascertained that for several miles the Mississippi refused to min- 
gle with the turbid floods of the intruding stream. 

Soon the forest covered site of St. Louis appeared on the right, 
but little did the voyagers dream of the emporium wdiich now fills 
the river with its extended commerce. Farther on, their attention 
was attracted by the confluence of the Ohio, a stream which, in 
the purity of its waters, thej^ found Avholly different from that pre- 
viously passed. Some distance below the mouth of this eastern 
tributary, the banks of the river became skirted with a dense 
growth of cane, whose feathery-like foliage formed a pleasing- 
contrast T^ith that which they had passed above. But a greater 
vegetable wonder was the Spanish moss which hung in long fes- 
toons from the branches of the trees, exquisitely beautiful, yet, 
like funeral drapery, exciting in the beholder feelings of sadness. 
Another change was the increasing heat, which, now rapidly dis- 
sipated the heavy fogs which previously, to a late hour, had hung 
over the river. Cloiuls of mosquitos also appeared in the relaxing- 
atmosphere, to annoy them hy day, and disturb their much needed 
rest at night. 

*Near the mouth of the Piasa Creek, on the bluff, there is a smooth rock in a cavern- 
ous cleft, under an ovei-hanglnj;' cliff, on whose face, 50 feet from the base, are painted 
some ancient pictures or hieroglyphics, of great interest to the curious. They are 
placed in a horizontal line from east to west, representing- men, plants and animals. 
The paintings, though protected from dampness and storms, are in great part destroyed, 
marred by portions of the rock becoming detached and falling down. See Prairie Sstate, 
1859. 



JOLIET AND MARQUETTE. 63 

Without suspecting the presence of Indians, they suddenly dis- 
covered a number on the eastern banks of the river. Marquette 
held aloft the symbol of peace, furnished him by the Illinois, and 
the savages approached and invited him and his party ashore. 
Here they were feasted on buifalo meat and bear's oil, and after 
the repast was over, W' ere informed that they could reach the mouth 
of the river in ten days. This statement was doubtless made with 
the best intention, but with little truth, for the distance was not 
far from 1,000 miles. 

Taking leave of their hosts, and resuming the journey, they 
penetrated a long monotony of blufts and forests, and again dis- 
covered Indians near the mouth of the Arkansas. Rushing from 
their wigwams to the river, some of them sallied forth in canoes 
to cut off their escape, while others plunged into the water to 
attack them. Marquette displayed the calumet, which was un- 
heeded till the arrival of the chiefs, who ordered the warriors to 
desist, and conducted them ashore. A conference ensued, and as 
soon as the Indians understood the nature of the visit, they be- 
came reconciled. The day's proceedings closed with a feast, and 
the travelers spent the night in the wigwams of their entertainers. 
Early the next day, messengers were sent by the latter to the 
Arkansas tribe on the river below, to apprise them that French- 
men were about to descend the stream. As announced, the explo- 
rers proceeded a distance of 24 miles, when they were met by a 
deputation of three Indians, who invited them to visit their town. 
Assent being given, they were conducted thither and seated on 
mats, which had been spread for their reception under a shed 
before the lodge of a j^rincipal chief. Soon they were surrounded 
by a semi-circle of the villagers — the warriors sitting nearest, 
next the elders, while a promiscuous crowd stared at them from 
the outside. The men were stark naked, and the women imi^er- 
fectly clad in skins, wearing their hair in two masses, one of 
which was behind each ear. Fortunately, there was a young man 
in the village who could speak Illinois. By his aid, Marquette 
exi^lained to the assemblage the mysteries of the Christian faith, 
and the object of the expedition, and learned in turn from them 
that the river below was infested with the most hostile tribes. 
During their stay at this place, they were forced to submit to the 
merciless demands of aboriginal hospitality, which imposed dish 
after dish upon their over-taxed organs of digestion, till rei^letion 
became intolerable. 

It was now the middle of July and the voyagers debated the 
Ijropriety of further lengthening out their journey. They had 
been on the river four weeks, and concluded they had descended 
sufficiently far to decide that its outlet was on the Atlantic side of 
the continent. Their pro^^sions were nearly exhausted, and they 
also feared if they visited the river below they might be kiUed by 
the savages, and the benefit of their discovery would be lost. 

Influenced by these considerations, they determined to retrace 
their steps. Leaving the Arkansas village, they commenced forc- 
ing their way in opposition to the swift current of the river, toiling 
by day under a July sun, and sleeping at night amidst the deadly 
exhalations of stagnant marshes. Several weeks of hard labor 
brought them to the mouth of the Illinois, but unfortunately, 
Marquette, enervated by the heat and the toils of the voyage, was 



64 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

suffering- with an attack of dysentery. Here tliey were informed 
by the Indians that the Ilhnois furnished a much more direct route 
to the hikes than the Wisconsin. Acting upon this information, 
they entered the river, and found, besides being more direct, that 
its gentle ciu-rent offered less resistance than that of the Mississ- 
ippi. As they advanced into the country, a scene opened to their 
view wliicli gave renewed strength to their wearied bodies, and 
awoke in theu- languid minds the greatest admiration and enthu- 
siasm. Prairies spread out before them beyond the reach of 
vision, covered with tall grass, which undulated in the wind like 
waves of a sea. In further imitation of a watery expanse, the 
surface was studded with clumps of timber, resembling islands, 
ill whose graceful outlines could be traced peninsulas, shores and 
headlands. Flowers, surpassing in the delicacy of their tints the 
pampered products of cidtivation, were profusely sprinkled over 
the grassy landscape, and gave their wealth of fragrance to the 
passing breeze. Immense herds of buffalo and deer grazed on 
these rich pastures, so prolific that the continued destruction of 
them for ages by the Indians, had failed to diminish their num- 
bers. For the fm^ther support of human life, the rivers swarmed 
with fish, great quantities of vrild fruit grew in the forest and 
prairies, and so numerous were water-fowl and other birds, that 
the heavens were fre(iuently obscured by their flight. This favo- 
rite land, with its profusion of vegetable and animal life, was the 
ideal of the Indian's elysium. The explorers spoke of it as a 
terrestrial paradise, in which earth, air and water, unbidden by 
labor, contributed the most copious supplies for the sustenance of 
life. In the early French explorations, desertions were of frequent 
occurrence, and is it strange that men, wearied by the toils and 
j-estraints of civilized life, should abandon their leaders for the 
al^undance and wild independence of these i^rairies and wood- 
lands "? 

Passing far up the river, they stopped at a town of the Illinois, 
called Kaskaskia, whose name, afterwards transferred to a diff'er- 
<ent locality, has become famous in the history of the country. 
Here they secured a chief and his men to conduct them to Lake 
Michigan and proceeded thither by the way of the rivers Illinois, 
Desplaines and Chicago. Following the western shore of the 
lake, they entered Green Bay the latter part of September, having 
been absent about four months, and traveled a distance of 2,500 
miles. 

Marquette stopped at the mission on the head of the bay, to 
rei)air his shattered health, while Joliet hastened to Quebec, to 
report his discoveries. Hitherto fortune had gTeatly favored him, 
and it was only at the termination of his voyage that he met his 
first disaster. At the foot of the rapids, above Montreal, his 
canoe was capsized, and he lost the manuscript containing an 
account of his discoveries, and two of his men. He says, in a let- 
ter to Governor Frontenac : "Iliad escaped every peril from the 
Indians ; I had passed 42 rapids, and was on the ]ioint of disem- 
barking, full of joy at the success of so long and difficult an 
enterprise, when my canoe capsized after all the danger seemed 
over. I lost my two men and box of iiapers within sight of the first 
French settlements, which I had left almost two years before. 



JOLEET AND MARQUETTE. 65 

ITothing' remains to me now but my life, and the ardent desire to 
employ it on any service you may please to direct." 

Wlien the successful issue of the voyage became known, a Te 
Deum was chanted in the cathedral of Quebec, and all Canada 
was filled with joj^. The news crossed the Atlantic, and France 
saw, in the vista of coming years, a vast dependency springing up 
in the great valley partially explored, which was to enrich her 
merchant princes with the most lucrative commerce. Fearing 
that England, whose settlements were rapidly extending along the 
Atlantic, might attempt to grasp the rich prize before she could 
occupy it, she endeavored to prevent, as far as possible, the gen- 
eral publicity of the discovery. Joliet was rewarded by the gift 
of the island of Anticosti, in the gulf of St. Lawrence, while 
Marquette, who had rendered the most valuable services, was sat- 
isfied with the consciousness of having performed a noble duty. 

Marquette suffered long from his malady, and it was not till 
the autumn of the following year that his superior permitted him 
to attempt the execution of a long cherished object. This was 
the establishment of a mission at the principal town of the Illinois, 
visited in his recent voj^age of discovery. With this purpose in 
view, he set out on the 25th of October, 1674, accompanied by 
two Frenchmen and a number of IlUnois and Potawatamie Ind- 
ians. The rich and varied tints of autumn were now rapidly 
changing to a rusty brown, and entering Lake Michigan, they 
found it cold and stormy. Buffeted by adverse winds and waves, 
it was more than a month before they reached the mouth of the 
Chicago river. In the meantime Marquette's disease had returned 
m a more malignant form, attended by hemorrhage. On ascending 
the Chicago some distance, it was found that his condition was 
growing worse, compelUng them to land. A hut was erected on 
the bank of the river, and here the invalid and the two Frenchmen 
prepared to spend the winter. As it wore away, the enfeebled 
missionary was unceasing in his spiritual devotions, while his 
companions obtained food by shooting deer, turkeys and other 
game in the surrounding forests. The Illinois furnished them 
with corn, and frequently, by their i^resence and other kindly 
attentions, greatly cheered their lonely exile. 

Marquette, burning with the desire to establish his contempla- 
ted mission before he died, consecrated himself anew to the ser\'ice 
of the Virgin, and soon began to regain his strength. By the 
13th of March, being able to recommence his journey, the two 
men carried their canoes over the portage between the Chicago 
and Desplaines, and commenced to descend the latter stream. 
Amidst the incessant rains of opening spring, they were rapidly 
borne forward on the swollen river to its junction with the Illinois, 
and down the latter to the object of their destination. Here, it is 
said, he was viewed as a messenger from heaven, as he visited the 
wigwams of the villagers and discoursed of paradise, the Re- 
deemer of the world, and his atonement for sinful man. The 
excitement at length drew together, on the ]ilain between the river 
and the iiresent to\\Ti of Utica, some 500 chiefs, and a great un- 
known concourse of warriors, women and children. In the midst 
of this multitude he exhibited four large pictures of the Holy 
Virgin, and with great earnestness harangued them on the duties 
of Christianity, and the necessity of making their conduct conform 
5 



66 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

to its precepts. The audience were deeply impressed with his- 
gospel teachings, and eagerly besought him to remain with them^ 
a request which his fast waning strength rendered it impossible 
to grant. 

Finding he must leave, the Indians generously furnished him 
with an escort to the lake, on which he embarked with his twa 
faithful attendants. They turned their canoes in the du-ection of 
the mission on the strait of Mackinaw, which the afflicted mis- 
sionary hoped to reach before he died. As they coasted along the 
eastern shore, advancing May began to deck the forest with her 
vernal beauties, but the eyes of the djing i)riest Avere now toa 
dim to heed them. On the 19th of the month he could go no 
farther, when, at his request, his two friends landed and built a 
hut, into which he was carefully conveyed. Aware that he was 
rai)idly approaching his end, he, with great composure, gave 
directions concerning his burial, and thanked God that he was 
permitted to die in the wilderness an unshaken believer in the 
faith which he had so devotedly preached. At night he told his 
weary attendants to rest, and when he found death approaching- 
he would call them. At an early hour they were awakened by a 
feeble voice, and hastening to his side, in a few moments he 
breathed his last, grasping a crucifix, and murmuring the name 
of the Virgin Mary. Having buried his remains as directed, his 
trusted companions hastened to Mackinaw, to announce the sad 
news of his demise. 

Three years afterward, a party of Ottawas, hunting in the vi- 
cinity of his grave, determined, in accordance with a custom of 
the tribe, to carry his bones with them to their home at the mis- 
sion. Having opened the grave and carefully cleaned them, a 
funeral procession of 30 canoes bore them toward Mackinaw, the 
Indians singing the songs which he had taught them. At the 
shore, near the mission, the sacred relics were received by the 
priests, and, with the solemn ceremony of the chui-ch, deposited 
under the floor of the rude chapel. 



Chapter YII. 
EXPLORATIONS BY LaSALLE. 



We must no^y turn from Marquette, whose great pietj'^, energy 
and self-denial made him a model of the order to which he be- 
longed, and again introduce LaSalle on the stage of action. The 
previous voyage had well nigh established the fact that the Miss- 
issippi discharged its waters into the Gulf of Mexico ; yet he and 
others now entertained the opinion that some of its great tribu- 
taries might afford a du-ect passage to the Pacific. It was the 
great problem of the age to discover this passage, and LaSalle 
proposed not onlj' to solve it by exjiloring the great river to its 
mouth, but to erect a fort on its outlet, and thus secure to France 
the jjossession of its valley. To fiu^tlier his object, he gained the 
intluence and support of Fronteuac, and induced some of the 
Canadian merchants to become partners in the adventure. 

Fort Frontenac. — The new governor had no sooner been installed 
in office, than, with eagle eye, he surveyed the resources of Cana- 
da, and prepared to get them under his control. LaSalle had 
informed him that the English ami Iroquois were intriguing with the 
Indians of the upper lakes to induce them to break their peace 
with the French, and transfer their trade in peltries from Mon- 
treal to New York. Partly to counteract this design, and in part 
to monopolize the fur trade for his own benefit, he determined to 
build a fort on Lake Ontario, near the site of the present city of 
Kingston. Lest he should excite the jealousy of the merchants, 
he gave out that he only intended to make a tour to the upper part 
of the colony, to look after the Indians. Being without sufticient 
means of his own, he required the merchants to furnish each a 
certain number of men and canoes for the expedition. When 
spring opened, he sent LaSalle in advance to summon the Iroquois 
sachems to meet at the site of the projoosed fort, while he followed 
at his leisure. In obedience to his call, the chiefs arrived, and 
were much pleased with the attentions shown them by the gov- 
ernor. Flattered by his blandishments, and awed by his audacity, 
they suffered the erection of the fort, which was called Fronteuac, 
after its founder. The governor writes : " With the aid of a ves- 
sel now building, we can command the lakes, keep peace with the 
Iroquois, and cut off' the fur trade from the English. AVith 
another fort at Niagara, and a second vessel on the river above, 
we can control the entire chain of lakes." These far-reaching 
views accorded well with the schemes of LaSalle, who was shortly 
afterwards employed in reducing them to practice. The erection 
of the fort was in violation of the king's regulations, which re- 
quired the fur traders of Canada to carrj' on their trade with the 

67 



68 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Indians witbiu tlie limits of the settlements. In view, however, of 
its great importance as a means of defence against the Iroqnois, all 
legal objections were waived, and provision was made to maintain 
it. It also served as a stepping-stone for its subsequent owner to 
make other and greater westward strides in the cause of discovery. 

In 10T4, LaSalle visited France to petition the kmg for the rank 
of nobility, and to negotiate with him for a grant in seigniory of 
the new fort and adjacent lands. As a consideration for the lat- 
ter, he agreed to reimburse him for what it had already cost to 
maintain in it an adequate garrison, and provide for the spiritual 
wants of the settlements that might gather about it. His i^etition 
was granted, and he returned to Canada the proprietor of one of 
the most valuable estates in the province. His relatives, pleased 
with his nattering prospects, advanced him large sums of money, 
which enabled him to comply with his agreement. Besides fur- 
nishing the stipulated military and clerical forces, and providing 
a chapel for the latter, he built four snn\ll decked vessels to carry 
freight to the head of the lake, whither he next expected to ad- 
vance. A period of more than three years now succeeded, in 
which all Canada was rent with civil feuds. Altercations sprang 
up between rival traders ; Jesuits and Eecollets were embittered 
by dissensions, and the civil authorities became corrupt, and en- 
gaged in intrigues, attended with the greatest acrimony. It was 
impossible for a person of LaSalle's prominence to avoid becoming 
a mark for the shafts of those who differed with him in opinion 
aiul interest. As soon, however, as he could extricate himself 
from tlie jarring factions, he again visited France, to obtain the 
recognition and support of the government in his contemplated 
undertaking. His object being regarded with favor by the minis- 
ter, he was authorized to proceed with his discoveries, and occupy 
the new found countries by the erection of forts, while, in lieu of 
other support, he was granted a monoj^oly in buffalo skins, which, 
it was believed, would be a soirrce of great wealth. His relatives 
made additional advances of money, and in July, 1678, he sailed 
with 30 men and a large suf)ply of implements for the construction 
and outtit of vessels. After a prosperous voyage he arrived at 
Quebec, and proceeded thence up the river and lake to his 
seigniory. 

Among the employes he had brought with him was an Italian, 
named Henri Tonti, who had lost one of his hands by the explo- 
sion of a grenade in the Sicilian wars. Notwithstanding the loss 
of his hand, and a constitution naturally feeble, his indomitable 
will made him superior to most men in physical endurance. 
Besides these qualities, so valuable in the pioneer, he possessed a 
fidelity which neither adversity nor the intrigues of enemies could 
swerve from the interests of his employer.* On his way through 
Quebec, he also obtained the services of M. Lamotte, a j)erson of 
much energy and integrity of character, but not so efficient an as- 
sistant as Tonti. 

Among the missionaries who became associated with LaSalle in 
liis future explorations, may be mentioned Louis Hennepin, Gabriel 
Kibourde and Zenobe Membre. All of them were Flemings, all 

♦His father had been governor of Gaeta, but fled to France to escape the political 
convulsions of his native country. He was an able financier, and won distinction as 
the inventor of Tontine Life Insurance. 



LASAI.LE. 69 

Eecollets, but in other respects different. Hennepin, in early life, 
read with unwearied delight the adventures of travelers, and felt 
a burning desire to visit strange lands. Yielding to his ruling 
passion, he set out on a roving mission through Holland, where he 
exposed himself in trenches and sieges for the salvation of the 
soldier. Finding, at length, his old inclination to travel returning, 
he obtained permission of his superior to visit America, where, in 
accordance with his wandering proclivity, he became connected 
with the adventures of LaSalle. In this capacity he won distinc- 
tion as an explorer, but afterwards tarnished his reputation with 
false pretensions. Eibourde was a hale and cheerful old man of 
64 years, and though possessing fewer salient i)oints of character 
than Hennepin, he greatly excelled him in purity of life. He re- 
nounced station and ease for the privations of a missionary, and 
at last was stricken down by the j)arricidal hand of those he fain 
would have benefited. Membre, like Hennepin, is accused of vanity 
and falsehood. He must, however, have possessed redeeming 
traits, for he long remained the faithful companion of LaSalle, 
and finally perished in his service. 

On arriving at the fort, LaSalle sent 15 men with merchandise 
to Lake Michigan, to trade for furs. After disposing of the goods, 
they were instructed to proceed with the baitered commodities to 
Illinois, and there await his arrival. The next step he hoped to 
make in his westward progress was the erection of a fort at the 
mouth of the river Niagara. He thought if he could control this 
key to the chain of lakes above, he could also control the Indian 
trade of the interior. For this purpose, LaMotte and Hennepin, 
with 16 men, on the 18th of November, embarked in one of the 
small vessels which lay at the fort, and started for the mouth of 
the river. Eetarded by adverse winds, it was not till the 6th of 
December that they reached their destination and effected a land- 
ing. Here they met with a band of Senecas from a neighboring 
village, who gazed upon them with curious eyes, and listened Avith 
great wonderment to a song which they sung in honor of their 
safe arrival. When, however, the erection of a fort was com- 
menced, their surprise gave way to jealousy, and it became neces- 
sary to obtain the consent of the chiefs before the work could be 
comj)leted. With this object in view, LaMotte and Hennepin, 
loaded with presents, set out to visit the princii)al town, situated 
near the site of Eochester, New York. Arriving thither after a 
journey of 5 days, they were received by a committee of 32 chiefs, 
to whom they made known their object. LaMotte distributed 
gifts among the chiefs with a lavish hand, and by means of his 
interpreter, used all the tact and eloquence of which he was mas- 
ter to gain their consent to the erection of the fort. They readily 
received the gifts, but answered the interpreter with evasive gen- 
eralities, and the embassy was compelled to return without a 
definite reply. In the meantime LaSalle and Tonti, who had been 
detained in procuring supplies for the new settlejnent, arrived. 
They had also encountered unfavorable winds, and LaSalle, anx- 
ious to hasten forward, entrusted one of his vessels to the j^ilot, 
who, disregarding his instructions, suffered her to become wrecked. 
The crew escai)ed, but with the exception of the cables and 
anchors intended to be used in building a ship above the fcataract, 
the cargo was lost. LaSalle, who was more than an ordinary mas- 



70 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ter of Indian diplomacy, next \dsited the Senecas, and partially 
obtained his request. In lieu of the fort, he was permitted to 
erect a warehouse. This Avas completed, and used as a shelter for 
the men during the ensuing- winter, and a depository for mer- 
chandise in his subsequent transactions on the lakes. 

The Griffin. — A more vital consideration, and that which next 
engaged the attention of LaSalle, was the building of a vessel on 
the river. The point selected for this purpose was on the east side 
of the river, at the mouth of Cayuga creek, miles above the 
cataract. Tlie men struggled up the steei) hights above Lewistou 
with the necessary equipments, and on the 2lid of Januai\y, 1G79, 
commenced the laborious task of carrying them to the point 
selected, some 12 miles distant. Arriving thither. Tout! immedi- 
ately commenced the task of building the vessel, while LaSalle 
returned to Frontenac, to replace the stores which had been lost 
in the lake. Notwithstanding the attempt of the Senecas to burn 
the vessel as she grew on the stocks, in due time she was finished 
and ready to launch. The tiring of cannon announced her com- 
pletion, and as the men chanted a song in honor of their success, 
and the Indians stared at the novel siglit, she* gracefully glided 
out on the waters of the ISTiagara. During her construction, they 
were greatly anuized at the ribs of the huge monster, but now 
they looked mth increased surprise at the grim muzzles of 5 can- 
non looking through her port holes, and a huge creature, part lion 
and part eagle, carved on the prow. . The ligure was a griflin, 
after which the vessel was named, in honor of the armorial bear- 
ings of Frontenac. She was taken further up the river, where the 
men supplied her with rigging, and Tonti anxiously awaited the 
arrival of LaSalle. This did not occur till August, he having, in 
the meantime, been detained by tinancial difticulties, growing out 
of the attempt of enemies to injure his credit. He brought with 
him Eibourde and Membre, to preach the faith among the tribes 
of the west, which he now projiosed to visit. 

To defer the enterprise longer, would be to defeat it, and on the 
7th of August, 1C79, the voyagers embarked. The extended sails 
of their little craft catching the breeze, bore her safely out on the 
bosom of Lake Erie. ISTever before had been pictured in its 
waters the image of fluttering canvas, and to the Griffin belongs 
the honor of tlrst coursing the highway which is now whitened 
with the sails of such an extended commerce. After a prosperous 
voyage up the lake, they entered the Detroit, and passed on each 
bank a ])leasant succession of prairies and forests, alive with 
game. The men leaped ashore, and soon the decks of the Griffin 
were strewn with tlie dead bodies of deer, turkeys and bears, upon 
whose flesh the crew feasted with the greatest relish. Ascending- 
Lake St. Clair and the rest of the strait, they entered Lake Huron, 
which appeared like a vast mirror set in a frame fantastic with 
rocks and verdure. So pure and transi)arent were the waters, 
the fish on the pebbled bottom below seemed the only inhabitants 
of earth, while their little bark floated like a cloud in mid-air 
above them. At first the voyage was i)ros])erous, and islet after 
islet loomed up before them, which the strange mirage of the 
waters converted into huge Tritons stalking- rapidly by, and disap- 
pearuig in the distance behind. Soon, however, the breeze before 
which they moved freshened into a gale, and at last became an 



LASALLE. 71 

iiiigry tempest, causing the greatest alarm. All fell to praying ex- 
cept the pilot, who was incensed at the idea of ignobly perishing 
iu tlie lake, after having breasted the storms and won the honors 
of the ocean. LaSalle aud the friars evoked the aid of St. An- 
thony of Padua, whom they declared the patron of the expedition, 
and promised a chai^el if he would deliver them from the devour- 
ing waves. The saint, it is said, answered their prayers ; the 
billow-tossed bosom of the lake became still, and the Griffin rode 
into the straits of Maclcinaw uninjured. A salute of cannon an- 
nounced their arrival at tlie Jesuit mission, where they effected a 
landing, and immediately repaired to the chapel to offer thanks for 
their recent deliverance. 

Here, under the shadow of the cross, the votaries of mammon 
had erected a bazaar for the fui' trade, which they carried on witli 
or without a license, as best suited their interests. All of them 
looked with jealous eyes upon LaSalle, but openly extended a wel- 
come to him, that they might allay suspicions respecting their 
.secret designs against his enterprise. With motives little better, 
the Indians saluted him with a volley of musketry, and soon 
swarmed in canoes around the Griffin, which they called a floating- 
fort, and evidently regai-ded it with greater curiosity than good 
will. ISTot only the residents were secretly hostile, but it soon ap- 
peared that his own men had proved treacherous. Most of those 
he had sent up the lakes with merchandise had sold it and kept 
the proceeds, instead of going with them, as directed, to Illinois. 
LaSalle arrested four of them at Mackinaw, and sent Tonti to the 
Straits of St. Mary after two others, whom he also succeeded in 
capturing. 

As soon as Tonti returned, LaSalle weighed anchor and sailed 
through the Straits into Lake Michigan, and landed at an island 
near the entrance of Green Bay. Here lie was received with great 
hospitality by a Potawatamie chief, and met with a nund)er of his 
traders, who, unlike the others, had faithfully disposed of his 
goods and collected a large quantity of fiu's. He at once resolved 
to send them, with others he had collected on the way to Magara, 
for the benefit of his creditors. Such a transaction was not author- 
ized by his license of discovery, yet his will was law, and despite 
the protest of his followers, the fiu-s were carried aboard the Grif- 
fin. The pilot, after disposing of the cargo, was instructed to 
return with her to the southern shore of the lake. Her cannons 
thundered forth a parting salute, and soon the little bark melted 
out of sight in the distance. LaSalle, with the remaining men, 
now embarked in canoes, laden with a forge, tools and arms, and 
started for the mouth of the St. Joseph. Unlbrtmiately, they 
found the lake broken with constant storms, which frequently im- 
periled their own lives and made them tremble for the fate of the 
Griffin. After a long voyage, in which they sulfered much from 
hardship and hunger, they arrived at their destination. Here 
they ex])ected to meet with Tonti and twenty of the men who 
left Mackinaw simultaneously with the Griffin, expecting to make 
their way along the eastern shore of the lake. After waiting 
some time iu vain for their ariival, those who had come with La- 
Salle urged upon him the necessity of pushing forward to obtain 
corn from the Illinois before they departed for their winter hunt- 
ing grounds. He decided it unwise to grant their request, and, to 



72 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



divert tlieir minds from tlie subject, commenced the erection of a. 
fort. After laboring some twenty days, and the structure was 
far advanced, Tonti and ten of his companions arrived. At the 
instance of LaSalle he immediately went back with two men to 
hasten forward the others, who were without provisions, and huut- 
ing- as a means of support. On their way a violent storm overset 
their canoes and destroyed their provisions, and they were com- 
pelled to return. Shortly after, of their own accord, the absent, 
men made their way to the fort, and the entire party was again 
united. The only care which now oppressed LaSalle was the ab- 
sence of the Griffin. Ample time had elapsed for her return, but 
nowhere on the wild solitude of waters was he cheered with the- 
sight of a sail. Rueful forebodings saddened his breast when he 
thought of her fate, and two men were sent down the lake, with 
instructions to conduct her to the mouth of the St. Joseph, in case 
they were able to find her. The fort was finished and named 
Miami, after a neighboring tribe of Indians. 

Without further delay, on the 3d of December, 1679, the party ^. 
numbering 33 persons, commenced ascending the St. Joseph. 
Aheady the margins of the stream were glassed with sheets of ice- 
and the adjacent forests were gray and bare. Four days brought 
them to the site of South Bend, to look for the i^ath leading across 
the portage to the Kankakee. A Mohegan hunter, who accom lea- 
rned the expedition, and who was now expected to act as a guide, 
was absent in quest of game, and LaSalle sallied forth to find the 
way. In the blinding snow and tangled woods he soon became 
lost, and the day wore away without his return. Tonti, becoming- 
alarmed for his safety, sent men to scour the forest and fire guns 
to direct his .course to the camp. It was not, however, till the 
next afternoon that he made his appearance. Two opossums dan- 
gled in his girdle, which he had killed with a club, while suspended 
by their tails from overhanging boughs. After missing his way, 
he was compelled to make the circuit of a large swamp, and it Avas 
late at night before he got back to the river. Here he fired his 
gun as a signal, and soon after, discovering a light, made up to it, 
supposing it came from the camp of his men. To his surprise it 
proA'cd to be the lonely bivouac of some Indian, who had fied at 
the report of his gun. He called aloud in several Indian tongues, 
but only the reverberations of his voice in the surrounding soli- 
tude met his ear. Looking around, he discovered under the trunk 
of a huge tree a couch made of dried grass, still warm and im- 
pressed with the form of its recent occupant. He took possession 
and slept unmolested till morning, Avhen, without further difficulty, 
he found his way to camp. Meanwhile, the Mohegan hunter had 
arrived, and soon the whole party stood on the banks of the Kan- 
kakee, coursing its way in zig-zags among tufts of tall grass and 
clumps of alder. Into its current, which a tall man might easilj' 
bestride, they set their canoes, and slowly moved down its slug- 
gish, slimy waters. So full was its channel that the voyagers 
seemed sailing on the surface of the groimd, while their evening* 
shadows, unobstructed by banks, fell far beyond their canoes, and 
trooped like huge phantoms along by their side. By and by it 
grew to a considerable stream, from the drainage of miry barrens 
and reedy marshes skirting its banks. Still farther on succeeded, 
prairies and woodlands, recently scorched by tlie fires of Indian; 



LASAI.LE. 73 

hunters, and here and there deeply scarred with the trails of buf- 
falo. Occasionally, on the distant verge of the prairies, they 
could see Indians in pursuit of these animals, while at niglit the 
horizon blazed with camp fires where they were cooking and feast- 
ing upon their sweetly flavored meats. LaSalle's Mohegan hunter 
had been unsuccessful, and his half-starved men would gladly 
have shared with the ludians their rich repast. Their wants were 
however unexpectedly relieved by the happy discovery of a huge 
buU so deeply mired he was unable to escape. So ponderous was 
his huge body that when killed it required 12 men, with the aid 
of cables, to extricate him from the mud. Eefreshed with a boun- 
tiful repast, they again betook themselves to their canoes, and 
soon entered the Illinois, meandering through i)lains of richest ver- 
dure. They were then the i^asture grounds of innumerable deer 
and buffalo, but now wondrously transformed into scenes of agri- 
cultural thrift. On the right they passed the high plateaii of Buf- 
falo Eock, long the favorite resort of the Indians. Farther down, 
on the left, appeared a lofty promontory beautifully crested with 
trees, and soon destined to be crowned with the bulwarks of an 
impregnable fortress. Below, on the north shore, stood the prin- 
cipal town of the Illinois, in which Hennepin counted 4G1 lodges, 
each containing from G to 8 families. These structures were made 
of poles in the form of an oblong rectangle. Those composing the 
sides rose perpendicularly from the ground, and at the top were 
united in the form of an arch. Others crossing these at right 
angles completed the framewprk, which was afterward neatly in- 
closed in a covering of rashes. As had been feared by the voya- 
gers, the Illinois were absent, and their village a voiceless solitude. 
The presence of savages is often a cause of alarm, but now the 
case was reversed, for LaSalle desired to obtain from them com 
for his famishing companions. Soon some of his men discovered 
large quantities of it stored away in pits, but at first refrained from 
taking it, lest they might seriously offend its owners. Necessity, 
however, generally gets the better of prudence, and they took a 
quantity sufficient to supply their present wants, and departed 
down the river. 

On the 1st of January, 1680, they again landed to hear mass, 
and ^ish each other a happy new year. Father Hennepin closed 
the exercises by haranguing the men on the importance of patience, 
faith and constancy. Two days afterward they entered the ex- 
pansion of the river now called Peoria Lake, after the Indians who 
dwelt upon its banks. Columns of smoke, rising gracefully from 
the forest below, now announced the presence of Indians, who, 
LaSalle had reasons to suspect, were averse to his enterprise. Un- 
dismayed, they moved down the lake, which soon narrowed to the 
usual ^idth of the river, when, just beyond, they discovered some 
80 Illinois wigwams on the opposite banks. Dropping their pad- 
dles and seizing their weapons, they were rapidly borne toward 
the astounded savages. LaSalle, aware that the least hesitancy 
on his part would be construed as fear, leaped ashore with his lit- 
tle band of Frenchmen, each armed and read}^ for action. Such 
audacity was too much, even for Indian heroism. Women and 
children trembled with fear; brave warriors fled in the utmost 
terror, but a few of the more bold rallied and made overtures of 
peace. Two chiefs advanced and displayed a calumet, which La- 



74 HTSTOHY OF ILLINOIS. 



Salle recognized by exhibiting one of bis own, and tbe bostile dem- 
onstrations terminated in friendship. Next succeeded a feast, and 
while some placed the food in the mouths of the Frenchmen, oth- 
ers, with great obsequiousness, greased their feet with bear's oil. 

As soon as LaSalle could disengage himself from their caresses, 
he informed them that in descending the river he had visited their 
town and taken corn from their granaries. He stated that he had 
been forced to the commission of this unlawful act to save his men 
from hunger, and was now ready to make restitution. In explain- 
ing the object of his visit, he said he had come to erect a fort in 
their midst, to protect them against the Iroquois, , and to build a 
large canoe in which to descend the Mississippi to the sea, and 
thence return with goods to exchange for their furs. If, however, 
they did not regard his plans with favor, he concluded by stating 
he would pass on to the Osages, in the present limits of Missouri, 
and give them the benefit of his trade and intiuence. The allusion 
to these Indians aroused their jealousy, which had long existed 
between the two tribes, and the Illinois readily assented to his 
wishes, and were loud in their professions of friendship. 

Notwithstanding this auspicious reception, it soon became evi- 
dent to LaSalle that secret enemies were intriguing to defeat his 
enterprise. Some of his men, dissatisfied and mutinous from the 
first, secretly endeavored to foment disaffection and ill-will in the 
better disposed of his followers. They represented to their com- 
rades the folly of longer remaining the dupes and slaves of a 
leader whose wild schemes and imaginary hopes could never be 
realized. What could be expected, said they, after following him 
to the extreme confines of the earth and to remote and dangerous 
seas, but to either miserably perish or return the victims of dis- 
ease and poverty. They urged that the only way to escape these 
evils was to retiirn before distance and the waste of strength and 
means rendered it impossible. It was even hinted that it might 
be best to escape from their present calamities by the death of 
their author : then they might retrace their steps and share in the 
credit of what had already" been accomplished, instead of further 
protracting their labors for another to monopolize the honors. 
Fortunately those who entertained these views were too few in 
numbers to reduce them to practice. Unable to effect anything 
with their own countrymen, they next turned to the savages^ 
Having obtained a secret inter%aew, they informed them that La- 
Salle had entered into a conspiracy with the Iroquois to effect 
their destruction, and that he was now in the country to ascertain 
their strength and build a fort in furtherance of this object. They 
also said that, while he was ostensibly preparing to visit Fort 
Frontenac, his real object was to invite the Iroquois to make an 
invasion into their country as soon as he was prepared to assist 
them. The Indians, ever suspicious and ready to listen to charges 
of this kind, became morose and reserved. LaSalle, noticing their 
altered demeanor, at once suspected his men, and soon obtained 
information establishing the truth of their perfidy. To remove the 
false impressions, he reminded the Indians that the smallness ot 
his force indicated a mission of peace, and not of war ; and that 
neither prudence nor humanity would ever permit him to form an 
alliance with the Iroquois, whose brutal and revengeful conduct 
he had always regarded with liorror and detestation. His great 



LASALLE. 75 

self-possession and frankness, together mth the evident truthful- 
ness of his remarks, completely divested the savages of suspicion 
and restored him to their confidence. Balked in their efforts to 
make enemies of the Indians, the conspirators, as a last resort, 
sought the life of their employer. Poison was secretly i)laced in 
his food, but fortune again came to his rescue. By the timely ad- 
ministration of an antidote the poison was neutralized, and his life 
was saved. This was an age of poisoners, and it had not been long 
since a similar attempt ag'ainst the life of LaSalle had been made 
at Fort Frontenac. 

Hardly had LaSalle escaped the machinations of his own men, 
before he became involved ni the meshes of others, with whom he 
sustained not even the most remote connection. The new in- 
trigues, LaSalle, in a letter to Count Frontenac, attributes to the 
Jesuit Priest, AUouez, then a missionary among the Mianiis. 
Perhaps disliking LaSalle on account of his partiality for the 
Eecollets, or more likely fearing that the latter, through his influ- 
ence, might become more potent than his own order, he sent a 
Mascoutm chief, called Monso, to excite the jealousy of the Illinois 
against him. The envoys came equipped with presents, which 
drew together a nightly conclave of chiefs, to whom Monso unbos- 
omed his object. Rising in their midst he said he had been sent 
by a certain Frenchman to warn them against the designs of La- 
Salle. He then denounced him as a spy of the Iroquois, on his way 
to secure the co-operation of tribes beyond the Mississippi, with 
the hope by a combined attack to either destroy the Illinois or 
drive them from the country. In conclusion he added, the best 
way to avert these calamities was to stay his farther progress, by 
causing the desertion of his men. Having thus roused the suspi- 
cions of the Illinois, the envoys hurriedly departed, lest they might 
have to confront the object of their foul aspersions. The next 
morning the savages looked suspicious and sullen. A glance 
sufficed to convince LaSalle that new difficulties awaited him, nor 
was it long till he ascertained their character. A chief, to whom 
the day before he had given a liberal supply of presents, privately 
informed him of what had transpired at the council the preceding 
night. This information was confirmed by what occurred at a 
feast, given shortly afterward by a brother of the principal chief, 
to which LaSalle and bis men were invited. While the repast was 
in preparation their host endeavored to persuade them to abandon 
their journey by magnifying the dangers which would attend it. 
He informed them that the object of his invitation was not only to 
refresh their bodies, but to remove from their minds the infatuation 
of farther attempting an errand which could never be accom- 
plished. If you endeavor to descend the Mississippi, said he, you 
will find its banks beset with tribes whom neither numbers nor 
courage can overcome, while all who enter its waters will be ex- 
posed" to the devouring fangs of serpents and unnatural monsters. 
Should they avoid these, he added, the river at last becomes a 
succession of raging whirlpools, which plunge headlong into a 
storm smitten sea, from which, if they entered, escape would be 
impossible. 

The most of LaSalle's men knew little of Indian artifice, and 
were greatly alarmed at the thought of having to encounter such 
formidable perils. Some of the older and more experienced en- 



76 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



deavored to expose these misrepresentations, but as we shall 
presently see, with only partial success. LaSalle knew in a mo- 
ment, from what had been told him, the object of the speaker was 
to deceive his men and seduce them from their allegiance. After 
expressing his thanks for the timely warning, he replied as 
follows : 

"The i^reater the clanger the greater tlie honor; and even if the danger were 
real, a Frenchman would never be afraid to meet it. But were not tlie Illinois 
jealous? Had they not been deluded by lies? We were not asleep, my brother, 
when Monso came to tell you, under cover of night, that we were spies of the 
Iroquois. The presents he gave you, that you might believe his falsehoods, 
are at this moment buried in the earth under this lodge. If he told the truth 
why did he sliulk away in the dark? Why did lie not show himself by day? 
Do you not see that when we first came among you, and your camp was all iu 
confusion, we could have killed you without needing help from the Iroquois, 
and now while I am speaking, could we not put your old men to death, while 
your young warriors are all gone awaj'to hunt? If we meant to make war 
on you, we should need no help from the Iroquois, who have so often felt the 
force of our arms. Look at what we have brought you. It is not weapons to dis- 
stroy you, but merchandise and tools for your good. If you still harbor evil 
thoughts of us, be frank as we are and speak them boldly. Go after the im- 
poster, Monso, and bring him back that we may answer him face to face; for 
he never saw either us or the Iroquois and what can he know of the plots he 
pretends to reveal ? " 

The savage orator, too much astounded at these disclosures to 
attempt a reply, ordered the feast to proceed. 

LaSalle, suspicious of danger, the night after the feast stationed 
sentinels near the lodges of the French to watch the movements 
of their recent entertainers. The night passed without disturb- 
ance, and at early dawn he sallied forth to find, that instead of 
watching the enemy, 6 of his men had basely deserted. Doubt- 
less, in part to escape the imaginary dangers already alluded to, 
but mostly on account of previous disaffection, they had aban- 
doned their employer at the time when he had the greatest need 
of their services. LaSalle asseml)led the remainder, and spoke in 
severe terms of the baseness of those who had left him. " If any 
one yet remains, " he continued, " who from cowardice desires to 
return, let him wait till spring, and he can then go without the 
stigma of desertion. " One of the principal difficulties attending 
the early French enterprises of the • West was to procure trusty 
men. The wilderness was full of vagabond hunters who had tied 
from the discipline of civilized life, and now exhibited an extreme 
of lawlessness proportioned to their previous restraints. Their 
freedom from care, and immunity ii'om the consequences of crime, 
rendered them a perpetual lure to entice others from the duties of 
legitimate employment. 

Fort Crevecceur. — LaSalle, wearied with these difficulties, now 
determined to erect a fort in which he and his men might pass the 
winter without molestation. A site was chosen on the east side 
of the river, a short distance below the outlet of the lake. This 
was the extremity of a ridge approaching within 200 yards of the 
shore, and protected on each side by deep ravines. To fortify the 
bluff' thus formed, a ditch was dug behind to connect the two 
ravines. Embankments were thrown up to increase the altitude 
of the different sides, and the whole was surrounded with a palisade 
25 feet in hight. The work was completed by erecting within 
the enclosure buildings for the accommodation of tlie men. 



LASALLE. 77 

LaSalle bestowed on it the name Crevecoenr,* an appellation Avhich 
still perpetnates tlie misfortunes and disappointments of its foun- 
der. The Indians remained friendly, and the new fortification 
subserved more the purpose of a sanctuary than a place for the 
discharge of military duty. Hennepin preached twice on the Sab- 
bath, chanted vespers, and regretted that the want of wine pre- 
vented the celebration of mass. Membre daily visited the 
Illinois and, despite their filth and disgusting manners, labored 
earnestly, but with little success, for their spiritual welfare. Such 
was the first French occupation of the territory now embraced in 
the present limits of Illinois. The place of this ancient fort may 
still be seen a short distance below the outlet of Peoria Lake. 
For years after its erection the country around the lake remained 
the home of savages, and rich pasture grounds for herds of deer 
and buffalo. 

Hitherto, LaSalle had entertained some hope that the Griffin, 
which had on board anchors, rigging, and other necessary articles 
for the construction of another vessel, might still be safe. He 
proposed to build a vessel on the Illinois, freight her with buffalo 
hides, collected in the descent of the Mississipi>i, and thence sail 
to the West Indies or France, and dispose of the cargo. The Grif- 
fin, however, with her much needed stores, never made her appear- 
ance. It was variously believed at the time that she had found- 
ered in a storm — ^that the Indians had boarded and burnt her — 
and that the Jesuits had contrived her destruction. LaSalle was 
of opinion that her own crew, after removing the cargo of furs and 
merchandise, simk her and then ran away with their ill-gotten 
spoils. But the cause of the loss was of little moment; they were 
gone, and there was no alternative left LaSalle but to return to 
Frontenac and get others to supply their iilace. His great anxiety 
in connection with this step was the fear that others of his men 
might take advantage of his absence and desert. 

While revolving this subject in his mind, an incident occurred 
which enabled him to disabuse their minds of the false state- 
ments they had heard in regard to the dangers of the Mississij^pi. 
During a hunt in the vicinity of the fort, he chanced to meet with 
a young Indian who had been absent some time on a distant war 
excursion. Finding him almost famished with hunger, he invited 
him to the fort, where he refreshed him with a generous meal, and 
questioned him with apparent indifference respecting the Missis- 
sippi. Owing to his long absence, he knew notliing of what had 
transpired between his countrymen and the French, and, with 
great ingenuousness, imparted all the information required. La- 
Salle now gave him presents not to mention the interview, and, 
with a nimiber of his men, repaired to the camp of the Illinois to 
expose their misrepresentations. Ha\ing found the chiefs at a 
feast of bear's meat, he boldly accused them of falsehood, and at 
once proceeded to verify his charges. The Master of Life, he de- 
clared, was the friend of truth, and had revealed to him the actual 
character of the Mississippi. He then gave such an accurate 
account of it, that his astonished but credulous auditors believed 
his knowledge had been obtained in a supernatural manner, and at 
once confessed their guilt. It was their desire, they said, to have 
him remain with them, and they had resorted to artifice for this 

•" Broken hearted. " 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



purpose, and uot to do liiin auy injury. This confession removed 
a principal cause of desertion, and banislied from the mind of La- 
Salle a fruitful source of anxiety. Lest idleness should breed new 
disturbances among his men during his absence, he set them at 
work on the new vessel. Some of his best carpenters had deserted, 
yet energy supplied the place of skill, and before his departure he 
saw the new craft on the stocks, rapidly approaching completion. 
He also thought that Hennepin might accomplish greater results by 
exploring the Upper Mississippi than by preaching sermons, and 
he was tlierefore requested to take charge of an expedition for this 
purpose. The friar, not ^vishing to incur the dangers of the under- 
taking, plead bodily infirmity, and endeavored to have one of his 
spiritual colleagues appointed in his stead. Ribourde was too old 
to endure the hardships, and Membre, though disgusted with his 
clerical duties among the Illinois, preferred an unpleasant field of 
labor to one beset with perils. Hennepin, findinguo alternative but 
to accept, with rare modesty and great reliance upon providence, 
says : "Anybody but me would have been much frightened with 
the dangers of such a journey, and in fact, if I had not placed all 
my trust in God, I should not have been the dupe of LaSalle, who 
exposed my life rashly." A profusion of gifts was placed in his 
canoe, to conciliate the Indians, and on the last day of February, 
1680, a party assembled on the banks of the Illinois to bid him 
farewell. Father Ribourde invoked the blessing of heaven over 
the kneeling form of the clerical traveler; his two companions, 
Accau and DuGay, plied their paddles, and they were soon con- 
cealed from view in the meandering channel of the river. 



Chapter YIIl. 
TONTI'S E]S'COU:ffTER WITH THE IROQUOIS. 



Only two days afterward, another parting occurred at the river. 
It was now LaSalle's time to bid adieu to tlie scenes where, (hiring 
the winter, his motives had been so often misrei^resented and im- 
pugned. Leaving Tonti in command of the fort, garrisoned with 
three or four honest men and a dozen knaves, he set out for Fort 
Frontenac with four men and his Mohegan hunter, whose faithful- 
ness was a perpetual rebuke to French flckleness and treachery. 
The winter had been severe, and his progress up the riVer was 
greatly retarded by drifting sheets of ice. Reaching Peoria Lake, 
the ice was unbroken from shore to shore, and the party was com- 
pelled to land and make sledges on which to drag their canoes to 
a point in the river above, where the swiftness of the current kept 
the channel open. Little thought these lonely wanderers that the 
desolate spot where this incident transpired, was one day to re- 
sound with the tramp of the multitude which now throngs the 
streets of Peoria. A laborious march of four- leagues, through 
melting snows, placed them above the icy barrier of the lake, and 
they launched theu- canoes. Thence, to the great town of the 
Illiiiois, they found the river at different points blocked with ice, 
and their journey was made alternately by land and water, in the 
drenching rains of opening spring. They found the village with- 
out inhabitants, and its lodges crested with snow. The adjacent 
meadows were still locked in the fetters of winter, and the more 
distant forests, bearded with crystals, flaslied in the morning sun 
like a sea of diamonds. Yet the frozen landscape was not without 
life. The impress of moccasined feet could be traced in the snow, 
and occasionally a straggling bufi'alo could be seen, and one of 
them was shot. While his men were smoking the meat of the 
animal, LaSalle went out to reconnoitre the country, and soon fell 
in with 3 Indians, one of whom proved to be the princiiial chief 
of the Illinois. Inviting him and his associates to his camp, he 
made them presents, and refreshed them with the best food his 
scanty larder could furnish. He then informed the chief that he 
was on his way east to i)rocure arras and amnumition for the de- 
fense of his tribes, and obtained from him ainomise that he would 
send provisions to his men in the fort during his absence. While 
here, he visited Starved Rock, the remarkable chtf previously 
alhided to, a mile or more above the village, on the soutliern bank 
of the river. He afterwards sent word to Tonti to examine and 
fortify it, in case an outbreak of the Indians rendered it necessary.* 

♦Several years since, it was selected by some enterprising- Yankees as a site for a 
town, which they very appropriately called Gibraltar ; but now it remains houseless, 
as in the time of the great explorer. 

79 



80 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



On the 15th of March LaSalle left the tillage, and continued 
his journey as before, partly by land and in part by water, till 
within two miles of the site of Joliet. Here, in consequence of 
the ice, they found the further ascent of the river impossible, and, 
concealing- their canoes, i)repared to make a march directly across 
the country to Lake Michigan. Journeying lakeward, they found 
the country a dreary waste of mud and half-melted snow, inter- 
sected here and there l)y swollen streams, some of which they 
waded, and others they crossed on rafts. On the 23d they were 
gladdened by the distant surface of the lake glimmering through 
the openings of the forest, and at night stood on its bank, thank- 
ful that they were safe, and that their hardships had been no 
worse. The next day they followed its winding shores to the 
mouth of the St. Joseph, and rested at night in the fort. Here 
LaSalle found the two men whom he had sent to look for llie 
Griffin, and learned from them that they had made the circuit of 
the lake without learning any tidings of her fate. Deeming it 
useless to further continue the search, he ordered the men to re- 
port themselves to Tonti, and started himself across the trackless 
wilds of Southern Michigan, to avoid the delay attending the 
indirect route by way of the lakes. 

It was the worst of all seasons for such a journey, and almost 
every leagTie traversed, brought with it some new hardship. Now 
they were lacerated by brambly thickets, now they j^lunged up 
to their waists in the mud of half-frozen marshes, and now they 
were chilled in wading swollen streams. Dogged by a i3ack of 
savages, they were compelled to x)ass the nights without fire, to 
escape their murderous attacks. At length, with two of their 
number sick, they arrived at the head of a stream supposed to be 
the Huron, which, after making a canoe, they descended to the 
Detroit. Thence, marching eastward to the lake, 30 miles distant, 
they embarked in a canoe and pushed across the lake for the falls 
of Niagara, whither they arrived on Easter Monday, 1680. Here he 
found the men left at the cataract the i^revious autumn, who not 
only confirmed the loss of the Griffin, but informed him that a 
cargo of merchandise belonging to him, valued at 2200 livres, had 
recently been swallowed up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Leaving 
the weary companions of his previous jom-uey at Niagara, he set 
out with fresh men for Fort Frontenac, and on the 6th day of 
May discovered tlu-ough the hazy atmosphere, the familiar out- 
lines of his seigniory. He had now traveled within 65 days the 
distance of 1000 miles, which, considering the circumstances, was 
one of the most remarkable journeys ever made by the early 
French explorers. Possessing an invincible determination and a 
frame of iron, he surmounted obstacles from which a person less 
favorably endowed would have turned away in despair. How 
changed has since become the wilderness through which he wan- 
dered. Its dark forests have become a region of harvests, and the 
traveler of to-day accomplishes in less than two days the jouniey 
which required of him more than two months. 

At the fort he learned that his agents had treated him with bad 
faith; that his creditors had seized his property, and that several 
canoes belonging to him, loaded with valuables, had been lost in 
the rapids of the St. Lawrence. Without useless repining, he 
hastened to Montreal, where his presence excited the greatest sur- 



TONTl'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE IROQUOIS. 81 

prise, and wliere, not^Yithstandmg■ bis great financial losses, his 
personal influence enabled bim to obtain tbe necessary sui)plies. 

Again be directed bis coiu'se Avestward, to succor tbe forlorn 
hope under Tonti, isolated from tbe rest of mankind on tbe dis- 
tant banks of tbe Illinois. At Frontenac be received intelligence 
of anotber of tbose crusbing blows wbicb botb nature and man 
seemed to be aiming at tbe success of bis enterprise. Two mes- 
sengers came witb a letter from Tonti, stating tbat soon after bis 
departure, nearly all bis men bad deserted, and tbat, before 
leaving, tbey bad destroyed tbe fort, and tbrown away stores tbey 
were unable to carry. Tbe news of tbis disaster bad bardly been 
received, before two traders arrived from tbe upper lakes, and 
furtber stated tbat tbe deserters bad destroyed tbe fort on tbe St. 
Josepb, seized a great quantity of furs belonging to bim at Macki- 
naw, and tben, witb otbers, descending tbe lakes, bad plundered 
bis magazine at Niagara. And now, tbey added, some of tbem are 
coming down tbe nortbern sbore of tbe lake to murder bim, as a 
means of . escaping punisbment, wbile otbers are coasting tbe 
soutb sbore, witb a ^iew of reacbing Albany, and getting beyond 
bis jiu-isdiction. On receipt of tbis information, LaSalle cbose 9 
of bis trustiestmen, and sallied fortb to meet tbem. Coming upon 
tbem by surprise, be killed 2 of tbeir number and captured 7, wbom 
be imprisoned in tbe fort to await tbe sentence of a civil tribunal. 
It migbt be supposed tbat LaSalle bad reacbed tbe utmost limits 
of buman endurance, on seeing tbe bopes of bis enterprise so 
frequently leveled to tbe ground. Wbile, bowever, weaker men 
would bave turned away in despair, no eye could detect in bis 
stern demeanor an altered imrpose or a sbaken resolve. His only 
hope now seemed to be in Tonti, and could that faithful officer 
preserve the vessel commenced on tbe Illinois, and the tools wbicb 
had been conveyed thither with so much labor, it migbt constitute 
an anchor to which be could attach tbe drifting wreck of bis 
fortunes. 

Having j^rocured supplies and everything needful for the outfit 
of a vessel, without furtber delaj- be set out, on the lOtli of Au- 
gust, for Illinois, accompanied by his lieutenant, LaForest, and 25 
men. He ascended tbe liver Humber, crossed Simcoe Lake, and 
descended the Severn into Lake Huron, over which he passed to 
tbe Straits of Mackinaw. At the station be found it difficult to 
replenish bis provisions, and, not to be delayed for tbis purpose, 
he pushed forward witb 12 men, leaving LaForest and tbe remain- 
der to follow as soon as tbey could procure supplies. ISTovember 
24th "be arrived at the St. Joseph, and, anxious to push forward 
more rapidly, he left the greater part of tbe stores, witb 5 men, 
at the I'uined fort, and with the remainder ascended tbe river, 
crossed the portage and commenced the descent of the Kankakee. 
Not meeting with any traces of Tonti and bis men, be concluded 
tbey must still be at the fort on tbe river below, and hastened 
tliither, greatly relieved of tbe anxiety be had felt for then- safety. 
Eumors for sometime bad prevailed that the Iroquois were medi- 
tating a descent on tbe Illinois, and should it prove true, it migbt, 
after all bis labors, involve bis enterprise in ruin. On enteruig 
tbe Illinois, be found the great prairies, Avbicb be bad left the 
l)revious spring sheeted in ice now alive witb butt'alo. Some were 
sleeping on the sward, many were cropping the tall grass, while 
G 



82 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



groups, to slake their thirst, were moving toward the river, where 
they looked with strange bewilderment at the passing canoes. 
Wlierever a squad appeared, it was guarded by bulls, whose for- 
midable manes and unsightly forms might well have inspired an 
approaching foe with terror. But it was rather with domestic 
rivals than foreign enemies they performed the greatest feats of 
prowess. Battered heads and splintered horns told of many bat- 
tles fouglit among themselves as the result of gallantry, or perhaps 
the more ambitious motive becoming the champions of their shaggy 
herds. The party wishing a supply of buffalo meat, landed and 
commenced a warfare on the tempting game. Some dragged 
themselves through the thick grass and with unerring aim brought 
down their favorite animals, while others, with less labor and 
greater success, concealed themselves behind the banks of the 
river and shot such as came to drink. Twelve huge carcasses re- 
warded tlie labors of the hunt, which the men cut into thin Hakes 
and diied in the sun for futm-e use. 

With abundant supplies they again started down the river, 
pleased with the prospect of rejoining the men under Tonti and 
relie\ang their Avants. Soon loomed up before them the rocky cit- 
adel to which LaSalle had directed the attention of Tonti, but 
they found on a near approach its lofty summit unfortified. At 
the great town of the Illinois they were appalled at the scene 
which opened to their view. No hunter ai)peared to break its 
death-like silence with a salutatory Avhoop of welcome. The plain 
on which the town had stood was now strewn with the charred 
fragments of lodges, which had so recently swarmed with savage 
life and hilarity. To render more hideous the picture of desola- 
tion, large numbers of skulls had been placed on the upper ex- 
tremities of lodge poles, which had escaped the devouring flames. 
In the midst of the horrors was the rude fort of the spoilers, ren- 
dered frightful with the same ghastly relics. A near approach 
showed that the graves had been robbed of their bodies, and 
swarms of buzzards were discovered glutting their loathsome 
stomachs on their reeking corruption. To complete the work of 
destruction, the growing corn of the village had been cut down 
and burnt, Avhile the pits containing the products of previous years 
had been rifled and their contents scattered with wanton waste. 
It was evident the suspected bloAV of the Iroquois had fallen with 
relentless fury. No other denizens of the wilderness were capable 
of perpetrating such acts of barbarity and unhallowed desecration. 
LaSalle carefully examined the scene of these hellish orgies, to 
ascertain whether Tonti and his men had become the victims of 
savage vengeance. Nightfall terminated his labors, and no certain 
traces of their presence VrCre discovered. The nightly camp lire 
was kindled, and the men now listened Avith rueful faces at the dis- 
cordant chorus of wolves, each striving to get his share of the 
putrid bodies which had been resurrected from the village grave- 
yard. Sleep at length came to their relief, but LaSalle, i^erplexed 
with uncertainty and filled with anxiety, spent the whole night in 
pondering over the proper course to pursue in future. In his 
search the previous day he had discovered 6 posts near the river, 
on each of which was painted the figure of a man with bandaged 
eyes. Surmising that the figures might represent French pris- 
oners in the custody of the Iroquois, at daylight he made known 



TONTl'S ENCOUNTER AVITII THE IKOQUOIS. 83 

his iiiteiitioii of furtlier descending the river to unfold the mys- 
teiy. 

Before his departure he ordered 3 of his men to conceal them- 
selves and baggage in the holloAV of some rocks situated on a 
neighboring island, and keep a sharp lookout for further develop- 
ments. They were instructed to refrain from the use of tires, 
whereby they might attract the attention of enemies; and should 
others of the men arrive they were to secrete themselves in the 
same place and await his return. He now set out with the 4 
remaining men, each properly armed and fuinished with merchan- 
dise to conciliate the Indians who might be met on the way. Sev- 
eral leagues below the town they landed on an island, near the 
western shore, where the fugitive Illinois had taken refuge. 
Directly opposite, on the main shore was the deserted camp of tbe 
Iroquois enemy. Each chief had carved on trees of the forest the 
totem of his clan, and signs indicating the strength of the forces 
he had led to the war and the number of the Illinois he had killed 
and captured. From these daf a LaSalle concluded that the entire 
strength of the invaders could not have been less than 580 war- 
riors. Nothing was found to indicate the presence of Frenchmen, 
and LaSalle again fell down the ri^er, and passed in one day G 
additional camj)s of the Illinois and as many more belonging to 
their enemy. Both parties seemed to have retreated in compact 
bodies toward the mouth of the river. Passing Peoria Lake they 
found the fort destroyed, as stated in the letter of Tonti, but the 
vessel was still on the stocks and only slightly injiu-ed. Further 
on they discovered 4 additional camps of the opposing armies, and 
near the mouth of the river met with the usual sequel of an Iro- 
quois invasion. On the distant verge of a meadow they discovered 
the half-charred bodies of women and children still bound to the 
stakes, where they had suflered all the torments that hellish hate 
could devise. The men, regardless of their helpless charges, had 
evidently fled at the first a|)proach of danger to save theuiselves. 
Their wives and children, unprotected, fell into the hands of the 
enemy, who, in addition to those who had been burnt, thickly cov- 
ered the place with their mangled bodies, many of which bore 
marks of brutality too horrid for record. Helpless innocence, in- 
stead of exciting compassion in the hearts of these monsters, had 
only nerved them for the fiendish task of indiscriminate slaughter. 

LaSalle, seeing no traces of his lost men, proceeded to the mouth 
of the river, where he saw the great highway Avhich for years 
had been the object and hopes of his ambition. Its vast floods 
rolled mysteriously onward to an unknown bourne, for the dis- 
covery of which, with new resolves, he determined to devote his 
life. His men proposed, without further delay, to proceed on the 
long contemplated voyage,* but LaSalle, hedged in by untoward 
complications, was compelled to await a more favorable time. 
Thinking that Tonti might still be in the neighborhood, he fastened 
to a tree a painting representing himself and party sitting in a 
canoe, and bearing the pipe of peace. To the painting he attiiched 
a letter, addressed to Tonti, the purport of which was that he 
should hasten uj) the river and join him at the great town of the 
Illinois. The party next commenced the ascent of the river to 
the same place, and vigorously plying their paddles night and day, 
airived at their destination in 4 days. During the upward voyage, 



84 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the great comet of 1680 nightly ilhimined the starry expanse above 
them, projecting its vast tail, with a terrible brilliancy, a distance 
of 60 degrees. LaSalle speaks of it as an object of scientific in- 
qniry, while Increase Mather, a celebrated New England divine, 
with the snperstition common to his time, said that "it was fraught 
with terrific portent to the nations of the world." 

At the Indian town they found the men who had been left be- 
hind, unharmed, and anxiously awaiting their return. After get- 
ting some com from the ravaged granaries of the burnt village, 
the whole party embarked, and commenced the ascent of the river. 
On the 6tli of January, 1681 , they arrived at the junction of the 
Desplaines and Kankakee, and passing up the latter a short 
distance, they discovered, not far from tlie shore, a rude hut. La- 
Salle landed, and entering it, found a block of wood which had 
recently been cut with a saw, thus indicating that Tonti must have 
passed up the river. This discovery kindled anew the hopes of 
the despairing voyagers that their friends Avere still alive, and with 
lighter hearts they started directly overland to Fort Miami. On the 
way the snow fell in blinding storms, and not being sufficiently 
compact for the use of snow shoes, LaSalle led the Avay to open a 
track and urge on his followers. Such was the depth of the snow, 
his tall figure was frequently buried in drifts up to his waist, while 
the remainder of his person was showered with the crystal bur- 
dens of boughs overhead, whenever he chanced to touch them. On 
reaching their goal, LaSalle's first incjuiry was for Tonti. No 
tidings, however, had been heard from him, and the hope he had 
entertained of meeting him here, was changed to disapi)ointment. 
LaForest and the men whom he had left behind, with commenda- 
ble industry had rebuilt the fort, prepared ground for raising a 
crop the ensuing year, and sawn material for building a new ship 
on the lake. 

We must now endeavor to relate the adventures of Tonti. 
Meanwhile, we will leave LaSalle in the sheltering walls of the 
fort, pondering over the wasted energies of the past, and the 
gloomy prospects of the future. Yet his mind, so full of expedi- 
ents, soon found means to evolve, from the fragments of his ruined 
fortunes, new resources for the furtherance of his daring schemes. 

It will be remembered that Tonti had been left in command of 
Fort Crevecceur with 15 men. Most of these disliking LaSalle, 
and havhig no interest in his enterprise, were ripe for revolt the 
first opportunity that promised success. LaSalle, stern, incompre- 
hensible and cold, was much better qualified to command the 
respect of his men when i)resent, than secure their good will and 
fidelity when absent. His departure eastward was, therefore, the 
commencement of unlawful acts among his men. A short time 
afterward, another event occurred which greatly increased the 
spirit of in subordination. The two men who had been sent to look 
for the Grittin, had, in pursuance of LaSalle's orders, arrived at 
the fort with disheartening intelligence. They informed the al- 
ready disaffected garrison that the Griffin was lost; that Fort 
Frontenac was in tlie hands of LaSalle's creditors, and that he was 
now w'holly without means to i)ay those in his employ. To prevent 
the desertion of his men, it was usual for LaSalle to withhold their 
wages till the term for which they were employed should exi)ire. 
Now the belief that he would never pay them, gave rise to a spirit of 



TONTl's ENCOUNTER WITH THE IROQUOIS. 85 

mutiny, which soon found an opportunity for further development. 
The two men alluded to were the bearers of a letter from La Salle, 
directing Tonti to examine and fortify the rock on the Illinois, 
and no sooner had he, with a few men, departed for this pur})0se, 
than the garrison of the fort refused longer to submit to authority. 
Their iirst act of lawlessness was the destruction of the fort; after 
which, they seized the annnunitiou, provisions, and other porta- 
bles of value and fled. Only two of their number remained true, 
one of whom was the servant of LaSalle, who innnediately hastened 
to apprise Tonti of what had occurred. He, thereupon, dispatched 
4 of the men with him to carry the news to LaSalle ; two of whom, 
as we have seen, successfully discharged their duty, while the 
others perhaps deserted. 

Tonti, now in the midst of treacherous savages, had with him 
only 5 men, 2 of whom were the friars Ribourde and Menibre. 
With these he immediately returned to the fort, collected the forge 
and tools which had not been destroyed by the mutineers, and 
conveyed them to the great toAvn of the Illinois. By this volun- 
tary display of confidence he hoped to remove the' jealousy with 
which the enemies of LaSalle had previously poisoned their minds. 
Here, awaiting the return of his leader, he was unmolested by the 
villagers, who, when the spring opened, amounted, according to 
the statement of Menibre, to some 8,000 souls. I^either they nor 
their wild associates little suspected that hordes of Iroquois were 
then gathering in the fastnesses of the Alleghanies, to burst upon 
their country and reduce it to an uninhabitable waste. Already 
these hell-hounds of the wilderness had destroyed the Hurons, 
Eries, and other nations on the lakes, and were now directing their 
attention to the Illinois for new victims with which to flesh their 
rabid fangs. Not only homicidal fury, but commercial advantages 
now actuated the Iroquois, who expected, after reducing these 
vast regions of the west, to draw thence rich supplies of furs to 
barter with the English for merchandise. LaSalle had also enemies 
among the French, who, to defeat his enterprise, did not scruple 
to encourage the Iroquois in their rapacious designs. Under these 
circumstances a council Avas held by the latter. The ceremonies 
of inaugurating a campaign were duly celebrated, and 500 war- 
riors, with a dispatch only equaled by their terrible earnestness, 
commenced traversing the wide waste of forest and prairie that lay- 
between them and tlieir intended prey. In the line of their nmrch 
lay the Miamis, who by their crafty intrigues were induced to join 
in the movement against their neighbors and kindred. There had 
long existed a rankling jealousy between these tribes, and the Mi- 
amis were ready to enter into any alliance that promised revenge. 
It was the policy of the Iroquois to divide and conquer, and their 
new allies were marked as the next object of their vengeance, 
should the assault on the Illinois prove successful. 

All was fancied security and idle repose in the great town of the 
Illinois, as the formidable war party stealthily approached. Sud- 
denly, as a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky, the listless in- 
habitants were awakened from their lethargy. A Shawnee Indian, 
on his return home after a visit to the Illinois, first discovered the 
invaders. To save his friends from the imi)endiug danger, he 
hurriedly returned and apprised them of the coming enemy. 
This intelligence spread with lightning rapidity over the town, and 



86 • HISTORY OF ILLINOIS 

each wigwam disgorged its boisterous and astounded inmates. 
Women snatched their chddren, and in a delirium of fright wan- 
dered aimlessly about, rending the air with their screams. The 
men, more self-possessed, seized their arms, and in a ^ ild panto- 
mime of battle, commenced nerving themselv^es for the coming 
fray. Tonti, long an object of suspicion, was soon surrounded by 
an angry crowd of warriors, who accused him of being an emissary 
of the enemy. His inability properly to defend himself, in conse- 
quence of not fully understanding their language, left them still 
inclined to believe him guilty, and they seized the forge and other 
effects brought from tlie fort, and threw them into the river. 
Doubting their ability to defend themselves without the assistance 
of their young men, who were absent on a war expedition, they 
embarked their women and children in canoes and sent them down 
to the island where LaSiille had seen their deserted huts. Sixty 
warriors remained with them for protection, and the remainder, 
not ex(;eeding 400, returned late in the day to the village. Along 
the adjacent shore they kindled huge bontires, which cast their 
glare for miles -around, gilding the village, river and distant mar- 
gins of the forest with the light of day. The entire night was 
spent in greasing their bodies, painting their faces and perform- 
ing the war dance, to prepare themselves for the approaching con- 
flict. At early dawn the scouts who had been sent out returned, 
closely followed by the Iroquois, most of whom Avere armed with 
guns, ])istols and swords, obtained from the English. The scout* 
had seen a chief arrayed in French costume, and reported their 
suspicions that LaSalle was in the camp of the enemy, and Tonti 
again became an object of jealousy. A concourse of wildly gestic- 
ulating savages immediately gathered about him, denmiiding his 
life, and nothing saved him from their uplifted weapons but a 
promise that he and his men would go with them to meet the en- 
emy. With their suspicions partially lulled, they hurriedly crossed 
the river and appeared on the plain beyond just as the enemy 
emerged in swarms Irom the woods skirting the banks of the Ver- 
milion. The two foes were now face to face, and both commenced 
discharging their guns and simultaneously leaping from side to 
side, for the purpose of dodging each others' shots. Tonti, seeing 
the Illinois outnumbered and likely to sustain a defeat, determined, 
at the imminent risk of his life, to stay the light by an attempt at 
mediation. Presuming on the treaty of peace then existhig be- 
tween the French and Iroquois, he exchanged his gun for a belt 
of wampum and advanced to meet the savage multitude, attended 
by three companions, who, being unnecessarily exposed to danger, 
he dismissed, and proceeded alone. A short walk brought him 
into the midst of a pack of yelping devils, writhing and distorted 
with iiendish rage, and impatient to shed his blood. As the result 
of his swarthy Italian complexion and half savage costume, he 
was at first taken for an Indian, and before the mistake was dis- 
covered a young warrior approached and stabbed at his heart. 
Fortunately the blade was turned aside by coming in contact with 
a rib, yet a large iiesh wound was inflicted, which bled profusely. 
At this juncture a chief discovered his true character, and he was 
led to the rear and efforts made to staunch his wound. When 
sufficiently recovered, he declared the Illinois were under tiie pro- 
tection of the French, and demanded, in consideration of the treaty 



TONTl'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE IROQUOIS. 87 

between the latter and the Iroquois, that they slioukl be suffered 
to remain without fiuther molestation. During this conference, a 
young warrior snatched Tonti's hat, and, tieeing with it to the 
front, held it aloft on the end of his gun in view of the Ilhnois. 
The latter, judging from this cu-cumstance that their envoy had 
been killed, caused the battle to "breeze up" with increased inten- 
sity. Simultaneously, intelligence was brought to the Iroquois 
that Frenchmen were assisting their enemies in the light, when 
the contest over Tonti was renewed with redoubled fury. Some 
declared that he should be immediately put to death ; while oth- 
ers, friendly to LaSalle, with equal earnestness demanded that 
he should be set at liberty. During theii- clamorous debate his 
hair was several times lifted by a huge savage who stood at his 
back with a scalping knife, ready for execution. 

Tonti at length turned the current of the angry controversy in 
his favor, by stating that the Illinois were 1,200 strong, and that 
there were GO Frenchmen at the village ready to assist them. 
This statement obtained at least a partial credence, and his tor- 
meiiters now determined to use him as an mstrument to delude 
the Illinois with a pretended truce. The old warriors therefore 
advanced to the front and ordered the firing to cease, while Tonti, 
dizzy from the loss of blood, was furnished with an emblem of 
l)eace and sent staggering across the plain to rejoin the Illinois. 
The two friars, who had just returned from a distant hut, whither 
they had retired for prayer and meditation, were tlie first to meet 
him and bless God for what they regarded as a miraculous deliv- 
erance.* With the assurance brought by Tonti, the Illinois re- 
crossed the river to their lodges, followed by the enemy as far as 
the opposite bank. Not long after, large luimbers of the latter, 
under the pretext of hunting, also crossed the river and hung in 
threatening groups about the town. These hostde indications, 
and the well known disregard which the Iroquois had al\\'ays 
evinced for their pledges, soon convinced the Illinois that their 
only safety was m flight. With this conviction they set fire to 
their ancestral homes, and while the vast volume of flame and 
smoke diverted the attention of the enemy, they quietly dropped 
down the river to rejoin their women and children. Shortly after, 
the remainder of the Iroquois crossed the river, and as soon as the 
conflagration would permit, entrenched themselv(?s on the site of 
the village. Tonti and his men, remaining at the village, were 
ordered by the snspicious savages to leave their hut and take up 
their abode in the fort. 

At first their associates seemed much elated at the discomfiture 
of the Illinois, but two days after, when they discovered them re- 
conuoitering on the low hills behind their intrenchments, their 
courage greatly subsided. With fear, they recalled the exaggera- 
tions of Tonti, respecting their numbers, and immediately concluded 
to send him with a hostage to make overtures of peace. He started 
on liis mission, and he and the hostage were received with delight 
by the Illinois, who readily assented to the proposal Avhich he 
brought, and in turn sent back with him a hostage to the Iroquois. 
On his return to the fort his life was again placed in jeopardy, and 

*>Tembi-e. perhaps prompted by vanity, claims tliat he accompanied Tonti in this in- 
terview. This IS the only instance In which he is charged with a want of veracity, and 
doubtless in many respects was a jrood inai;. 



88 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



the treaty was with great difficulty ratified. The yoimg and inex- 
perieuced Illinois hostage betrayed to his crafty inter\iewers the 
numerical weakness of his tribe, and the savages immediately 
rushed upon Touti^ and charged him with having deprived them 
of the spoils and honors of a victory. "Where," said they, " are 
all your Illinois warriors, and where are the Frenchmen you said 
were among them ?" It now required all the tact of which he was 
master to escape the present difficulty, which he had brought on 
himself by the artifice employed to escape the one previous. After 
much opposition, the treaty was concluded, but the savages, to 
show their contempt for it, immediately commenced the construc- 
tion of canoes in which to descend the river and attack the Illinois. 

Tonti managed to apprise the latter of their designs, and he and 
Membre were soon after summoned to attend a council of the Iro- 
quois. They still labored under a wholesome fear of Count Fron- 
tenac, and disliking to attack the Illinois in the presence of tlie 
French, their object was to induce the latter to leave the country. 
At the assembling of the council, 6 packages of beaver skins were 
introduced, and the savage orator, presenting them separately to 
Tonti, explained the nature of each. " The first two, " said he, 
" were to declare that the children of Count Frontenac, that is^ 
the Illinois, should not be eaten ; the next was a plaster to heal 
the wounds of Tonti ; the next was oil wherewith to annoint him 
and Membre, that they might not be fatigued in traveling ; the 
next proclaimed that the sun was bright; and the sixth, and 
last, required them to decamp and go home. "* 

At the mention of going home, Tonti demanded of them when 
they intended to set the example by leaving the Illinois in the 
l>eaceable possession of their country, which they had so unjustly 
invaded. The council grew boisterous and angry at the idea that 
they should be demanded to do that which they required of the 
French, and some of its members, forgetting their x>revious pledge, 
declared that they would " eat Illinois flesh before they departed. " 
Tonti, in imitation of the Indian manner of expressing scorn, in- 
dignantly kicked away the presents of fur, saying, since they meant 
to devour the children of Count Frontenac with cannibal ferocity, 
he would not accept their gifts. This stern rebuke of perfidy re- 
sulted in the expulsion of Tonti and his companions from the 
council, and the next day the em^aged chiefs ordered them to leave 
the country. 

Tonti had now, at the great risk of his life, tried every expedi- 
ent to avert from the unoffending Illinois the slaughter which the 
unscrupulous invaders of their soil were seeking an opportunity 
to effect. There was little to be accomplished by remaining in the 
country, and as a longer delay might imperil the lives of his men, 
he determined to depart, not knowing when or where he would be 
able to rejoin LaSalle. With this object in view, the party, con- 
sisting of persons, embarked in canoes, which soon proved leaky, 
and tiiey were compelled to land for the puri)ose of making re- 
pairs. While thus employed. Father Eibourde, attracted by the 
beauty of the surrounding landscape, wandered forth among the 
groves for meditation and prayer. Not returning in due time, 
Tonti became alarmed, and started with a companion to ascertain 

•Discoveries of the Great West.— Parkman. 



TONTl'S ENCOUNTEE WITH THE IROQUOIS 89 

the cause of the long delay. They soon discovered tracks of Ind- 
ians, by whom it was supposed he had been seized, and guns were 
fired to direct his return, in case he was still alive. Seeing 
nothing of him during the day, at night they built fires along the 
bank of the river and retired to the opposite side, to see who 
might approach them. Near midnight, a number of Indians were 
seen flitting about the hght, by whom, no doubt, had been made 
the tracks seen the previous evening. It was afterwards learned 
that they were a band of Kickapoos, who had, for several days, 
been hovering about the camp of the Iroquois in quest of scalps. 
Kot being successful in obtaining the object of their desires from 
their enemies, they, by chance, fell in with the inoffensive old 
friar, and scalped him in their stead. " Thus, in the 65th year of 
his age, the only heir to a wealthy Burgundian house perished under 
the war club of the savages, for whose salvation he had renounced 
ease and afdueuce."* 

During the performance of this tragedy, a far more revolting 
one was being enacted at the great town of the Illinois. The Iro- 
quois were tearmg open the graves of the dead, and wreaking 
their vengeance upon the bodies made hideous by putrefaction. 
At this desecration, it is said, they even ate portions of the 
dead bodies, while subjecting them to every indignity that brutal 
hate could inflict. Still uusated by their hellish brutalities, and 
now unrestrained by the presence of the French, they started in 
pursuit of the retreating Illinois. Day after day they and the 
opposing forces moved in compact array down the river, neither 
being able to gain any advantage over the other. At length they 
obtained by falsehood that which numbers and prowess denied 
them. They gave out that their object was to possess the country, 
not by destroying, but by driving out its present inhabitants. 
Deceived by this mendacious statement, the Illinois separated, 
some descending the Mississippi, and others crossing to the 
western shore. Unfortunately, the Tamaroas, more credulous than 
the rest, remained near the mouth of the Illinois, and were sud- 
denly attacked by an overwhelming force of the enemy. The m'en 
fled in dismay, and the women and children, to the number of 
700, fell into the hands of the ferocious enemy. Then followed 
the tortures, butcheries and burnings which only the infuriated 
and imbruted Iroquois could perpetrate — the shocking evidence of 
which LaSalle saw only two weeks afterward. After the ravenous 
horde had sufficiently glutted their greed for carnage, they retired 
from the country, leading with them a niunber of women and 
children, whom they reserved either for adoption into their tribes, 
or as victims to grace the triumphs sometimes accorded them on 
their return home. 

Their departure was the signal for the return of the Illinois, 
who rebuilt their town. The site of this celebrated village was 
on the northern bank of the river, where it flows by the modern 
town of Utica. Its immediate site was on the great meadow 
which, at this point, originally stretched up and down the streain. 
The large quantities of bones and rude implements of savage life 
which are annually tm^ned up by the ploughshare, are the only 
sad traces of the populous tribes that once made this locality their 

*Discovery of the Great West— Par kman. 



90 * HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

principal home. Aloug the southern side of the river extends a 
range of hills, which terminates a mile and a half above in the 
natural abutment known as Starved Rock, on which the French, 
ill 16S2, built a fort. Several miles below, an opening occurs in 
the hills, through which the waters of the Big Vermilion unite 
with those of the Illinois. It was by means of tiiese prominent 
landmarks Francis Parkman, Esq., a few years since, was enabled 
to identify the site of the Indian town, Avhich, for many years pre- 
vious, was entirely unknown. 

After the death of Riboiirde, the men under Tonti again resumed 
the ascent of the river, leaving no e^'idence of their passage at the 
junction of the two streams which form tbe Illinois. Their craft 
again becoming disabled, they abandoned it, and the party started 
on foot for Lake Michigan. Their supply of provisions soon be- 
came exhausted, and the travelers were compelled to subsist in a 
great measure on roots and acorns. One of their companions 
wandered oft" in search of game, lost his way, and several days 
elapsed before he had the good fortune of rejoining them. In his 
absence he was without flints and bullets, yet contrived to shoot 
some turkeys by using slugs cut from a pewter porringer and a 
firebrand to discharge his piece. It was their object to reach 
Green Bay and find an asylum for the winter among the Potawat- 
amies. As the result of i)rivation and exjiosure, Tonti fell sick of 
a fever and greatly retarded the progress of the march, bearing 
Green Bay the cold increased, and the means of subsistence pro- 
portionately diminishing, the party would have perished had they 
not found a few ears of corn and some frozen squashes in the 
fields of a deserted village. Near the close of November they had 
the good fortune of reaching the Potawatamies, who greeted them 
with a warm reception, and supplied them with the necessaries of 
life. Their chief was an ardent admirer of the French, whom he 
had befriended the year previous, and was accustomed to say : 
"There were but three great caj)tains in the world, himself, Tonti 
and LaSalle." 



Chapter IX. 
FUETHEE EXPLOEATIONS BY LaSALLE. 



We must now return to LaSalle, whose exploits stand out in 
such bold relief. In the previous discoveries he had observed 
that white enemies were usiuj>' the Iroquois to circumvent his 
operations; that their incursions must be stopi>ed, or his defeat 
was inevitable. After due consideration, he concluded the best 
way to prevent their inroads was to induce the western tribes to 
forget their animosities, and under a league against their inexora- 
ble enemies, colonize them around a fort in the valley of the 
Illinois, where, with the assistance of French arms and French 
generalship, the common enemy would be unable further to molest 
them. French colonists could teach them the art of agriculture, 
Eecollet monks instruct them in their religious duties, and the 
ships of France supply merchandise to trathc with them for the 
lich harvest of furs annuall}- gathered from their vast interior 
wilds. Meanwhile he i^i'oposed to explore the Mississippi, and 
make it a highway for the commerce of the world. Thus, conclu- 
ded LaSalle, the plains of Illinois, which for centuries have been a 
slaughter pen for warring savages, might be made the theatre of 
a civilization as famous as tbeir past history had been rendered 
infamous by deeds of carnage. To the execution of this new ex- 
pedient for advancing his plans he now turned his attention. 

After the terrible scourge of King Philip's war, a number of the 
conquered Indians left their eastei-n homes and took refuge in the 
vicinity of the fort where LaSalle had spent the winter. These 
were mostly Abenakis and Mohegans — the latter having furnished 
the hunter who had so often, by his superior skill, provided La- 
Salle's hungry followers with food. He was also master of several 
Indian dialects, which, at this particular juncture of LaSalle's 
affairs, he could use with great advantage. To these exiles from 
the east LaSalle first directed his attention, and found them 
unanimously in favor of casting their lot with his, asking no rec- 
ompense save the privilege of calling him chief. A new ally, in 
the person of a powerful chief from the valley of the Ohio, also 
appeared, and asked x)eruussion to enter the new confederation. 
LaSalhi replied that his tribe was too distant, but let them come 
to me in the valley of the Illinois, and they shall be safe. The 
chief, without stipulating further, agreed to join him with 150 
warriors. To reconcile the Miamis and Illinois, and thus secure 
their co-operation, was now the principal obstacle. Althougli 
kindred tribes, they had long been estranged, and it was only after 
the recent dein-edations of tlie Iroquois, they began to see tl:e 
advantage of o])i)o.sing a united front to their outniges. "NVisb- 

yi 



92 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



ing first to consult tlie Illinois, many of whom had returned after 
the evacuation of the Iroquois, they found the prairies still encrusted 
with snow, from the dazzling whiteness of which, LaSalle and 
several of the men became snow-blind, and were compelled to en- 
camp under the edge of a forest till they could recover. While 
suffering from the loss of ^ision, they sent out a companion to 
gather pine leaves, which were supposed to be a specific for their 
malady. While on this errand he had the good fortune to fall in 
with a band of the Foxes, from whom he learned that Tonti was 
safe among the Potawatamies, and that Hennepin had passed 
through their country, on his way to Canada. This was welcome 
news to LaSalle, who had long been anxious in regard to his 
safety. The afdicted soon after recovered, and the snow having 
melted, they launched their canoes into the swollen tributary of 
the Illinois. Following the river, they fell in with a band of the 
Illinois, ranging the prairies in quest of game. LaSalle expressed 
his regret at the great injury they had sustained from the Iro- 
quois and urged them to form an alliance with their kindred, the 
Miamis, to prevent the recurrence of similar disasters in the fu- 
ture. He promised, them that he and his companions would take 
up their abode among them, furnish them with goods and arms^ 
and assist in defending them in the attacks of the common enemy 
of the Algonquin race. Pleased with LaSalle's proposition, they 
supplied him with corn, and promised to confer with others of 
their countrymen on the subject, and let him know the residt. 

Having completed his negotiations with the Illinois, he sent La- 
Forest to Mackinaw, whither Tonti was expected to go, and where 
both of them were to remain till he could follow them. It now 
remained for him to consult the Miamis, and he accordingly visited 
one of their principal villages on the portage between the St. 
Joseph and the Kankakee. Here he foimd a band of Iroquois^ 
who had for some time demeaned themselves with the greatest 
insolence toward the villagers, and had spoken with the utmost 
contempt of himself and men. He sternly rebuked them for their 
arrogance and calumnies, which caused them to slink away, and 
at night flee the country. The Miamis were astonished beyond 
measure when they saw LaSalle, with only 10 Frenchmen, put 
their haughty visitors to flight, while they, with hundreds of war- 
riors, could not even secure respect. LaSalle now resolved to use 
the prestige he had gained in farthering the object of his visit. 
There were present in the ^illage Indian refugees from recent 
wars in Virginia, New York and Rhode Island, to whom LaSalle 
communicated the nature of his errand, and promised homes and 
protection in the valley of the Illinois. It is a goodly and beau- 
tiful land, said he, abounding in game, and well supplied with 
goods, in which they should dwell, if they would only assist him 
in restoring amicable relations between the Miamis and Illinois. 
The co-operation of these friendless exiles, who now knew how to 
value the blessings of peace and a settled habitation, was readily 
enough secured. 

The next day the Miamis were assembled in council, and La- 
Salle made known to them the objects he wished to accomplish. 
From long intercourse with the Indians, he had become an expert 
in forest tact and eloquence, and on this occasion he had come 
well provided with presents, to give additional efiicacy to his pro- 



LASALLE. 93 

ceediugs. He began his address, which consisted of metaphori- 
cal allusions to the dead, by distributing gifts among the living. 
Presenting them Avith cloth, he told them it was to cover their 
dead; giving them hatchets, he informed them tliat they were to 
build a scaffold in their honor; distributing among them beads and 
bells, he stated they were to decorate their persons. The living, 
while appropriating these presents, were greatly i)leased at the 
compliments paid their departed friends, and thus placed in a 
suitable state of mind for that which was to follow. A chief, for 
whom they entertained the greatest respect, had recently been 
killed, and LaSalle told them he would raise him from the dead, 
meaning that he would assume his name and provide for his 
family. This generous offer was even more than Indian gravity 
could bear, and the whole assemblage became uproarous with ex- 
citement and applause. Lastly, to convince them of the sincerity 
of his intentions, he gave them 6 guns, a luimber of hatchets, and 
threw into their midst a huge pile of clothing, causing the entire 
multitude to explode with yells of the most extravagant delight. 
After this, LaSalle thus finished his harangue : 

" He who is my master, and the master of all this country, is a mighty chief, 
feared by the wliole world ; but Jie loves peace, aud liis words are for good 
alone. He is called the king of France, and is the miglitlcst among lliecliiefs 
beyond the great water. His goodness extends even to your dead, and his 
subjects come among you to raise them to life. But it is iiis will to preserve 
the lifehehasgiven. It is his will that you should obey his laws, and make no 
war without the leave of Frontenac, who commands in his name at Quebec, 
and loves all the nations alike, because such is tiie will r)f the great king. You 
ought, then, to live in peace with your neighbors, and above all with the Illi- 
nois. You had cause of quarrel with them, but their defeat has avenged you. 
Though the}' are still strong, they wish to make peace with you. Be content 
with the glory of having compelled them to ask for it. You have an iiit<-rest 
in preserving them, since, if the Iroquois destroy them, they will next destroy 
you. Let us all obey the great king, and live in peace under his protection. 
Be of my mind, and use these guns 1 have, given you, not to make war, but 
only to hunt aud defend j'ourselves "* 

Having thus far been successful in uniting the western tribes, 
he was now ready to use the alliance formed in further extending 
his cjiscoveries. First, it was necessary to return to Canada 
and collect his scattered resources, and satisfy his creditors. 
Toward the latter part of May, 1681, they left Fort Miami, and 
after a short and prosperous trij) arrived at Mackinaw, where they 
had the happiness of meeting with Tonti. After the kindly 
greetings of the long absent friends were over, each recounted the 
story of his misfortunes. Such was LaSalle's equanimity and 
even cheerfulness, that Membre, in admiration of his conduct, 
exclaimed : "Any one else except him woidd have abandoned the 
enterprise, but he, with a firmness and constancy which never had 
its equal, was more resolved than ever to push forward his work. " 
HaAong reviewed the past, and fonned new resolves for the future, 
the party embarked for Frontenac. The watery track of 1000 
miles intervening between them and theh' destination, was soon 
crossed, and LaSalle was again in consultation with his creditors. 
In addition to the cost incui-red in building the fort, and maintain- 
ing in it a garrison, he w^as now fuither burdened with the debt 
of subsequent fruitless explorations. The fort and seigniory were 
mortgaged for a large sum, yet by parting Avith some of his mo- 

• Discovery of the Great West— Parkmau. 



94 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

iiopolies, and securing aid from a wealthy relative, he managed 
to satisfy his creditors and secure means for another outfit. 
Owing to unavoidable delays the season was far advanced when 
his tlotilla was pushed out on the waters of Lake Michigan. 
Their canoes were headed for the mouth of the St Joseph, and as 
they slowly crept along the dreary shores of the lake, it is easy to 
imagine the more dreary thought that harassed the mind of 
LaSalle. A past of um-equited toil and sad disappointment, a 
present embittered by the tongue of hate and slander, and the 
future clouded with uucertainty, must have intruded themselves 
into his mind, but could not for a moment divert him from the 
accomplishment of the great object which for years had been the 
guiding star of his destiny. The trees were bare of the beautiful 
autumnal foliage when at length the walls of Fort Miami rose 
above the waste of waters, and they drew up their canoes on the 
adjacent shore. The columns of smoke that rose high in the still 
November air, told LaSalle that his Mohegan and Abenaki allies 
were awaiting his return. Notwithstanding these were the rem- 
nants of the tribes " whose midnight yells had startled the bor- 
der hamlets of New England ; who had danced around Puritan 
scalps and whom Puritan imaginations j)ainted as incarnate 
fiends," LaSalle chose from them 18 men to accompany him. 
These, added to the Frenchmen, made 41 men, who, on the 21st 
of December, 1681, set out ou this famous expedition. Tonti and 
some of the men crossed in advance to the mouth of the Chicago, 
v/here they were soon after joined by LaSalle and the remainder 
of the men. The streams being now sheeted over Avith ice, and 
the land covered with snow, they were comj)elled to construct 
sledges on which to drag their canoes and baggage to the wes- 
tern branch of the Illinois. Finding it also bridged over with ice 
they filed down it in a long procession, passed the tenantless vil- 
lage of the Illinois and found the river open a short distance 
below Peoria Lake. The season, and other unfavorable circum- 
stances, rendered the building of a vessel, as originally contem- 
jdated, at this i)oint wholly impossible. They were compelled 
therefore to proceed in their canoes, and on the 6th of February 
they reached the Great River which was to bear them onward to 
the sea. Waiting a week for the floating ice to disappear, they 
glided down the current toward the great unknown, which all 
former attempts had failed to penetrate. The first night they en- 
camped near the mouth of the Missouri, and witnessed its opaque 
floods invade the purer waters of the Mississippi. Re-embarking 
the next morning they passed several interesting localities, and 
after several days, landed ou the 24th of February, at Chickasaw 
bluffs for the purpose of going out in quest of game to supply 
their failing provisions. Here, one of the hunters named Prud- 
homme, lost himself in the dense forest, and it was only after a 
search of more than a week he was found in a starving condition 
and brought to camp. Meanwhile LaSalle caused a fort to be 
erected wliicli he named Prudhomme, to evince his condolence for 
the suffering of the hunter, who with a small party he left in 
charge of it. Again embarking on the tortuous river, they were 
soon apprised by the opening buds of semi-tropical vegetation, that 
they were rapidly entering the realms of spring. 



LASALLE. 95 

On the 13th of March, their attention was arrested by the 
booming of an Indian drimi, and shonts proceeding- from a war 
dance on the western side of the river. Being nnable, in conse- 
qnence of a fog, to seethe anthors of the demonstrations, they 
retired to the opposite shore and threw np breastworks as a 
means of protection. When tlie mist rolled away the astonished 
savages for the first time saw the strangers, who made signals for 
them to come over the river, Several of them, accepting the in- 
vitation, were met midway the stream by a Frenchman, who, in 
tnrn was invited in a friendly manner to visit their village. The 
whole party, thus assured, crossed the river, and LaSalle at their 
head marched to the open area of the town. Here in the midst 
of a vast concourse of admiring villagers, he erected a cross, 
bearing the arms of France, Membre sang a hymn in canonicals 
and LaSalle, having obtained from the chiel^ an acknowledg- 
ment of loyalty, took possession of the country in the name o°f 
the king. This lively and generous people, so different from the 
cold and taciturn Indians of the north, were a tribe of the Ar- 
kansas, and dwelt near the month of the river bearing their name. 
The travelers, on taking leave of them, were furnished with two 
guides, and next passed the sites of Vicksburg and Grand Gulf 
where, 181 years afterward, were fought bloody struggles for the 
dominion of the river they were endeavoring to explore. Near 
200 miles below the Arkansas, their guides pointed out the direc- 
tion of the village of the Taensas. Tonti and Membre were di- 
rected to visit it, and were greatly surprised at the e\'idences of 
civiUzation which it exhibited. Its large square dwellings, built 
of sun-dried mortar and arched over with dome-shaped roofs, 
were situated hi regular order around a square. The residence of 
the chief, made in the same manner, was a single hall 40 feet 
square and lighted by a single door, in which he sat in state, 
awaiting the arrival of the visitors. He was surrounded by a 
court of 60 old men clad in robes of mulberry bark, while near his 
person sat his three wives, who howled whenever he spoke, to do 
him honor. After making him a number of presents, which he 
gxaciously received, the visitors proceeded to examine the temple, 
similar in size to the building occupied by the king. Within 
were the bones of departed chiefs, and an altar kept perpetually 
burning by the two old men devoted to this sacred office. On the 
top of the temple were carved three eagles, looking toward the 
east ; while around it was a wall studded with stakes, on the tops 
of which hung the skulls of enemies who had been sacrificed to the 
Sun. The chief, in response to a friendly call, visited the camp 
of LaSalle. A master of ceremonies was sent to announce his 
coming, after which he made his appearance, robed in white, and 
attended by three persons, two of them bearing white fo-ns and 
the third a disk of burnished copper. The latter was doubtless 
intended to represent the Sun, which was not only an 
object of worship, but the source whence the chief claimed 
his ancestors were derived. His demeanor was grave and 
dignified in the presence of LaSalle, who treated him with 
becoming courtesy and friendship. After receiving a 
number of presents, the principal object of the visit, 
he returned to his village, and the travelers started down the 
river. 



96 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Shortly afterward, tliey fell in with another tribe, and LaSalle 
wishing to approach them in a friendly manner, encamped on the 
opposite shore. He then permitted Tonti, with a few companions, 
to make them a visit, who, finding them favorably disposed, La- 
Salle and Membre also joined the i)arty. They next Adsited one of 
the Indian villages and were made the recipients of a hosi)itality 
limited only by the means of theii' generous entertainers. They 
were the Natchez, and LaSalle, learning that the principal town 
was not far distant, repaired thither to have an interview with the 
head chief of the tribe. As among the Taensas, he saw here a royal 
residence, a temple of the sun, with its perpetually bui^niug fire, and 
other evidences of more than ordinary Indian progress. Before 
leaving, LaSalle erected a cross in the midst of the to^^^l, to which 
was attached the arms of France, an act which the inhabitants re- 
garded with great satisfaction, but had they known its meaning 
their displeasure would have been equally intense. 

Next, they discovered the mouth of Eed River, and after j^ass- 
ing a inimber of other villages, found themselves at the junction 
of the three channels of the river which branch off into the Gulf. 
A different party entered each jiassage, and as they moved south- 
ward the water rapidly changed to brine, and the land breeze became 
salty with the breath of the sea. On the 6th of April " the broad 
bosom of the great Gulf opened on theu' sight, tossing its restless 
billows, limitless, voiceless and lonely as when born of chaos, with- 
out a sign of life."* 

The great mystery of the new world Avas now unveiled. LaSalle 
had at last triumphed over everj^ opposing obstacle, and secured a 
fame which will live as long as the fioods of the great river roll to 
the sea and impart fertility to the valley through which they flow. 

After coasting for a short time the marshy shores of the Gulf 
and its inlets, the i)arty ascended the river till its banks became 
sufficiently dry to afford a landing. Here LaSalle erected a col- 
umn on which he inscribed the words : " Louis le Grand Roy de 
France et de Navarre, Regne ; Le Neuvieme Avril, 1682." 

In honor of his King, he called the country through which he 
had passed, Louisiana, and commenced the ceremony of taking 
formal possession by inilitary display and the imposing pageantry 
of the Cathohc church. Standing by the side of the column, he 
proclaimed in a loud voice : 

"III the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious Prince 
Louis the Great, by the grace of God King of France and Navarre, fourteenth 
of that name, I, this 9th day of April. 1683, in virtue of the commission of his 
Majest}% which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may 
concern, have taken, and now do take, in the name of his majesty and of his 
successors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, har- 
bors, ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the nations, peoples, provinces, cities, 
towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams and rivers, comprised in the 
limits of the said Louisiana." 

A song, with volleys of musketry, closed the ceremonies by 
which the realms of France received the stupendous accession of 
the great region drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries, t 

The voyagers having now accomplished the great object of the 
expedition, started on their homeward journey. The tribes which 
had treated them with so much ci%dlity and generosity m the down- 

♦Discoveries of the Great West. 
tMonette's Val. of the Miss. 



LASAI.LE. 97 

ward voyage, were now from some cause alienated, and indisposed 
to let him have food. On arriving among the Natchez, they found 
them hostile, and while they abundantly suijplied them with corn, 
they at the same time surrounded them with a large force to cut 
them oft". Fearing, however, to make an attack, the travelers de- 
parted, and, without further molestation, reached Fort Prud- 
homme, where LaSalle was seized with a dangerous illness. 
Unable to go himself, he sent Tonti and a few companions to an- 
nounce the news of his discoveries at Mackinaw, whence it was to 
be dispatched to Canada. Although carefully attended by Mem- 
bre, he lay sick in the fort till the latter part of July, when he, in 
a great measure, recovered, and reached IVlackinaw on the' 1st of 
September. Thence Membre was sent to France with dispatches 
making known the grandeiu* of LaSalle's discoveries ; the vast 
region visited ; the immensity of its mountain ranges, and its great 
plains, veined by mighty streams. 

It was LaSalle's intention also to 'sisit France, but hearing that 
the Iroquois were about to renew their attacks ou the western 
tribes, he decided that liis presence was necessary to the safety of 
his projected colony. He accordingly returned to the Illinois river, 
whither Tonti had already preceded him, and at once commenced 
preparations to meet the enemies. As a means of defence it was 
determined to fortify Starved Rock, whose military advantages 
had previously attracted the attention of LaSalle. From the 
waters which wash its base it rises to an altitude of 125 feet. Three 
of the sides itis impossible to scale, while the one next to the land 
may be climbed with difficulty. From its summit, almost as inac- 
cessible as an eagle's nest, the valley of the Illinois spreads out 
in a landscape of exquisite beauty. The river, nearby, struggles 
between a number of wooded islands, while further below, it qui- 
etly meanders through vast meadows, till it disappears like a 
thread of light in the dim distance. Here, on the summit of this 
rocky citadel, in the month of November he began to entrench him- 
self. Storehouses were constructed from the trees that grew on 
the top, and when the supply was exhausted, at immense labor, 
timbers were dragged up the steep ascent to construct a palisaded 
inclosure. With the completion of this stronghold, which was 
called in honor of the French King the Fort of St. Louis, the In- 
dians began to gather around it, regarding LaSalle as the great 
champion who was to protect them against the Iroquois. The 
country which lay under the protection of the fort, recently strewn 
with the ghastly relics of an Iroquois victory, now became ani- 
mated with a wild concourse of savage life. The great town of 
the Illinois, the Jerusalem of these tribes. Phoenix-like, had sprung 
from its ashes, and again echoed with the tramp of some 6,000 in- 
habitants. In addition to the Illinois, there were scattered along 
the vaUey of the river, among the neighboring hiUs and over the 
adjacent plains, the fragments of 10 or 12 other tribes, numbering 
some 14000 soiils. Miamis, from the source of the Kankakee; 
Shawuees, from the Scioto, Abenakis and Mohegans, from the 
Atlantic seaboard, and other tribes whose rough names are too 
iinpleasant for record, had buried their animosities, and now 
lounged here and there in lazy groui)s, while their wives performed 
the drudgery of their camps, and their children gamboled and 
whooped with the reckless abandon of mad-caps. LaSalle's nego- 
7 



98 HISTORY OF ILLITSrOIS. 



tiations with the western Algonquins — aided by tlie universal lior- 
ror inspired by the brutal attacks of the Iroquois — had met with 
unexampled success. In writuig to the French Minister of Ma- 
rine, he wrote that his colony had sprung- up as if by magic, in a 
single night, and contained 4,000 warriors and some 20,000 souls. 
By the privileges which had been conferred on him as a discoverer 
he ruled his wild domain as a seigniory, and granted portions of 
land to his followers. Little prolit, however, was realized in this 
manner, for the greater part of his men were so reckless that 
their traducers were wont to say of them that each married a new 
squaw every day of the week. 

To mamtain his colony, he now found it necessary to furnish its 
members with protection against the common enemy, and mer- 
chandise to barter for the immense quantities of furs annually 
gathered in the interior of the continent. Previously, the avenue 
of trade lay through Canada, but it was LaSalle's intention to 
estabhsh an entrepot at the mouth of the Mississii)pi, whereby his 
colony would have the advantage of direct intercourse with the 
West Indies and Europe. While he was thus maturing plans for 
the benefit of his colony, his cotemporaries, either through envy or 
too short-sighted to comprehend his objects, were striving to defeat 
them. Unfortunately, Gov. Frontenac had been recalled, and De 
La Barre, an avaricious old naval officer, had been sent out to 
take his place. His conduct soon proved that he was wholly unfit 
for the office he was called to fill. Like his predecessor, he was 
guilty of ^iolating the royal ordinances regulating the fur trade, 
but tlie former partially atoned for this wrong by an energetic ad- 
ministration of public affairs, while the latter added inability to 
his faults, whereby the best interests of the country became para- 
lyzed. He was the special champion of the enemies of LaSalle, 
who, engrossed with the affairs of his colonj^, was ignorant of the 
great jealousy with which his affairs were regarded. Not know- 
ing the disposition of La Barre, he wrote to him from Fort St. 
Louis in the spring of 1683^ expressing the hope that he would 
have the same counsel and support from him that he had received 
from his predecessor. After cautioning the Governor that his en- 
emies would endeavor to misrepresent his objects he proceeds to 
give an account of his explorations : 

With only 22 Frenchmen, he states, he had formed amicable 
relations with the various tribes along the Mississippi, and that 
his royal patent enabled him to establish forts in the newly dis- 
covered country, and to make grants around them as at Fort Fron- 
tenac. He adds : 

"Tlie losses in my enterprises have exceeded 40,000 crowns, I am now £ro- 
ing400 leagnes southwest of this place to induce the Chickasaws to follow the 
Shawnees and other tribes, and settle like them at Fort St. Louis. It remained 
only to settle French colonists here, and this I Iiave already done. I hope you 
will not detain them as violators of the laws governing the fur trade when they 
comedown to Montreal to make necessary purchases. I am aware that I have 
no right to trade with the tribes who descend to Montreal, and I shall not per- 
mit such trade to my men ; nor have I ever issued licenses to that eflect, as my 
enemies sa}^ that I have done." 

Notwithstanding this reasonable request, the men he sent on 
important business were retained, and he a second time wrote to 
the governor : 



LASALLE. 99 

"The Iroquois are again invading the country. Last year theMiamis were 
so alarmed by them that they abandoned their town and fled, but on my return 
they came back, and have been induced to settle with the Illinois at my Fort 
of St. Louis. The Iroquois have lately murdered some families of their natiou 
and they are all in terror again. I am afraid they will take flight and so pre- 
vent the Missouris and neighboring tribes from coming to settle at St. Louis, 
as they are about to do. Some of the Hurons and French tell the Mianiis that 
I am keeping them here for the Iroquois to destroy. I pray that you will let 
me hear from .you, that I may give these people some assurances of prot(Cti(m 
before they are destroyed in my sight. Do not sufler my men who have come 
down to the settlements to be longer prevented from returning. There is 
great need here of reinforcements. The Iroquois, as I have said, have lately 
entered the country, and a great terror prevails. I have postponed going to 
Mackinaw, because, if the Iroquois strike any blow in my absence, the 
Miamis will tliiuk that I am in league with them; whereas, if I and the French 
stay among them, tliey will regard us as protectors. But, Monsieur, it is in 
vain that we risk our lives here, and that I exhaust my means in order to ful- 
fill the intentions of his majesty, if all my measures are crossed in the settle- 
ments below, and if those who go down to bring munitions, without which we 
cannot defend ourselves, are detained, under pretexts trumped up for tlie occa- 
sion. If I am prevented from bringing up men and supplies, as I am allowed to 
do by the permit of Count Frontenac, tlien my patent from tlie king is useless. 
It would be very hard for us, after having done what was required, even be- 
fore the time prescribed, and after sufl'erijig severe losses, to have our efforts 
frustrated by obstacles got up designedly. 1 trust that, as it lies with you alone 
to prevent or to permit the return of the men whom I have sent down, you 
will not so act as to thwart my plans, as part of the goods which I have sent 
by them belong not to me, but the Sieur de Tonti, and are a part of his pay. 
Others are to buy munitions indispensable for our defense. Do not let my creditors 
seize them. It is for their advantage that my fort, full as it is of goods, should 
be held against the enemy. I have only 20 men, with scarcely 100 pounds of 
powder, and I cannot long hold the country without more. The Illinois are very 
capricious and uncertain. . . If I had men enough to send out to recon- 
noitre the enemy, I would have done so before this;; but I have not enouiih. I trust 
you will put it in my power to obtain more, that this important colony may be 
saved." * 

While LaSalle was thus corresponding with the governor, the 
latter was writing letters to the French Colonial Minister, saying 
that he doubted the reality of LaSalle's discoveries; that with 
scarce a score of vagabonds he was about to set himself up as 
king, and was hkely to involve Canada and the western tribes in 
a war with the Iroquois. The extent to which the enemies of La- 
Salle suffered then- jealousies to lead them astray maybe gathered 
from the postiu'c of afiairs at the time. The governor of New 
York, with the hope of diverting the fur trade from Montreal to 
Albany, was inciting the Iroquois to make another attack on the 
western tribes. Although this proceeding was fraught with the 
greatest danger to Canada, yet La Barre and his political menials 
were Avilling it might succeed, and the entire country be endan- 
gered, provided it resulted in the ruin of LaSalle. When, there- 
fore, these pests of the forest, under the influence of British 
intrigue, were again making preparations to invade the country of 
the Illinois and Miamis, instead of an earnest effort to check their 
designs, they even encouraged them to kill LaSalle and cut off his 
supplies to aid them in their diabolical work. The continued cal- 
immies uttered against LaSalle at length reached the ear of the 
king, who wrote to his Canadian governor, stating that he was 
convinced that LaSaUe's discoveries were useless, and that such 
enterprises ought to be prevented in the future, as they tended to 
diminish the revenues derived from the fur trade. 

♦This letter Is dated Portage de Chicagou, 4 Juni, 1683.— Discov. of the Great West. 



100 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 

Doubtless, emboldened by the king's letter, the governor now 
determmed to seize Fort Frontenac, under the pretext thatLa- 
Salle had not fulfilled the conditions of his contract by maintain- 
ing a sufficient garrison. Despite the remonstrance of LaSalle's 
creditors, he sent two of his political associates to take command 
of the fort. As soon as this was accomphshed, they commenced 
living on LaSalle's pro\isions, and were afterward charged with 
selling those which had been fiu'nished by the king for their own 
private benefit. The governor also sent an officer of the king's 
dragoons to Fort St. Louis, and made him the bearer of a letter to 
LaSalle, demanding his presence at Quebec. Meanwhile rumors 
were still rife at the Fort that the Iroquois were getting ready for 
an invasion, and the tribes comprising the colony flew to LaSalle 
and besought him to furnish the i^romised succor. Cut ofi" from 
sui)plies, and robbed of the men whom he had sent to seciu'e 
them, he was greatly mortified to find himself whoUy unable to 
make good his pledge. Fortunately the rumors were premature, 
but as his relations with the governor were otherwise intolerable, 
he determined to visit France to obtain relief. With this object 
in view, he left Tonti in command of the fort, and on his way to 
Quebec met with the governor's officer, who made known to him 
the nature of his mission. LaSalle, submitting gracefully to an 
indignity he could not weU avoid, wrote to Tonti to receive the 
officer with due courtesy, whereupon, without further business, 
they parted. In due time the dragoon arrived at the fort, and 
he and Tonti spent the winter harmoniously, the one com- 
manding in the name of the governor, and the other in that of La- 
Salle. The threatened invasion of the Iroquois, though postponed, 
was not abandoned. During the latter part of the spring they 
made an incursion into the country and attacked the fort, but the 
rocky citadel proved too strong for the assault, and after a siege 
of 6 days they were compelled to retire. 

LaSalle, on arriving at Quebec, sailed for France, taking a last 
leave of the great arena in which, for the last 16 years, he had 
been the principal actor; had suffered the most harassing anxie- 
ties, and had won the proudest triumphs. From forest solitudes 
and squalid wigwams, a prosperous voyage introduced him to the 
busy throngs and scidptured magnificence of the French capital. 
Its venal court, bewildered by the pompous display of wealth and 
the trappings of power, regarded with little interest the sober ha- 
biliments of honest worth. But the son of the burgher of Eouen, 
unmoved by regal vanities, and with a natm-al dignity far tran- 
,scending the tinsel of titled rank, announced his discoveries to 
the giddy court. He asked for means to return to the new found 
lands, and to found a colony on the Mississippi, to protect them 
from the intrusion of foreigners. Two points on the Mississippi 
properly selected and fortified, he argued, would guard the whole 
interior of the continent, with its vast areas of fertile lands and 
boundless resom-ces. Count Frontenac gave him the advantage 
of his influence, the minister of marine entered with vigor into 
the scheme, and recommended it to the king, who also became 
fascinated with the glittering project. As an act of justice, and 
to show his appreciation of LaSalle, he ordered LaBarre to restore 
to him the possession of Forts Frontenac and St. Louis, and make 
reparation for the damage he had sustained by their seizui-e. La- 



LASALLE. 101 

Salle asked for two ships, but tlie king, in his zeal, gave him four 
— the Fraucais, the Belle, the Amiable, and the Jolly. Two hun- 
dred and eighty men embarked in the expedition, consisting of 
ecclesiastics, soldiers, sailors, mechanics, several families, and 
even a number of girls, lured by the prospects of marriage 
in the new land of promise. Such were the colonists who were 
to plant the standard of France and civilization in the wilderness 
of Louisiana. As in most of the early attempts at colonization, 
the men were illy qualified to grapple with the stern work it was 
proposed to accomplish. But, worst of all, was the naval com- 
mander, Beaujeu, who was envious, self-willed, deficient in judg- 
ment, and foolishly proud. 

On the first of August, 1684, they sailed from Eochelle on their 
adventurous voyage. Frequent calms retarded their progress, 
and when at length they arrived at Hispaniola, the Francais, 
filled with munitions and other necessaries for the colony, was 
captured by a Sjianish privateer. This disaster, for which Beau- 
jeu was evidently to blame, was the first of the disasters which 
afterward attended the expedition. After obtaining supplies, and 
searching for information in regard to the direction in which he 
must sail to find the outlet of the Mississippi, the voyage was re- 
newed. On entering the Gulf of Mexico, and sailing in a north- 
westerly direction, a sailor at the mast-head of the Amiable, on 
the 28th of December, discovered land. In coasting along the 
shore toward the west, searching for the mouth of the river, they 
incautiously passed it. Proceeding further, LaSalle discovered 
the mistake, but Beaujeu, refusing to return, they at length landed 
at Matagorda Bay. Entering this arm of the gulf, they discov- 
ered a considerable river falling into it, which LaSalle concluded 
might be the Lafourche, the most western outlet of the Mississippi. 
If his conjectures were true, he preferred to ascend it to the main 
stream, instead of returning on the gulf against contrary winds, 
and the still greater imi^ediment of Beaujeu's obstinacy. He had 
differed with LaSalle from the commencement of the voyage, and 
in every instance proved to be in the wrong, and now, to get rid 
of him, he i^referred to debark his followers on the lone shore of 
the bay. 

For this purpose, the Amiable weighed anchor and entered the 
narrow passage leading into the bay, but was unfortunately ca- 
reened over by the sand banks obstructing the channel. LaSalle, 
with a sad heart, beheld the disaster, yet with cool and patient 
energy set himself about the work of removing the cargo. A 
quantity of powder and flour was saved, but presently a storm 
arose, and the stranded vessel, rent assunder by the waves, scat- 
tered the remaining treasures upon the ravenous waters. After 
the landing was effected, the Indians became troublesome, and a 
fort was built, with great labor, two miles above the mouth of 
the La Vacca, a small stream falling into the Bay. LaSalle, as in 
pre\dous instances, named the fortification St. Louis, in honor of 
his king. Here he planted the arms of France, opened a field for 
planting a crop, and thus founded the first French settlement 
made in Texas. The country, thus formally occupied, gave to 
France a claim which she never abandoned till Louisiana became 
a part of the United States, nearly 120 years afterward. 



102 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

The scene around tlie fort was not uninteresting, and to some 
extent relieved the dejection arising from the recent misfortunes. 
The bay, bordered by marshes, stretched away in a southeastern 
dii'ection, while the other i)oints of the compass spread out in an 
expanse of prairie sprinkled with the bright flowers for which 
Texas is remarkable, and which still rank high among the floral 
beauties of southern gardens. At certain seasons of the year, the 
grassy area was dotted over with gxazing buffalo, while the adja- 
cent waters swarmed with fish and water fowl. Necessity soon 
taught the colonists the best methods of securing them, and the 
sports of the angler, the hunter and the fowler not only gave zest 
to theu' wilderness life, but furnished them with an abimdance of 
food. It was customary for the women to mingle in the hunting 
parties and assist in cutting uji the meat, and thus a hunter and 
fair huntress became enamored of each other, and were married. 
Their nuptials were solemnized with the usual expressions of mer- 
riment, for the genuine Frenchman, whatever maybe his situation, 
alwaj's thinks it better to be merry, than to brood over the mis- 
fortunes he is unable to remedy. 

LaSalle, having provided for the security of his people, next 
went 150 leagues along the coast, east and west, to search for the 
hidden river, but without success. He also determined to make a 
tour of observation toward the mines and settlements of Northern 
Mexico. After consuming four numths in this expedition, and 
gathering such information from the Indians as convinced him 
that his previous conjectures respecting the situation of the Miss- 
issippi river were correct, the party retraced their steps, and arrived 
at the fort March Gth, 1680, travel- worn, weary, and their clothes in 
tatters. Soon after, it was ascertained that the Belle, the only 
remaining vessel, had been sunk, and her cargo, consisting of the 
personal efl'ects of LaSalle and a great quantity of ammunition and 
tools, were scattered in the waters of the gulf. The loss was a 
fatal blow to all attempts in the future to move the colony to the 
Mississippi, and left little hope of the unhappy exiles ever again 
beholding the vine-clud homes of their sunny France. 

LaSalle, forced by the necessities of his situation, now deter- 
mined to make his way, eastward, to the Mississippi, and thence 
to Canada or France, to obtain relief. No sooner had he formed 
this resolve, the oflspring of dire extremity, than preparations 
were completed for the journey. April 22d, 20 men issued from 
the fort and made their way across the prairie, followed by the 
anxious eyes of those who were left behind. Day after day they 
held a northeasterly direction, passing through a country of wild 
and pleasing landscapes, made nj) of prairies, woods and groves, 
green as an emerald with the beauty of May. After having made 
a distance of some 400 miles, their ammunition and provisions 
failed them, and tliey were compelled to return to the fort without 
having accomplished the object of their journey. Twenty men 
had gone out, but only 8 returned, some having deserted, and 
others perished in the attempt to reach the fort. The latter num- 
ber would doubtless have been greatly increased, but for the 
assistance of horses purchased from the Cenis Indians, the most 
easterly tribe visited. The temporary elation produced by the 
return of the absent party, soon gave way to dejection, and La- 
Salle had a heavy task to prevent the latter fr-om becoming des- 



LASALLE. 103 

jjair. He was naturally stern and uusympatliizing, yet he could 
soften into compassion at the great extremes of danger and 
distress of those about him. 

The audacity of hope with which he still clung to the accom- 
plishment of his object, determined him to make a second and 
more persevering effort for this purpose. It was decided that the 
adventurers should consist of LaSalle, his brother, and two 
nephews, Cavalier and Moranget ; DuHaut, a person of reputable 
birth; Leotot, a surgeon; Joutel, who afterwards became the 
historian of the expedition, and some 20 others. Among those 
left behind were the women and children, and Zenobe Membre, 
who had so long followed the fortunes of LaSalle. Everything 
being in readiness, the travelers for the last time entered the rude 
chai)el of the fort, mass was solemnly celebrated, and, with the 
cloud of incense which rose from the altar, ascended the prayers 
of the colonists for the success of the journey. Next came the 
parting, of sighs, of tears, and of embraces — all seeming intui- 
tively to know that they should see each other no more. January 
12th, 1G87, the chosen band filed out of the fort, placed their bag- 
gage on horses, and started off" in the direction of the previous 
journey. Pushing forward across i^rairies and woodlands, among 
tribes some friendly and some hostile, they passed the Brazos, and 
encamped on the loth of March near the western waters of the 
Trinity. They were now in the vicinity of some corn which La- 
Salle had concealed in his previous journey, and he sent DuHaut, 
Leotot and some others, to get it. The grain was found sx)oiled, 
but in returning they shot some large game, and sent for horses to 
convey it to camp. Moranget and two others were sent on this 
errand, and found, when they arrived, the meat cut up, and that, 
according to a woodland custom, the hunters had appropriated 
some of the best pieces to themselves. Moranget, whose violent 
temper had previously got him i^ito difficidties, berated them in a 
violent manner for claiming this privilege, and ended by taking all 
the meat himself. This outburst of passion kindled to an aveng- 
ing flame a grudge Avhich had for some time existed between Du- 
Haut and LaSalle, and the former conspired with Leotot to take 
the life of his nephew. Night came on, the evening meal was 
dispatched, and when the intended victim had fallen asleep, the 
assassins approached and shot him. The commission of one crime 
generally requires another, to save the perpetrator from merited 
punishment, and LaSalle was marked out as the next object of 
vengeance. 

Two days passed bj' and the latter, hearing nothing of his 
nephew, began to entertain rueful forebodings in regard to his 
safety. At length, unable longer to endure his suspense, he left 
Joutel in command of the camp and started in search of his rela- 
tive. Accomjjanied oidy by a friar and two Indians, he ap- 
proached the cam}) of the assassins, and w^hen near by fired a 
pistol to summon them to his presence. The conspirators, rightly 
judging who had caused the report, stealthily approached and 
shot their intended victim, Leotot exclaiming as he fell, " You are 
down now, Grand Bashaw, you are doAvn now." * They then des- 
poiled the body of its clothing, and left it to be devoured by the 

Monette's Val. of the Miss. 



104 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

wild beasts of the forest. Thus, at the age of 43, in his vigorous man- 
hood's prime, perished one whose exjiloits have so greatly enriched 
the history of the new world. His successes required for their ac- 
complishment an undaunted will and invincible courage, which few 
could bring to the aid of an enterprise. His failures were partly 
caused by the vastness of his schemes, and in part because his 
imi^erious nature would not permit him to conciliate the good will 
of those he employed and was compelled to trust. While he 
grasped one link in the chain of his extended enterprises, another^ 
through treachery, slipped from his hand. 

"It is easy to reckon up his defects, but it is not easj'- to hide from siglit the 
Roman virtues tliat redeemed them. Beset by a tlirong of enemies, he stands, 
lik(! the King of Israel, liead and shoulders above them all. He was a tower 
of adamant, against whose impregnable front hardship and danger, the rage of 
man and the elements, the southern sun, the northern blast, fatigue, famine 
and disease, delay, disappointment and deferred hope, emptied their quivers 
in vain. Tliat very pride which, Coriolanus-like, declared itself most sternly 
in the tliickest press of foes, has in it something to challenge admiration. Never 
under the impenetrable mail of paladin or crusader beat a lieart of more in- 
trepid mettle than within the stoic panoply that armed the breast of LaSalle. 
To estimate aright the marvels of liis patient fortitude, one must follow on his 
track through the vast scene of his interminable journeyiugs, those thousands 
of weary miles of forest, marsh and river, where, again and again, in the bitter- 
ness of baffled striving, the untiring pilgrim puslied onward toward the goal he 
was never to attain. America owes him an enduring memor}'^ ; for in this mas- 
culine figure, cast in iron, she sees tlie heroic pioneer who guided her to the 
possession of Iier richest heritage." * 

Those who were not in sjTnpathy with the assassins concealed 
their resentment, and on the 2d day after the murder the party 
was again in motion. On the main stream of the Trinity they 
were again compelled to halt for the purpose of buying provisions 
of the Indians. Here the two murderers, who had arrogated to 
themselves the command of the expedition, declared their inten- 
tion of returning to the fort, and there building a ship in which to 
escape to the West Indies. This impossible scheme, together with 
their refusal to let their accomplices in the murder share in the 
spoils obtained by it, soon led to dissensions. The breach rapidly 
widened, and at last the aggrieved parties shot the murderers, an 
act which was but the recoil of the crimes they were the lirst to in- 
troduce. Thus ended the bloody tragedy, enacted with such atroc- 
ity by these pioneers of Christianity and civilization, that even the 
debased savage of the wilderness looked on with the utmost 
amazement and horror. 

Joutel, with the brother and nephew of LaSalle and 4 others, 
whose innocence would permit them to return to civilization, com- 
menced anew their travels, leaving the guilty behind. Proceeding 
in a northeastern direction, they encountei-ed by day a monotony 
of tangled forests, grassy plains, and miry fens ; by night, chilly 
rains alternating with starlit skies, in whose pale and mystic 
radiance they soundly slept and dreamed of absent friends and 
distant homes. At length, after a journey of two months, in 
which they had been led by guides furnished by various tribes, 
they stood on the banks of the Arkansas, opposite an Indian vil- 
lage. Gazing across the streajn, their eyes fell on a hut, nestled 
among the trees of the forest, while a cross near by showed it to 
be the abode of Christians. Actuated by a common impulse, they 

*Discov. of the Great West.— Parkman. 



LASALLE. 105 

fell on their knees, and with emotions of gratitude thanked God 
for having directed them to this outpost of civilization. Two men 
issued from the cabin and fired a salute, which being answered by 
a volley from the travelers, a canoe put out from the shore and 
ferried them over the stream. 

The long lost wanderers were cordially greeted in their mother 
tongue by the occupants of the dwelling, who proved to be 6 of 
Tonti's men, whom he had left here in his ascent of the Missis- 
sippi.* This noble officer, who had been restored to the command 
of the fort on the Illinois by order of the Kjng, had heard of La- 
Salle's disaster, and immediately equipi)ed an expedition with his 
own means to relieve him. With 25 Frenchmen and 5 Indians, he 
left the fort on the 13th of February, 1686, and soon descended 
the Illinois and Mississippi to the Gulf. Not finding any traces 
of him at the mouth of the river, he sent his canoes to scour the 
shores for a distance of 30 leagues on either side. Not seeing or 
hearing anything of LaSalle, who at the same time was wandering 
among the wilds of Texas, in a search eqiuilly fruitless, he retraced 
his course to the fort on the Illinois, leaving, as already mentioned, 
some of his men near the mouth of the Arkansas. The travelers, 
from motives of policy, carefully concealed the death of LaSalle 
from their hosts, and when sufficiently recruited recommenced 
their journey. Proceeding down the Arkan sas, they soon foui id them- 
selves on the great river which had so long been the object of 
their search. The 13th of September found them at the conflu- 
ence of the Illinois, and 11 days more brought them to the fort- 
crowned rock, which, like a sentinel, stood watch over its peaceful 
waters. They landed and were soon met by parties from the fort, 
who, after the usual salutations, inquired for LaSalle. Substitut- 
ing adroitness for a frank avowal of the truth, they replied that 
they had left him in Texas, and at the time of their departure he 
was in good health. 

It is said the object of the evasion was to enable the old i)riest, 
Cavalier, as the rei3resentative of LaSalle, to derive some advan- 
tage for himself and companions in the settlement of his brother's 
estate. Tonti was absent, fighting the Iroquois, but his lieutenant 
received them with a salvo of musketry, and provided for them 
comfortable quarters in the fort. Tonti, not long after, returned 
from his martial expedition, and listened with profound interest 
and sympathy to the story of the disasters and sufferings of the 
travelers, as related by the elder Cavalier. He did not scruple to 
tell Tonti the same story by which he had deceived others in re- 
gard to the death of his brother. Moreover, after li^ing for 
months on the hospitality of his generous host, he added fraud 
and meanness to deception. This flagrant outrage he perpetrated 
by forging an order on Tonti, in the name of LaSalle, for 4,000 
hvres, in fiu'S and other goods, which his unsuspecting victim 
generously delivered to him at the time of his departure. 

On leaving the fort, the travelers proceeded to Mackiuaw, where 
they exchanged their ill-gotten furs for clothing and means to de- 
fray their expenses home. Without further delay, they made 
their way to Quebec, and thence to France, whither they arrived 
in October, 1688, having spent more than four years in their dis- 

*This was the commencement of Arkansas Post, captured by Gen. McClernand dur- 
ing the Rebellion, 



100 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tant wanderings. They were men of only average ability and 
energy, yet, moved by the most pressing necessity, they performed 
one of the most remarkable voyages on record. They now, for the 
first time, divnlged the secret of LaSalle's death, and the king- 
issued orders for the arrest of all who were privy to his murder. 
It does not appear certain that any of them were ever subjected 
to a criminal prosecntion; but rumor has it that part of them per- 
ished by their own hands, and part by the Indians, whom their 
misdeeds roused to vengeance. 

In the meantime the news of LaSalle's death also reached Tonti's 
men on the Arkansas, and was thence carried to him in the fort 
on the Illinois. It is more easy to imagine than describe the feel- 
ings of this most devoted of all LaSalle's followers wheti he learned 
the tragical manner of his death. But without useless waste of 
time in grief for him whom he had so long and so faithfully served 
and who was now beyond reach of help, he determined to make an 
effort to rescue his perishing colonists. For this purpose he left 
the fort in December, 1088, with 5 Frenchmen and 3 Indians, and, 
after a toilsome journey, arrived at the mouth of Eed Iliver, where 
he learned that some of the accomplices of LaSalle's nuirderers 
were in a village some 80 leagues distant. On making known his 
intention to visit the town all his men refused to accompany him, 
exceiJt two, a Frenchman and an Indian, i^ot being able to enforce 
obedience, he resolutely set out with them, but unfortunately a few 
days afterwards, lost the greater part of his ammunition. Still 
undeterred, he pushed on to the town, but no trace of the criminals 
could be found. When, however, he questioned the villagers 
respecting them, he concluded from their suspicious demeanor, 
that they had previously been there, and that the Indians, incensed 
at their misdeeds, had probably put them to death. Having accom- 
plished nothing thus far, and now almost A^athout ammunition, with 
bitter disappointment he was compelled to return. In retracing 
their steps they met with more than the usual amount of hardships 
attending a march through an unexplored wilderness. On arriv- 
ing at the Indian village on the Arkansas, Tonti, as the result of 
exhaustion and exposure, became sick of a fever, but recovered in 
time to reach the fort on the Illinois by the first of September. 

This unsuccessful effort was the last attempt made to rescue the 
^mfortunate colony from the savage immensity that shut them out 
from home and civilization. Their final destruction by the Indians 
was learned from the Spaniards of Mexico. Spain claimed the 
country bordermg on the Gulf of Mexico, and from the capture of 
LaSalle's vessel in the West Indian Seas, his designs became 
known. After several attemi^ts to find the location of his colony 
and destroy it, a Mexican expedition, guided by one of the French 
deserters, pushed across the wilderness to the fort. Seeing no 
evidences of life without, the Spaniards spurred their horses 
through the open gateway of the fort, and found only the ruins of 
what had once constituted the stores and furniture of the garrison. 
From French deserters domesticated among the Indians, it was 
learned that about 3 months before, a baud of savages ambushed 
themselves under the banks of the river, while others drew the 
garrison out of the fort for the pm^pose of traftic. At a given sig- 
nal, the concealed foe rushed from his covert, and immolated indis- 
criminately the men, women and children. Thus ends one of the 



LASALLE. 107 

most extensive explorations known to history. As a great geo- 
graphical discovery, it is only second to that which made known 
to Enrope the existence of the Western Hemisphere. The great 
valley thns thrown o^jen has since been filled with a constellation 
of prosperous, happy states. The city which death deprived him 
of founding, and which his sagacity foresaw would become one of 
the great marts of the earth, is now the emporium of the South. 
America owes him a debt of gratitude which she will ever be una- 
ble to pay, and in like manner, as a type of incarnate energy, his 
deeds she will never forget. 

Hennepin.— It will be remembered that LaSalle having concluded that Hennepin 
could do more good by exploring the Illinois and Upper Mississippi than in prt^a'-h- 
ing sermons, he with two companions were sent on that mission Having descended 
the Illinois and commenced the ascent of the Mississippi, th^y were surprised, and 
taken by a band of Sioux, who conducted them up the river to the falls of 8t. An- 
thony, and thence to their villages in the vicinity of Mille Lac, Wisconsin. Here 
Hennepin spent the spring and summer in hunting, acting as a physician, and 
studying the Sioux language. Autumn at length came, and with the consent of the 
chief they were permitted to depart. Proceeding by way of the Rum, Mississippi, 
Wisconsin, and Fox rivers to Green Bay, they spent the winter with the Jesuit 
missionaries. With the opening of spring they moved down the lakes and St. Law- 
rence, to Quebec, where Hennepin was received by the Governor, who listened with 
profound interest to the recital of his travels. From America he went to France, 
where an account of his travels was published in different languages and read with 
great interest. Not meeting with the encouragement in France he expected, he 
went to England and was taken into the service of King William. This monarch 
wishing to set up a claim to Louisiana, induced him to modify the narrative of 
his discovery so as to favor his claim. Yielding to his request he wrote a new 
account, in which he falsely stated that before his voyage up the riv^.r he first 
descended it to the sea. Thus while he endeavored to rob LaSalle of his princi- 
pal laurels, he tarnished his own fame and was afterwards stigmatized Dy his 
countrymen as the prince of liars. 



Chapter X. 

1700-1719— ILLIITOIS A DEPENDENCY OF CANADA AND 
PART OF LOUISIANA— THE GOVERNMENT A THEOC- 
RACY—OPERATIONS OF CROZAT. 



A Dependency of Canada. — Twelve years elapsed after LaSalle's 
fruitless attempt to found a colony on the Mississippi, before the 
goveruiueut of France made a second effort. At length, fearing 
that England might obtain precedence in the great valley, the 
king set on foot an enterj^rise for this purpose. M. D'Iberville, 
who had exhibited such mature judgment and prompt action in 
the wars of the French- American possessions, was chosen to com- 
mand it. Having encountered the icebergs and snows of Hud- 
son's Jiay and tlie burning sands of Florida, he was now ready, 
at the command of his king, to encounter the malarious marshes 
of the Mississippi. The two preceding years he had established 
colonies on Ship Island and the head of Lake Borgne, and about the 
middle of February, 1700, sailed up the Mississii^pi, to found a 
third one on its banks. A site was selected for a fort and set- 
tlement, about 38 miles below New Orleans, and while he was 
engaged in its erection, Tonti descended from the fort on the Illi- 
nois, with a party of Canadians, to assist him. Tonti's intinuite 
acquaintance with the Indian languages and the tribes living on 
the river, made him a valuable acquisition to the new colony. 
Availing himself of his assistance, D'Iberville resolved to further 
ascend the river, explore the country on its banks, and form alli- 
ances with its inhabitants. In company with Tonti, his brother 
Bienville, and other parties, he passed up the river to the Natchez 
tribe, which he found more po\\ erful and civilized than others he 
hiid visited. The great beauty of the surrounding country in- 
duced him to select it as the seat of the future provincial govern- 
ment, and the bluff' on which the city of Natchez is now built, he 
chose as the site of its capital. He named the prospective city 
Rosalie, in honor of the wife of his patron, the French minister 
of marine, and 15 years afterward a fort was erected on the site 
by his successor. D'Iberville now returned to his ships below 
and embarked for France, while Bienville explored the country 
about the mouth of Red river, and some of the party from Illinois 
were sent to ramble for 6 mouths in the remote west, in the vain 
searcli for gold. 

With this expedition down the Mississippi, Tonti, the most 
trusted officer of LaSalle, disappears from the roll of authentic 
history. The following are some of the acts which distinguished 
his adventurous life during this period : His mediation in the at- 

108 



A DEPENDENCY OF CANADA. 109 

tack of the Iroquois against the Illinois in IGSO, whereby he 
greatly mitigated, but did not AvhoUy prevent, the butchery of the 
latter ; his government of the IlUnois and the associated tribes at 
Fort St. Louis, during the absence of LaSalle ; his effort to relieve 
LaSalle and his suffering colonists in Texas; the founding of Ark- 
ansas Post, made famous 177 years afterward by the reduction of 
the rebel fort located there, by McClernand and his brave Illinois 
and other western troops ; and finally, the assistance he rendered 
DeNonville, the governor of Canada, with 170 Frenchmen and 300 
Indians from the west, in his attack on the Senecas. Says De- 
Nonville : " God alone could have saved Canada in 1688. But 
for the assistance obtained from the posts of the west, Illinois 
must have been abandoned, the fort at Mackinaw lost, and a gen- 
eral uprising of the nations would have comi)leted the destruction 
of New France."* Rumor states that, after the performance of 
these acts, he resided several years in Illinois, and then returned 
to France. 

As the St. Lawrence had been made an avenue for the approach 
of settlers to Illinois, so, after the exploration of the Mississippi, 
it also became a highway for the in -flowing of popidation. Through 
these channels, communicating with the external world, came the 
pioneers who, between the years 1680-90, founded the villages 
and settlements of Fort St. Louis, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and others 
of more recent date. These settlements, in common with most of 
those established in the interior of the continent, were, to a great 
extent, the work of the Jesuit and Eecollet missionaries. These 
hardy and enterprising embassadors of the cross, with a zeal 
which defied the opposition of the elements, heat, hunger and 
cold, fatigue, famine and pestilence, entered the prairies of Illi- 
nois 1000 miles in advance of its secular population. We justly 
admire the fortitude of Smith, the founder of Virginia, the coiu-age 
of May-flower j)ilg'i'iiiis, the fathers of New England; but all 
these had royal patrons ; then what shall we say of the devoted 
missionaries, who laid the foundations of States in the remote 
wilderness, when their monastic vows denied them even the feeble 
aid of ecclesiastical support *? Neither commercial gain nor secu- 
lar fame, but religious fervor, could have nerved them to meet 
the toils and dangers incident to their wilderness life. 

The first mission in Illinois, as we have already seen, was com- 
menced by Marquette in April, 1675. It is said as he entered the 
rude dwellings of the inhabitants and preached of Christ and the 
Virgin, heaven and heU, demons and angels, and the life to come, 
he was received as a celestial visitor. The Indians besought him 
to remain among them and continue his instructions, but his life 
was fast ebbing aAvay, and it behooved him to depart. He called 
the religious society which he had established the "Mission of 
the Immaculate Conception," and the town " Kaskaskia," after 
one of the Illinois tribes bearing the same name. 

The first military occupation of the country was at Fort Creve- 
coeur, erected m February, 1680 ; but there is no evidence that a 
settlement was commenced there or at Peoria, on the lake above, 
at that early date.t The first settlement of Avhich there is any 
authentic account, was commenced with the building of Fort St. 

♦Bancroft. 

+Anna)6 of the West. 



110 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Louis, on the Illinois river, in 1682. It remained in existence at 
least till 1700, Avlien Tonti seems to have abandoned it and gone 
south, but how long- after that date is not definitely known. The 
oldest permanent settlement, not only in Illinois but the valley 
of the Mississippi, is Kaskaskia, situated G miles above the mouth 
of the river of the same name.* There is no evidence to sub- 
stantiate the statement that LaSalle left colonists here and at 
Cahokia on his return from the successful exploration of the Miss- 
issippi in 1082. 

The mission here was originally established at the great town 
of the Illinois, but with the removal of the tribes farther south- 
ward, it was transferred to Kaskaskia. Father Gravier, who had 
previously been stationed at Mackinaw, effected the removal some 
time prior to 1090, the exact date being unknown. He was the 
first of the missionaries to ascertain the principles of the Illinois 
language and reduce them to rules. When recalled from Kas- 
kaskia to Mackinaw, he was succeeded by Fathers Binneteau and 
Piuet, the latter of whom established the mission and village of 
Cahokia. So successful was Pinet in attracting the attention of 
the aboriguies, his chapel was insufficient to hold the large num- 
ber that attendedhis ministrations. The Indians under his charge 
were the Tanmroas and Cahokias, the latter tribe furnishing the 
village its name. Binneteau, to attend to his ministerial labors, 
followed the Kaskaskias in one of their hunts on the upland 
plains of the Mississippi, and died, ^oyv stifled in the tall grass, 
now panting with thirst on the arid prairie, parched by day with 
heat, and by night exposed on the ground to chilling dews he was 
seized with a mortal fever, and " left his bones on the wilderness 
range of the buff'alo."t Shortly after his death, Pinet also died, 
and Father Marest, who had before explained the mysteries of 
the €ross to the ice-bound denizens of Hudson's Bay, came to 
Kaskaskia and took charge of the missions of Illinois. In his 
correspondence, he says: "Our life is si)ent in roaming through 
thick woods, in clambering over hills, in paddling canoes across 
lakes and rivers, to catch a poor savage whom we can neither 
tame by teachings nor caresses." On Good Friday, 1711, he 
started for the Peorias, who desired a new mission, and thus 
speaks of his journey: 

" I departed, liaviiig iiotliing about me but my crucifix and breviaiy, being 
accompanied I)}' only two savages, wlio might abandon me from levity, or 
miglit fly throngli fear of enemies. The terror of these vast uuinliabitable 
regions, in which for 12 days not a single soul was seen, almost took 
away my counige. This was a journey wlierein there was no village, no 
bridge, no ferry boat, no liouse, no beaten palh; and over boundless prairies, 
intersected by rivulets and rivers, througli forests and thickets filled with 
briars and thorns, through marsiies, in which we sometimes plunged to the 
girdle. At night repose was sought on tiie grass or leaves, exposed to tiie 
winds and rains, happy if by the side of some rivulet whose waters might 
quench our thirst. Meals were prepared from such game as might be killed 
on the way, or by roasting ears of corn." 

Early in the 18th century he was joined by Mermet, who had 
previously founded a mission on the Ohio. 

"The geutle virtues and fervid eloquence of Mermet made him the soul of 
the Mission of Kaskaskia. Atearlj^dawn his jiupils came to cliurch, dressed 
neatly and modestly each in a deer-skin or a robe sewn together from .several 
skins. After receiving lessons they chanted canticles; mass was then said iu 

•Bancroft. 
tBancroft. 



A DEPENDENCY OF CANADA. Ill 

presence of all the Christians, the French and the converts — the women on 
one side and the men on the otlier. From prayers and instructions tlie mis- 
sionaries proceeded to visit the sick and administer medicine, and their skill as 
pliysieiiins did more than all the rest to win confidence. In the afternoon the 
catVcliism was tauu;htin the presence of the young and the old, when everyone 
Avilhout distinction of rank or age, answered the questions of the missionary. At 
evening all would assemble at the chapel for instruction, for prayer, and to 
chant tiie hymns of the church. On Sundays and festivals, even after vespers, 
a homily Avas pronounced ; at the close of the day parties would meet in houses 
to recite tlie chaplets in alternate choirs, and sing psalms till late at night. 
Till se psalms were often homilies, with words set to familiar tunes. Saturday 
and Sunday M'erethe days appointed for confession and communion, and every 
convert confessed once in a fortnight. The success of this mission was such 
tliat marriages of the French immigrants were sometimes solemnized with the 
daugliters of the Illinois, according to the rites of the Catholic church. The 
occupation of the eovmtry was a cantonment among the native proprietors of 
the forests and prairies.* 

Fatlier Charlevoix, who visited Illinois in 1721, thus speaks of 
the Cahokia and Kaskaskia Missions : 

"We lay last night in the village of the Cahokias and Tamaroas, two Illinois 
tribes which have been united, and compose no very numerous canton. This 
village is situated on a very small river which runs from the east, and has no 
water except in the Spring. On this account we had to walk half a league be- 
fore we could get to our cabins. I was astonished that such a poor situation 
had been selected, when there are so many good ones. But 1 was told that the 
Mississippi washed the foot of the village when it was built; that in 3 years it 
had shifted its course lialf a league farther to the west, and tiiat they were now 
thinking of changing their habitation, which is no great affair among these In- 
dians. I passed tlie night with the missionaries, who are two ecclesiastics from 
the Seminary of Quebec, formerly my disciples, but they must now be my mas- 
ters. One of them was absent, butl found the other such as he had been rep- 
resented tome, rigid with himself, full of charity to others, and displaying in 
his own person an amiable pattern of virtues. Yesterday I arrived at Kaskas- 
kia about 9 o'clock. Tlie Jesuits here have a very flourishing mission, which 
has lately been divided into two, it being more convenient to have two cantons 
of Indians instead of one. The most numerous one is on the banks of the Mis- 
sissippi, of which two Jesuits have the spiritual direction. Haifa league be- 
low stands Fort Chartres, about the distance of a musket shot from the river. 
M. de Boisbriant commands here for the company to which the place belongs. 
The French are now beginning to settle the country between the fort and the 
first mission. Four leagues farther, and about a league from the river, is a 
large village, inliabited by the French, who are almost all Canadians, and have 
a Jesuit for their curate. The second village of the Illinois lies fartlier up the 
country, at the distance of two leagues from the last, and is under the charge 
of a fourtii Jesuit. 

"The Indians at this place live much at their ease. A Fleming, who was a 
domestic of the Jesuits, has taught them how to sow wheat, Avhich succeeds 
well. They have swine and black cattle. The Illinois manure their ground 
after their "fashion, and are very laborious. They likewise bring up poultry 
which they sell to the French. Their women are very neat handed and indus- 
trious. They spin the wool of the buflalo into threads as fine as can be made 
from that of the English sheep. Nay, sometimes it might be taken for silk. Of 
this they manuficture fabrics wliicli are dyed black, yellow and red, after 
which they are made into robes, which they sew together with the sinews of 
the roebuck. They expose these to the sun for the space of three days, and 
when dry, beat them, and without difficulty draw out white threads of great 
fineness." 

Besides the villages mentioned above, others sprang up in sub- 
sequent times, as Prairie du Eocher, situated at the base of a 
rocky bluff of the Mississippi, 4 miles below Fort Chartres, and 
Prairie du Pout, a uiile south of Cahokia. Other missions were 
also established, and Komish clergy continued to visit the country, 
and in the absence of civil government, acted not only as spiritual 

•Bancroft. 



112 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

guides, but as temporal rulers of the people. In those days of 
Jesuit enthusiasm, both the priests and their flocks, in addition to 
their strong rehgious feelings, possessed in many iQstances an integ- 
rity which the most trying temptations were powerless to corrupt. 
It is true much of this enthusiasm was fanaticism, which interpre- 
ted the results of natural law as special interpositions of provi- 
dence; which regarded self-imposed physical pain an act of virtue, 
and construed their trivial dreams as prophetic of future good or 
evil. These superstitions were common to the age. and rather 
added than detracted from their moral teachings. Under their 
formative influence, the first French settlements of Illinois were 
deeply imbued with a spirit of justice, honesty, charity, and other 
virtues, which enabled them to exist nearly a century without a 
court of law, without wars with their Indian neighbors, and up to 
the time of Boisbriant, without a local government. The confi- 
dence inspired by the priests, as the ministers of a supposed infal- 
lible church, gave them ample authority to settle, without the 
tardy proceedings of courts and their attendant costs, all difler- 
ences which occasionally disturbed the peace of the colonists. 
Justice, under these circumstances, was dispensed as in Israel of 
old, by the power of the mind to discriminate between right and 
wrong, rather than by laws whose intricacies and technicalities 
frequently sufi'er the guilty to go unpunished. Such was the res- 
pect for right, and the parental regard which animated the priestly 
judges of this isolated theocracy of the wilderness, it might safely 
challenge comparison with its Hebrew prototype for the religious 
zeal and virtuous conduct manifested by its subjects. 

A Fart of Louisiana. — Hitherto the settlements of Illinois and 
those subsequently founded on the Lower Mississippi by D'lber- 
ville and his brother, Bienville, had been separate dependencies of 
Canada. Now they were to be united as one province, under the 
name of Louisiana, ha%ang its capital at Mobile, and in 1711 
Dirou D'Artaguette became the Governor General.* It was be- 
lieved that Louisiana presented a rich field for speculation and 
enterprise, and it was determined to place its resources in the 
hands of an individual who had the means and energy to develop 
them. It was thought, too, that the colonists should l3ecome self- 
supportiug, by procuring from the soil jiroducts not only for their 
own consumi)tion, but to exchange with France for such articles 
as they could not produce. In conformity with these views, in 
1712, the commerce of the province was granted to Anthony Cro- 
zat, an ofScer of the royal household, and a merchant of great 
wealth. The king, in his letters patent, after referrmg to the 
orders he had given to LaSaUe to explore the Mississippi, as a 
means of developing the commerce of his American possessions, 
enumerates the monopolies conferred on Crozat : 

" From tlie iiiforniation we liave received coiicerniug the situation and dis- 
position of Louisiana, we are of opinion tliat there may be established therein a 
considerable commerce, of great advantage to France. We can thus obtain 
from tlie colonists the comnntdities which hitherto we have brouglit from f)tlier 
countries, and give in exchange for them tlie manufactured and other products 
of our own kingdom We have resolved, therefore, to grant the commerce of 
Louisiana to the Sieur Anthony Crozat, our counselor and secretarj' of tlie 
household and revenue, to whom we entrust the execution of this project. We 

•Monette's Val. of the Miss, and Dillon's Indiana. 



A PAUT OF LOUISIANA. 113 



permit him to search, open, and dig all mines, veins, minerals, precious stones, 
and pearls, throughout the whole extent of the country, and to transport the 
proceeds thereof into any port of France, during 15 years. And we grant, in 
p(^rpetuity to him, his heirs, and all claiming under him, all the profits, except 
one-fifth, of the gold and silver which he or they shall cause to be exported to 
France. We also will that the said Crozat, and those claiming under him, 
shall forfeit the monopolies herein granted should tliey fail to prosecute them 
for a period of three years, and that in such case they shall be fully restored to 
our dominion." * 

The vast region tlius farmed out, extended from Canada on tlie 
north, to the Gulf on the south; and from the Alleghanies on the 
east to the Eocky Mountains and the Bay of Matagorda on the 
west. " Not a fountain bubbled " along the summit of these great 
mountain barriers that made its way into the Mississipj)i, that was 
not included in French territory. Crozat entered the vast held of 
his labors with energy, and soon associated with him La Motte 
Cadilac, the royal governor of Louisiana. He expected to realize 
great profits from the fur trade, but the prospect of boundless 
wealth from the discovery of rich mines of gold and silver was the 
talisman that most enraptured his ■sision and induced liim to make 
the most lavish expenditures of his money. To carry out his i^lans, 
expeditions were made to the most distant tribes, and posts were 
established on Eed Eiver, the Yazoo, high up the Washita at the 
present town of Monroe, on the Cumberland river near ISTashville, 
and on the Coosa, 400 miles above the mouth of the Alabama, 
where fort Jackson was built 100 years afterward. The search for 
the precious metals has always been a mania atfecting the 
liioneers of newly discovered countries, and whether discoveries 
are made or not, it generally retards their j)ermanent growth and 
prosperity. To such an extent were Crozat and his partners in- 
fluenced l3y this shining bauble that they frequently magnified the 
most trivial prospects into what they regarded as realities of the 
greatest value. An instance in which they suffered by their cre- 
dulity, and which greatly resembles the impositions and decep- 
tions of the present day, occui-red at Kaskaskia. Two pieces of 
silver ore, left at this place by a traveler from Mexico, were exhib- 
ited to Cadilac as the produce of mines in Illinois, and so elated 
was he by this assurance of success that he hurried up the river, 
only to find it, like all previous prospects, vanish into empty air. 
But while silver and gold could not be found, large quantities of 
lead and iron ore were discovered in Missouri ; but the great abun- 
dance of these metals in the civilized portions of the globe made 
their presence in the wilds of Louisiana of Uttle consequence. 

Crozat made an attempt to open trade with the Spaniards of 
Vera Cruz, but on sending a vessel with a rich cargo thither, it 
was not permitted either to land there or at any other harbor of 
the gulf. The occupation of Louisiana by the French was re- 
garded as an encroachment upon Spanish territory, and Crozat, 
after three years of fruitless negotiations with the viceroy of Mex- 
ico, was compelled to abandon the scheme of commercial relatioiis 
with the ports of the gulf. Another project was to establish 
trade by land with the interior Spanish provinces, but in this case 
he also failed, for, after a protracted effort of five years, his goods 
were seized and confiscated and his agents imprisoned. Kor had 

•See Dillon's Indiana. 

8 



114 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the fur trade with the Indians, another source of anticipated 
wealth, met with success. English emissaries from the Carolinas 
had been active in their efforts to excite Indian hostilities agamst 
the French, and wherever practicable, had controlled the fur trade, 
by furnishing- goods in exchange at reduced prices. Agriculture, 
the only resource of lasting prosperity to the country, had been 
neglected, and Crozat, failing to realize any profits from his efforts 
hi other directions, was unable to meet his liabilities. He had 
expended 425,000 livres and realized only 300,000, and failing to 
pay his men, dissatisfaction ensued. Despairing also of being 
more successful m the future, in 1717, he petitioned the king to 
have his charter revoked, which was done, and the government 
reverted solely to the officers of the crown. During his connection 
with the province, the growth of the settlements was slow, and 
little was acomplished for their permanent benefit. The greatest 
prosperity they enjoyed grew out of the enterprise of humble indi- 
viduals, Avho had succeeded in establishing a small trade between 
themselves,the natives and some neighboring European settlements. 
But even these small sources of prosperity were at length cut off" by 
the fatal monopolies of the Parisian merchant. The white popu- 
lation of the country had slowly increased, and at the time of his 
departure, that on the Lower Mississippi was estimated at 380, and 
that of Illinois, which then included the settlements of the Wabash, 
320 souls. 

Crozat's partner had died the year previous, and was succeeded 
in his official capacity by Bienville, the former governor. Prior to 
his installation some French hunters and stragglers had located 
in the beautiful country of the Natchez, and difficulties arising be- 
tween them and the Indians, two of the former had been murdered. 
Bienville repaired to the tribe in question, and after punishing the 
guilty parties, erected and garrisoned a fort, to prevent the recur- 
rence of similar distiu'bauces in the future. It was built on the 
site selected 16 years before by his brother, and was called Rosa- 
lie, the name of the capital he projiosed to build at the same place. 
This was the origin of the present city of Natchez, the oldest per- 
manent settlement in the Mississippi Valley, south of Illinois.* 
With the retirement of Crozat, Bienville was succeeded by L'Epi- 
uai, who brought with him 50 emigrants and 3 companies of infan- 
try, to reinforce the garrisons of the different posts. 

*It seems that Arkansas Post has never been abandoned since Tontl's men erected 
their cabin thei-e, after his fruitless search for LaSalle's colony, in the spring of 1686. 



Chapter XI. 

1717-1732— ILLINOIS ANTf LOUISIANA UKDEE THE 
COMPACT OF THE WEST. 



Louis XIV kad recently died, leaving a debt contracted by 
wars and extravagance amounting to 3,000,000,000 livres. He 
was succeeded by his grandson, Louis XY, who, being then only 
a child five years old, the Duke of Orleans was appointed regent. 
In the midst of the fiuancial confusion growing out of the eftbrts 
of the regent to pay the interest on the overwhelming pubhc 
debt, John Law presented himself at the French court with a 
scheme for affording relief. He was the son of an Edinbm^gh 
banker, and shortly after the death of his father, wasted his pat- 
rimony by gambling and extravagant living. For 3 years he 
wandered over Europe, supj)orting himself by gambling and 
studying the prmciples of finance. After perfecting his theory 
he returned to Edinburgh, and published the project of a land 
bank, which the wits of the day ridiculed by calling it a sand 
bank, which would wreck the ship of state. Several years after- 
ward he presented his plan to the Duke of Savoy, who told him 
he was too poor a potentate and his dominion was too small, for so 
grand a project. He thought, however, that the French jDcople 
would be delighted with a plan so new and i)lausible, and advised 
him to go to France. 

According to his theory of banking, the currency of a country 
is the representative of its moving wealth, and need not, of itself, 
have an intrinsic value, as in the case of gold and silver, but may 
consist of pai^er or any substance that can be conveniently 
handled. He insisted that the financial embarrassment under 
which France labored, was not the fault of her rulers, but an in- 
siTfBciency of currency, and gave England and HoUand as exam- 
ples. The regent, captivated by his views, published an edict in 
1716, authorizing Law and his brother to establish a bank with a 
capital of 6,000,000 livres, the notes of which should be received 
for taxes, and made redeemable in the coin current at the time 
they were issued. Three-fourths of the capital consisted of gov- 
ernment securities, and the remainder in specie, Law declaring 
that a banker deserved death who made issues without means of 
redemption. The government had already, by arbitrarily redu- 
cing the value of its coin, diminished the debt 1,000,000,000 livres; 
but Law's paper being based on the value of coin at the time 
he made his issues, was without fluctuations, and on this account 
soon commanded a premium of 15 jier cent. The regent was as- 
tonished that paper money could thus aid specie and be at a pre- 
mium, while state bonds were at 78 per cent, discount. 

116 



116 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The banker's influence being now irresistible, lie proposed liis 
famous Mississippi sclieme, which made him a prominent actor in 
the history of Louisiana and Illinois. The vast resources of Lou- 
isiana still filled the imaginations of French statesmen with 
visions of boundless wealth. The want of success which had 
hitherto attended the efforts of D'Iberville and Crozat, was still 
insufficient to produce in the public mind more sober views. The 
story of its vast mineral deposits was soon revived ; ingots of 
gold, the products of its supposed mines, were exhibited in Paris, 
and the sanguine French court saw in the future of the pro%ince 
an empire, with its fruitful fields, growing cities, busy wharves, 
and exhaustless mines of gold and silver, pouring its precious 
freights into the avenues of French commerce. No sooner, there- 
fore, had Orozat surrendered his charter, than others appeared, 
eager to enter this vast field of adventurous enterprise. Accord- 
ingly, in 1717, an organization was effected under the auspices of 
Law, known at first as the Western Company. Among the privi- 
leges conferred on it may be mentioned the right exclusively to 
control the commerce of the province for a period of 25 years ; to 
make treaties with the Indians, and wage war against them in 
case of insult; to open and work all mines free of duty; to cast 
cannon ; build ships of Avar, levy troops and nominate the gov- 
ernors and those who were to command them, after being duly com- 
missioned by the king. To farther encourage the company, he 
promised to give them the protection of his name against foreign 
powers, presented them the vessels, forts, munitions and merchan- 
dise siirrendered by Crozat, and, during the continuance of the 
charter, exempted the inhabitants of the province from tax, and 
the company from duty.* 

The stocks of the company consisted of 200,000 shares of 500 
livres each, to be paid in certificates of state indebtedness. Thus 
nearly 100,000,000 of the most depreciated of the public stocks 
were immediately absorbed, and the government became indebted 
to a comi)any of its own creation, instead of individuals, for this 
amoiTnt. By means of Law's bank, the interest on this portion 
of the public debt was promptly paid, and, as the result, it imme- 
diately rose from a great depreciation to a high premium. Any 
person, therefore, who had invested 100 livres in state bonds, 
which he could have done at one-third of the value written on 
their face, could now realize their enhanced worth. Large for- 
tunes were thus speedily acquired, though the union of the bank 
with the risks of a commercial company were ominous of its future 
destiny. 

But humanity abounds in hope, and men, acting in large com- 
binations, gather courage from the increase of theii' numbers. 
How far their anticipations were realized in the case under con- 
sideration, will appear in the sequel. All France was now infatu- 
ated with the glory of Louisiana, and imagined the opulence 
which it was to acquu*e in coming ages, akeady in their grasp. 
Law's bank wrought such wonders, that new privileges were 
conferred on it daily. It was permitted to monopolize the tobacco 
trade, was allowed the sole right to import negroes into the French 
colonies, and the exclusive right of refining gold and silver. Fi- 
nally, in 1717, it was erected into the Eoyal Bank of France, and 

♦Martin's Louisiana, 



law's FINANCIAX, SCHE]\£E. 117 

sliortly afterward the Western Compauy merged into the Company 
of tlie Indies, and new shares of its stocks were created and sold 
at immense profits. In addition to the exckisive privileges which 
it already held, it was now granted the trade of the Indian seas, 
the profits of the royal mint, and the j)roceeds of farming the 
royal revenne of France. The government, which was absolute, 
conspired to give the highest range to its credit, and Law, says a 
cotemporary, might have regulated at his pleasnre the interest of 
money, the value of stocks, and the pvice of labor and produce. A 
specidating frenzy at once pervaded the whole nation. The maxim 
which Law had promulgated, that the "banker deserved death who 
made issues of paper without means of redemption," was over- 
looked or forgotten. While the aifairs of the bank were under 
his control, its issues did not exceed 60,000,000 livres, but on be- 
coming the Bank of France, they at once rose to 100,000,000. 
Whether this was the act of Law or the regent, we are not in- 
formed. That he lent his aid to inundate the Avhole country with 
paper money, is conceded, and perhaps dazzled by his former suc- 
cess, he was less guarded, and unconscious that an evil day was 
fast approaching. The chancellor, who opposed these extensive 
issues, was dismissed at the instance of Law, and a tool of the 
regent was appointed in his place. The French parliament fore- 
saw the danger approaching, and remonstrated in vain with the 
regent. The latter annulled their decrees, and on their proposing 
that Law, whom they regarded as the cause of the whole evil, 
sliotdd be brought to trial, and, if found guilty, be hung at the 
gates of the Palace of Justice, some of the most prominent officers 
of the parhament were committed to prison. Law, alarmed for 
his safety, fled to the royal palace, threw himself on the protection 
of the regent, and for a time escaped the popular indignation. 

He still devoted himself to the Mississippi scheme, the shares 
of which rose rapidly. In si)ite of parliament, 50,000 new shares 
were added, and its franchises extended. The stock was paid in 
state securities, with only 100 livres for 500 of stock. For these 
new shares 300,000 applications were made, and Law's house was 
beset from morning till night with eager applicants, and before 
the list of fortunate stockholders could be completed, the j)ublic 
imi)atience rose to a pitch of frenzy. Dukes, marquises and 
counts, with their wives and daughters, waited for hours in the 
streets before his door, to know the result ; and to prevent being 
jostled by the plebeian crowd, took apartments in the adjacent 
houses, the rents of which rose from 100 to 1200, and, in some 
instances, to 1600 livres per annum. Induced by golden dreams, 
the demand for shares was so great it was thought best to in- 
crease them 300,000 more, at 500 livres each ; and such was the 
eagerness of the people to subscribe, that, had the government 
ordered three tunes that number, they woidd aU have been taken. 

The first attempts of the company at colonization in Louisiana, 
were attended with careless prodigality. To entice emigrants 
thither, the rich prairies and the most inviting fields were grafted 
to companies which sought principahties in the valley of the 
Mississippi. An extensive prairie in Arkansas, bounded on all 
sides by the sky, was granted to Law, where he designed to plant 
a colony, and he actually exjjended a half million of livres for that 
purpose. From the representations of the company, N"ew Orleans 



118 HISTORY OF rLLINOIS. 

became famous in Paris as a beautiful city before the work of 
cutting down the canebrakes, which covered its site, had been 
commenced. Kaskaskia, then mostly a cantonment of savages, 
was spoken of as an emporium of the most extensive traffic, and 
as rivaling some of the cities of Europe in refinement, fashion and 
religious culture. In fine, to doubt the wealth of Louisiana was 
to provoke anger. Law was now in the zenith of his glory, and 
the people in the zenith of their infatuation. The high and the 
low, the rich and the poor, were at once filled with visions of un- 
told weath, and every age, set, rank and condition were buying 
and selling stocks. 

The effect of this speculation on the public mind and manners 
was overwhelming. The laxity of pubhc morals, bad enough be- 
fore, now became worse, and the x)ernicious love of gambling dif- 
fused itself through society and bore do^vn all public and nearly 
all private virtue before it. While confidence lasted, an impulse 
was given to trade never before known. Strangers flocked to the 
capita] from every part of the globe, and its population increased 
305,000 souls. Beds were made in kitchens, garrets and even sta- 
bles, for the accommodation of lodgers. Pro^^sions shared the 
general advance, and wages rose in the same proportion. An illu- 
sory poUcy everywhere prevailed, and so dazzled the eye that none 
could see in the horizon the dark cloud that announced the ap- 
proaching storm. Law, at the time, was by far the most influen- 
tial man in the realm, while his mfe and daughters were coiu^ted 
by the highest nobihty and their alliance sought by ducal and 
princely houses. 

Suspicions, however, soon arose; specie was demanded and Law 
became alarmed. The precious metals liad aU left the kingdom, 
and coin for more than 500 livres was declared an illegal tender. 

[Note.— A cobbler, whe had a stall near Law's office, g-ained near 200 livres per day by 
letting it, and finding stationery for brokers and otlier clients. A humpbacked man, 
who stood in the street, as the story goes, gained considerable sums by loaning his back 
as a writing desk to the eager speculators. Law, finding his residence too small, ex- 
changed it for the Place Vendome. whither the crowd followed him, and the spacious 
square had the appearance of a public market. Booths were erected for the transac- 
tion of business and the sale of refreshments. The boulevards and public gardens 
were forsaken, and the Place Vendome became the most fashionable lounge for parties 
of pleasure. The Hotel d'Suson was taken, and its fine garden, ornamented with foun- 
tains and statuary, was covered over with tents and pavilions for the accommodation 
of stock jobbers, and each tent being let at .500 livres per month, made a montlily rev- 
enue of 260.000 livres. Peers, judges and bishops thronged the Hotel de Suson, and 
oflBcersof the army and navy, ladies of title and fashion, were seen waiting in the 
ante-chamber of Law, to beg a portion of his stock. He was unable to waiton one- 
tenth part of the applicants, and every species of ingenuity was employed to gain an 
audience. Peers, wnose dignity would nave been outraged if the regent had made 
them wait half an hour for an interview, were content to wait 6 hours for the purpose 
of seeing the wilj^ adventurer. Enormous fees were paid to his servants to announce 
their name, and ladies of rank employed the blandishments of their smiles. One lady 
in particular, who had striven in vain many days to see Law, ordered her coachman to 
keep a strict watch, and when he saw him coming, to drive against a post and upset lier 
carriage. This was successfully accomplished, and Law, who witnessed the apparent 
accident, ran to her assistance. She was led to his house, and as soon as she thought it 
advisable, recovered from her fright, apologized tor the intrusion, and confessed the 
sti'atagem. Law was a gallant, and could no longer refuse, and entered her name oa 
his book as the purchaser of some stock. Another lady of rank, knowing that Law 
dined at a certain time, proceeded thither in her carriage and gave the alarm of fire, 
and while everybody was scampering away, she made haste to meet him ; but he, sus- 

gectingthe trick, ran off in the opposite direction. A celebrated physician in Purls 
ad bought stock at an unfavorable time, and was anxious to sell out. While it was 
rapidly falling, and while his mind was filled with the subject, he was called on to 
attend a lady who thought herself unwell. Being shown up stairs, he felt the lady's 
pulse, and, more intentupon his shocks than the patient, exclaimed: "It falls; good 
God ! it falls continually. The lady started, and ringing the bell for assistance, said : 
" O, doctor, I am dying, I am dying; it falls I " What falls?" inquired the doctor, in 
amazement. "My pulse, my pulse," said the lady; "lam aylng !" "Calm your 
fears, my dear madam," said the doctor, "I was speaking of the stocks I have been 
80 great a loser, and my mind is so disturbed that I hardly know what I am say- 
ing."] 



law's financial SCHE]ME. _ 119 

A council of state was held, and it was ascertained that 2,600,000,- 
000 livies in paper was in circulatiou, and the bank stopped pay- 
ment. The people assaulted Law's carriage with stones, and but 
for the dexterity of his coachman, he would have been torn to 
pieces. On the following day his wife and daughter were attacked 
as they were retiu-ning in theii- carriage from the races. The re- 
gent being informed of these occurrences sent him a guard for his 
protection. Finding his house, even with a guard, insecure, he 
repaired to the palace and took apartments with the regent. Soon 
afterward, leaving the kingdom, his estate and library were confis- 
cated, and he died at Venice in extreme poverty.* 

The lessons to be learned from these wild financial speculations, 
is, that the expansion of currency always gives an impetus to indus- 
try, but when it is based on credits, without means of redemption, 
it must meet with an overthrow attended with a prostration oi 
business greatly overbalancing all temporary advantages. 

We must now recount the operations of the comi)any in Louis- 
iana. On the 25th of August, 1718, its ships, after a pleasant 
voyage entered the i)ort of Mobile, chanting the Te Deuvi for their 
safe arrival. On board the ships was the king's lieutenant, M. 
Boisbriant, bearing a commission authorizing Bienville to act as 
governor-general of the province, and 800 immigrants. The gov- 
ernor again commenced the duties of his oflice, still entertaining 
his pre^^ous convictions that the capital of the pro\Tiice should be 
removed from the sterile sands of the Gulf coast to the banks of 
the Mississippi. He reasoned that if established on the fertile 
alluvium or uplands of the great river, it would become the centre 
of a community devoted to agriculture, the only branch of industry 
that coidd give permanent growth and prosperity to the provuice. 
He therefore selected the site now occui^ied by New Orleans for a 
capital, and gave it the name it now bears, in honor of the Eegent 
of France. Eight convicts were sent from the prisons of France to 
clear away the coi)pice which thickly studded the site. Two 
years afterward the royal engineer surveyed the outlets of the 
river and declared that it might be made a commercial port, and 
in 1783 it became the provincial and commercial capital of Louis- 
iana. Although M. Hubert, who had charge of the company's 
aflairs, reluctantly complied with the advice of Bienville in remov- 
ing the depots to the new capital, time has proven the superior 
judgment of the former. From a depot for the commercial trans- 
actions of a single company, it has become the emiDorium of the 
noblest valley on the face of the globe. 

The delusion that dreamed of silver and gold in Louisiana, and 
which had so largely contributed to the ruin of Crozat, still haunt- 
ed the minds of his successors. UnwUling to profit by his expe- 
rience, they concluded that his want of success was rather the 
result of his unskillful assayers than the absence of the precious 
metals, and accordingly Philip Renault was made director-general 
of the mines. He left France in 1719, with 200 mechanics and 
laborers, and provided with all things necessary to prosecute the 
business of his office. On his way hither he bought 500 negro slaves 
at San Domingo, for working the mines, and on reaching tiie mouth 
of the Mississippi, sailed to Illinois, where it was 8Ui)posed gold 
and silver existed in large quantities. He established himself a 

^Condensed from Bancroft, Brown's Illinois, and M'Kay's Extraordinary Delusions. 



120 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

few miles above Kaskaskia, in what is now tlie southwest corner 
of Monroe county, and called the village which he founded Saint 
PhUlips. Grreat expectations prevailed in France at his prosi)ect- 
ive success, but they all ended in disappointment. From this 
point he sent out exploring parties into various i3arts of Illinois, 
which then constituted Upper Louisiana. Search was made for 
minerals along Drewry's creek, in Jackson county ; about the St. 
Mary's, in Eandolph county; in Monroe county, along Silver 
creek; in St. Clair county, and other parts of Illinois. Silver 
creek took its name from the explorations made on its banks, and 
tradition, very improbably, states that considerable quantities of 
silver were discoverd here and sent to France. The operations of 
Benavdt were at length brought to a close from a cause least ex- 
pected. By the edict of the king the Western Company became 
the Company of the Indies, and the territory was retroceded to the 
cro^vn. The efforts of the company had totally faded, and Eenault 
was left to prosecute the business of mining without means. 

In the meantime a fierce war had been raging between France and 
Spain, and their respective colonists in North America presented a 
continuous display of warlike preparations. Bienville, with his reg- 
ulars and provincial troops, 400 Indians, and a few armed vessels^ 
made a descent on Pensacola and laid it under siege before its 
garrison could be reinforced. After an assault of 5 hours, and a 
determined resistance on the part of the besieged, the Spanish 
commandant surrendered. The approach of a powerful Spanish 
armament shortly afterward, compelled Bienville to relinquish the 
fort and retiu'u to Mobile, where he, in tui-n, was besieged in the 
fort of Dauphin Island. The squadron endeavored, by a furious 
bombardment, to reduce the fort, but its commander, finding his 
efforts unavailing, after 13 days retired. The war continuing to 
harass the coast of the gulf, Bienville the following year, with the 
whole available force of the province, agaui moved against the 
town of Pensacola. After a close investment by sea and land the 
town and fort were carried by storm, and, besides the munitions of 
the latter, 1,800 prisoners fell into the hands of the victors. Sev- 
eral Spanish vessels with rich cargoes, ignorant of the occupation 
of the town by the French, ran into i)ort and weie also captured. 
The occupation of the town, as before, was of short duration, for 
Bienville, anticipating the arrival of a Spanish force, blew up the 
fort, burned the town and returned to Mobile. 

But the operations of the war were not confined to the lower 
part of the province. Traders and hunters had discovered a route 
across the western x)lains, and detachments of Spanish cavalry 
pushed across the great American desert, and were threatening 
Illinois. The Missouri Indians were at the time in alliance with 
the French, and the Spaniards planned an expedition for the ex- 
termination of this tribe, that they might afterward destroy the 
settlements of Illinois and replace them with colonists from Mex- 
ico. The expedition for this piu-pose was fitted out at Santa Fe, 
and directed to i)roceed by way of the Osages, to secure their co- 
operation in an attack on the Missouris. Consisting of soldiers, 
priests, families and domestic animals, it moved like an immense 
caravan across the desert, ]3repared both to overthrow the French 
colonies and to establish others in their stead. By mistake, their 
guides led them directly to the Missouris instead of the Osages, 



MASSACRE OF FOET ROSALIE. 121 



and as each siDoke the same language they believed themselves in 
the presence of the latter tribe. The wily savages, on learning 
their busmess, encoiu'aged the misunderstanding, and requested 
two days to assemble their warriors and prepare for the attack. 
More than 180 muskets were put into their hands, and before the 
Spaniards found out their mistake the Missouris fell upon them 
and put them indiscriminately to death. The priest alone was 
spared to tell the fate of his unfortunate countrymen. In antici- 
pation of similar difQcidties, Boisbriant was sent to Illinois in 
1720 by the Western Company, to erect a fort on the Mississippi, 
for the protection of the siuTOunding regions. Thus originated 
Fort Chartres, which played such an important part in the subse- 
quent history of Illinois. The fortiiication was built on the east 
side of the river, 22 miles northwest of Kaskaskia, and was at the 
time the most impregnable fortress in North America. Here the 
Western Company finally built their warehouses, and when, in 
1721, Louisiana was divided into districts, it became the head- 
quarters of Boisbriant, the ficrst local governor of Illinois. The 
7 districts were New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, Alabama, Natchez, 
Natchitochis, and Illmois. 

Soon after the erection of the fort, Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, 
and some other villages, received large accessions to their iDopula- 
tions. All the settlements between the rivers Mississippi and 
Kaskaskia became greatly extended and iu creased in number, and 
in 1721 the Jesuits established a monastery and college at Kas- 
kaskia. Four years afterward it became an incori)orated town, and 
Louis XV granted the inhabitants a commons, or pasture grounds, 
for their stock. Immigrants rapidly settled on the fertile lands of 
the American Bottom, and Fort Chartres not only became the 
lieadquarters of the commandant of Upper Louisiana, but the cen- 
tre of wealth and fashion in the West.* 

In the Autumn of 1726, Bien^ille was succeeded by M. Perrier. 
The retmng governor had with much propriety, been called the 
C'ather of Louisiana, having, with the exception of two short inter- 
missions, been its executive officer for 26 years. Not long after 
the arrival of the new governor, his attention was directed to the 
Chickasaw Indians. His predecessor bad observed, in previous 
years, the insincerity of their Mendship for the French, and had 
urged the directory of the company to institute some more effective 
protection for the adjacent settlement. M. Perrier now reiterated 
its importance, but his apprehensions were deemed groundless, and 
nothing was done. The Indians were now becoming jealous of the 
rapid encroachments of the whites, who sometimes punished them 
harshly for the most trivial offense. Under these circumstances 
the Chickasaws, Natchez, and other tribes conceived the design 
of destroying the French, and sent agents to the Illinois to induce 
them to cut off the settlements in their midst. The attack was to 
commence at different places at the same time, but from some 
unknown cause the Natchez were the first to carry the design into 
execution, although the Chickasaws were the first to propose the 
conspiracy. It is said the number of days to elapse from the new 
mooa to the time of the massacre was indicated by a certain num- 
ber of reeds, bundles of which were sent to the different tribes. One 
reed was to be drawn daily from each bundle, and the attack was to 

♦Monette's Val. of the Miss. 



122 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



commence wlieu the last one was drawn. By design, or accident, 
the bundle sent to the ISTatchez was made smaller than the rest, 
and hence they struck the first blow. Indian tradition asserted 
that the plot was kept a profound secret till the fatal day arrived. 
This, according to jSTatchez computation, was on the 28th of No- 
vember, 1729, at the dawn of which the Great Chief, or Sun, with a 
number of chosen warriors having concealed weapons, repaired to 
Fort Eosalie. At a preconcerted signal, the warriors drew their 
weapons, and at a single onset the Uttle garrison slept the sleep 
of death. Other parties were distributed through the contiguous 
settlements, and when the ascending smoke of the burning fort 
was seen, these became the scenes of slaughter, till the entire 
white male population, numbering 700, were destroyed. While 
the massacre was raging, the Great Sun seated himself in the spa- 
cious warehouse of the company, and with the greatest apparent 
unconcern, smoked his pipe as his warriors piled up the heads of 
the garrison in the form of a pyramid near by, whose apex was 
the head of the commandant. When the warriors informed him 
that the last Frenchman ceased to live, he ordered the pillage to 
commence. The negro slaves were ordered to bring in the spoils 
for distribution, but the military stores were reserved for future 
use. As long as the ardent spirit lasted, day and night aUke pre- 
sented a continued scene of savage triumphs and drunken revehy. 
The settlements on the Yazoo and other places, met with a similar 
fate, but those withui the present limits of Illinois, owing to the 
loyalty and friendship of the prairie tribes, remained unharmed. 
As soon as the massacre became known, M. Perrier dispatched 
vessels to France for troops and military supplies, and couriers 
were sent to Fort Chartres and other posts, urging upon the sev- 
eral commandants the necessity of preparation to co-operate with 
him against the common enemy. Agents were also sent to the 
Ohoctaws and other Indians in alliance with the French, for fur- 
ther assistance. The governor immediately got ready to march to 
the scene of disaster with the troops in the southern part of the 
province; but the negroes, numbering some 2,000, betrayed 
symptoms of revolt, and he was detained to watch the intended 
insurrection. In the meantime, the Choctaws, who had committed 
no overt act of hostility, had been ^»isited by one of the company's 
agents, and induced to furnish 600 warriors. At Pearl river he 
received an accession of COO more, and Avith this formidable body 
of warriors he moved forward and encamj)ed near the enemy, to 
await the arrival of other forces. It was, however, soon ascer- 
tained that the Natchez, unsuspicious of danger, were spending 
their time iu idle carousals, and the Choctaws rushed on them 
unexpectedly, and after a brief conflict, returned "udth 60 scalps. 
Not long afterward French troops arrived, completed the victory, 
and liberated the women and children. The larger part of the 
tribe, led by their Great Sun, fled across the Mississippi and for- 
tified themselves on Black river. Thither they were followed by 
troops from France and the principal settlements of the province, 
and in two successful battles were completely cut to pieces. The 
Great Sun and 400 warriors were cai^tured and taken to New Or- 
leans, and thence to San Domingo, and sold as slaves. Thus per- 
ished this powerful tribe, and with them their mysterious worship 
of the sun and bloody rites of sepulture. No tribe Avas, perhaps, 



CHARTER SURRENDERED. 123 



more distinguished for refinement, intelligence, courage and con- 
tempt of death, in fighting for their rights and country. 

The great expenditures in prosecuting the Natchez war, the conse- 
quent loss of trade with other tribes, and the financial embarrass- 
ments incident to Law's failure, induced the company to ask for a 
surrender of their charter. The king readily granted their petition, 
and on the 10th of April, 1732, issued a proclamation declaring 
Louisiana free to all his subjects, with equal privileges as to com- 
merce and other interests. The 14 years the company had x^ossession 
of the country, notwithstanding the many adverse circumstances, 
was a period of comparative prosperity. When it assumed con- 
trol, the number of slaves was 20 ; now it was 2,000. Then the 
entire white population was 700; now 5,000, among which 
were many persons of worth, intelligence and enterprise. The 
extravagant hopes entertained respecting the precious metals, had 
not been realized, but the search for them had attracted popula- 
tion, which had now made such progress in agriculture as to be 
self-sustaining. Illinois, at this time, contained many floimshing 
settlements, more exclusively devoted to agricultiu'e than those in 
other parts of the province. All industrial enterprises, however, 
were, to a great extent, i^aralj^zed by the arbitrary exactions of 
the comi^any. The agriculturists, the miners and the fur traders 
of Illinois were held in a sort of vassalage, which enabled those in 
power to dictate the price at which they should sell their products, 
and the amount they should pay them for imported merchandise. 
The interest of the company was always at variance with that of 
the producer, and it would have been diificult to devise a state of 
affairs so injurious to both parties, and so detrimental to the pros- 
perity of Illinois and other parts of Louisiana. 



Chapter XII. 

1732-59— ILLINOIS AOT) LOUISIAI^f A UNDER THE EOYAL 

GOVERNOES. 



When the Company of the Indies gave up their charter, the gov- 
ernment of France resumed the administration of public affairs. 
M. Perrier remained governor- general, and M.D'Artaguette became 
local governor of Illinois. The common law of Paris had pre^iously 
been adopted as the code of Louisiana, but had never been formally 
extended over Illinois. The ecclesiastical affairs were under the 
superintendence of the vicar-general of New Orleans, as a part of 
the diocese of the bishop of Quebec. One of the principal objects 
of the governor was, to establish his authoritj'' over the different 
Indian tribes inhabiting the country under his command. The 
Chickasaws, instigated by English colonists, had made intercourse 
between Illinois and New Orleans so hazardous that commerce 
was virtually suspended, and the settlers kept in a constant state 
of alarm. Such was the animosity and activity of this tribe, it also 
sent secret envoys to the Illinois, for the pui'pose of debauching 
the time-honored affection which had existed between them and 
their French neighbors, and inducing them to destroy the latter. 
These tawny sons of the prairies, however, refused to desert their 
friends, and sent an envoy to New Orleans to offer their services 
to the governor. Said this deputy to that functionary: "This is 
the pipe of peace or war ; you have but to speak and our braves 
will strike the nations that are your foes."* It was now necessary 
to reduce the Chickasaws, to establish communication between 
the northern and southern portions of the province, and to save 
the eastern portion from the intrigues of emissaries sent out 
among the Indians by the English colonies on the Atlantic. An 
officer was, therefore, dispatched to Fort Chartres, in 1736, direct- 
ing DArtaguette to get in readiness the French forces under his 
command, and such Indians of Illinois as he could mduce to unite 
with him in the war. It was arranged that DArtaguette should 
descend the Mississippi to some suitable point of debarkation, and 
then cross to the country on the head waters of the Tallahatchee, 
where the enemy's stronghold was situated. 

In the meantime Bienville, who had again been commissioned 
by the king as governor-general, with the forces of southern Louis- 
iana, was to ascend the Tombigbee to the confluence of its two 
principal tributaries, and marching thence by land, effect a junc- 
tion wdth the forces from the north. Early ui the spring, Bienville 
moved with his forces from New Orleans to Mobile, and thence to 

♦Bancroft, 

124 



INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 125 



the point designated, where a fort had previously been erected to 
serve as a depot of supplies. Here, by offering rewards for scalps 
and making- presents of merchandise, he drew together the large 
force of 1200 Choctaws. After disembarking- the artillery and 
placing it in the fort, the solitude of the primitive forests and 
blooming prairies was broken by the tread of the forces moving in 
the direction of the enemy.* On the 25th of May, they arrived 
within 3 miles of the Chickasaw village, but several clays behind the 
time fixed for meeting the northern forces ; a delay, which, as the 
sequel will show, proved fatal. The village was 27 miles from the 
fort, and within a few miles of Pontotoc, Mississippi, which still 
perpetuates the name of the Indian stronghold, and became famous 
as a point in Grierson's great raid in the war of the rebellion. 
Before daylight, the next morning, the impatient and ungovern- 
able Choctaws moved against the log citadel of the enemy, exi)ect- 
iug to take its occupants by surprise. On the contrary, they found 
the garrison on the alert, and the fort a skillfully constructed 
fortification, erected under the supervision of English traders. 
Twice during the day, Bienville attempted to carry the works by 
vigorous attacks, but was repidsed with a loss of 65 wounded, 
and 32 killed; thelatter embracing 4 ofiflcers of rank. The follow- 
ing day, some skirmishing- occurred between the Choctaws and the 
enemy, without any decisive results, when Bienville, mortified at 
his defeat, and believing his own forces too mconsiderable for the 
reduction of such formidable works without the co-operation of the 
northern forces, of which he had heard nothing, concluded to aban- 
don the enterprise. He accordingly dismissed his red auxiliaries, 
made a retrograde march to the fort on the Tombigbee, ingioriously 
threw his cannon into the river, and returned to New Orleans, 
covered with defeat and shame. 

Prior to the inflicting of this disgrace upon the French arms, 
the gallant D'Artaguette, accompanied by DeVincennes and Father 
Lenat, had led his army of 50 Frenchmen and more than 1000 
red warriors, from the prairies of the north to the Yalabusha. 
Here, at the appointed place of rendezvous, he waited for 10 days 
the arrival of the commander-in-chief, ready to co-operate with him 
in maintaining the jurisdiction and honor of France. The failui-e 
of the latter, however, to arrive in time, prevented the junction of 
the two armies, and thus defeated the campaign. On the 20th of 
May, his rash Indian confederates, who had the courage to strike 
a blow, but lacked the calculation and patience to wait the proper 
time, compelled him to commence offensive operations. Having 
skillfully arranged his forces, with great daring and impetuosity he 
drove the Chickasaws from two fortifications, and in the assault on 
the third was disabled in the moment of victory. Dismayed at the 
loss of their leader, the Indians fled precipitately, closely pursued a 
distance of 125 miles by the enemy in the flush of unexpected victory, 
while D'Artaguette and some of his brave comrades lay weltering in 
their gore, attended by Lenat, who, mindful only of the assistance he 
might render the suffering, refused to fly. Vincennes, too, whose 
name is perpetuated by the city on the Wabash, chose also to remain 
and share the captivity of his leader. The wounds of the prisoners 
were staunched, and at first they were treated with great kindness 
by their captors, who expected to get a large reward from Bien- 

"Bancroft. 



126 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



ville for their safe return. When, however, they heard of his dis- 
comfiture and withdrawal, they despaired of receiving a ransom for 
the prisoners, and proposed to make them victims of a savage 
triumph. For this purpose they were borne to a neighboring field, 
bound to stakes, and tortured before slow and intermitting fires 
till death mercifully released them from their sufferings. Thus 
perished the faithful Lenat, the young and intrepid D'Artaguette, 
and the heroic Vincennes, whose names will endure as long as the 
Illinois and Wabash shall flow by the dwellings of civilized men. 
The Chickasaws, elated by victory, sent a deputation to an- 
nounce then" success and the torments inflicted on then" captives 
to the English colonists, with whom they were now in sympathy. 
Bienville, on the other hand, chagrined at the result of the 
campaign, determmed to retrieve his honor and the glory 
of France by a second invasion. The approbation of the Minister 
having been obtained, toward the close of the year 1739 he com- 
menced i)uttiug in operation his plans for the reduction of the 
fierce antagonists who had before so successfully defied him. Tlie 
signal for preparation was given to the commandants of the dif- 
ferent posts, which resulted in efforts far transcending in military 
display anything before seen in the provinces. A fort was erected 
at the mouth of the St. Francis, which served as a place of 
rendezvous, and afterward of departure, for the grand army 
eastward, to the country of the enemy. The force from Illinois, 
consisting of 200 French and 300 Indians, was commanded by La 
Buissoniere, who had succeeded the lamented D'Artaguette as 
commandant at Ft. Chartres. These, with the forces from other 
posts, amounted to 1200 Europeans and 500 Indians and negroes. 
The whole, under the command of Bienville, was soon moved to 
the mouth of Wolf liver, Avhere it was delayed in the erection of 
a second fort, in which to deposit their military stores, and care 
for the sick. Before the fort, w^iicli bore the name of Assump- 
tion, was completed, malarious fevers so fatal to European consti- 
tutions, had seriously disabled the army. Hardly had the early 
frosts of winter abated the disease, when famine, a more formida- 
ble enemy, threatened them 'udth annihilation. Supplies could 
only be obtauied at Ft. Chartres and New Orleans, and hence the 
consummatiou of the campaign was necessarily postponed till the 
following spring. Spring came, but such had been the debilita- 
ting efl'ects of the winter and the want of wholesome food, that 
only 200 men were now fit for duty. Undeterred, however, by the 
want of numbers, M. Celeron, a heuteuant of La Buissoniere, bold- 
ly set out to meet the Chickasaws, who, supposing the whole French 
army was behind him, sued for peace. Celeron, taking advantage 
of the mistake, obtained from them a declaration that they would 
renounce the English and resume peaceable relations with the 
French To confirm their statements, a deputation of chiefs ac- 
companied them to Ft. Assumption and entered into a treaty of 
peace with Bienville, which was ratified with the costomary In- 
dian ceremonies and festivities. The army now returned to the 
fort on the St. Francis, where Bienville disbanded it, and "again 
ingloriously floated down the river to New Orleans."* This was 
the end of the second campaign against the Chickasaws, wherein 
Bienville not only failed to retrieve his tarnished military fame, 

♦Monette's Val. of the Miss. 



MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 12.7 



but incurred the displeasure of his sovereign. Two armies had 
been sacrificed in an attempt to mete out to the Chickasaws the 
fate that had befallen the Natchez ; but like their ancestors, who 
200 years before had encountered the steel-clad chivalry of De- 
Soto, they still remained intact. With the close of these disastrous 
expeditions terminated the gubernatorial career of Bienville, 
which, with slight interruptions, had extended through a period 
of 40 years. Age had cooled down the ardor and energy of his 
manhood's prime, and the honors won in previous years were now 
obscured in a cloud of disapprobation and censure. 

Eetiring from office, he was succeeded by the Marquis de Van- 
dreuil, who subsequently became Governor of Canada. After the 
establishment of amicable relations with the Chickasaws, the na- 
tive tribes throughout the valley of the Mississippi submitted to 
the dominion of France and became her allies. A commercial in- 
tercourse with them succeeded, and agricultiu^e, now freed from 
company monopolies, rapidly sprang into new life. Sugar cane 
was brought from San Domingo, and the first attempt at its culti- 
vation pro\ang successful, it has since become the great staple of 
the present state of Louisiana. Cotton was introduced and suc- 
cessfully cultivated as far north as Illinois. A gin was subse- 
quently invented by M. Dubreuil, and though imperfect compared 
with Whitney's of the present day, it greatly facilitated the oper- 
ation of separating the fibre from the seed and thus gave a new 
imj)etus to the cultivation of the plant. The fig tree, the orange, 
and the lemon, began to bloom about the houses of the colonists 
on the Lower Mississippi and supply them with delicious fruit, 
while the sweet potato, extending over a broader range of latitude, 
contributed largely to the sustenance of both the northern and 
southern parts of the province. Every arrival from France aug- 
mented the 5)opulation of the rapidly extending settlements. 
Many Canadians, retiring from the rigor of their winters, sought 
homes in the comparatively mild chmate of Illinois and the region 
of the Wabash. Under the stmiulus of individual enterprise the 
commerce between the northern and southern parts of the pro- 
vince, and between New Orleans and foreign countries, was great- 
ly extended. Eegular cargoes of pork, flour, bacon, tallow, hides 
and leather were annually transported in barges from Illinois to 
New Orleans and Mobile, and thence shipped to France and the 
West Indies. In exchange were brought back rice, mdigo, sugar 
and European fabrics. The two extremes of Louisiana w^ere nui- 
tually dependent, and by means of the Mississippi and its hun- 
dred tributaries, naturally supphed each other's wants. The 
decade commencing with 1740 and closing with 1750 was one of 
unusual prosperity. 

Manners and Customs of the French. — Unlike the English and 
other Europeans, w^ho usually Uvedin sparse settlements, the 
French fixed their abode in compact villages. These were gen- 
erally built on the banks of some i^m-e stream of water, contigu- 
ous to timber and prairie, the one furnishing them fuel and the 
other with ground for tillage. The construction of the dwellings 
was of a primitive character. The frame work consisted of posts 
planted in the earth three or four feet deep and strongly bound 
together by horizontal cross-ties. The interstices thus formed 
were filled with mortar, intermixed with straw or Spanish moss, to 



128 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

give it tenacity. The surface of tlie walls, both internal and ex- 
ternal, was washed with white lime, which imparted to the build- 
ings an air of cleanliness and domestic comfort. Most of the 
dwellings were surrounded by piazzas, on which the inmates found 
a pleasant retreat to while away in social converse the sultry sum- 
mer evenings. Destitute of machinery for cutting their trees into 
boards, they split them into slabs, which were used for flooring, 
doors and other purposes, while as a substitute for shingles they 
thatched their buildings with straw. Although having the great- 
est amijlitude for wide streets, they generally made them so nar- 
roAV that the merry villagers ll^dng on opposite sides could carry 
on their sprightly conversations each from his own balcony. Even 
in detached settlements the social tm^n of the people induced 
them to group their dwellings as closely together as possible. 
Each settlement had its patriarchal homestead, which generally 
stood in a spacious enclosure, and was occupied by the oldest 
member of the family. Around this sprung up a cluster of cotta- 
ges, the residence of each child and gxand child as it married and 
became the head of a family. Not unfrequently the aged patri- 
arch became the centre of a dozen growing families of his own 
lineage and embracing 3 or 4 generations. 

Common Field. — A duty imposed ui)on the commandant of each 
village was to reserve a tract of land for a common field, in which 
all the inhabitants were interested. To each villager was assigned 
a ]3ortion of the field, the size of which was proportioned accord- 
ing to the extent of his family. Lands thus apportioned were 
subject to the regulations of the villages, and when the party in 
possession became negligent so as to endanger the common inter- 
est he forfeited his claim. The time of plowing, sowing and har- 
vesting, and other agricidtural operations, was subject to the 
enactment of the village senate. Even the form and arrangement 
of enclosures surrounding the dwellings and other buildings were 
the subject of special enactments, and were arranged with a 
view to protection against the Indians, should an exigency occur 
making it necessary. 

Commons. — Besides the common field, which was designed for 
tillage, there was a common which was free to all the villagers for 
the pasture of their stock and the supply of fuel. As accessions 
were made to the families of the community, either by marriage 
or the arrival of strangers, portions of land were taken from the 
common and added to the common field for their benefit. 

Intercourse tvith the Indians. — Owing to their amiable disposi- 
tions and the tact of ingratiating themselves with the tribes that 
surrounded them, the French almost entirely escaped the broils 
which weakened and destroyed other colonies less favored with 
this trait of character. Whether exploring remote rivers or tra- 
versing hunting grounds in piu'suit of game ; in the social circle or 
as participants in the religious exercises of the church, the red 
men became their associates and were treated with the kindness 
and consideration of brothers. Like the Quakers guided by the 
example of Penn, they kept up a mutual interchange of friendly 
offices with their red neighbors, and such was the community of 
interests, th© feeling of dependence and social equality, that inter- 
marriages frequently occui-red, thus more closely uniting them in 



INTERCOURSE WITH INDIANS. 129 

the bonds of peace. Penii and his followers for many years lived 
in unbroken peace with their brethren of the forest, but that es- 
tablished by these pioneers of Illinois was never interrupted, and 
for more than a hundred years the country enjoyed the benign in- 
fluence of peace; and when at length it terminated, it was not the 
conciliatory Frenchman, but the blunt and sturdy Anglo-Saxon 
who supplanted him that was made the victim of savage ven- 
geance. * 

The calm and quiet tenor of their lives, remote from the bustle 
and harassing cares of civilization, imparted a serenity to their 
lives rarely witnessed in communities where the acquisition of 
wealth and honor is suffered to exclude the better feelings of 
human nature. Lands of unequaled fertility, and the still more 
prolific waters and the chase, supplied almost unsolicited the wants 
of life and largely contributed to the light hearted gaiety of the 
people. With ample leisure and fi'ee from corroding cares, they 
engaged in tlieir various ainusements witli more than ordinary 
pleasure. Prominent among their diversions was the light fantas- 
tic dance of the young. At this gay and innocent diversion could 
be seen the village priest and the aged patriarch and his com- 
panion, whose eyes beamed with delight at beholding the harmless 
mirth of their children. When parties assembled for this purpose 
it was customary to choose the older and more discreet persons to 
secure proper decorum during the entertainment and see that all 
had an ox^portunity to participate in its pleasure. Frequently, 
on these occasions, fathers and mothers whose youthful enthu- 
siasm time had mellowed down to sober enjoyments again became 
young and participated in the mazy evolutions of the dance. 
Even the slave, imbibing the spirit of the gay assemblage, was 
delighted because his master was hapjjy, and the latter in turii 
was pleased at the enjoyment of the slave. Whenever the old, 
who were authority in such cases, decided that the entertainment 
had been protracted sufficiently long, it was brought to a close ; 
and thus the excesses which so frequently attend parties of this 
kind at the present day were avoided. 

At the close of each year it was an unvarying and time-honored 
custom among them for the young men to disguise themselves 
in old clothes, visit the several houses of the village, and engage in 
friendly dances with the inmates. This was understood as an 
invitation for the members of the family to meet in a general ball, 
to dance the old year out and the new year in. Large crowds 
assembUng on these occasions, and taking with them refreshments, 

[*Says Hall in his Sketches of the West: -'We have heard of an occasion on which 
this reciprocal kindness was very strongly shown. Many years ago a murder having 
been committed in some broil, three Indian young men were given up by the Kaskas- 
kias to the civil authorities of the newly established American government. The pop- 
ulation of Kaskaskia was still entirely French, who felt much sympathy foi' their Indian 
fr,iends, and saw these hard proceedings of the law with great dissatisfaction. The la- 
dies, particularly, took a warm interest in the fate of the young aborigines, and deter- 
mined if they must die, they should at least be converted to Christianity in the mean- 
while, and be baptized in the true church. Accordljijily, after due preparation, 
arrangements were made for a public baptism of the neophites in the old cathedral of 
the village. Each of the youths wasadopted by a lady who gave him a name and was to 
stand godmother in the ceremony, and the lady pfitronesscs with their respective 
friends were busily engaged for some time in jneparing decorations for the lestivities. 
There was quite a sensation in the village. Never were three young men bro.:ght into 
notoriety more suddenly or more decidedly. The ladies talked of nothing else and all 
the need'lesinthe village were employed in tbe preparation of finery for the occasion. 
Previous to the evening of hanging, the aboriginals gave the .jailer the slip and es- 
caped, aided most probably by the ladies, who had planned the whole affair with a view- 
to thisend. The law is not vindictive in new communities. The danger soon blew 
over; the young men again appeared in public and evinced their gratitude to their 
benefactors.] 

9 



130 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

with good cheer and merry dauce beguiled the flying honrs till the 
clock on the mantel chimed the advent of the new born year. 
Another custom was, on the 6th of January, to choose by lot 4 kings, 
each of whom selected for himself a queen, after which the parties 
thus selected proceeded to make arrangements for an entertain- 
ment styled, in the parlance of the times, a king-ball. Toward the 
close of the first dance, the old queens selected new kings whom 
they kissed as the formality of introduction into office. In a simi- 
lar manner, the newly selected kings chose new queens, and the 
lively and mirthful dance continued during the carnival, or the 
week preceding Lent. The numerous festivals of the Catholic 
church strongly tended to awaken and develop the social and 
friendly intercourse of the people. 

All were Catholics and revered the pope as the vice-gerent of 
God, and respected their priests as spiritual guides and friendly 
counselors in the secular affairs of life. Mostly without schools 
or learning, the priest was the oracle in science and religion, and 
his enunciations on these subjects were received with an unques- 
tioning faith as true. Ignorant of creeds and logical disputations, 
their religion consisted, in the main, of gratitude to God and love 
for mankind — qualities by far more frequently found in the unpre- 
tending walks of life than in the glare of wealth and power. 

As the result of these vu'tues, children were loving and obedient, 
husbands and wives kind and affectionate. The latter had the 
undivided control of domestic matters ; and as a further tribute to 
her moral worth, she was the chief umpire in cases of social equity 
and propriety. None more than she, whose intuition could pene- 
trate at a glance the most subtle casuistry, was better qualiiied to 
detect and enforce it in a gentle and impartial manner. The peo- 
ple attended church in the morning, after which they collected and 
spent the remainder of the day in social intercourse and innocent 
pastimes. To the more sedate Protestant, such amusements on 
the Sabbath, seem unreasonable ; but the French mhabitants of 
the country, in these early times, regarded them as a part of their 
religion, and conducted them with the utmost proj)riety. If ques- 
tioned as to their gaiety- on the Sabbath, they repUed, that man was 
made lor happiness, and the more he enjoyed the innocent pleas- 
ures of life the more acceptable he rendered hhnself to his crea- 
tor. They contended that those who, on the Sabbath, repressed 
the expression of joyous feehugs under the guise of sanctity, were 
the persons ready to cheat their neighbors during the remainder 
of the week. Such were the religious sentiments of a people prone 
•to hospitality, urbanity of manners, and innocent recreation; who 
presented their daily orisons to the throne of grace with as much 
confidence of receiving a blessing, as that enjoyed by his most 
devout Puritan brother. 

The costume of the Illinois French, like their manners and cus- 
toms, was simple and peculiar. Too poor, and too remote to obtain 
finer fabrics, the men, dimng the summer, wore pantaloons made 
of coarse blue cloth, which, during winter, was supplanted by 
buckskin. Over their shkts and long vests, a flannel cloak was 
worn, to the collar of which a hood was attached, which, in cold 
weather, was drawn over the head, but in warm weather it fell 
back on the shoulders after the manner of a cape. Among voy- 
agers and hunters, the head was more frequently covered with a 



COSTUMES AND OCCUPATIONS. 131 

blue handkerchief fokled in the form of a turban. In the same 
manner, but tastefully trimmed with ribbons, was formed the fancy 
head dress which the women wore at balls and other festive occa- 
sions. The dress of the matron, though plain and of the antique 
short-waist, was frequently varied in its minor details to suit the 
diversities of taste. Both sexes wore moccasins which, on iiublic 
occasions, were variously decorated with shells, beads, and ribbons, 
giving them a tasty and picturesque appearance. No mechanical 
vocation as a means of earning a livelihood, was known. The 
principal occupation was agriculture, which, owing to the extreme 
fertility of the soil, produced the most munificent harvests. Young 
men of enterprise, anxious to see the world and to distinguish 
themselves, became voyagers, hunters, and agents of fur com- 
panies, and in discharging their duties, visited the remote sources 
of the Missouri, Mississippi, and their tributaries. After months 
of absence, spent in this adventurous employment among the most 
distant savage nations of the wilderness, they would return to their 
native villages, laden with furs and peltries. These articles for a 
long time constituted the only medium of exchange, and the means 
whereby they procured guns, ammunition, and other important 
requisites of their primitive life. The reunion with their friends was 
signalized by the dance, the most important requisite of hospitality, 
gaiety and happiness. The whole village would assemble on these 
occasions to see the renowned voyagers, and hear them recount 
*the strange sights and the adventures which they had encountered. 
No regular court was held in the country for more than a hun- 
dred years, or till its occupation by the English, evidencing thaf a 
virtuous and honest community can live in joeace and harmony 
without the serious infraction of law. The governor, aided by the 
friendly advice of the commandants and jjriests of the villages, 
either prevented the existence of controA^ersies, or settled them 
when they arose, without a resort to litigation. Although these 
civil functionaries were clothed with absolute power, such was the 
paternal manner in which it was exercised, it is said, that the ''rod 
of domination fell on them so lightly as to hardly be felt." When, 
in 17G5, the country jiassed into the possession of the English, 
many of them, rather than submit to a change in the institutions 
to which they were accustomed and attached, preferred to leave 
then- fields and homes, and seek a new abode on the west side of 
the Mississippi, still supposed to be under the dominion of France. 
Upon the recei)tion of assurances, however, from Great Britain, 
that they should be protected in their i^roperty and religion, many 
of them remained. Those who had removed to the west side of 
the river enjoyed but a brief interval of peace. Intelligence was 
received that France had ceded all western and southern Louisiana 
to Spain, and although Spanish authority was not extended over 
the territory for a period of five years, it was a period of uncer- 
tainty and anxiety. The Spanish government, like that of France, 
was mild and parental. Every indulgence was extended to her 
new subjects, and for thirty years they continued to enjoy their 
ancient customs and religion. The next inroad upon their anti- 
quated habits was the advance of the Americans to the Missis- 
sippi, in the region of Illinois. The unwelcome news was received 
that all Louisiana was ceded to the United States and a new sys- 
tem of jurisprudence was to be extended over them. Previous to 



132 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

this cession tliey had to a great extent become reconciled and 
attached to Spanish rule, hut when the new regime was extended 
over them, totally at a loss to comprehend the workings of repub- 
licanism, they asked to be relieved of the intolerable burden of 
self-government. 

Thus, in the heart of the continent, more than a thousand miles 
from either ocean, in a region styled by LaSalle a territorial para- 
dise, flourished these interesting communities, in the enjoyment 
of peace, contentment and happiness. It was, however, of a pas- 
sive character, wanting in that intensity of eujoyment wliich flows 
from fully developed powers and an energetic and progressive 
mode of life. The faculties of both mind and body languish with- 
out labor, and that may be considered the normal condition of the 
race which brings into healthy play all the diversified springs of 
action and thought which make up the wonderful machinery of 
man. Without effort and useful industry he is the creature of 
languid eujoyments, and a stranger to the highly wrought sensi- 
bility and the exquisite delights resulting from cultured mental 
and physical powers. Furthermore, without enterprise, the vast 
material forces which slumber in the crust of the earth, and its 
mantle of exuberant soil, cannot be made available. While 
there was peace and contentment on the banks of the Illinois, the 
Wabash, and the UpiJer Mississippi, it was reserved for a different 
race to develop the vast coal fields and exhaustless soil of this 
favored region, and cause their life-sustaining products to pulsate' 
through the great commercial arteries of tlie continent. While this 
suuple, virtuous and happy people, dwelt iu the granary of North 
America almost unconscious of its vast resources, there was cUng- 
ing to the inhospitable shores of the Atlantic an intelligent and 
sinewy race, which was destined to sweej) over and occupy their 
fruitful lands as the floods of the great river overwhelm and 
impart fertility to its banks. Only a few remnants of them have 
escaped the inflowing tide of American i)opulation, who still retain 
to a great extent the ancient habits and customs of their fathers. 
With their decline came the downfall of tlieu- tawny allies of the 
forest, and a new direction was given to American history. 
France, could she have remained supreme, with her far-reaching 
and adventurous genius, aided by Jesuit enterj)rise, would perhaps 
have partially civilized the savages and thus have arrested their 
destruction. Populations would have sprung up in the basins of 
the Great Lakes, and in the Valley of the Mississippi, under the 
impress of a feudal monarchy, and controlled hy a hierarchy of 
priests hostile to freedom of thought. The progress of civil and 
religious liberty would have been temporarily but not permanently 
suspended. The present, free institutions of America would have 
been delayed till the shifting phases of national Ufe furnished new 
opportunities for exxjeriment and improvement. 

[Many curious anecdotes might be still picked up i'^ relation to these earlj' settlera, 
especially in Illinois and Missouri, where the Spanish, French, Eng-lish and Americans, 
have had sway in rai)id succession. At one time the French had possession of one side 
of the Mississippi river and the Spaniards the other ; and a story is told of a Spaniard 
livingon one shore, who, having- a creditor residing on the other, seized a child, the 
daughter of the latter, and having borne her across the river which formed the national 
boundary, held ber a hostage for the paj^ment of the debt. The civil authorities de- 
clined mterfering, and the military did not think the matter of sufficient importance to 
create a national war, and the Frenchman hwd to redeem the daughter by discharging 
his creditor's demand. The lady who was thus abducted was still living a few years 
ago near Cahokia, the mother of a numerous progeny of American French.] 



JEALOUSIES AND ANIMOSITIES. 133 

In 1750, La Buissoniere, governor of Illinois, was succeeded by- 
Chevalier Macarty. The peace which had given such unexampled 
prosperity to Louisiana, w^as soon to be broken by the clangor and 
discord of war. Already, in the controversy between France and 
England in regard to their respective x^ossessions, coidd be heard 
the first throes of the revolution which gave a new master and new . 
institutions not only to Ilhnois, but to the whole continent. France 
claimed the whole valley of the Mississippi, which her missionaries 
and pioneers had explored and partially settled, and England the 
right to extend her possessions on the Mlantic indefinitely west- 
ward. The jealousies and animosities of the parent cou.utries soon 
crossed the Atlantic, and colonial intrigues were the result. 
Traders from South Carolina and Georgia again commenced intro- 
ducing large quantities of goods among the Chickasaws and other 
tribes of southern Louisiana, and again endeavored to alieiiate 
them from their treaty stipulations Avitli the French. As the 
result, depredations were reneAved by the Chickasaws, and a third 
expedition was sent to their forest fastnesses on tlie Tombigbee, to 
reduce them to submission, but like its predecessors, it w'as sub- 
stantially a failure. Farther northward similar disturbances 
commenced. British merchants sent their agents to the Miauus 
and other western tribes, whose tratfic had been previously nio- 
nopohzed bj^ the French. A more grievous ofiense was the 
formation of a company to whom the king of England granted a 
large ti-act of land on the Ohio, and conferred on it the privilege 
of trading with the w^estern Indians. 

The operations of the Ohio company soon drew the French and 
English colonial authorities into a controversy, and the mother 
countries w^ere ready to back anyeftbrt that either might make for 
the maintenence and extension of their respective possessions. As 
the traders, who were encouraged by the Ohio company, were 
mostly from Pennsylvania and. ^ew York, the governor of Canada 
informed the executives of these colonies that their traders had 
been trafficking with Indians dwelling on French territory, and 
uidess they immediately desisted from this illicit commerce, he 
would cause them to be seized and punished. jSTotwithstanding 
this menace, the Ohio company employed an agent to survey their 
lands .south W'csterly to the Falls of the Ohio, and northwesterly 
some distance up the Miami and Scioto. Virginia, also seconding 
the efforts of the company, obtained from the Indians the privilege 
to form settlements on the southeast side of the Ohio, 18 miles 
below^ the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela. 

England and France now saw that their territorial contest could 
only be settled by a resort to arms, and each urged its colonial au- 
thorities to institute prei)arations for defending their respective 
boundaries. In the comuig contest the result could not be doubt- 
ful, for the colonists of the former power numbered 1,051,000, whde 
those of the latter were only 52,000. Beside this great disparity 
of niunbers, France had transmitted to her possessions institutions 
which shackled theu^ progress. The English colonists brought 
with them advanced ideas of government from theii- native land, 
and left behind them the monarch and the nobility. The French 
emigrant came with only the feudal ideas of the past, and cared 
little for the huiovations of modern freedom. The former claiming 
the light of religious liberty, withdrew from the established church 



134 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and bad a self-appointed ministry. The latter was closed against 
every ray of theological light, and dominated by a foreign priest- 
hood, from whose teachings there was not a single dissenter. The 
one were self-reliant, self-snstaining, and energetic ; ever pressing 
their way against the receding forests ; always advancing, bnt 
never retreating The other were accustomed to follow a leader, 
and depend upon the parent country for supplies, which they 
might have produced themselves. The inhabitants of British 
America had the press, local legislatures, municipal discipline, the 
benetit of free schools, and were accustomed to think and act for 
themselves. As the result, from the waters of the southern gulf to 
wliere civilization is stayed by barriers of perpetual frost, the con- 
tinent is their heritage. 

In response to the advice of the British government, Virginia 
raised a force for the protection of her frontier, and sent Major 
Washington with a letter to the French commandant on the Ohio, 
requesting him to withdraw his troops from the dominion of Great 
Britain. The officer courteously replied that " it was not his 
province to determine whether the land situated on the Ohio be- 
longed to his sovereign, but he would transmit the letter to his 
superior officer, and act in accordance with his instructions. In 
the meantime, he did not tbink it incumbent upon him to obey 
the summons of the British government, and would defend his 
position with all the skill and force at his command." Washing- 
ton, after encountering much hardship, returned safely, and 
reported the reply of the French officer. The following year he 
received orders from the governor of Virginia to proceed with 200 
men and'complete the erection of a fort at the junction of the Monon- 
galiela and the Alleghany, previously commenced by the Ohio 
company. The attemi)t to execute the order was defeated by the 
French officer, M. Contrecoeur, who, anticipating the arrival of the 
Virginia forces, moved down to the mouth of the Monongahela in 
advance, with 18 pieces of cannon and a force of 1,000 French and 
Indians. He drove away the small detachment of Virginia militia 
and some employes in the Ohio comi)auy, and completing the fort 
they had commenced, they called it DuQuesne, in honor of the 
governor of Kew France. In the meantime, a small detachment 
under Jummonville, was sent to notify W^ashington to withdraw 
from French territory. The American officer, learning beforehand 
the approach of Jummonville, made arrangements to tall on him by 
surprise. At a place called the Little Meadows, the forces met, 
and Washington, ordermg his men to tire, set the example by dis- 
charging his own musket. Its flash kindled the forests of America 
to a flame, and scattered its fires over the kingdom of Europe. It 
was the signal gun whose reverberations followed the flight of years, 
announced the revolution which banished from the New World the 
institutions of the Middle Ages, and erected upon their ruins the 
fabric of free government. The tidings of the rencounter carried 
the fame of Washington across the Atlantic, and while his name 
was execrated by the advocates of feudal monarchy, they chanted 
in heroic verse the martyrdom of Jummonville, who had been slain 
in battle. 'And at the very time Washington became known to 
France, the child was born who was one day to stretch out his 
hand for the relief of America. How many defeated interests bent 



MILITARY OPERATIONS. 135 

ovev the grave of Jummoiiville, and how many hopes clustered 
about the cradle of the infant Louis. "* 

Fort Chartres was at this time the depot of supplies and the 
place of rendezvous for the united forces of Illinois and other 
posts of Louisiana. Shortly after the aftra}" at the Little Meadows, 
M. de Villiers, a brother of Jummonville, and at the time an officer 
at Fort Chartres, solicited Macarty, the commandant of the for- 
tress, to go and avenge the death of his relative. Permission was 
granted, and with a force from the garrison and a large number 
of Indians, he i)assed down the Mississii)pi and up the Ohio to 
Fort DuQuesne, of which he subsequently became the commander. 
From the fort he proceeded to the ground of the recent battle. 
Washington, finding himself confronted with greatly superior 
forces, fell back to Fort I^ecessity, a rude stockade i^reviously 
erected at the Great Meadows. Thither they were foUoAved by De 
Villiers with a force of GOO French and a smaller number of Indians, 
who took possession of an adjacent eminence and commenced 
tiring from behind trees on the men in the fort beneath them. 
Animated by the cool determhiation of their commander, the raw 
provincials, so unequal in numbers and position to their assailants, 
for nine hours maintained their position. At length the French 
commander, fearing the exhaustion of his ammunition, proposed 
terms of capitulation, which Washington in his critical situation 
was compelled to accept. The terms were magnanimous, the 
besieged being permitted to retire with the Inniors of war and all 
their munitions, except the artillery. Upon the defeat of the Vir- 
ginia forces, England and France took up the gauntlet, and the 
contest between the colonists became fiu-ther intensified. In 1755, 
General Braddock arrived in Virginia with two regiments of 
British regulars. Washington was made one of his aids-de-cam]), 
and afterward his force was augmented by the addition of 1,000 
provincials. Thus strengthened he started for Fort DuQuesne, 
and at the Little Meadows received intelligence of the expected 
arrival of 500 troops to strengthen the garrison of the fort. 
Leaving Col. Dunbar with 800 men to bring up his stores, he 
hastened forward with the i-emainder to reach the fort in advance 
of the reinforcements. Crossing the Monongahela he pushed 
forward w ith so much rapidity that he seldom took time to recon- 
noitre the woods and tangled thickets through which he was 
passing. In the meantime the conmiandant at Fort DuQuesne, 
a|)prised by the French and Indian scouts of the approach of the 
British force, sent M. Beaujeu w ith a force of 250 French and 600 
Indians to check their advance. Seven miles from the fort they 
concealed themselves on the borders of a ravine through which 
Braddock must pass, and awaited his arrival. As soon as his 
men entered the hollow, the concealed enemy opened upon those 
in front, and the rear forces pushed rapidly forward to support 
them. Before this could be effected, the advanced columns feU 
back in a heap on the artillery, and the army became greatly con- 
fused. At this juncture the Virginia forces, contrary to orders, 
took positions behind trees and fought till all were killed except 
thirty men. The regulars, remaining in a compact body, were 
terribly cut to pieces. Braddock received a mortal wound and 

•Bancroft. 



136 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



died iu tlie camp of Col. Dunbar, whither with the sliattered rem- 
iiauts of liis army he retreated. Never "before had the Indians 
received such a harvest of scalps as that gathered from the fatal 
field. Dressed iu the laced hats and scarlet coats of the dead, 
they celebrated the victory by exhibitiug- their i^ersonal decorations 
and liiing guns, which were answered by the artillery of the fort. 
When the news of the battle became known the two belligerents 
increased their forces, and in 175(5 Fort Duquesne again became 
'■.he objective i)oint of an English army. Gen. Forbes, with a force 
bt 7,ubo, approached it, and the garrison of Illinois and other 
troops being unable to cope with such a formidable army, dis- 
mantled the fort and retired to diti'erent parts of the West. A 
portion of the fugitives under M. Massac descended the Ohio river 
and built a fort on the Illinois side of the stream, forty miles from 
its mouth. The fort bore the name of its founder, and was fur- 
nished with a small garrison till the close of the war. Such was 
the origin of the last French fort built on the Ohio, divested of the 
romance which fable has thrown around its name.* In the course 
of the struggle Ticonderoga, Crown Point tind Niagara, fell 
before the victorious arms of England, and finally it terminated 
in 1759 by the captui-e of Quebec. As the result of the contest on 
the Plaiiis of Abraham, Illinois and its vast resoiu^ces became the 
heritage of a different race. Anglo-Saxon energy and i^rogress 
were now to gather from its prolific soil treasures far exceeding iu 
value the exhanstless mines of gold, which had haunted the imag- 
ination of its Gallic inhabitants, even if their dreams had been 
realized. In this closing battle the colossal power of France in 
North Aujerica received a fatal blow. From her first permanent 
settiemeut on the St. Lawrence she held dominion over its waters 
for a period of 150 years. The Anglo-Saxon race, with its partiality 
for individual rights, for self-government and freedom, now ob- 
tainsd the dominion of a continent from the Gidf of Mexico to the 
pole, an 1 tiie Eugiisli tongae, whose utterance 153 years before 
WHS conliaed to two small islands on the western verge of Europe, 
was now to become the language of a continent, and ultimately, 
perhaps, a universal vehicle for the expression of human thought. 



*lNorE— Jas. Hall, in his Sketches of the West, says : "The French bad also a fort 
on the Ohio, about 36 miles above the junction of that river with the Mississippi, of 
which the Indians obtained possession by a singular stratagem. A number ol them 
appeared in the day time on the opposite side of the river, each covered w:th a bear- 
skin, walking- on all-fours, and imitating the motions of that animal . The French sup- 
posed them to be bears, and a party crossed the river in pursuit of them. The 
remainder of the troops left their quarters and resorted to the bank of the river, in 
front of the u:arrison, to observe the sport. In the meantime, a large body of warriors, 
who were concealed in the woodsDear by, came silently up behind the fort, entered it 
without opposition, and verv few of the French i scaped the carnage. They afterward 
built another fort on the same ground, which they called Massacre, in memory of this 
disastrous event, and which retained the name of Fort Massac after it passed into the 
hands of the American government." The Kev. J. M. Peck, in his "Annals of the 
West," thinks 'the foregoing statement is a truthful one, accordmg- to all the tradi- 
tional evidence we can collect." Dr Lewis Beck's Gazeteer of Illinois and Missouri 
contains the same story, as also Revnold's Pioneer History of Illinois ; and in his Life 
and Times, the latter says : "Fort Massacre was established by the French about the year 
1711, and was also a missionary station It was only a small fortress until the war of 
1755 between the English and French . In 1756 th fort was enlarged and made a respec- 
table fortres , considering the wilderness it was in. It was at this pla e where the 
Christian missionaries instructed the Southern Indians in the gospel precepts, and it 
was here also that the French soldiers made a resolute stand against the enemy." The 
place is also referred to some times as the "old Cherokee Fort." The Letters Edifl- 
antes indicate it to have been a mission and trading post about 1711 In 1800 two com- 
paniesof U. S. troopswere stationed at Fort Massac and a tew families resided in the 
vicinity. In 1855, ^ays Kevnolds, he vistedthe site. The walls of the ruins were 135 
feet square, palisaded with earth between, and with strong bastions at each angle. 
Three or four acres were beautifully graveled with pebbles from the river, on the 
north of the fort, as a parade ground. The site is a beautiful one.] 



Chapter XIII. 

1750-1703— THE CONSPIEACY OF PONTI AC— ATTACK 
UPOX DETEOIT— DESTliUCTIOX OF BEITISH POSTS 
AND SETTLEMENTS. 



It has already beeu stated that the downfall of Quebec was the 
oveithrow of French power in jSTorth America. It was not, 
however, nntil 1760, when the feeble and disheartened garrison of 
Montreal capitulated without resistance, that Canada and its 
dependencies were surrendered to the British. The overthro^v^ of 
French supremacy was now assured, but the recoil of the blow 
Avhich had smitten it down was the cause of another great struggle 
more desolating and widely extended than the first, but ended 
without accomplishing any political results. In the second contest 
the red man became the principal actor and exhibited a degree of 
sagacity and constancy of purpose nerer before witnessed in the 
history of his warfare. The English, to reap the fruits of their 
victory at Quebec, sent Major Eobert Eogers to take possession of 
the outposts on the frontier. He was a native of New Hamp- 
shire, and his startling adventures in the recent colonial struggle 
had made him the model hero of New England fii'esides. As he 
coasted along the southern shore of Lake Erie in the early part of 
November, 1760, on his way to Detroit, it suddenly became cold 
and stormy, and he determined to put ashore and wait the return 
of pleasant weather. A camp was soon formed in the adjacent 
forest, then clothed in the fiiding hues of Autumn, when a number 
of chiefs made their appearance aud announced themselves as an 
embassy from Po]>tiac. The day did not pass away before the 
daring chief himself came to the camp and demanded of Eogers 
his business in the country. The latter replied that he was on his 
way to Detroit to make peace with tlie Avhite men and Indians. 
Pontiac listened with attention and said he would stand in his path 
till morning, and after inquiring if they needed anything which 
his country afforded, vvithdiew. This was Eogers' first interview 
with this Nai)oleou of his race, whose great conspiracy forms the 
subject of this chapter. 

According to tradition, he was of medium height, commanding- 
appearance, and possessed a muscidar frame of great symmetry and 
vigor. His complexion was darker than usual with individuals of 
his race ; his features stern, bold, and ir-regular, and his bearing 
that of a x^erson accustomed to surmount all opposition hj the 
force of an imperious will. He was generally clad in a scanty 
cincture girt about his loins, with his long black hair flowing 
loosely behind, but on public occasions he plumed and painted 

137 



138 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

after the mamier of his tribe. On the following morniug, in com- 
pany with his chiefs, he again visited the camp and told Eogers 
he was willing to be at peace with the English and snfler them to 
remain in his country as long as they treated him and his country- 
men with due deference and justice. Hitherto he had been the 
devoted friend of the French, and the motive which now actuated 
him was apparent. Shrewd, politic, and ambitions, he sagaciously 
concluded that the power of France was declining, and it might be 
best to secure the good will of the English. He hoped by the aid 
of such powerful allies to extend liis influence over the tribes of 
his own race, and flattered himself that they also would treat him 
with the deference which had previously been accorded him by the 
French. Eogers had several interviews with him, and was struck 
with the native vigor of his understanding and the wonderful 
power he exercised over those about him. 

The storm abatuig, Rogers and his men resumed their voyage up 
the lake. A messenger had been sent in advance to notify 
Captain Beletre, the French Comnnmdant at Detroit, that Canada 
had surrendered, and that an English force was on its way to 
relieve him. This oflicer was greatly incensed at the reception of 
the news ; treated it as an informal communication, and stirred up 
the Indians to resist the advance of Eogers. When, therefore, the 
latter arrived at the mouth of the Detroit, and was about to ascend 
it, he found four hundred Indian warriors ready to dispute his 
further progress. Pontiac however, whose vigilance was ever on 
the alert, interposed in behalf of his new friends, and they were 
permitted to reach Detroit without further opposition. Eogers 
immediately took possession of the fort, and the French garrison 
defiled out on the plain and laid down tlieir arms. As the French 
colors were lowered from the flagstaff, and those of England 
hoisted aloft, the spectacle was greeted by the yells of 700 Indian 
warriors. The Canadian militia Avere next disarmed, and the 
Indians, unable to comprehend why so many should submit to so 
few, regarded with astonishment what they (considered as obse- 
quious conduct on the part of their recent allies. Nothing is so 
effective in winning the respect of savages as an exhibition of 
power, and hence the Indians formed the most exalted conceptions 
of English prowess, but were greatly surprised at their sparing the 
Lives of the vanquished. 

Thus, on the 29th of November, 1760, Detroit passed into the 
hands of the English. The French garrison was sent prisoners 
down the lake, while the Canadian residents were suffered to retain 
their houses and lands on the condition of tbeir swearing allegi- 
ance to the government. Officers were sent to the southwest to 
take possession of Forts Miami and Watannon,* the first situated 
on the head waters of the Maumee, and the latter on the Wabash 
not far from the site of the present town of Lafayette. Eogers 
next started to relieve the forts on the upper lakes, but was i)re- 
vented by the gathering ice and storms of Lake Huron. The 
following season, however, the forts at the head of Green Bay and 
the mouth of the St. Joseph, and those on the straits of St. Mary 
and Mackinaw, were garrisoned by small detachments of English 
troops. The flag of France still waved over the plains of Illinois, 

•Quiatenon. 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 139 

which was not included in the stij)ulations entered into at 
Montreal. 

The country had not long- been in the possession of England 
before a wide-spread feeling of dissatisfaction i>ervaded its inhab- 
itants. The French element of the population, having their national 
hate of the English intensified by years of disastrous warfare, left 
their homes in Canada and settled in Illinois. Here they contin- 
ued to cherish their animosity, and whenever an opportunity offered, 
were ever ready to embrace any scheme that might injure the 
objects of their ill will. In common with their brethren of Illinois, 
they still hoped that Canada might be restored to France, and no 
effort was spared by either to bring about this much desired result. 
Canada was powerless, yet Illinois, her intimate neighbor and 
sympathizer, was still an untrammeled province of France, and now 
became the depot of supplies and the centre of French intrigues, all 
looking forward to the consummation of this object. The Indians, 
whose good will they had long since won by a conciliatory policy 
they found ready instruments for the execution of their designs. 
Accordingly, swarms of French traders and Canadian refugees 
issued from the head-waters of the Illinois and other jjoints of 
egress, and spreading over the conquered territory, held councils 
with the Indians in the secret places of the forests. At these 
secluded meetings they lu'ged the excited savages to take up arms 
against the English, who they declared were endeavoring to compass 
their destruction by liedgingthem in with forts and settlements on 
one hand, and stirring up the Cherokees to attack them on the other. 
To give effect to these fabrications, they added more potent incen- 
tives of guns, ammunition and clothing, which the English had 
refused to grant them. These, long furnished by France, had now 
become a necessity, but England had incurred heavy exi)enses in 
the recent war, and it became necessary for her either to withhold 
or deal them out with scanty and reluctant hantls. Want, suffer- 
ing, and in some instances death, was the result which, without the 
aid of French machinations, was sufficient to make them dislike 
the English. Formerly, under the mild sway of France, when the 
chiefs visited the forts they were received with the greatest polite- 
ness and hospitality by the officers, and the petty annoyances of 
their men were disregarded. Now, when in their intrusive man- 
ner they came about the posts, they heard only words of reproach 
and abrupt orders to depart, frequently enforced by blows from 
ruffian soldiers. The intercourse of French traders had always 
been courteous and respectful, while those of the English treated 
them as inferiors, frequently outraged their families, and in various 
ways gave them an unfavorable opinion of the nation which now 
laid claim to their country. 

Under these circumstances Pontiac, although he had wavered in 
his allegiance to the French so far as to permit Kogers to occupy 
the fort at Detroit, began to feel his partiality for his old friends 
returning. The Sacs, his native tribe,* under the immediate influ- 
ence of the Illinois French, were among the first to espouse their 
cause, and it may safely be assumed that if he was not iustrumen- 



•In the Hist. Col. of Miiss.,2nd series, the report of Morse, 1822, on the Sac and Fox 
wars against the Illinois, and the lifeof Teeumseh, he is spoken of as a Sac. Several tribes 
were ambitious to claim his lineage. His residence among the Ottawasmay have been 
due to his partiality for their reputation as warriors. 



140 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tal in bringing about the result, he was not long in following their 
example. By his own inherent powers and assistance obtained 
from the French, he had become the acknowledged head of the 
tribes of Illinois, and the nations dwelling in theregion of the great 
lakes and the Upper Mississippi. Says Captain Morris, Avho was 
sent West by General Gage to conciliate the tribes of Illinois: 
" This chief ' has a more exteusiTe power than was ever known 
among the Indians, for every chief used to command his own 
tribe,"but 18 nations by French intrigue have been brought to 
unite and choose him as their commander." Thus the liame kin- 
dled in Illinois, and finding material in many other localities upon 
the eve of ignition, as we shall see, spread farther and wider, imtil 
all British America became involved in the fiery ordeal of war. 
Operated upon by sofnany causes of irritation and apprehension, it 
was impossible for a people so excitable as tlie Indians to long 
remain quiet. Accordingly, as early as 1761, Maj. Campbell, then in 
command of Detroit, received intimations that they meditated an 
attackuponliis fort, and upon further inquiry learned that there was 
to be a general uorisiug of all the tribes from Illinois to Nova Scotia, 
and that Forts Pitt and Niagar/t were also to be attacked. Intelli- 
gence of this discovery was immediately transmitted to the com- 
manders of the threatened points, and the calamity averted. This 
and anotlier smn.ar p/ot detected and suppressed the following sum- 
mer, were only the precursors of the coming storm that swept the 
whole country as with the besom of destruction. A plot was next 
conceived in the scheming brain of Pontiac to attack all the Eng- 
lish forts on the same day, and after having massacred their 
unsuspecting garrisons, to turn ui)on the defenceless settlements 
and continue the work of death until the entire English popula- 
tion, as the Indians fondly hoped and expected, should be driven 
into the sea. For comi)rehensiveness of design and successful 
execution, no similar conspiracy can be fouiul in the amials of 
Indian warfare. 

Pontiac was now 50 years of age and brought to the contest a 
judgment matured by the past experience of his adventurous life. 
Before the breaking out of the French war, he had saved Detroit 
from the overwhelming attack of some discontented tribes of the 
North. During the war he fought valiantly for France, and is said 
to have commanded the Ottawas at the defeat ofBraddock and 
materially contributed to his overthrow. For his devotion, and 
coiu'age, he was presented with a full French uniform by the Mar- 
quis Montcalm, only a short time before the famous battle on the 
■Plains of Abraham. After the defeat of the French and the arrival 
of liogers, as previously intimated, he manifested a desire to culti- 
vate the friendship of the conquerors, but was greatly disappointed 
in the advantages he expected to derive from their influence. His 
sagacions mind discovered in the altered posture of affairs the great 
danger which threatened his race. The equilibrium hitherto 
subsisting between the French and English, gave the Indians the 
balance of power, and both x)arties were compelled to some extent 
to respect their rights. Under English domination their import- 
ance as allies was gone and their doom already sealed, unless they 
could re-establish the power of the French and use it as a check to 
the encroachments of the English. Filled with this idea and hred 
by patriotism and ambition, he now sent embassadors to the nations 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 141 

of tlie upper lakes, to those ou the Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio, 
and as far southward as the Gulf of Mexico. His emissaries, bear- 
ing the war belt and bloody hatchet as emblems of their mission, 
passed from tribe to tribe, and everj' where the dusky denizens of 
the forest eagerly assembled to hear the words of the great war 
chief. The principal of the embassy, holding aloft the emblems of 
war, with violent gesticulations delivered the fiery message pre- 
viously i)repared by Poutiac for this puri^ose. The attending chiefs 
and warriors, moved by these impassioned api)eals, pledged them- 
selves to assist in the war, and the fervor thus excited rapidly 
spread till the whole Algonquin race was aglow with enthusiasm. 

The attack was to be made in May, 17G3, only one mouth after 
the treaty of Paris, bj^ which Illiuois and all the vast possessions 
of France, east of the Mississippi, passed under the dominion of 
Great Britain. This event was one of the three important steps 
by which Illiuois passed from a French province to its present 
position as a member of the American republic, the first being 
foreshadowed in the triumph of Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, 
the second in the conquests of Clark, and the last in the battle of 
Yorktown. In accordance with the requirements of the cession, 
the posts of southern Louisiana were surrendered to British garri- 
sons. In Illinois, owing to the impenetrable barrier of hostile 
savages which surrounded it, this was impossible, and the French 
officers were empowered by Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the British Com- 
mauder-in-chief, to retain theu- positions till this difficulty could be 
overcome. In the exercise of this trust they betrayed the confi- 
dence reposed in them by furnishing the Indians Avith large suj)- 
l)lies of guns and ammunition, and for a long time concealed the 
transfer which had been made, lest the knowledge of it might 
cause the Indians to relax theu' efforts in the prosecution of the 
war. But for this neglect of duty, the war which followed might 
have been either averted or its vkulent character greatly modified. 
The king, in parceling out his newly acquu-ed domain among the 
colonists, retained the valley of the Ohio and the region adjacent 
as a reservation for the Indians. The timely publication of his 
order in this respect would have prevented the intrusion of the 
settlers upon these lands, and thus have removed a principal cause 
of irritation among the Indians dwelhng along the English 
frontiers. But while the benevolent intentions of the king slum- 
bered in the breasts of unfaithful stewards, the forests were alive 
with preparations for strife and carnage. Indian maidens were 
chanting the war soug; magicians were retiring to the gloom of 
rocky defiles and caverns to fast and learji the will of the Great 
Spirit in the coming struggle, while in the glare proceeding from 
hundreds of nightly camp fires, chiefs and warriors were enacting 
the savage pantomime of battle. 

The war Like spirit of the Indians gave great satisfaction to the 
French inhabitants of lUinois, who had so unwillingly been made 
subjects of Britain. To impart additional life to their prepara- 
tions, they declared that the King of France had of late years fallen 
asleep, and during his slumbers the English had taken possession 
of Canada, but that now he was awake again and his armies were 
advancing up the St. Lawrence and Mississippi, to drive out the 
intruders from the homes of his red childi'en. 



142 HTSTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

In accordance witli the arrangement of Pontiac, the diiferent 
posts were to be attacked on the same day by the adjacent Indians. 
The arch conspirator himself with some of his tribes lived in the 
vicinity of Detroit, and that point soon became the focns of the 
bloody struggle. To institute preliminary arrangements, a place 
of rendezvous was selected on tlie river below the town, and mes- 
sengers sent to siimmon the tribes to meet him in council. In 
obedience to the call straggling bands of Ottawas, Wyandots, 
Chippewas, and Potawatamies, of all ages, sexes and conditions, 
for several days were seen emerging from the forests. Squaws 
accompanied by swarms of naked childreii, came to attend to the 
domestic arrangements of the camps ; youthful gallants attended 
by maidens, bedecked with feathers and ruddy with paint, were 
present looking love at each other and enjoying the social amuse- 
ments of savage life. But the most important personages were 
stalwart warriors, who, while waiting the arrival of tardy delega- 
gations, lounged the lazy hoiu"s away in feasting and gambling. 
At length, on the 27th of April, the last stragglers had arrived, 
when, variously costumed and armed after the manner of theii 
respective tribes, they seated themselves in circles on the ground. 
Pontiac immediately appeared in their midst and with impas.sioned 
voice commenced his address. Contrasting the English with the 
French, he declared the former had treated himself with contemi)t 
and his countrymen with injustice and violence. Presenting a 
broad belt of wampum, he informed his wild auditors that he had 
received it from the great father, the King of France, who had 
heard the voice of his red children ; had arisen from his sleep and 
was sending his great war canoes up the St. Lawrence and the 
Mississipi>i to wreak vengeance on his enemies, and that the French 
and their red brethren woidd again light side by side as when 
many moons since they destroyed the army of their enemies on 
the banks of the Monongahela. Having awakened in his hearers 
their native passion for war and blood, he next appealed to their 
superstitions, by relating a legend composed by one of their magi- 
cians, which enjoined upon them as a duty to drive the "dogs that 
wear red clothing into the sea," and made known to them the best 
method of doing it. In conclusion he told them that the work 
must commence at Detroit ; that he would gain admittance to the 
fort, and having thus learned the situation and strength of the 
garrison, at another council he would explain to them the plan of 
attack. 

The object of the convocation was now consummated, and long- 
before the morning sun broke through the mists that hung over 
the river, the savage multitude had disappeared in the gloomy re- 
cesses of the forest. Nothing remained to tell of the night's 
carousals and intrigues but the smouldering embers of camp lires 
and the slender frames of several hundred Indian lodges. Pontiac, 
impatient for the execution of his design as previously announced, 
advanced with 40 warriors, and presenting himself at the gate of 
the fort asked permission to dance before the officers of the 
garrison. After some hesitation permission was granted, and he 
and 30 of his men filed up to the residence of Major Gladwyn, 
then in command of the fort. The dance was commenced, and 
while the officers and men gathered round to witness the i)erform- 
ance the remaining 10 Indians strolled about the premises to make 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 143 

observations. When the different parts of the fort had been ex- 
amined the 40 retired, without causing the slightest suspicion as to 
the object ^rhicli induced tlie visit. Messengers were again sent 
to summon the chiefs to meet in the village of the Potawatimies. 
Here a hundred wily consj)irators seated themselves in the 
council liall of the town to perfect in the darkness of night the 
black scheme they had concocted for the destruction of the fort. 
Fitful flashes from the fire in the centre of the room fell upon 
features stolid and immovable as if cast in iron, despite the fierce 
passions that rankled in the breasts beneath them. As Pontiac in 
an exciting harangue reiterated the wrongs they had sustained at 
the hands of the English, and made known his i^lan of attack, 
deep guttural expressions of approval rose from his statue-like 
aiulience. Under pretense of holding a council he proposed 
to obtain admittance to the fort for himself and principal chiefs, 
and while in conference with the officers, with concealed weapons 
they would put them to death. Meanwhile the Indians loitering 
about the palisade were to rush on the unsuspecting garrison and 
inflict on them a similar fate. 

Detroit, now threatened with destruction, was founded in 1701 
by La Motte Cadilac, who subsequently became the Governor-Gen- 
eral of Louisiana and the partner of Crozat. Eogers, who visited 
it at the close of the French war, estimated its population and that 
of the adjacent settlements at 2500 souls. The fort which sur- 
rounded the town was a palisade 25 feet high, furnished with 
bastions at the four angles and block-houses over the gate ways. 
On the same side of the river, and a little below the fort, was the 
village of the Potawatamies ; southeasterly, on the other side, 
was that of the Wyandots, while on the same bank, 5 miles above, 
Avas the town of the Ottawas. The river, about half a mile in 
width opijosite the fort, flowed through a landscape of unrivaled 
beauty. In its pure waters were glassed the outlines of the noble 
forests that grew on its banks. Farther back white Canadian 
cottages looked cosil;\' out of the dark green foliage, while in the 
distance Indian wigwams sent up wreathy columns of smoke high 
in the transparent northern atmosphere. Pontiac, the master 
spirit of this sylvan paradise, dwelt on an island at the outlet of 
Lake St. Clair, and like Satan of old revolved in his powerful mind 
schemes for marring its beauty and innocence. Though he was 
friendly to the French they seemed to apprehend some coming 
disaster. The October jireceding the outbreak dark clouds gath- 
ered over the town and settlement, and drops of rain fell of a 
strong sulphurous odor, and so black the people are said to have 
collected and used them for ink. Many of the simple Canadians, 
refusing to accept a scientific explanation of the phenomenon, 
thought it was the i^recursor of some great calamity. 

Although breathing out vengeance and slaughter against the 
English, the designs of the chief were to be defeated. According 
to local tradition, on the afternoon of the 6th of May, the day pre- 
ceding the intended assault, intelligence of the conspiracy was 
communicated to Gladwyn by a beautiful Chippewa girl, who had 
formed for him an attachment and wished to save his life. Osten 
sibly she visited the fort to deliver a pair of ornamental moccasins 
which he had requested her to make. After delivering them, she was 
seen, late in the afternoon, lingering about the fort, with a dejected 



144 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

comitenance. Gladwyn himself at lengtli noticed lier altered man- 
uei", and asked the cause of her trouble. When assured that she 
wouldnot be betrayed, sbe stated that on thefolloAvingday, Poutiac 
and 60 chiefs, with guns concealed under their blankets, would visit 
the fort to hold a council, and that after he had presented a i^eace 
belt in a reversed position as a signal for attack, the chiefs were to 
shoot do^Ti the ofiicers, and their men in the streets were to murder 
the garrison. Gladwyn immediately communicated what he had 
heard to the garrison, and preparations were commenced to avert 
the threatened calamity. Lest some wild impulse should precip- 
itate an attack before morning, half the garrison was ordered 
under arms, the number of seutinels doubled, and the officers 
arranged to spend the night on the rami)arts. In the immediate 
vicinity of the fort there was quiet, but the winds that swex)t 
across the river bore to the listening sentinels the distant boom 
of Indian drums, andthe wdd yells of savages performing the war 
dance. The following morning, when the mist had disapi^eared 
a fleet of canoes was seen moving across the river, filled 
with savages mostly in a recumbent position, lest if seen 
their numbers might excite suspicions. Presently groups of tall 
Avarriors wrapt in blankets up to their throats were seen stalking 
across the common toward the fort. Tbese were all admitted, for 
not only the garrison but the whole popidation of fur traders were 
armed, and Gladwyn defied their treachery. It is said that as 
Pontiac entered, he involuntarily uttered an exclamation of 
surprise and disappointment. Eecovering from his consternation, 
he started in the direction of the council house, followed by his 
chiefs, who, notAvithstanding their usual stoicism, cast uneasy 
glances at the ranks of glittering steel on each side of their path- 
way. Passing into the hall they found the officers fully armed and 
waiting to receive them. Pontiac, obser^ang with suspicion their 
swords and pistols, asked Gladwyn why so many of his young men 
were in the attitude of war. The latter, with the dissimulation 
which his adversary was practicing, replied that he had ordered 
his soldiers under arms for the purpose of exercise and discipline. 
With evident distrust the chiefs at length sat down on mats pro- 
vided for their accommodation, Avhile Pontiac commenced speaking, 
holding in his hand the wampum which was to be the signal of 
attack. Though it was thought he would hardly attempt to carry 
out his design under present circumstances, yet during the 
delivery of his speech he was subjected to the most rigid scrutiny 
by the officers. Once, it is said, he was about to give the signal, 
when Gladwyn by a slight movement of the hand made it known 
to the attending soldiers, and instantly the drum beat a charge 
and the clash of arms was heard in the passage leading to the 
room. Pontiac, confounded at these demonstrations, and seeing 
the stern eye of Gladwyn fastened upon him, in great perplexity 
took his seat. Gladwyn, in a brief reply, assured him that the 
friendly protection of the English Avould be extended to his people 
as long as they deserved it, but threatened the most condign pun- 
ishment for the first act of aggression. The council now broke n]i ; 
the gates were thrown open, and the Indians departed. It has 
been a query why the chiefs were not detained as hostages, but 
the full extent of their intrigues was unknown. The whole affair 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 145 

was regarded as a paroxysmal outbreak wLich would soon termi- 
nate if an oi)en rupture could be avoided. 

Poiitiac, foiled in his attempt against the fort, was enraged and 
mortified, but not discouraged. He considered his escape from 
the fort as evidence that his designs were not fully known., and 
on the following morning returned with three companions and 
endeavored to remove the suspicions which he had excited. Imme- 
diately after his interview with Gladwyn, howe^'er, he repaired to 
the village of the Pota^^'atanlies and commenced consulting with 
their chiefs in regard to another attempt against the fort. As the 
result, on the 9th of May, the common behindthe fort was crowded 
with savages, and their chief, advancing to the gate, asked that 
he and his warriors might be admitted and enjoy with the garrison 
the fragxance of the friendly calumet. Gladwyn concisely but 
uncourteously replied, that "he might enter, but his rabble must 
remain without." Thus circumvented, he became livid with hate 
and defiance, and stalked off in the direction of his warriors, 
large numbers of whom were prostrate on the ground, and sud- 
denly rising up, the plain, as if by magic, seemed alive with yelping- 
creatures part man, part Avolf, and part devil, Avho rushed uj)ou 
some English inhabitants outside of the fort and put them to death. 
Pontiac, taking no j)art in the brutal butcheries of his men, imme- 
diately leaped into a canoe, and with a speed commensurate with 
his rage and disappointment, forced his way up the river to the 
village of the Ottawas. Bounding ashore and pointing across the 
water, with imperious voice he ordered the entire population to 
move to the opposite side, that the river might no longer interpose 
a barrier between him and his enemy. At night-fall he leaped 
into the central area of the village, and brandishing his tomahawk, 
commenced the war dance. As warrior after warrior straggled in 
from the day's carnage, they fell into the ring, and circling round 
and round, made the night hideous with unearthly yells. Long- 
however before morning the tribe was on the opi^osite side of the 
river and pitched their camp above the mouth of the small stream 
known as Bloody Eun, from the tragedy which was shortly after- 
ward enacted on its banks. In the early twilight of morning, 
with terrific yells, they bounded naked over the fields and com- 
menced firing on the fort. Large numbers secured a position 
behind a low hill, and soon its summit became wreathed with 
l>uffs of white smoke from their rapidly discharging guns. Others 
gathered in the rear of some out-buildings, but a cannon, charged 
with red-hot missiles was immediately brought to bear on the dry 
material, which, becoming wrax)t in tiames, soon caused the con- 
cealed savages to retreat with precipitation. For six hours the 
attack was unabated, but as the day wore away the fire slackened, 
and at last only a gun could be heard now and then in the direction 
of the reth-ingfoe. 

After this discomfiture, Pontiac augmented his forces, and, on 
the 12th of May, renewed the attack. Day after day the fighting- 
was continued, till the rattle of bullets on the palisade and the 
discordant yells of savages became familiar sounds to the garrison 
within. Stealthy warriors wormed their way through the tall 
grass, and crouching behind some sheltering object, shot arrows 
tipped with burning tow u])on the houses within the fort. These 
efforts, however, proved abortive. Cisterns were dug inside to 
10 



140 HISTORY OF ILLmOlS. 



qneiicli the liames aucl sorties outside were made from time to time 
till all tlie adjacent orchards, fences and buildings, were leveled 
to the ground, and no screen was left to conceal a lurking foe. 

The Indians, expecting to take the fort at a single blow, had 
failed to provide for a protracted siege. Their numbers daily 
augmenting by the arrival of straggling bands of wairiors from 
Illinois and other parts of the West and South, the question of 
food soon became an important consideration. To obtain it they 
had already irritated the Canadian farmers by committing depre- 
dations upon their stock, and a delegation of their head men called 
on Pontiac to remonstrate against these outrages. He admitted 
the truth of the allegations, expressed regret for the injuries they 
had sustained, and at once instituted means for obtaining supplies 
without their repetition in the future. He visited the different 
Canadian families, making a careful estimate of their provisions, 
levied upon each a proportionate amonnt for the sustenance of the 
assembled tribes, now nuinbering nearly 1,000 warriors and more 
than 2,000 women and children. The levies thus made were 
brought into camp, and a commissary appointed to ju'event the 
excessive eating and waste which the savage always practices 
when unrestricted in his access to food. Pontiac, being unable to 
make immediate compensation, gave promissory notes, drawn on 
birch bark and signed with the figure of an otter, the totem of 
his family. To his credit it is said these were all afterward hon- 
orably x>aid. This approach to the usages of civilized life was 
doubtless suggested by some of his Canadian allies, yet his ready 
adoption of them indicates a sagacity which is without a parallel 
in the history of his race. In the prosecution of the siege he also 
endeavored to obtain from the Canadians the method of nuiking 
approaches to a fort as j^racticed in civilized warfare. Likewise, 
to aid his undisciplined warriors, he sent embassadors to M. JSTeyon, 
the commandant of Fort Chartres, for regidar soldiers. This 
otficer had no soldiers at his disposal, but abundantly furnished 
munitions in their stead. Says Sir William Johnson, Superin- 
tendent of Indian affairs : 

"lb now appears from the very best authorities, and can be proven by the 
oaths of several respectable persons, prisoners among the Indians of Illinois, 
and from the account of the Indians themselves, that not only many French 
traders, but also the French officers, went among the Indians, as they said, fully 
autliorized to assure them that the French King was determined to support 
them to the utmost, and not only invited them to visit Illinois, where they 
Were plentifully supplied with ammunition and other necessaries, but also 
sent several canoe loads at different times up the Illinois river to the, Miamis, 
as well as up tlie Ohio to the Shawuees and Delawares." 

Thus, while Detroit was the scene of the principal outbreak of 
the war, Illinois more largely than any other place furnished the 
means to i^ut it in motion and keep it alive. But while other 
localities were bleeding and sore from the vengeful thrusts of the 
strife, the lUinois Frenchmen, caressed and protected by savage 
admirers, hunted and fished as usual in the peaceful forests and 
gentle rivers of his western paradise. 

As the perils were thickening around Detroit, there came vague 
rumors from time to time of settlements destroyed, forts attacked 
and garrisons butchered. These tlyingrei)orts were soon followed 
by definite information that, with the exception of Detroit, aU the 
posts scattered at wide intervals throughout the vast forests west 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIEACY. 147 

of Forts Pitt and Niagara, liad fallen into the hands of the enemy. 
The first reliable evidence of this kind was the appearance of a 
party of warriors in the rear of Detroit, bearing aloft a number of 
scalps taken from victims they had slain in the capture of Fort 
Sandusky. Ensign Paully, in command of the fort at the time, 
and subsequently adoj)ted by one of the tribes near Detroit, wrote 
to Gladwyn, giving an account of the capture. Seven Indians 
called at the fort, and being intimately acquainted with the garri- 
son, were readily admitted. Two of the party seated themselves 
on each side of Paully, and after lighting their pipes, with feigned 
indiiference commenced a conversation, during which they sud- 
denly seized and disarmed him. Simultaneously a discordant din of 
yells and the clashing of arms was heard without, and when Paully 
afterward was taken from the room by his captors, he beheld the 
parade ground strewn with the mangled bodies of his men. At 
night he was conducted to the lake in the light of the burning fort 
and started over its still waters for Detroit. 

On the 15th of June, a number of Potawatamies arrived with 
some prisoners, who proved to be Ensign Schlosser, the comman- 
der of Fort St. Joseph,* and three of his private soldiers. Tlieir 
captors had come to exchange them for some of their own men, 
who for some time had been retained as prisoners in the fort. 
After this was effected, the Englishmen related the story of their 
capture. Early in the morning preceding the attack, the neigh- 
borhood of the fort was enlivened by the appearance of a large 
number of Potawatamies. who stated that they had come to visit 
their relations residing on the river St. Joseph. Hardly had the 
commandant time to suspect danger when he was informed that 
the fort was surrounded by hundreds of Indians, evidently intend- 
ing to make an assault. Schlosser hastened to get his men under 
arms, but before this could be effected an attack was made, and 
in a few minutes the fort was plundered and all its garrison slain, 
except himself and the prisoners mentioned. 

Only three days later a Jesuit priest arrived at Detroit, bringing 
with him a letter from Captain Etherington detailing the capture 
of the fort at Mackinaw, of which he was commander. For several 
successive days the Chippewas had been assembling on a plain 
near the fort and playing games of ball. Finally, on the 14th of 
June, while engaged at this pastime, the ball was intentionally 
thrown near the fort, and the Indians, rushing up as if to get it, 
seized Captain Etherington and Lieut. Lesley standing near the 
gate, and hurried them off to the woods. At the same time, another 
party rushed into the fort, and with hatchets furnished bj' their 
squaws, who had previously entered with them, concealed under 
their blankets, slew 15 of the garrison, while the remainder and 
all the English fm' traders were made prisoners. 

The next disaster of this kind was the loss of Fort Watannon, 
A letter was received from Lieut. Jenkins, the commanding officer, 
informing Gladwyn that on the 1st of June he and several of his 
men were seized by strategy, and the rest of the garrison, being 
without a leader, surrendered. The Indians afterward apologized 
for their conduct by declaring the attack was not the result of their 
own inclinations but due to the pressure which had been brought 

"Originally Miami. 



148 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS 

to bear on them by surrouuding tribes. This plea may have been 
true, for they were farther removed from English iulluence thau 
most of the other tribes and hence more pacific. 

Fort Miami, on the Maumee, in command of Ensign Holmes, 
added another to the list of captured forts. Though this officer 
had detected and circumvented a previous attempt against the 
fort, his cunning adversaries at length triumjjhed over his vigi- 
lance. On the 27th of May an Indian girl, who was living with 
him, told him that a squaw lay sick in a neighboring wigwam, and 
desired him to administer medical relief. Placiug the utmost con- 
fidence in the girl, he followed her till they came in sight of a 
number of lodges, when she pointed out to him the one containing 
the invahd and withdrew. Holmes, unsuspicious of danger, con- 
tinued on his errand of mercy till as he neared the wigwam two 
guns Hashed from behind it, and his lifeless body fell prostrate on 
the ground. Exultant yells of savages followed the report of the 
guns, and a Canadian soon came to the fort and demanded its 
surrender, informing the garrison that their lives would be spared 
if they complied, but in case of refusal their claims to mercy would 
be forfeited. Taken by surprise, and without a commander to 
direct them, they threw open the gates and gave themselves up as 
prisoners. • 

With the previous disasters fresh in the minds of the beleagueied 
garrison at Detroit, on the 22d of June, then' attention was 
attracted to the opposite side of the river where they saw the sav- 
ages conducting Ensign Christie, the commandant of Presque Isle, 
and the prisoners, to the camp of Pontiac. Christie afterward 
escaped and related the particulars of the siege and surrender of 
his post, situated near the present town of Erie on the southern 
shore of the lake after which it was named. On the 15th of June 
it was smrounded by 200 Indians, and the garrison immediately 
retired to the blockhouse, the most imj)regnable part of the forti- 
fications. The savages, sheltered in a ravine, close by, sent volleys 
of bullets at the port holes and burning balls of pitch upon the 
roof and against the sides of the building. Eepeatedly it took 
fii'e, and finally the barrels of water which had been provided for 
extinguishing the flames were all exhausted. There was a well in 
the parade ground, but it was instant death to approach it, and 
they were compelled to dig another in the blockhouse. Meanwhile 
the enemy had made a subterranean passage to the house of the 
commandant and set it on fire, and the walls of the blockhouse 
near by were soon wrapt in a sheet of flame. The well was now 
complete and the fire subdued, but the men were almost suftbcated 
by heat and smoke. While in this condition they learned that 
another more eflectual attempt would soon be made to burn them, 
and at the instance of the enemy they agreed to capitulate. 
Parties met for this purpose, and after stipulating that the garri- 
son should march out and retire immolested to the nearest post, 
the little fortress which had been defended with so much valor was 
siuTcndered. Notwithstanding the terms agreed upon, a part of 
the men were taken as prisoners to the camp of Pontiac, and pai-t 
bedecked as warriors were adopted by the different tribes of the 
conquerors. 

The destruction of Laboeuf and Venango, on the head waters 
of the Alleghany, closes the black catalogue of captured posts. 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 149 

On the 18th of June, a large number of Indians surrounded the 
former, the only available defence of which Avas a block-house. 
Fire arrows were showered upon it, and by midnight, the upper 
story was wrapt in flames. The assailants gathered in front and 
eagerly watched for the inmates to rush out of the burning build- 
ing, that they might shoot them. In the meantime, however, they 
hewed an opening through the rear wall, and passing out unper- 
ceived, left the savages exulting in the thought that they were 
perishing in the flames. But from Venango, destroyed about the 
same time, not a single person escaped or was left alive to tell of 
their fate. Not long afterward it was learned from Indians who 
witnessed its destruction, that a party of warriors entered it under 
the pretext of friendship, and closing the gates behind them, 
butchered all the garrison except the principal officer, whom they 
tortured over a slow fire several successive nights tiU life was ex- 
tinct. Forts Pitt and Niagara were also attacked, but like that 
of Detroit, their garrisons proved too strong for the savage assail- 
ants who sought their destruction. 

But the destruction of life and property in the forts was only a 
fraction of the losses. The storm of savage vengeance fell with 
appalling fury on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, and Penn- 
sylvania, and for hundreds of miles north and south they became 
a continuous theatre of rapine, slaughters, and burnings, without 
a parallel in all past and succeeding years. Bands of infuriated 
savages skulking in the forests, suddenly bounded forth from their 
lurldng places and surrounded the unprotected homes of settlers. 
The startled inmates were scarcely aware of danger before they 
became the victims of the most ferocious butcheries. Mothers 
were comjielled to stand by and witness the brains of their help- 
less innocents dashed out against the walls of their dwelUngs ; 
daughters were carried away into captivity to become the wives of 
their savage captors, while fathers and sons were bound to trees 
and roasted over slow-burning fires to protract and intensify their 
sufferings. Whole settlements in the valley retreats of the Alleg- 
hanies, where a prolific soil and industry were rapidly multiplying 
the necessaries of life, were entirely depopulated. Fields ripen- 
ing for harvest were laid waste ; herds of domestic animals, like 
their owners, were killed; dwellings were burnt to the ground, and 
where plenty and happiness had once lived together in peace, there 
was now only desolation and death. Thousands of fugitives fled 
to the interior towns and made known the fearful tragedies they 
had witnessed, and such had been the deep dissimulation of the 
savages, the story of their butcheries preceded even the faintest 
suspicions of danger. 



Chapter XIV. 

SIEGE OF DETROIT— PONTIAC RALLIES THE WESTERN 
TRIBES— HIS SUBMISSION AND DEATH. 



Detroit was still the head of savage machinations and the home 
of the arch conspirator, who, with the complacency of a Nero, 
looked ronnd on the constantly widening circle of ruin and death. 
The garrison of which he had the immediate custody was contined, 
as if in a vice, to the narrow confines of the fort. The attempt of 
Gyler to reinforce it, terminated in the defeat and death of some 
60 of his men. Most of the unfortunates taken alive were carried 
to the camp of Pontiac, where some were pierced with arrows, some 
had their hands and feet cut oft", while others were fastened to 
trees and children employed to roast them alive. For several days 
after death had ended their suft'erings, their bodies were seen float- 
ing down the river by the fort, still ghastly with the brutal atro- 
cities which had caused then- death. No expedient was left untried 
which might injure the besieged. Huge fire rafts were set afloat 
down the river to burn two small schooners opposite the fort. On 
one occasion a faint light was descried on the river above, which 
grew larger and brighter as it descended the stream. Presently 
it loomed up in a violent conflagration, and, fortunately passing 
between the vessels and the fort, revealed with the light of day 
the tracery of cordage and spars on one side, and the long line of pal- 
isades on the other. The distant outlines of the forest and a dark 
multitude of savages were plainly visible on the opposite side of 
the stream, the latter watching the eft'ects of their artifice as the 
crackling, glimmering mass floated down with the current of the 
waters, in which its fires were finally quenched. Though all the 
arts of savage warfare were employed to i^revent the reinforce- 
ment of the fort, it was at length accomplished, and an assault 
made on the camp of Pontiac. In this fierce conflict, which rose 
to the dignity of a pitched battle, the English were defeated with 
a heavy loss, and compelled to retire to the fort for safety. 

Attracted by this success, large numbers of warriors flocked to 
the standard of Pontiac, and the spirit of his men, pre\aously begin- 
ning to flag, was revived and the siege prosecuted with unexam- 
pled vigor till the last of September. The Indian is naturally 
fickle and impulsive, and perhaps the history of his race does not 
furnish another instance of such jsrotracted eftbrt and constancy 
as this. Their remarkable perseverance must, no doubt, be attrib- 
uted to their intense hatred of the English, the hope of assistance 
from France, and the controlling influence of Pontiac. Their ammu- 
nition, however, was now exhausted, aud as intelligence had been 
received that Major Wilkins, with a large force, was on his way to 

150 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 151 

Detroit, many of them were inclined to sue for peace. Tbey feared 
the iuiiiiediate consequences of an attack, and proposed by lulling 
the English into security, to retire unmolested to their winter hunt- • 
iug ground an<l renew offensive operations in the spring. A chief of 
the Chippewas, therefore, visited the fort and informed Gladwyn that 
the Potawatamies, Wyandots and his own people were sorry for 
what they had done, and desired thereafter to live in peace. The 
English officer well knew the emptiness of their pretensions, but 
granted their request that he might have an opportunity of replen- 
ishing the fort with provisions. The Ottawas, animated by the 
unconquerable spirit of Pontiac, continued a desultory warfare till 
the first of October, when an unexpected blow was dealt the imper- 
ious chief, and he, too, retii'ed from the contest. 

General Amherst, now aware that the occupation of the forts in 
Illinois by French garrisons greatly served to protract and inten- 
sify the war, would fain have removed them, but still found it 
ijnpossible to break through the cordon of savage tribes which gk't 
it about. Pontiac had derived thence not only moral sui>port, but 
large suj)plies of guns and ammunition,* and the only remedy of 
the British general was to write to M. Neyou de Villiers, instruct- 
ing him to make known to the Indians their altered relations under 
the treaty bj" which the country had been transferred to England. 
This officer, with evident reluctance and bad grace, was now com- 
j)elled to make known what he had long" concealed, and accordingly 
wrote to Pontiac that ^'he could not expect any assistance from the 
French ; that they and the EngUsh were now at peace and regarded 
•each other as brothers, and that the Indians should abandon their 
hostilities, which could lead to no good result. " The chieftain, 
enraged and mortified at having his long cherished hope of assist- 
ance dashed to the ground, with a number of his countrymen 
■immediately departed for the country of the Maumee, intending 
to stir up its inhabitants and renew the contest the ensuing spring. 
With his withdrawal, Detroit lost its signfficance in the war, 
and its leader was to return no more except as an interceder for 
peace. 

The winter of 1763-4passedaway without the occurrence of any 
event of special interest. The ensuing summer two expeditions 
were fitted out by the English ; one intended to operate against 
the savages residing on the great lakes, and the other for the 
reduction of those living in the valley of the Ohio. Bouquet hav- 
ing charge of the latter, advanced from Fort Pitt, and encounter- 
ing the warlike Shawnees and Delawares on the banks of the 
Muskingum, soon reduced them to an unconditional peace. Among 
the demands made by this efficient officer, was the surrender of 
all their prisoners. Large numbers were brought in from Illinois 
and the region eastward, some of whom had been captured as far 
back as the French and English war, and had now almost forgot- 
ten their homes and friends of childhood.t 

*Says Sir William Johnson : In an especial manner the French promote the inter- 
ests of Pontiac, whose influence has now become so considerable, as General Gage 
observes in a letter to me, tbat it extends even to the mouth of the Mississippi, and 
has been the principal cause of our not saininf^ possession of Illinois, which the French, 
-as well as the Indians, are interested in preventing'. " 

+0f the scenes attending the reunion of broken families and long sundered friends, 
a few incidents have been preserved and are worthy of relation A young Virginian, 
who had been robbed of his wife and child, enlisted in the army of Bouquet for the 
purpose of recoveilng them. After suffering the most intense anxiety, he at length dis- 
■covered her in a group of prisoners, bearing in her arms a child born in captivity ; but 



lo2 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Bradstreet, who commanded the other force, wrested from the 
savages the military posts, which cuuuiug and treachery had 
placed in their power. As a part of his plan, while at Detroit, he 
sent Captain Morris, and a unmber of friendly Canadians and 
Indians, to induce the savages of Illinois to make peace with the 
EngUsh. HavLiJg effected arrangements for this purpose, they 
ascended the Maumee in a canoe, and soon fell in with a party of 
some 200 Indians who treated Morris with great violence. They 
had come directly from the camp of Pontiac, and soon led him 
into the presence of the great (jhief, who with a scowling brow 
denounced the English as liars. He then displayed a letter \mtten 
by some Frenchman, though purporting to be from the King of 
France, which Morris declares contained the greatest calumnies 
that ingenious malice could devise for prejudicing the minds of the 
Indians against the English. The party, after being stripped of 
everything except their clothing, arms, and canoe, were suffered 
to depart. Eesuming the ascent of the river, in seven days they 
reached Fort Miami and effected a landing. This post not having- 
been garrisoned since its capture the preceding year, the Cana- 
dians had built their houses within its palisades, and a few Indians 
made it a temporary abode. A Miami village was directly oppo- 
site on the other side of the stream, while the meadows immediately 
around it were dotted with lodges of the Kickapoos, who had re- 
cently arrived. After getting ashore they proceeded through the 
meadows toward the fort, but before reaching it they were suddenly 
surrounded by a mob of infuriated savages, bent on putting them 
to death. Fortunately the chiefs interposed, and before any seri- 
ous violence was offered the sudden outburst of savage passion was. 
checked. Threatened and insulted, however, Morris was con- 
ducted to the fort and there ordered to remain, while the Cana- 
dians were forbidden to shelter him in their houses. He had not 
long been in this situation before two warriors entered, and 
with uplifted tomahawks seized and conducted him to the river. 
Supposing it was their intention to tlrown him, he was agreeably 
disappointed when they drew him into the water and led him safe 
to the opposite shore. Here he was stripped, and with his hands 
bound behind him, led to the Miami village, where instantly a vast 
concourse of savages collected about him, the majority of whom 
were in favor of putting him to death. A tumultuous debate on 
the subject soon followed, during which two of his Canadian 
followers made their appearance to induce the chiefs to spare his 
life. The nephew of Pontiac, who possessed the bold spirit of his 
uncle, was also present and pointed out to the rabble the impro- 

the pleasure of the meeting was alloyed by the absence of another child, which had 
been taken from the mother and carried she knew not whither. Anxious days and 
weeks passed away, but no tidings of its fate were received. At length the mother, 
almost frenzied with despair, discovered it in the arms of an Indian and seized it with 
irrepressible transports of .loy. 

Young women, now the wives of warriors and the mothers of a mongrel offspring, 
were reluctantly brought into the presence of their white relatives ; and children 
whose long residence among their captors had obliterated the remembrance of former 
associations, struggled lustily to escape. With the returning army they were carried 
to the East, where they were visited by hundreds whose relatives had been abducted 
by the Indians. Among the fortunate seekers was a mother, who discovereu in th& 
swarthy features of one of the rescued captives the altered lineaments of her daughter. 
The latter had almost forgotten her native tongue ; and making no response to the- 
wordsof maternal endearment, the parent wept that the child she h;Kl so often sung 
to sleep on her knee had now forgotten her in old age. "The humanity of Bouquet 
suggested an expedient : 'Sing the songs you used to sing to her when a child.' The- 
old lady obeyed, and a sudden start, a look of bewilderment, and a passionate flood of 
tears restored the long lost daughter to the mother's arms." — Parkman.] 



PON TI AC'S CONSPIRACY. 153 

priety of putting' liiui to death, when so many of their kmdred 
were in the hands of the English at Detroit. He was accordingly 
released, but soon afterward again seized b}' a maddened chief and 
bound to a post. Young Pontiac, now more determined than ever, 
rode up and severing the cords with his hatchet, exclaimed : "I give 
this man his life. If any of you want English meat go to Detroit, 
or the lakes, and you will have plenty of it. What business have 
you with the Englishman, who has come to speak with us?"* 

The current of feeling now began to change in favor of sparing 
his lite, and after having violently thrust him out of the village, 
they satfered him to return to the fort. Here the Canadians would 
have treated him with kindness, but were unable to do so without 
exposing themselves to the fierce resentments of the savages. 
Despite the inauspicious commencement of the journey, Morris 
was still desirous of completing it, but was notified by the Kicka- 
poos if he attempted to pass them they woidd certainly put him to 
death. He was also informed that a delegation of Shawnee war- 
riors was on its way to the post for the same purj^ose. The same 
party, with a number of Delawares, had visited the Miamis a short 
time before the arrival of the embassy, to urge upon them the 
necessity of renewing hostilities, and much of the bad treatment 
to which he had been subjected was due to the feeling which they 
had engendered. From the fort they proceeded westward, spread- 
ing the contagion of their hostile feelings among the tribes of 
Illinois, and other Indians, between the Ohio and Mississippi^ 
declaring that they would fight the English as long as the sun 
furnished light for the continuance of the conflict. Thus it became 
evident that the Shawnees and Delawares had two sets of embass- 
adors, and while one was sent to sue for peace with Bouquet, the 
other was urging the neighboring tribes to renew the atrocities of 
war. Under these circumstances the further prosecution of the 
journey was impracticable, and at the earnest solicitation of his 
Indian and Canadian attendants, Morris decided to return. Sup- 
posing that Bradstreet was still at Detroit, he made his way 
thither, but found that he had gone to Sandusky. Being too much 
exhausted to follow him, he sent a letter detailing his hardships 
among the Indians, and the unfavorable issue of the expe- 
dition. 

Hardly had Morris escaped from the dark forests of the Maumee 
before Pontiac was again in motion. Preceding his advance, a 
wave of tumultuous excitement swept westward to the Mississippi. 
M. Keyon, commandant of Fort Chartres, in the meantime had 
retired, and St. Ange de Bellerive had taken upon himself the 
arduous duties of the vacated situation. Mobs of Illinois, and 
embassies from the Delawares, Shawnees, and Miamis, daily im- 
portuned him for arms and ammunition, to be used against the 
English. The flag of France, which they had been taught to 
revere, still clung to the stafl' on the summit of the fort, and Illi- 
nois was now the oidy sanctuary which remained for them to 
defend. While thus actuated by feelings of patriotism there were 
other causes which gave intensity to their zeal. The whole region 
bordering the Mississippi was filled with French traders, who re- 
garded tlie English as dangerous rivals and were ready to resort 
to any expedient which might be instrumental in their expulsion 

*Parkmaa 



154 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

from the country. Using every calumny and falsehood that malice 
could suggest, to excite opi)osition to the objects of their jealousy, 
they now told the Indians that the English were endeavoring to 
stir up civil feuds among them, whereby they might tight and 
destroy each other. They still insisted that the long delayed 
armies of France would soon be in the country, and to keep alive 
this oft repeated falsehood the traders appeared frequently in 
French uniforms, representing themselves as embassadors of the 
King, and sent forged letters bearing the royal signature to 
Pontine, urging him to persist in his efforts against the common 
enemy. 

As intimated, Pontiac, with 400 warriors, in the Autumn of 
17G4 crossed the Wabash to visit these tribes and give direction to 
their efforts. Unshaken amidst the ruin which threatened his 
race, with tireless energy he entered the villages of the Miamis, 
Kiclcapoos, and Piankisliaws, and breathed into them his own 
unconquerable spirit. Eeceiving from them promises of co-opera- 
tion, he next directed his course through trackless ex])aiises of 
l^rairie verdure, to the homes of the Illinois. These Indians, repeat- 
edly subdued by surrounding nations, had lost their warlike 
spirit, and were reprimanded by Pontine for their want of zeal. 
Hastily collecting an assemblage, he told the cowering multitude 
that "he would consume them as the tire consumes the dry grass 
on the prairies if they hesitated ii] offering assistance." This 
summary method of dealing with the tard^^ savages drew from 
them unanimous assent to his views, and promises of assistance 
which the most Avarlike tribes would have been unable to perform. 
Leaving the Illinois, he hastened to Fort Chartres, and entered 
the council hall with a retinue of 400 warriors. Assuming the 
gravity and dignity characteristic of his race on public occasions, 
he addressed the commandant, as follows : 

"Father, we liave long desired to see you, and enjoy the pleasure of taking 
you by the hand. While we refresh ourselves with the soothing incense of the 
friendly calumet, we will recall the battles fought by our warriors against the 
enemy which still seeks our overthrow. But while we speak of their valor 
and victories, let us not forget our fallen lieroes, and with renewed resolves and 
more constant endeavors strive to avenge their death by the downfall of our 
enemies. Father, I love the French, and have led hither inj^ braves to main- 
tain your authority and vindicate the insulted lionor of France. But you must 
not longer remain inactive and suffer your red brothers to contend alone against 
the foe, who seek our common destruction. We demand of you arms and 
warriors to assist us, and wlien the English dogs are driven into tlie sea, we 
will again in peace and happiness enjoj^ with you these fruitful forests and 
prairies, llie noble lierilage presented l)j^ the Great Spirit to our ancestors." 

St. Ange being unable to furnish him with men and munitions, 
offered in their stead compliments and good will. But Pontiac, 
regarding his mission too important to be thus rejected, com- 
plained bitterly that he should receive such poor encouragement 
from those whose wrongs he was endeavoring to redress. His 
warriors pitched their lodges about the fort, and such were the 
manifestations of displeasure that the commandant apprehended 
an attack. Pontiac had previously caused his wives to prepare a 
belt of wampum more than six feet in length, interwoven with the 
totems of the different tribes and villages still associated with him 
in the prosecution of the war. While at the fort this was assigned 
to a chosen band of warriors, who were instructed to descend the 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 155 



Mississippi, and exhibiting- it to the numerous nations living on 
its banlvs, exliort them to repel all attempts which the English 
might malce to ascend the river. They were further required to 
call on the goAernor of New Orleans and obtain the assistance 
which St. Ange had refused. Pontiac, aware tliatthe Mississippi 
on the south, "and the Ohio on the east were the channels by which 
IlUnois v.'as most accessible to the EngU.sh, wisely determined to 
interpose barriers to their approach by these great highways. 
Not long after the departure of his warriors, tidings were received 
at the fort which verilied the sagacity and correctness of his anti- 
cipations. 

The i)revious spring Major Loftus, with a force of 400 men, 
sailed from Pensacola to New Orleans, for the purpose of ascend- 
ing the Mississippi and taking possession of Fort Chartres. Being- 
embarked in unwieldy boats, Jiis progress was slow, and when 
only a short distance above the town he was unexpectedly assailed 
by the warriors of Pontiac. They were fired upon from both sides 
of the river, which, swollen by a freshet, had inundated its banks 
and formed swamjjy labyrinths, from which it was impossible to 
dislodge the foe. Several soldiers were killed at the first discharge, 
and the terrified ofticers immediately deciding a farther advance 
impossible, fell back to New Orleans. Here they found the nierri- 
meut of the French greatly excited at their discomfiture, which, 
it was alleged, had been caused by not more than 30 warriors. 
Loftus, smarting under the ridicule, boldly accused the governor 
of having been the author of his defeat, though there was not the 
slightest ground for such suspicion. As the result of fear, from 
which he had not yet recovered, he likewise conceived the idea 
that the Indians intended to attack him on his return on the river 
below, and petitioned the governor, whom he had just accused of 
collusion with the savages, to interpose and prevent it. The 
French offlcer, with a look of contempt, agreed to furnish him 
with an escort of French soldiers, but Loftus, rejecting this humil- 
iating offer, declared he only wanted an interpreter to confer with 
the Indians whom he should meet on the way. One was granted, 
and he sailed for Pensacola, leaving the forts of Illinois still in 
the hands of the Frencli, but virtually controlled and protected 
by the warriors of Pontiac. After this abortive effort to reach 
Fort Chartres, Captain Pitman sailed from Mobile to make a sec- 
ond attempt. Hearing in New Orleans the commotion excited 
among the savages by the messengers of Pontiac, he was deterred 
from proceeding openly Avithout an escort. It however occurred 
to him that he might reach his destination in the guise of a 
Frenchman, by going with a company of Creole traders, but owing 
to the great danger of detection, this also was abandoned. 

In the meantime the ambassadors of Pontiac, true to the trust 
reposed in them, had traversed the immense forest solitudes, 
watered by the tortuous whidings of the Mississippi, reeking 
with the deadly exhalations of poisonous marshes. Visiting the 
tribes scattered over this vast wilderness, even to the southern ex- 
treme of Louisiana, whither the fame of Pontiac had preceded them, 
they infused into them a spirit of resistance to British encroach- 
ments. Next repairing to New Orleans to demand military aid, 
they found the inhabitants excited over the transfer of their 
territory to the dominion of Spain. By a special provision New 



156 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

Orleans had not been included in the cession made to England 
east of the Mississippi, and now they had just learned that their 
parent country had transferred all her remaining possessions to 
the crown of Spain. The inhabitants cordially hated the Span- 
iards, and their patriotic governor, mortified at the disgrace, be 
came the victim of a disease that shortly afterward caused his 
death. Bowed with disease and shame, he received the messen- 
gers of Poutiac in the council hall of the town. Besides the 
French officials, a number of English officers were present at the 
interview. The orator of the Indian deputation was a Shawnee 
warrior, who, displaying the great belt of wampum and i^ointing 
to the English, said : 

" These red* dogs have crowded upon us more and more, and wheu we ask why 
they do it, we are told that you, our French fatliers, liave given them our land. 
But we know they have lied. These lands are neither yours uor theirs, and 
Jio man shall give or sell them without our consent. Fathers, we have alwaj's 
been your faithful children, and we have come to(jbtain from you arms to aid 
us iu this war." 

After an ineffectual attempt by the governor to allay the animos- 
ity expressed in the speech, and a promise to furnish them with 
supplies for their unmediate wants, the council adjourned till the 
next day. When, however, it again assembled, the dying gover- 
nor had breathed out his life. M. Aubrey, his successor, presided 
in his place. After one of the Indian orators, according to the 
solemn custom of his people, had expressed his regret for the sud- 
den death of the governor, a Miami chief arose and said : 

"Since we last sat on these seats we have heard strange words. "We have 
learned that you, whom we have loved and served so well, have given these 
lauds on which we dwell to our common foe. We have also ascertained that 
the English have forbidden you to send traders to our villages, and that you, 
whom we thought so great aud brave, liave obeyed their commands like 
women, leaving us to die and starve in misery. We now tell you again that 
these lands are ours, and moreover that we can live without your aid aud hunt 
aud tish aud fight as did our ancestors before us. All we ask is the guns, the 
knives, and the hatchets we have worn out iu fighting your battles." 

To these home-thrusts of Indian invective, M. Aubrey could 
make but a feeble re[)ly. Presents Avere distributed among them, 
but produced no effect on the indignant warriors, and on the mor- 
row they commenced their ascent of the great river. 

The great influence of Poutiac in Illinois convinced General 
Gage, the successor of General Amherst, that as long as the posts 
of Illinois remained in the hands of French officers and the flag of 
France was recognized in any i)art of the ceded territory, it would 
be imi)ossible to eradicate from the minds of the Indians the phan- 
tom of French assistance. He therefore determined to send a 
force westward of sufficient magnitude to overcome all opposition, 
and at once terminate the war, by removing the cause. After the 
repulse of Loftus the southern route to Illinois was regarded as 
impracticable, and it was decided to send the troops by way of the 
Ohio. George Croghan and Lieutenant Frazer, accompanied by a 
small escort, Avere sent in advance to prepare the Indians for the 
advent of the contemijlated expedition. Croghan had for years 
been a trader among the western tribes, and by the aid of his 
manly character had won the respect of the savages, and was well 
litted for the discharge of this important trust. The party set out 

•Alluding to the red coats of the British soldiers 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 157 

for Fort Pitt in February, 1765, and after having penetrated snow- 
bound forests and mountain defiles during tlie rigors of a severe 
printer, they arrived safely at the fort. Here Croghan was de- 
tained several weeks, for the purpose of ha\dng a consultation 
with the Shawnees and Delawares, along whose southern border 
the expedition was to pass. In the meantime, fearing that the 
delay attending his negotiations might have a prejudicial effect 
upon the tribes of Illinois, he sent Frazer immediately forward to 
enter upon the important duties with which they had been en- 
trusted. The icy blockade which during the winter had obstructed 
the navigation of the Ohio, now disappeared, and the party em- 
barking in a canoe, descended with the current of the river near 
1,000 miles without encountering opposition. But when a landing 
was effected the followers of Pontiac were on hand, and he met 
with a reception similar to that accorded to Morris the previous 
autumn. Buffeted and threatened with death, he abandoned the 
object of his visit, and fled in disgause down the river to seek a 
refuge among the French. The universal overthrow which had 
attended the efforts of the Indians in all the surrounding regions, 
caused them to look upon Illinois as sacred ground, and hence 
their determined efforts to prevent its desecration by the intru- 
sion of their hated foe. 

The English, having thus far failed to effect an entrance into the 
country by force and negotiations, now determined to try their 
hand at conciliation. They had heard of the wonderful influence 
exerted over the savages in this way by the French, and concluded 
that their own efforts might be attended with similar results. For 
this purpose they secured the services of a Frenchman, and sent 
him up the river with a boat load of goods, which he was instructed 
to distribute among the Indians as presents from the Enghsh. 
Intelligence of this movement traveled far more rapidly than the 
supplies, and Pontiac determined that they should subserve his 
own interest and not that of his enemies. He, therefore, watched 
the arrival of the boat, and no sooner had a landing been ettected 
than his men leaped aboard, and having flogged the Frenchman 
and his crew, distributed the goods among themselves. As was 
customary, these supplies w^ere soon squandered with reckless 
prodigality, and the savages when pressed with want turned to the 
French for assistance. But the latter were now expecting the 
arrival of a British force to take possession of the country, and 
fearing that punishment might overtake them for past offences, 
concluded it best to mthhold their assistance. St. Ange and other 
officers, also believing that their successors would soon arrive, 
informed them that henceforth they must look for supplies to the 
English, whose good will it was now their interest to cidtivate. 

Hunger itself is more powerful than an "army with banners," 
and when the savages saw other disasters equally appalling and 
imminent, the most resolute warriors began to hesitate in regard to 
the further prolongation of the struggle. Even Pontiac, whose 
masculine fibre and enduring fortitude the ordinary vicissitudes of 
war failed to aflect, began to waver when he learned that the highest 
French dignitaries refused to grant him aid. The expectations 
which had so long nerved his arm were fast vanishing, and 
with a sorrowful heart he beheld the vast civil and mihtary com- 
binations he had formed, in a state of hopeless disintegration. 



158 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Deserted by allies ou every hand, there was no x^lace of refnge 
whither he might fly for safety. In the south and w^est were fierce 
tribes, the hereditary enemies of his people ; from the east came 
an overwhelming foe to engulf him, while the north, the home of 
his children and the scenes of his youthful activities and aspi- 
rations, was under the guns of an impregnable fortress. At 
present, unable to extricate himself from the labyrinth of impend- 
ing dangers, he was compelled to submit and wait a future day of 
vengeance. 

Croghan, having completed his conference with the Indians at 
Fort Pitt, with his own men and a number of DelaAvare and !Shaw- 
nee warriors, on the 15th of May, 17()5, started down the Ohio. 
With little detention, he landed on the Illinois shore, a short dis- 
tance below^ the mouth of the Wabash.* Soon after disembark- 
ing, he was unexpectedly greeted by a shower of bullets proceed- 
ing from tangled thickets on the banks of the river, whereby 5 of 
his men were killed and most of the remainder- wounded. Imme- 
diately following the explosion of musketry, 80 yelping Kickapoos 
rushed from their coverts, and disarming the English, took posses- 
sion of all their personal effects. When thus rendered powerless, 
the assailants began to apologize for the dastardly attack. They 
declared to Croghan that the French had told them that his escort 
consisted of Cherokees, their mortal enemies, and that under this 
false impression they had made the assault. This pretext was, 
however, another instance of the deception for which that tribe 
was distinguished. Though endeavoring to excuse their conduct 
on the plea of ignorance, it was afterward ascertained that they 
had dogged Croghan for several days, and knew well the charac- 
ter of his escort. With less government over themselves than 
children, and filled with the instinct of devils, their real object was 
to wreak vengeance on the English and gratify a rabid desire for 
blood. 

Carefully guarded as a prisoner, Croghan was conducted up the 
Wabash to Vincennes, where, fortunately, he met with a number 
of his former friends, who not only effected his release but sharply 
reprimanded his captors for their unjustifiable conduct. From 
Vincennes he was escorted farther up the river to Fort Watanon 
and entertained wath much apparent cordiality by Indians wath 
whom he had been x)reviously acquainted. Here he spent several 
days in receiving and shaking hands with deputations of chiefs 
and warriors from the surrounding region, all of whom were appar- 
ently anxious to be on friendly terms with the English, and 
expressed a desire for the return of peace. In contrast with these 
evidences of good will, a Frenchman arrived with a message from 
a chief living ui Illinois, urging the Indians in the vicinity of the 
fort to put the English ambassador to death. Despite this mur- 
derous request, he w^as assured by his savage friends that they 
would not only protect his person, but assist in taking possession 
of the country where the hostile chief resided. Unexpectedly a 

*'' On the 6th of June they arrived at the mouth of the Wabash. Here they found a 
breastwork, supposed to have been erected by Indians. Six miles further, they 
encamped ata place called the 'old Shawnee village, ' upon or near the present site 
of Shawneetown, which perpetuates its name. At this place they remained 6 days for 
the purpose of opening- a friendly intercourse and trade with the Wabash tribes ; and 
■while here, Col. Croghan sent messengers with dispatches for Lord (Lieut. ?) Frazer 
who had gone from Fort Pitt as commandant at Fort Chartres, and also to M. St. Ange, 
the former French commandant." — Monnette, 1,346. 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 159 



messenger next came from St. Auge, requesting- him to visit Fort 
Chartres and adjust affairs preparatory to liis withdrawal from 
the fort. As this was in accordance with his intentions, he imme- 
diately set out, but had not proceeded far before he was met by 
Pontiac and a numerous retinue of warriors. The chief had come 
to otter terms of peace, and Croghan returned with him to the fort 
for consultation. The chiefs and warriors of the surrounding 
nations also met in council, and Pontiac, in the presence of the 
multitude, introduced the pipe of peace and expressed his concur- 
rence in the friendly sentiments which had been interchanged at 
the fort before his arrival. He declared that the French had misled 
him with the statement that the English proposed to stir up the 
Cherokees against his brethren of Illinois, and thus reduce them 
to servitude. The English, he agreed, might take possession of 
Fort Chartres and the other military posts, but sagaciously inti- 
mated that the French had never purchased the lands of the 
IlHnois, and as they lived on them by sutterance only, their suc- 
cessors would have no legal right to their possession. The amicable 
feelings manifested by the Illinois chiefs who were present, 
obviated the necessity of his proceeding farther westward, and he 
next directed his attention to the tribes of the north-east. 

Accompanied by Pontiac he crossed to Fort Miami, and descend- 
ing the Maumee, held conferences with the different tribes dwelling 
in the immense forests which shelter the banks of the stream. 
Passing thence up the Deti'oit, he arrived at the fort on the 17th 
of August, where he found a vast concourse of neighboring tribes. 
The fear of punishment, and the long privations they had suffered 
from the suspension of the fur trade, had banished every thought 
of hostility, and all were anxious for peace and its attendant bless- 
ings. After numerous interviews with diflerent tribes in the old 
town hall, where Pontiac first essayed the execution of his 
treachery, Croghan called a final meeting on the 27th of August. 
Imitating the forest eloquence with which he had long been 
familiar, he thus addressed the convocation : 

" Chiklren, we are veiy glad to see so many of you present at your ancient 
council lire, which has been neglected for some time past. Since then high 
winds have blown and raised heav_y clouds over your country. I now, bj' this 
belt, rekindle your ancient fires, and throw dry wood upon it, that the blaze 
may ascend to heaven, so that all nations may see it and know that you live in 
peace with your fathers, the English. By this belt I disperse all the black 
clouds from over your heads, that the suu may shine clear on your women 
and chiklren, and that those unborn may enjoy the blessings of this general 
peace, now so happily settled between your fathers, the English, and you and 
all your younger brethren toward the sunsetting." 

Pontiac replied: 

"Father, w^e have all smoked together out of this peace pipe, and as the 
Great Spirit has brought us together for good, I declare to all the nations that 
I have made peace with the Ei:glish. In the presence of all the tribes now 
assembled,! take the King of England for mj' father, and dedicate this pipe to 
his use, tliat tlienceforth we may visit him and smoke together iu peace." 

The object of Croghan's visit was now consiunmated, but before 
he departed he exacted from Pontiac a promise that the following- 
spring he woidd repair to Oswego and enter into a treaty with Sir 
William Johnson, in behalf of the western nations associated with 
him in the war. 

''' In the meantime a hundred Highlanders of the 42d regiment, 
those veterans whose battle cry had echoed over the bloodiest 



IGO HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

fields of America, had left Fort Pitt uiuler command of Captain 
Sterling, and descending the Ohio undeterred by the rigor of the 
season, arrived at Chartres just as the snows of early winter began 
to whiten the naked forests. The flag of France descended from 
the rampart, and with the stern courtesies of war St. Ange yielded 
uj) his post, the citadel of Illinois, to its new masters. In that 
act was consummated the double triumph of British power in 
America. England had crushed her hereditary foe ; France in her 
fall had left to irretrievable ruin the savage tribes to whom her 
policy and self-interest had lent a transient support." The doomed 
nations were next to seal their submission to the power which had 
wrought their ruin, and British sway would be complete. 

Eeminded of his promise to Croghan by the leafy drapery of 
summer, Pontiac repaired to Oswego, and for the last time appeared 
before the representatives of English sovereignty. In the midst 
of a large concourse, which the importance of the occasion had 
drawn together, he arose and said : "Father, we thank the Great 
Spirit who has given us this day of bright skies and genial warmth 
to consider the great affairs now before us. In his presence, and 
in behalf of all the nations toward the sunsettiug, of which I am 
the master, I now take you by the hand. I call upon him to wit- 
ness, that I have spoken from my heart, and in the name of the 
tribes which I represent, I promise to keep this covenant as long 
as I live." Having now fulfilled his promise, he retired from the 
scene of his humiliation with a sad heart. Before his fierce glance 
the veil which hides the present from the future was withdrawn, 
and he saw his people, deceived by intruding strangers, driven 
from the home of their ancestors and fleeing westward to perish 
on the desert with hunger. 

After the treaty he returned to the west, and for three years 
buried his disappointment in the seclusion of its dark forests, 
providing as a common hunter for his family. In the earlier part 
of the year 1769, some slight disturbance occurred between the 
Indians of Illinois and some French traders living in and around 
St. Louis. Simultaneously Pontiac appeared in the excited region, 
but whether he was connected with the disturbance is not known. 
The English evidently regarded him with distrust, and determined 
to take his life to prevent a repetition of the bloody drama he had 
formerly enacted. Soon after his arrival he went to St. Louis and 
called on his old friend St. Ange, then in command of the Spanish 
garrison. For this purpose he arrayed himself in the uniform 
which had been presented him by Montcalm, and which he had the 
good taste never to wear except on important occasions. St. Ange 
and the principal inhabitants of the place gave him a cordial wel- 
come, and exerted themselves to render his visit agreeable. He 
had been there but a few days when he heard that there was a 
social gathering of the Indians at Cahokia, on the opposite side 
of the river, and informed his friend that he would cross over and 
see what they were doing. St. Ange, aware of the danger he 
would encounter, endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose, but 
the chief boasting that he was not afraid of the English, departed. 
At Cahokia he found the Indians engaged in a drunken carousal, 
and soon becoming intoxicated himself, started to the neighboring 
woods, and shortly afterward was heard singing magic songs, in 



PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 161 

the mystic influence of which he reposed the greatest confi- 
dence. 

There was an English trader in the village at the time, who, in 
common with the rest of his countrymen, regarded him with the 
greatest distrust, and while the oportunity was favorable deter- 
mined to effect his destruction. He approached a vagabond Indian 
of theKaskaskia tribe, and bribed him with a barrel of whiskey to 
execute his murderous intent. The assassin approached the woods, 
and at a favorable moment glided up behind the chief and buried 
his tomahawk in his brain. Thus basely terminated the career 
of the warrior, whose great natural endowments made him the 
greatest hero of his race, and with him ended their last great struggle 
to resist the inroads of civilized men. The body was soon found, 
and the village became a pandemonium of howling sa^'ages. His 
friends, worse than brutalized by their fiery potations, seized their 
arms to wreak vengeance on the perpetrator of the murder, but the 
Illinois, interposing in behalf of their countryman, drove them 
from the town. Foiled in their attempt to obtain retribution, they 
fled to the neighboring nations, and making known the momentous 
intelligence, a war of extermination was declared against the 
abettoi-s of this crime. Swarms of Sacs, Foxes, Potawatamies, 
and other northern tribes who had been fired by the eloquence of 
the martyred chief, descended to the plains of Illinois, and w^hole 
villages were extirpated to appease his shade.* St. Ange pro- 
cured the body of his guest, and mindful of his former friendship 
buried it with the honors of war near the fort under his command 
at St. Louis. His proud mausoleum is the great city which has 
since risen above his unknown grave, and his loud requiem the din 
of industry and the tramp of thousands descended from the race 
he hated with such remorseless rancor. The forest solitudes 
through which he loved to wander have been swept away, his 
warriors are no more, and the rusty relics of their former existence 
can only be found in the cabinet of the antiquary, whUe the great 
river which floated only their frail canoes is now beaten into foam 
by the powerful enginery of the passing steamboat. 

* It was at this time that the tragedy before described on the Rock of Fort St. 
Louis was enacted, which has since been known as "Starved Rock." 



11 



Chapter XY. 

1765-78— ILLmOIS AS A BKITISH T?:ROYmCE— Partial 
Exodus of the French — Their Dislike of English Law, and 
Restoration of their Own by the Quebec Bill — Land Grants by 
British Commandants — Curious Indian Leeds — Condition of the 
Settlements in 1766, by Ca2)tain Pitman — Brady^s and Meillette's 
Exjpeditions to the St. Joseph in 1777-78. 



It was on the 10th of October, 1765, that the ensign of Fiance 
■was replaced on the ramparts of Fort Chartres by the flag of Great 
Britain. At the time the colonies of the Atlantic seaboard were 
assembled in preliminary congress at li^ew York, dreaming of lib- 
erty and independence for the continent, while the great valley 
east of the Mississippi, with its broad rivers rushing from the 
mountains and gathering in the plain, its vast prairies unsurpassed 
for their wealth of soil, its boundless primeval forests with their 
deep solitudes, into which were presently to be summoned the 
eager millions of many tongues to build their hapj)y homes, i)assed 
finally from the dominion of France under the yoke of Great 
Britain.* Besides being constructively a part of Florida for over 
100 years, during which time no Spaniard set foot upon her soil 
or rested his eye upon her beautiful plains, Illinois, for nearly 90 
years, had been in the actual occupation of the French, their puny 
settlements slumbering quietly in colonial dependence on the far- 
off waters of the Kaskaskia, Illinois and Wabash. But the Anglo- 
Saxon had gained at last a permanent foot-hold on the banks of 
the great river, and a new life, instinct with energy and progress, 
was about to be infused into the country. 

M. Neyon de Villiers, long the commandant of Fort Chartres, 
kept from the French, and particularly the Indians, so long as he 
could, a knowledge of the cession of the country to Great Britain 
by the treaty of Paris, and finally, when it had gained publicity 
and when the power and influence of the great Indian conspirator 
was broken, rather than dwell under the detested flag of the con- 
queror, he abandoned Illinois in the summer of 1764, followed by 
many of the inhabitants, to New Orleans. The command of the 
fort and country then devolved upon M. St. Ange de Bellerive, a 
veteran Canadian officer of rare tact and large experience, who, 40 
years prior, had escorted Charlevoix through the West, the Jesuit 
traveler mentioning him with commendation. His position required 

'Bancroft 

162 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 163 

skill and address to save liis feeble colony from a renewed war 
Vtith the English, and from a general massacre by the incensed 
hordes of savages under Pontiac surrounding him. By the home 
go\ernment he had been advised of the cession to the British, and 
ordered to surrender the country upon their arrival to claim it. 
By repeated embassies from Pontiac and from various warlike 
tribes toward the east, he was importuned for assistance against 
the English, and unceasingly tormented by the Illinois demand- 
ing arms and ammunition. But in various dexterous ways he put 
oft" from time the importunate savages with fair speeches and occa- 
sional presents, while he anxiously awaited the coming of theBiitish 
garrison to take possession and relieve him of his dilemma.* After 
the evacuation of Fort Chartres, he also retired from the country, 
conducting his feeble garrison of 21 soldiers to the infant settle- 
ment of St. Louis, where, in the absence of any Si)anish rule as 
yet, he continued to exercise the functions of his office with great 
satisfaction to the people until November, 1770, when his authority 
was superseded by Piernas, commandant under the Spainsh gov- 
ernment. By a secret treaty, ratified November 3, 17G2, the king 
of France had ceded to the king of Spain all the territory west of the 
Mississijjpi to its remotest tributaries, including New Orleans ; but 
the civd jurisdiction of Spain was not enforced in Upper Louis- 
iana until 1769.t Prior to his departure, with a fatherly care and 
benevolent intent, St. Ange instituted for those he left behind in 
Illinois some wise and salutary regulations regarding titles to 
their lands.| 

The exodus of the old Canadian French was large just prior, and 
during the British occupation. Unwilling to dwell under the flag 
of their hereditary enemy, many, including some of the wealth- 
iest families, removed with their slaves and other personal effects, 
mostly to Upper Louisiana, just across the Mississippi, and settled 
in the small hamlet of St. Genevieve. Others joined and aided 
Laclede in founding the present great city of St. Louis, the site of 
which had then but just been selected as a depot for the fur com- 
pany of Louisiana. The number of inhabitants of foreign lineage 
residing in the Illinois settlements Avas estimated as follows: 
White men able to bear arms, 700 ; white women, 500 ; their chil- 
dren, 850; negroes of both sexes, 900 ; total, 2,950. By the hegira, 
one-third of the whites and a greater proportion of the blacks 
removed, leaving j)robably less than 2,000 souls at the commence- 
ment of the British occupation, during which the influx did not 
more than keep pace with the efflux. Few English or Americans 
even visited the country- under the British rule, and less settled. 
Scarcely an Anglo-Saxon (other than the British trooi)s, traders, 
officers and favored land speculators) was seen there during 
this time, and until the conquest of Clark in 1778. 

Captain Sterling, of the 42d Eoyal Highlanders, brought out 
with him, and in taking possession of Fort Chartres, published 
the following proclamation : 

"Bj' His Excellency, Thomas Gage, Major-Geiieral of the King's armies, 
Colonel of the 23d regiment, General commandiug iu chief all the forces of His 
Majesty iu North America, etc., etc : 

♦See his letter to Governor D'Abbadie, Sept. 9th. 
tMonette's Valley of the Mississippi. 
JPeck's AnnalBof the West. 



164 HISTORY OF nXINOIS. 

"Whereas, by the peace concluded at Paris, on the lOlh of Febriuirv, 1763, tlie 
country of tlie Illinois has been ceded to His Britannic Majesty, and the taking 
possession of the said country of the Illinois by troops of His Majesty, though 
delayed, has been determined upon, we have found it good to make known to 
the inhabitants — 

"That His Majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois the liberty of the 
Catholic religion, as it has already been granted to his subjects in Canada; he 
has consequently given the most precise and eftective orders, to the end that 
his new Roman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may exercise the worship of 
their religion according to the rights of the Roman Church, in the same manner 
as in Canada; 

" That His Majesty, moreover, agrees that the French inhabitants, or others, 
who have been subjects of the Most Christian King, may retire in full safety 
and freedom, wherever they please, even to New Orleans, or any other part of 
Louisiana, although it should happen that the Spaniards take possession of it 
in tlie name of His Catholic Majesty ; and they may sell their estate, provided 
it be to subjects of His Majesty, and transport their effects, as well as persons, 
without restraint upon their emigration, under any pretense whatever, except 
in consequence of debts or of criminal process; 

"That those who choose to retain their lands and become subjects of His 
Majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and privileges, the same security for tlieir 
persons and effects and liberty of trade, as the old subjects of tlie King; 

" That thej' are commanded, by these presents, to lake the oath of fidelity 
and obedience to His Majesty, in presence of Sieur Sterling, Captain of the 
Highland regiment, the bearer hereof, and furnished with our full powers for 
this purpose; 

" Tliat we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to conduct tliemselves like 
good and faithful subjects, avoiding by a wise and prudent demeanor all cause 
of complaint against them ; 

" That they act in concert with His Majesty's oflQcers, so that his troops may 
talie peaceable possession of all the posts, and order be kept in the country; by 
this means alone they will spare His Majesty the necessity of recurring to force 
of arms, and will find themselves saved from the scourge of a bloody war, and 
of all the evils which the marcli of an army into their country would draw 
after it. 

"We direct that these presents be read, published, and posted up iu the 
usual places. 

" Done and given at Headquarters, New York. Signed with our hand, sealed 
with our seal at arms, aud countersigned by our Secretary, this 30th of De- 
cember, 1764. 

"Thomas Gage, [L. S.] 
" Bu Bis Excellency: 

" G. Maturin." 

With such fair and Uberal concessions, so well calculated to gain 
the favor and afi'ection of the French, aud stay their emigratiou, 
Captain Sterling- began the governnient of this isolated colony. 
But it was destined to be of short duration. He died some three 
months after his arrival, leaving the ofiice of commandant vacant. 
Under these circumstances tlieir former belo^ ed commandant, M. 
St. Ange, retiu'iied to Fort Ohartres and discharged the duties of 
the office until a successor to Captain Sterling should be sent out. 
Major Frazer was next sent out from Fort Pitt. He exercised a 
lirief but arbitrary power over the settlements, when he was re- 
lieved by a Colonel Reed, who proved for the colonists a bad 
exchange. For 18 months he enacted the petty tyrant by a series 
of military oppressions over these feeble settlements, which were, 
by reason of their isolation, entirely without redress. He was, how- 
ever, at last removed and succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Wil- 
kins, who arrived September 5, 1708. He brought orders for the 
establisliment of a court of justice iu Illinois for the admiuistra- 
tiou of the laws and the adjustment aud trial of all controversies 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. . 1G5 

existing between the people relating to debts or property, either 
real or personal. 

On the 21st of November, 1768, Col. Wilkins issued his procki- 
mation for a civil administration of the laws of the country. For 
this purpose he appointed seven magistrates or judges, from 
among the people, as a civil tribunal, to hold monthly terms of 
court. The names of these first exponents of the principles of the 
common law of England upon the soil of Illinois, we are unable to 
transmit. A term of this court was held, commencing December 
6, 1768, at Fort Chartres, whicli was the first common law juris- 
diction ever exercised within the present limits of Illinois. Al- 
though we call this a common law court, it was in point of fact a 
Yeiy nondescript afi'air. It was a court of first and last resort — no 
appeal lay from it. It was the highest, as well as lowest^ — the 
only court in the coimtry. It proved anything but i^opular, and 
it is just possible that the honorable judges, themselves taken 
from among the i)eople, may not have been the most enlightened 
exponents of the law. The people were under the laws of England, 
but the trial by jnry — that great bulwark of the subject's right, 
coeval with the common law and reiterated in the British Consti- 
tution — the French mind was unable to appreciate, particu- 
larly in civil trials. They thovight it very inconsistent that the 
English should refer nice questions relating to the rights of 
property to a tribunal consisting of tailors, shoemakers or other 
artizans and tradespeople, for determination, rather than the 
judges learned in the law. While thus under the English admin- 
istration civil jurisprudence was sought to be brought nearer to 
the people, where it should be, it failed, because, owing to the 
teachings and perhaps genius of the French mind, it could not be 
made of the peoi^le. For near 90 years had these settlements been 
ruled by the dicta and decisions of theocratic and military tribu- 
nals, absolute in both civil and criminal cases, but, as may well be 
imagined, in a post so remote, where there was neither wealth, 
culture nor fashion, all incentives to oppress the colony remained 
dormant, and the extraordinary powers of the priests aiul com- 
mandants were exercised in a patriarchal spirit which gained the 
love and implicit confidence of the people. Believing that their 
rulers were ever right, they gave themselves no trouble or pains 
to review their acts. Indeed, many years later, when Illinois had 
passed under the jurisdiction of the United States, the perplexed 
inhabitants, unable to comprehend the to them complicated ma- 
chinery of republicanism, begged to be delivered from the intoler- 
able burden of self-government and again subjected to the will of 
a militarj' commandant. 

In 1774 the English Parliament restored to the people their 
ancient laws in civil cases, without the trial by jury ; guaranteed 
the free exercise of their religion, and rehabilitated the Eoman 
Catholic clergy with the privileges stipulated in the articles of 
capitulation of Montreal in 1760. The act was known as the 
"Quebec bill," which extended the boundaries of the province of 
Quebec to the Mississippi, including all the French inhabitants at 
Detroit, Mackinaw, on the Wabash, and in the Illinois country. 
Its object was to firmly attach these remote French colonies, as 
well as all Canada, to the English government, and to thwart the 
rising oi)position of the colonies on the Atlantic seaboard to its 



166 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

polic3\ The latter strongly disapprobated it, viewing it as but 
another stroke of ministerial policy to secure the aid of the French 
toward tlieir subjugation. The colonists were then openly arrayed 
against the arbitrary acts of the home government. At a conven- 
tion iield at Falmouth, Mass., September U2, 1774, it was resolved 
that "As the very extraordinary and alarming act for establishing 
the Eoman Catholic religion and French laws in Canada may 
introduce the French or Indians into our frontier towns, we recom- 
mend that every town and individual in this country should be 
provided with a proper stock of military stores," etc. The French 
colonists, apprised of the bitter opposition of the EngUsh colonists 
to the Quebec bill, and believing that Puritanism was inclined to 
deprive them of the religious privileges granted by it, were bound 
the closer to tlie supjjort of the government during the first years 
of the revolutionary war. It is asserted that the French supplied 
Indian war parties with arms and ammunition to commit depre- 
dations upon tlie western frontiers of the English settlements.* 

After the acipiisition of iSTew France by Great Biitain, the king, 
by his i>roclanuition of October 7th, 1703, forbade his subjects 
"making any purchases or settlements whatever, or taking pos- 
session of any of the lands beyond the sources of any of the rivers 
which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the west or northwest." 
The policy was to reserve this vast and fertile region as a hunting 
gTOund for the Indians, and by means of the lakes place within 
British control their enormous fur and jieltry trade ; to confine the 
English colonies to the seaboard within the reach of British ship- 
l)ing, which would be more promotive of trade and commerce, 
while the granting of large bodies of land in the remote mterior, it 
was apprehended, would tend to separate and render independent 
the people, who would want to set up for themselves. t 

Notwithstanding this policy of the home government, the most 
noticeable feature of Colonel Wilkins' administration was the won- 
derful liberality with which he parceled out the rich domain over 
which he ruled in large tracts to his favorites in Illinois, Philadel- 
phia and elsewhere, without other consideration than the 
reipiiring of them to re-convey to him an interest. Under the 
l^roclamation of the king, dated October 7, 1763, the taking or pur- 
chasing of lauds from the Indians in any of the American colonies 
was strictly forbidden, without special leave or license being first 
obtained. In view of this prohibition. Colonel Wilkins and some 
others of the commaiulers during the British occupation of Illinois, 
from 1765 to 1775, seem to have considered the property of the 
French absentees as actually forfeited, and granted it away. But 
this transaction never received the sanction of the king ; by no 
official act was this property in any manner annexed to the Brit- 
ish crown. True, under the laws of England, an alien could not 
hold land, yet to divest his title, and cause it to become escheated, 
a process in the uatiu'e of an inquisition was necessary. Did not 
the same rule apply in the case of a conquered country before the 
forfeitm-e of the lands of an absentee became complete ? 

Colonel Wilkins' grants amounted to many thousands of acres. 
One became afterwards somewhat notorious. It was made to 



•Dillon's Ind. 90. 

tSee letter of the Royal Governor of Georgia to the British Lords of Trade, 1769 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 167 

Joliii Bayntoii, Samuel Wharton and George Morgan, merchants 
oi PhiUtdelphia — who, " trading in this country, have greatly con- 
tributed to his majesty's service" — "for range of cattle and for 
tilling grain," said to contain 13,980 acres, but the metes and 
bounds disclosed it to cover some 30,000 acres.* It was a mag- 
nificent domain, lying between the villages of Kaskaskia and 
Prairie du Eocher, in the present county of liandolph. The con- 
veyance opens and closes with the flourishes of the period : '' John 
Wilkins, Esq., lieutenant colonel of his majesty's ISth, or royal 
regiment of Ireland, governor and commandant throughout the 
Illinois country, sends greetiug," etc., etc., whereunto he "set his 
hand and seal-at-arms at Fort Chartres, this 12th day of April, in 
the ninth year of the reign of our sovereign, Lord George the Third, 
king of Great Britain, France and Ireland," etc., etc., 1709. A 
condition is annexed that " The foregohig be void if disapproved 
of by his majesty or the commander-in-chief." 

On the2oth of June folio whig, at Fort Chartres, George Morgan 
and J. Ramsey executed an instrument of writing, reciting a 
number of grants besides the foregoiug, together with the names 
of the grautees, wherein in consideration of Colonel John Wilkins, 
"the better to promote the said service, has agreed to be interested 
one-sixth part thereiu," they "engage that each of the before men- 
tioned persons shall assign over to the whole, and to Colonel 
Wilkins, five-sixth parts thereof," etc. For the better carrying 
•out of their plans, the British ofiicers, and their gTautees perhaps, 
committed a wanton outrage on the records of the ancient French 
grants at Kaskaskia, destroying to a great extent their regular 
chain of title and conveyances.t 

By act of congress of 1788, the Governor of the Northwestern 
territory was authorized to confirm the possessions and titles of 
the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers on the 
public lands, who, on or before 1788, had professed themselves 
.citizens of the United States, or any one of them. Governor St. 
Clair confirmed many of these grants in a very loose manner, 
sometimes by the bundle. But this British grant of 30,000 acres, 
which had been assigned to John Edgar, was patented by the 
Governor to Edgar and his (the Governor's) son, John Murray St. 
■Clair, to whom Edgar, previous to the confirmation, had conveyed a 
moiety by deed. Much fault was found with this and many other 
transactions, and some grave charges were made by Michael Jones 
and E. Backus, U. S. land commissioners for the district of Kas- 
kaskia, as to the manner of obtaining confirmation of innmnerable 
old land grants. But the title to the claim in question was after- 
ward confirmed by the U. S. Government to Edgar ami St. Clair, 
notwithstanding the adverse report of the commissioners. Edgar 
was for many years the largest land holder and richest man in 
Illinois. He had deserted the British naval service, and in 1784 
<jame to Kaskaskia with a stock of goods. 

At an Indian council held at Kaskaskia, in 1773, an association 
of English traders and merchants, styling themselves "Illinois 
Land Company," obtained, July 5th, from ten chiefs and head men 
of the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, and Peorias, by a curiously signed 
deed, two immense tracts of land, the first — 

*American State Papers, vol. 11, Public Lands. 
+Ain. State papers. 



168 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

"Beginning at the mouth of the Huron creek, called by the French the river 
of Mary, being about a league below the mouth of the Kaskaskia river ; thence 
a nortliward of east course, in a direct line to the Hilly Plains, eight leagues or 
thereabouts, be tlie same more or less; thence the same course, in a direct line 
to the Crabtree Plains, seventeen leagues, or thereabouts, be the same more or 
less; thence the same course, in a direct line to a remarkable place known by 
the name of the Big Buflalo Hoofs, seventeen leagues, or thereabouts, be the 
same more or less; thence the same course, in a direct line to the Salt Lick 
creek, about seven leagues, be tlie same more or less; thence crossing the said 
creek, about one league below the ancient Shawneestowu, in an easterly 
or a to the north of east course, in a direct line to the rivcr Ohio, about foui' 
leagues, be the same more or less; thence down the Ohio, by the several 
courses thereof, until it empties itself into the Mississippi, about tliirty-five 
leagues, be tiie same more or less; and then up the Mississippi, by the several 
courses thereof, to the place of beginning, tiiirty-three leagues, or thereabouts, 
be tlie same more or less." 

This, it will be perceived by tracing the line, included ten or 
twelve of the most southerly counties in the State. 
The other tract was bounded as follows : 

"Beginning at a place or point in a direct line opposite to the mouth of the- 
Missouri river ; thence up the Mississippi, by the several courses tliereof, to 
the mouth of the Illinois river, about six leagues, be the same more or less; 
and then up the Illinois river, by the several courses thereof, to Chicagou or 
Garlick creek, about ninety leagues or thereabouts, be the same more or less; 
tlieii nearly a northerly course, in a direct line, to a certain place remarkable, 
being the ground on which an engagement or battle was fought, about forty 
or fifty years ago, between the Pewaria and Rinard Indians, about 50 leagues, 
be the same more or less; thence by the same course, in a direct line, to two 
remarkable hills, close together, in the middle of a large prairie or plain, about 
forty leagues, be the same more or less; thence a north-east course, in a direct 
line, to a remarkable spring, known by the Indians by the name of Foggy 
Spring, about fourteen leagues, be the same more or less; thence in the same 
course, in a direct line, to a great mountain to the northward of While Buffalo- 
Plain, about fifteen leagues, be the same more or less; thence nearly a south- 
west course, in a direct line, to the place of beginning, about forty leagues, be 
the same more or less." 

The consideration recited in the deed of conveyance was : 250 
blankets, li()0 stroudes, 350 shirts, 150 pairs of stroud and half 
thick stockings, 150 stroud breechclotlis, 500 lbs. of gunpowder, 
4,000 lbs. of lead, 1 gross of knives, 30 lbs. of vermilion, 2,000 
guutlints, 200 lbs. of brass kettles, 200 lbs. of tobacco, 3 doz. gilt 
looking-glasses, 1 gross gun worms, 2 gross awls, 1 gross lire 
steels, 10 doz. of gartering, 10,000 lbs. of liour, 500 bus. of Indian 
corn, 12 horses, 12 horned cattle, 20 bus. of salt, 20 guns, and 5 
shillings in money. This deed was duly signed by the Indian 
chiefs and attested by the names of ten persons, and was recorded 
in the oftice of a notary pubhc at Kaskaskia, September 2d, 1773. 
The transaction was effected for the Illinois Land ComiDany by a 
member named William Murray, then a trader in the Illinois 
country. There belonged to it two members in London, ten in 
Philadelphia, two in Lancaster, three in various counties of Penn- 
sylvania, one in Pittsburg, and George Castler and James Eumsey^ 
merchants of the Illinois country. The names indicate the members 
to have been mostly Jews. 

In 1775, Louis Viviat, a merchant of the Illinois country, acting 
as the agent of an association denominated the Wabash Laud 
Company,* obtained by a deed dated October 18th, from eleven 
Piankisbaw chiefs, immense tracts of land lying on both sides of 

♦We recognize in this company some of the same names as in the Illinois Company.. 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 169 



the Oiiabacli river, one commencing at Cat river 52 leagues above 
Vincennes, to Point Coupee, with 40 leagues in width on the east 
side and 30 leagues (DO miles) on the west side — Illinois. Another 
tract, also on both sides of the river, beginning at the month of 
White river, to the Ohio, 50 leagues, and extending 40 leagues into 
Indiana and 30 into Illinois. The number of acres contained in 
these gTants was about 37,497,600, The consideration was much 
the same as recited in the other purchases. The deed Avas regis- 
tered, as the other, at Kaskaskia. 

The title thus acquired to enormous bodies of fertile lands, Avas 
contrary to the King's prochimation, and at best imperfect. But 
it was the rcAolt of the colonies and the establishment of their 
independence that frustrated the schemes of these powerful com- 
panies. Their grants might otherwise have been perfected by the 
King. In 1780 (April 139th), the two land companies effected a 
consolidation under the style of "The United Illinois and Wabash 
Land Companies." Through their agents they now applied to 
congress repeatedh' for a recognition and confirmation of their 
Indian grants, in part at least, their efforts running through a 
period of 20 years— 1787, 1791, 1797, 1804 and 1810; but that body 
was firm, and all their applications were rejected. 

We here give some valuable extracts from an old English report 
of 108 pages, entitled, "The present state of the European Settle- 
ments on the ]Mississippi," by Captain Phillii) Pitman, pubbshed 
at London in 1770. Captain Pitman was engineer in the British 
army and was sent out to make a survey of the forts and report 
the condition of the villages and improvements in these newly 
acquired territories of the British crown. This work is a docu- 
ment of rare value, filHng up, as it does in a measure, a hiatus 
in Illinois history for which there are no other authentic sources 
of information. He visited Illinois in 1766. Of Kaskaskia, he 
gives the following descrii>tion : 

" Tlie village of Notre Dame de Cascasquias is by fiir the most cousiderable 
settlement in the country of the Illinois, as well from its number of inhabi- 
tants as from its advantageous situation. ***** 

" Mons. Paget was the first who introduced water-mills in this country, and 
he constructed a very fine one <ni the river Cascasquias, which was both for 
grinding corn and sawing boards. It lies about one mile from the village. 
The mill proved fatal to him, being killed as he was working it, with two 
negroes, by a party of the Cherokees, in tlie year 1764. 

" The principal buildings are the church and Jesuits' House, which has a 
small chapel adji^ning it; these, as well as some other houses in the village, 
are built of stoiie, and, considering this part of the world, make a very good 
appearance. The Jesuits' plantation consisted of 240 arpeuts (an arpent is 
85-100 of an acre) of cultivated land, a very good stock of cattle, and a brewery ; 
which was sold by the French commandant, after the country was ceded to the 
English, for the crown, in consequence of tlie suppression of the order. 

" Mons. Beauvais was the purchaser, who is tlie richest of the English sub- 
jects in this country ; he keeps 80 slaves; he furnishes 86,000 weight of flour to 
the King's magazine, which was only part of the harvest h(j reaped in one year. 
Sixty-five families reside in this village, beside merchants, other casual people, 
and slaves. The fort, which was burnt down in October, 1766, stood on the 
summit of a high rock opposite the village and on the opposite side of the 
river. It was an oblong quadrangle, of which the extreme polygon measured 
290 by 251 feet. It was built of very thick square timber, and dove-tailed at 
the angles. An officer and twenty soldiers are quartered in the village. Tlie 
officer governs the inhabitants, under the direction of the commandant at 
Fort Cliartres. Here are also two companies of militia." 



170 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Prairie du Eocher — " La Prairie des Eoclies" — is described as 
being 

" About 17 [14] miles from Cascasquias. It is a small village, consisting of 
22 dwelling liouses, all of which are inhabited by as many families. Here is a 
little chapel, formerly a chapel of ease to the church at Fort Charlres. The 
inhabitants are very industrious, and raise a great deal of corn and every kind 
of stock. The village is two miles from Fort Chartres. [This was Little 
Village, which was a mile or more nearer than the Fort.] It lakes its name 
from its situation, being built under a rock that runs parallel with the river 
Mississsippi at a league distance, for 40 miles up. Here is a company of militia, 
the Captain of which regulates the police of the village. 

" Saint Pliillipe is a small village about live miles from Fort Chartres, on the 
road to Kaoquias. There are about sixteen houses and a small church standing ; 
all of the inhabitants, except the Captain of the militia, deserted it in 1765, and 
went to the French side, (Missouri.) The Captain of the militia has about 
twenty slaves, a g( od stock of cattle, and a water-mill for corn and planks. 
This village stands on a very line meadow, about one mile from the Mis- 
sissippi. 

"The village of Saint Famille de Kaoquias (Cahokia) is generally reckoned 
fifteen leagues from Fort Chartres and six leagues below the mouth of the 
Missouri. It stands near the side of the Mississippi, and is marked from 
the river by an island (Duncan's) two leagues long. The village is opposite 
the center ot this island ; it is long and straggling, being three-fourths of a mile 
from one end to the other. It contains forty-five dwelling houses, and a church 
near its center. The situation is not well chosen, as in the fioods it is generally 
overflowed two or three feet deep. This was the first settlem nt on the Mis- 
sissipoi. The land was purchased of the savages by a few Canadians, some of 
whom married women of the Kaoquias nation, and oihers brought wives from 
Canada, and then resided there, leaving their children to succeeu them. The 
inhabitants of this place depend more on hunting and their Indian trade than 
on agriculture, as thej' scarcely raise corn enough for their own consumption; 
they have a great plenty of poultry and good stocks of horned cattle. 

'• The mission of St. Sulpice had a very fine plantation here, and an excellent 
house built on it. They sold this estate, and a very good mill for corn and 
planks, to a Frenchman who chose to remain under the English government. 
They also disposed of thirty negroes and a good stock of cattle to diflerent 
people in the coiintr}', and returned to France in 1764. What is called the 
fort, is a small house standing in the center of the village. It difl'ers nothing 
from the other houses, except in being one of the poorest. It was formerly 
inclosed with high palisades, but these were torn down and burnt. Indeed a 
fort at this place could be of but little use." 

Kegardiug- tlie soil, products and commerce of tlie colony, Pitt- 
man says: 

" The soil of this country, in general, is very rich and luxuriant ; it produces 
all kinds of European grains, hops, hemp, flax, cotton and tobacco, and 
European fruits come to great perfection. The inhabitants make wine of the 
wild grapes, which is very inebriating, and is, in color and taste, very like the 
red wine of Provence. 

In the late wars. New Orleans and the lower parts of Louisiana were sup- 
plied with flour, beef, wines, hams and other provisions, from this country. At 
present its commerce is mostly confined to the peltry and furs, which are got 
in trafiic from the Indians ; for which are received in return such European 
commodities as are necessary to carry on that commerce and the support of its 
inhabitants." 

Of the Indians, he says : 

" The principal Indian nations in this country are, the Cascasquias, Kao- 
quias, Mitchigamias, and Peoyas; these four tribes are generally called the 
Illinois Indians. Except in the hunting seasons, they reside near the English 
settlements in this country. They are a poor, debauched, and detestable 
people. They count about 350 warriors. The Panquichas, Mascoutius, Mi- 
amies, Kickapnus, and Pyatonons, though not very numerous, are a brave and 
warlike people." 

Of old Fort Chartres, the strongest fortress in the Mississippi 
valley, which was re-built by the French government m 1756, 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 171 

during the French and English war in America, Captain Pitman 
furnishes the following description : 

" Foit Chartres, when it belonged to France, was the seat of the government 
of the Illinois. The headquarters of the English commanding officer is now 
here, who, in fact, is the arbitrary governor of the country. The fort is an 
irregular quadrangle; the sides of the exterior polygon are 490 feet. It is 
built of stone, and plastered over, and is only designed as a defense against the 
Indians. The walls are two feet two inches thick, and are pierced with loop- 
holes at regular distances, and with two port-holes for cannon in the facias and 
two in the flanks of each bastion. The ditch has never been finished. The 
entrance to the fort is through a very handsome rustic gate. Within the walls 
is a banquette raised three feet, for the men to stand on when they fire through 
the loop holes. The buildings within the fort are, a commandant's and a com- 
missary's house, the magazine of stores, corps de garde, and two barracks ; 
these occupy the square. Within the gorges of the bastion are a powder mag- 
azine, a bake house, and a prison, in the floor of which ;ire four dungeons, and 
in the upper, two rooms, and an out-house belonging to the commandant. The 
commandant's house is thirty-two yards long and ten broad, and contains a 
kitchen, a dining-room, a bed-chamber, one small room, five closets for serv- 
ants, and a cellar. The commissary's house (now occu;iied by officers) is built 
on the same line as this, and its proportion and the distribution of its apart- 
ments are the same. Opposite these are the store-house ;ind the guard-house; 
they are each thirty yard? long and eight broad. The former consists of two 
large store-rooms, (under which is a lavge vaulted cellar,) a large room, a bed- 
chamber, and a closet for the store-keeper ; the hitter of a soldiers' and officers' 
guard-room, a chapel, a bed-chamber, ;i closet for the chaplain, and an artillery 
store-room. The lines of barracks have never been finished ; they at present 
consist of two rooms each for officers, and three for soldiers; they are each 
twenty feet square, and have betwixt a small passage. There are fine spacious 
lofts over each building which reach from end to end; these are made use of to 
lodge regimental stores, working and entrenching tools, &c. It is generally 
believed that this is the most convenient and best built fort in North America. 
* * * In the year 1764, there were about forty families in the village near 
the fort, and a parish church, served by a Franciscan friar, dedicated to St. 
Anne. In the following year, when the English took possession of the coun- 
try, they abandoned their houses, except three or four families, and settled in 
tlie villages ( n the west side of the Mississippi, choosing to contmue under the 
French government." 

In 1756, when the fort was rebuilt, the intervening distance 
to the bank of the Mississippi was some 900 yards. A sand bar 
was forming opposite, to which the river was fordable. At the 
time of Captain Pitmari's ^^sit, the current had cut the bank away 
to within SO yards of the fort, the sand bar had becoine an island 
covered with a thick growth of cottouwoods, and the intervening 
channel was 40 feet deep. The great freshet of 1772, which inun- 
dated the American Bottom, produced such havoc upon the bank 
that the west walls and 2 bastions were precipitated into the rag- 
ing current of the mighty river. The British garrison abandoned 
it and took up their quarters at Fort G-age, on the bluflf of the 
Kaskaskia, opposite the ancient village of that name, to which the 
seat of government was removed. Since then the great citadel of 
New France has been a ruin. Those of its walls which escaped 
destruction by the flood, were in great part hauled away by 
the neighboring villagers for building purposes. In 182iJ the 
ruins were visited by Dr. Lewis C. Beck and Mr. Hansom, of 
Illinois, who made an accurate drawing of the plan for the Illinois 
and Missouri Gazetteer. Many of the rooms, cellars, parts of the 
walls, showing the opening for the large gate, port-holes, etc., were 
still found in a tolerable state of preservation. The exterior line 
of the walls measured 1447 feet. By 1850, a dense forest sur- 



172 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

rouuded and covered the ruins, and trees, 3 feet in diameter, had 
grown up within the crumbhug walls.* 

Fort Gage, which continued to be the headquarters of the Brit- 
ish while they occupied the country, was, in shape, an oblong par- 
allelogram, 2S0 by U51 feet, built of large squared timbers. In 1772 
the British garrison consisted of oidy 20 soldiers and an oflicer. 
In the village of Kaskaskia were organized 2 small companies of 
well disciplined French militia. When George Eogers Clark, in 
1778, effected the bloodless conquest of Illinois, not a British sob 
dier was on garrison duty in the country. M. Kocheblave, a French- 
man, was in command as the British governor. He occupied Fort 
Gage, and in Kaskaskia the French militia was kept in good order. 
We find no chronicle of how long Colonel Wilkins remained in 
comnmud, or when the last remnant of the British garrison took up 
its line of departnre. It is highly probable that these withdrawals 
were made with the breaking out of the war of the revolution. 

The Illinois French were remote from the main theatre of the 
revolutionary war; and while they had perhai)s little sympathy 
with the object for which the colonies struggled, their hatred of 
their hereditary foe was active. In 1777, Thomas Brady, whom 
they commonly called "Monsieur Tom, " a courageous and enter- 
l)risingPennsylvanian who had wandered outto Cahokia, organized 
there and at I'rairie du Pont a band of 1(> volunteers, and in Octo- 
ber, proceeding to the British i)ost on the St. Joseph in Michigan, 
surprised and attacked tlie fort in the night time, defeating the 
garrison of 21 men. A negro slave who had esca^jed from the 
French in Illinois, was killed in his flight. A large quantity of 
goods for the Indian trade, fell into the hands of the victors, which 
doubtless had been one incentive to the expedition. With these, 
their homeward journey was retarded, and the British traders, 
having rallied the soldiers and stirred up the Indians, with a large 
force made pursuit ami fell upon the camp of the marauders on 
the Calumet in the night time, killing 2, wounding 2 more (who 
were afterward dispatched with the tomahawk) and made prisoners 
of the rest. Brady, in being sent East, eff'ected his escape, and 
later returned to Cahokia, where he married the celebrated widow 
LeComiJt. 

The following year, while Colonel Clark was conducting his 
expedition against Kaskaskia, Paulette Meillet, the founder 
of Peoria, which was then called LaviUe a Meillet, who was 
a remarkable character for bravery, brutality and enterx)rise, 
biu-ning to avenge the disaster of Brady's party, in which were 
many of his relatives, assembled about 300 warriors, red, white 
and mixed, and marclied thence to St. Joseph. On the way, 
through the broad prairies on foot under the rays of the summer's 
sun, M. Amlin, one of his men, exhausted with fatigue, gave out. 
(Jelerity and secrecy being essential to success, and unwilling fo be 
encumbered vnth the sick, the soldier fell a sacrifice to the toma- 
hawk, sunk in his brain by the brutal connnander. Arriving at 
tliepost, the fort was surrounded, and, after an obstinate engage- 
ment, the garrison surrendered and was permitted toretu-e to Canada. 
The prisoners of Brady's party were released, and the stores of 
merchandise, said to have amounted to $50,000, were brought away 
to Peoria.f 

*Keynolcl's Pioneer History. +See Peclc's Annals of tlie West. 



Chapter XVI. 

1778— CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS, BY GEORGE ROGERS 

CLARK. 



While the colonists of the east were maintaining a fierce struggle 
with the armies of England, their western frontiers were ravaged 
by merciless butcheries of Indian warfare. The jealousy of the 
savage had been aroused to action by the rapid extension of 
American settlements westward and the imi)roper influence exerted 
by a number of military posts garrisoned by British troops in 
different parts of the west. To prevent indiscriminate slaughters 
arising from these causes Illinois became the theatre of some of the 
most daring exploits connected with American history. The hero 
of these acliievements by which this beautiful land was snatched 
as a gem from the British crown, was George Rogers Clark. He 
was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, November 19, 1752, and 
like his great cotemporary of the Revolution in his youth studied 
and practiced the art of surveying land. The manly exercise con- 
nected witli the original surveys of the country seemed to create a 
partiality for the adventurous exposure of military life. Little is 
known in regard to Clark's early history. It is said he became a 
proficient in geography and devoted considerable time to the study 
of mathematics, but owing to the imperfect condition of the schools 
and the exciting times of his youth, the presumption is that his 
education was confined to the useful rather than ornamental 
branches of learning. Shortly after attaining his majority he en- 
listed as a staff' officer in Governor Dunmore's war and with many 
other daring spirits of the times was present ni the campaign of 
1774 on the river Scioto. For meritorious conduct he was offered a 
commission in the royal service Avhich, owing to the unfriendly feel- 
ing then existing between the colonists and the motlier country and 
unsatisfactory termination of the war, he declined. Dunmore 
became apprehensive that the colonists would rebel, and it was 
believed by Washington and others that he was instructed to so 
treat with the Indians that he could use them as allies in case of 
revolt. 

A spirit for adventure being awakened in the mind of young 
Clark by the war in 1775 he visited the wilds of Kentucky. Here 
he found the pioneers in a state of excitement as to whether the 
country on the south side of the Kentucky river was a part of the 
territory of Kentucky or Virginia. At the suggestion of Clark a 
meeting was called for considering the subject and devising 
the best means of remedying the perplexed state of affairs. The 
meeting was duly held and a paper prepared setting forth their 
grievances, and Clark and Gabriel Jones were appointed to lay it 

173 



174 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

before the legislature of Virginia. The envoys started on their 
journey, and after snfteringtlie most distressing hardships arrived 
at the county of Bottetourt wliere they heard that the legislature 
had Just adjourned. At the reception of this news Gabriel Jones 
returned to the settlement on the Holstein river and Clark pro- 
ceeded on his wa^' to Hanover county, where he found Governor 
Henry lying sick at his private residence. Clark made known to 
him the object of his visit, wliich the executive cordially ap- 
proved, and to further his views gave him a letter to the council 
for further consideration. At the fall term of the Legislature of 
1770, Clark and Jones presented their Kentucky i^etitiou to that 
body, and despite the efforts of Henderson and other Korth Caro- 
lina land speculators, the disputed territory was erected into the 
county of Kentucky, which embraced the limits of the present 
State of the same name. In addition to this political recognition, 
the parent State gave .500 lbs. of powder for the defense of the 
isolated settlement, a gift which now seems small, but then looked 
large, for the tremendous struggle of the revolution demanded all 
the energies of the donor to protect her own ]3eople and firesides 
from the ravages of the enemy. 

Clark's great services for Kentucky and the good will inspired 
by his manly appearance and genial manners induced the pioneers 
to place him at the head of their irregular militia, and he soon 
instituted such effective means of defense that in all the fierce 
conflicts with the savages, which gave Kentucky the name of 
"Bloody Ground," his valor was more than equal to the emergency. 
Intimately acquainted with the progress of colonization west of 
the Alleghanies, he Avas the first to fully comprehend the advan- 
tages which would arise from the extension of American conquest 
to the banks of the Mississippi. While associated with the mili- 
tary oi>erations in Kentucky, his sagacity enabled him to trace the 
In(lian ravages to the instigations of British emissaries at Kas- 
kaskia, Vincennes, Detroit and other places in their possession. 
These remote posts furnished the Indians with clothing and mili- 
tary stores, and Clark believing that their capture w^as the only 
possible way to abate the evils caused by their savage allies, sent 
tw^o spies by the name of Moore and Dunn, to learn the nature of 
their defences. They having made observations returned and re- 
ported that their militia was well organized and active ; that the 
predatory excursions of the Indians were encouraged by the British 
authorities, and that notwithstanding British agents had endeavored 
by misrepresentation to i^rejudice the minds of the Freaich inhab- 
itants against the colonists,many of them were evidently in favor 
of their cause and interests. Clark, furnished with this informa- 
tion, again started to Virginia to make known to the government 
his plans respecting the subjugation of tliese British outjjosts. 
While on the road thither, fortunately for the enterjirise which he 
had in ^iew, the battle of Saratoga was fought, and resulting in 
victory to the Americans, prepared the public mind for a more 
si>irited i)rosecution of the war. On reaching the capital, Clark's 
impressive representations captivated the mind of Governor Henry 
with the idea of subduing these British strongholds in the centre 
of their savage confederates. The enterprise, however, was re- 
garded as extremely hazardous, and so great was secrecy indis- 
pensable to success that it was not deemed prudent to entrust the 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 175 

direction of it to the legislature. Being interrogated by Jeftersou as 
to what he would do in case of defeat, he replied "cross the Missis- 
sippi and seek the protection of the Spaniards." The plan was so 
thoroughly digested thatthe approbation of the council was readily 
obtained, and to secure men, George Wythe, Thomas Jefler son and 
George Mason i>l edged themselves, if the enterprise was successful, 
to use theu" influence to secure a bounty of 300 acres of land for 
every one engaged in the ser\'ice. Governor Henry gave him 1200 
pounds in depreciated currency, and an order on the commandant 
of Ft. Pitt for ammunition, boats, and other necessary equipments. 
He also furnished instructions, one set authorizing him to enlist 7 
companies of 50 men each for the defence of Kentucky, and the 
other was drawn as follows : 

" Lieut, Colonel George Rogers Clark : 

"You are to proceed with all convenient speed to raise 7 companies of soldiers, 
to consist of 50 men each, officered in the usual manner, and armed most prop- 
erly for the enterprise ; and with this force attack the British force at Kaskas- 
kia. It is conjectured that there are many pieces of cannon, and military stores 
to a considerable amount at that place, the taking and preservation of which 
would be a valuable acquisition to the state. If you are so fortunate, therefore, 
as to succeed in your expedition, you will take every possible measure to 
secure the artillery and stores, and whatever may advantage the state. For the 
transportation of the troops, provisions, etc., down the Ohio, you are to apply 
to the commanding oflficer at Fort Pitt for boats, and during the wliole trans- 
action you are to take especial care to keep tlie true destination of your force 
secret ; its success depends upon this. Orders are, therefore, given to Captain 
Smith to secure the two men fi'om Kaskaskia. It is earnestly desired that 
you show humanity to sucli British subjects and other persons as fall into your 
hands. If the white inliabitants of that post and neighborhood will give un- 
doubted evidence of their attachment to this state, for it is certain they 
live within its limits, by taking the test prescribed by law, aud by every other 
way and means in their power, let them be treated as fellow-citizens, aud their 
persons and property be duly respected. Assistance and protection against all 
enemies, whatever, shall be afforded them, and the commonwealth of Virginia 
is pledged to accomplish it. But if these people will not accede to these reason- 
able demands, they must feel the consequences of war, under that direction of 
humanity that has hitherto distinguished Americans, and which it is expected 
you will ever consider as the rule of your conduct, aud from which you are in no 
instance to depart. The corps you are to command are to receive the pay and 
allowance of militia, and to act under the laws and regulations of this state 
now in force as to militia. The inhabitants of this post will be informed by you 
that in case they accede to the offers of becoming citizens of this common- 
wealth, a proper garrison will be maintained amcng them, and every attention 
bestowed to render their commerce beneficial ; the fairest prospects being opened 
to the dominions of France and Spain. It is in contemplation to establish a 
post near the mouth of the Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify it. Part 
of those at Kaskaskia will be easily brought tiiither, or otherwise secured as 
circumstances make necessary. You are to apply to General Hand, at Pitts- 
burg, for powder and lead necessary for this expedition. If he cannot supply 
it, the person who lias that wliich Captain Sims brought from New Orleans 
can. Lead was sent to Hampshire, by my orders, and that may be delivered to 
you. Wishing you success, 1 am your liumble servant, 

P. Henry. " 

These instructions breathe a generosity and humanity in strik- 
ing contrast Avith the spirit of the British government, whose 
minions were suffering our soldiers to perish by thousands in 
prison-ships for the want of food, and offering bounties to encour- 
age the merciless savages to murder and scalp our helpless women 
and children. It was thought best to raise the requisite number 
of troops west of the Alleghanies, as the colonies needed aU the 



176 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

available forces of the east for the Atlantic defences. To enlist 
men Major William B. Smith went to the settlement of the Hol- 
stein, and for the same purpose Captains Leonard Helm and Joseph 
Bowman visited other localities. Clark proposed to get assist- 
ance at Pittsburg, but on account of jealousy arising from the 
rival claims of Pennsylvania and Virginia to the dominion of the 
Kentucky settlements, he was unsuccessful, and the latter colony 
furnished the trooi)S. His real destination being unknown, many 
thought it would be better to remove the Kentuckians tlian to 
attempt their defence while their own citadels and the whole 
country round them was threatened by the savage confederates of 
England. Clark in the meantime being informed that Major 
Smith had raised 4 companies, and that Captains Helm and Bow- 
man would join him with two others at Brownsville, on the 
Monongahela, made no further attempts to secure enlistments at 
Eort Pitt. Major Smith's men were to go by way of Cumberland 
Gap to Kentucky, and Clark, with the other troops, amounting to 
300 men and a number of private adventurers, <;ommenced the 
descent of the Ohio. At the mouth of the great Kanawa he Avas 
besought by Captain Arbuckle, coiumanding the fort at the junc- 
tion of the two rivers, for assistance in capturing a band of Indians 
who had attacked him the pieceding day. Thinking, however, his 
own enterprise was of greater moment, and wishing to strictlj' 
comply with his instructions, he continued on his course. He 
landed at the mouth of the Kentucky, with the intention of erect- 
ing a fortification at that point, but after mature consideration 
abandoned it for a more favorable position farther westward, at 
the falls of the Ohio, ^^lile here, learning that of the 4 compa- 
nies promised by Major Smith, Captain Dillard's alone had arrived 
in Kentucky, he wrote to Captain Bowman, informing him of his 
intention to establish a fort at the falls, and Imving in view an 
enterprise of the greatest importance to the country, requested him 
to repair thither with Major Smith's men, and as many more as 
coidd be spared from the frontier stations. At this place he for- 
tified Corn Island, opposite Louisville, not only as a base of 
operations, but as a means of protecting boatmen, who, in pass- 
ing the rapids, were frequently attacked and plundered by the 
Indians. When joined by Captain Bowman's party from Ken- 
tucky, it was discovered that the withdrawal of his forces from the 
country left it to a great extent without protection, and therefore 
only a portion of them were engaged, with the understanding that 
when the remainder of Major Smith's men arrived the others should 
return for the defence of Kentucky. Clark now announced to his 
assembled forces the real destination of the expedition, and with 
the exception of Captain Dillard's company, the project met the 
enthusiastic approbation of the men. Lest desertions might occur 
in the disaffected company, the boats were secured and sentinels 
stationed at different points where the Ohio was supposed to be 
fordable. Notwithstanding these precautions, one of Captain 
Dillard's lieutenants and the most of the men, passing the senti- 
nels unperceived, waded to the opposite shore and disappeared in 
the woods. A luounted party the next day was sent in pursuit of 
the fugitives, with orders to kill all who refused to return, and 
although overtaken 20 miles from the river, such was their vigil- 
ance that only 8 were caught and brought back. " The disap- 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 177 



pointment caused by the loss of the men," says Clark iu his 
joiirual, "was cruel, and in its consequences alarming." The 
remainder of the deserters, dispersed in the woods to elude piu-- 
suit, suft'ered the most intense privations, and when finally they 
reached Harrodsburg-, the brave Kentuckians were so exasperated 
at the baseness of their conduct that for a long time they lefused 
to admit them into theu- stations. The forces were now about to 
separate, and in a day of rejoicing and mutual encouragement the 
heroes of the Kaskaskia exj)edition took leave of their friends who 
were to return for the defense of Kentucky. After the departure 
of the latter, Clarlv's little army, under the command of Cai)tains 
Bowman, Helm, Harrod and Montgomery, ouly numbered 153 
men. Everything being in readiness, on the 24th of June, 1778, 
while the sun was iu a total eclipse, he left the position which he 
had fortified and fell down the river. This phenomenon fixes the 
time of Clark's embarkation, and by the same means other imjjor- 
tant events of history, the dates of which were wholly unknown, 
have been determined with perfect precision. Science in modern 
times has so far divested occurrences of this kind of the terrors 
which they excited in ancient armies, that among the men of the 
expedition but little importance was attached to the eclipse, as a 
harbinger for good or evil. 

AU unnecessary baggage was left behind that they might not be 
encumbered iu the difficult march which the}' proposed to make 
across the country, in order to reach unperceived the post wliich 
they designed to capture. Clark was anxious to make an assault 
upon the post of Vincennes, but the greater extent of the French 
settlements in Illinois, the prospect of securing them as allies if 
they were conquered, and the facility of retreat to the y])anish 
possessions beyond the Mississippi, in case of defeat, inclined liiiu 
to the original plan of the campaign. While descending the river 
a letter was fortunately received from Colonel Cami)bell, of Fort 
Pitt, stating that an alliance had been entered into between France 
and the United States, and that the army and navy of the former 
were coming to our assistance. This informatiou was calculated 
to make a favorable impression upon the French aiul Indians of 
lUinois, and therefore of the greatest importance to the successful 
termination of the expedition. Landing on an island at the mouth 
of the Tennessee, the guard stopped a man by the name of John 
Duff and a number of other American hunters,, from whom they 
also had the good fortune to obtain valuable information resi)ect- 
ing' the garrison at Kaskaskia. Duff and his party had recently 
been at that j)lace, and he informed Clark that a French Cana<liau 
by the name of Rocheblave was in command; that he kei)t the 
militia well drilled; sentinels stationed on the Mississip])i, and 
had ordered the hunters and Indians in their excursions through 
the coimtry to watch for the rebels, or "Long Knives," as they 
designated the Vii'ginians. They also stated the fort was k<'])t in 
order as a place of retreat iu case they were attacked ; that its de- 
fence was attended to more for the purpose of military discii)line 
than from any apprehensions of immediate danger, aiul that if 
any assault was anticipated, its great strength would enable the 
garrison to make a formidable resistance. The declaration of 
Moore and Dunn respecting the fearful a|)prehensions with which 
the inhabitants regarded the Virginians was Ukewise corrobora- 
12 



178 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ted. Having obtained the hunters for gnides, Clark dropped 
down the stream, and landing near Fort Massac, concealed the 
boats in a small creek emjDtying into the river. The distance from 
this point to Kaskaskia is 120 miles, and at that time the inter- 
vening conntry was difficult to traverse, in consequence of streams, 
swamps and other obstructions. The expedition started across 
this tract in the direction of Kaskaskia, both leader and men 
sharing the vicissitudes incident to travel in the wilds of an un- 
cultivated region. Success depended entirely upon secrecy, and 
to send out hunting parties in pursuit of game, upon wbich they 
mostly depended for subsistence, it Avas feared might be the 
means of discovery. 

On the third day, John Saunders, the principal guide, becoming 
bewildered and being unable to point out the course, suspicion was 
immediately excited in regard to his fidelity, and a cry arose among 
the men to put him to death. He, however, accompanied by a 
guard, was permitted to go to the adjoining prairie for further 
search, and was told unless he directed them into the hunters' 
path leading to Kaskaskia, a road in consequence of having so fre- 
quently travel(Ml lie could not easily forget, he should certainly be 
hung. After spending some time in examining the features of the 
country, he exclaimed : " I know that point of timber, " and point- 
ing out the direction of Kaskaskia established his innocence. In 
the afternoon of the 4th of July, 1778, the invading party, with 
their garments worn and soiled, and beards of three weeks' 
growth, approached the village where their long and wearisome 
joiu-ney terminated, and concealed themselves among the hills east 
of the Kaskaskia river. Clark sent out parties to reconnoitre, and 
at night-fall, a detachment took possession of a house f of a mile 
above the town, and on the west side of the river. From the family 
living in it, he learned that there were a great many men in town, 
that but few of them were Indians, and that the militia had 
recently been under arms, but no danger being discovered 
they were dismissed. Boats having been j)rocured for transport- 
ing the troops, the forces were divided into 3 parties ; 2 of Avhich 
crossing to the west side of the river, were to proceed to different 
parts of the town, while the other, under Colonel Clark, was to 
capture the fort, on the east side. If Clark should be suc(;essful 
in securing the foi't, at a given signal the other detachments, with 
a shout, were to take possession of the town and send heralds 
who could speak the French language, to warn the inhabitants 
that they would be shot down if they appeared in the street. 

Kaskaskia, at that time, contained about 250 houses, and the 
British officer, who had charge of the place after, the revolt of the 
Atlantic colonies, endeavored to create in the minds of the unsus- 
pecting French the most dreadful apprehensions respecting the 
ferocity and brutality of the " Long Knives ; " telling them that 
they not only plundered property but indiscriminately murdered 
men, women and children when they fell into their hands. The 
object of these falsehoods was to stimulate the people of these 
remote outposts to make a determined resistance in case they were 
attacked, and to induce them to supj)ly the Indians with gnus, 
ammunition and scalping knives to aid them in their depredations 
ujion the Americans. Clark now wisely concluded if he could sur- 
prise them fear would cause them to submit without resistance. 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 179 

and they would afterward become friendly from gratitude if treated 
with unexpected clemency. The plan of attack was succcssfullj^ 
executed. Clark without resistance entered the fort through a 
postern gate on the side next to the river, and the others, x^^issing 
into the village at both extremities with the most hideous outcries, 
alarmed the unsuspecting inhabitants, who commenced screaming 
" the Long Knives, " " the Long Knives." In about tAVO hours 
after the surprise, the townsmen, i^anic stricken, delivered up their 
arms, and though the victory was complete it had been obtained 
without shedding a drop of blood. The victors, in obedience to 
orders, rendered the remainder of the night a pandemonium of 
tumult. This artifice, as it prevented opposition and the effusion 
of blood, was the most innocent means that could have been 
resorted to in order to be successful. M. Eocheblave, the British 
commandant, was not aware that he was a prisoner till an oliicer 
of the detachment which bad entered the fort, penetrated to his 
bedroom and tapped him on the shoulder. The public papers 
were either concealed or destroyed. It was supposed that the 
governor's lady, presuming upon the deference which would be 
extended to her sex and rank, concealed them in her trunk, and 
such was the chivalry of these ancient Virginians that, although 
the papers were supposed to be valuable, they suffered her trunk 
to be removed without examination. 

In seeking for information during the night, they learned that a 
considerable body of Indians was encamj^ed near Cahokia, 50 
miles higher up the Mississippi, and that M, Cerre, the i)rincipal 
merchant of Kaskaskia and an inveterate hater of the American 
cause, was at St. Louis on his way to Quebec. This information 
respecting the intensity of his hatred was, ijerhaps, a misrepre- 
sentation. None of the French inhabitants of Illinois were 
greatly attached to the British government, and it is probable that 
his unfriendly feeling was only the prejudice he, in common with 
the rest of his countrymen, entertained against the Virginians. 
His family and a large assortment of merchandise were then in 
Kaskaskia, and Clark thought that if these pledges were in his 
possession he could render the influence of this opulent merchant 
available in case an emergency should occur in which he might 
need it. A guard was accordingly placed about his house and 
seals put on his property, and also on all the merchandise belong- 
ing to other citizens of the place. 

On the 5th day Clark withdrew his forces from the town to posi- 
tions around it, and to augment the gloomy forebodings which had 
already unnerved tlie inhabitants, he sternly forbade all intercourse 
between them and his own men. After the removal of the troops 
the citizens were again permitted to a|)pear in the streets, 
but when Clark perceived they assembled in groups and earnestly 
engaged in conversation, he caused st>me of the principal militia 
officers to be put in irons, without assigning any cause for the arrest 
or granting any opportunity for defence. This exhibition of arbi- 
trary power did not spring from a despotic disposition or a 
disregard for the principles of liberty. 'No one excelled Clark in 
the respect which he entertained for the rights of others, and he 
kfeenly felt himself the hardshij)S which the necessities of liis situ- 
ation compelled him to hitiict upon those in his power. The terror 
hitherto intense now reached its climax, and when hope had nearly 



180 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

vanished, Clark, who of all commanders had the clearest insight 
into human nature, granted an audience to the priest and five or 
six elderly men of the village. The shock which they received 
from the capture of their town, by an enemy which they regarded 
with so much horror, could only be equaled by their surprise when 
admitted to the presence of their captors. Their clothes were torn 
and soiled by the rough usage to which they had been exposed, and, 
as Clark says, they looked more frightful than savages. Tlieir 
aijpearance, uncouth in tlie exti'eme, doubtless to the sensibility 
and refinement of the ancient French seemed worse tban the 
reahty. After admission the deputatation remamed some time 
unable to speak, and when at length their business was demanded 
they could not determine who should be addressed as commander 
so eflectually had the hardships of the expedition obliterated the 
distinction between the chieftain and his men. Colonel Clark 
being pointed out, the priest in the most submissive tone and 
X)osture, said that "the people exjiected to be separated, ijerhaps 
never to meet again, and they requested the privilege of meeting 
in the church to take leave of each other and commend their 
future lives to the protection of a merciful God." Clark, aware 
they suspected him of hostility to their religion, carelessly remarked 
that "the Americans did not mterfere with the beliefs of others 
but let every one worship God according to his convictions of 
duty," that they might assemble in the church "but on no account 
must -a single person venture outside of the village." Some farther 
conversation was attempted, but that the alarm might not abate it 
was roughly repelled, Clark abruptly informing them that he had 
not time for further intercourse. The entire population immediately 
convened in the church, and the houses being deserted orders were 
given that they should not under any pretext be entered by the 
soldiers, and that all private property should be honorably 
respected. After remaining in church a longtime tlie priest and a 
few others again called upon Colonel Clark, and expressed their 
thanks for the great favor which he had granted them and also a 
desire that he would inform them what disposition he proposed to 
make of the people. They stated that, owing to the remoteness of 
their situation they did not fully comprehend the nature of the 
contest between England and her colonies ; that their conduct had 
been influenced by British commanders whom they were constrained 
to obey, and that some of their citizens had expressed themselves 
in favor of the Americans, whenever the restraint to which they 
were subject would permit. They added, their present condition 
was the result of war and they were willing to submit to the loss 
■of property, but begged that they might not be separated from 
their families, and that some food and clothing might be retained 
for their future suppoit. 

Clark having now sufiiciently wrought upon their fear, resolved 
to try the effect of lenity. "What !" said he, abruptly addressing 
them, "do you mistake us for savages'? Do you think Americans 
will strip women and children and take the bread out of their 
mouths? My countrymen," said the gallant colonel, "disdain to 
make war upon helpless innocence. It was to i^rotect our own 
wives and childi'en that we penetrated the wilderness and subju- 
gated this stronghold of British and Indian barbarity, and not the 
d.esj)icable object of plunder. We do not war against Frenchmen- 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 181 

The King of France, your former ruler, is the ally of the colonies ; 
his fleets and arms are fighting our battles, and the war must shortly 
terminate. Embrace which ever side you deem best, and enjoy 
your religion, for American law respects the believers of every 
creed and protects them in their rights. And now, to convince you 
of my sincerity, go and inform the inhabitants that they can dismiss 
their fears concerning their property and families; that they can 
conduct themselves as usual, and that their friends who are in 
confinement shall immediately be released." The revulsion of 
feeling which followed this speech can better be imagined than 
described. The village seniors endeavored to apologize for the 
suspicion they had entertained, upon the supposition that the 
property of a captured town belongs to the conquerors, but Clark 
gently dispensing with all explanations, desired them to imme- 
diately relieve the anxiety of their friends and strictly comply with 
the terms of a proclamation which he was about to issue. The 
good news soon spread throughout the village ; the bell rang a 
merry peal, and the people almost frantic with joy assembled in 
the church to thank God for their happy deliverance. Clark's 
anticipations were fully A^erified, the inhabitants were allowed all 
the liberty they could desire and all cheerfully submitted to him as 
the commandant of the village. 

An expedition was now planned against Cahokia, and several 
influential Kaskaskians voluntarily offered to acamipanj^ it. They 
assured Clark that the Cahokians were their kindred and friends, 
and that when the situation of Kaskaskia was explained to them 
they would be willing to change their political relations. Their 
offer w^as accepted, and Major Bowman and his company were 
selected as one party for the new conquest, and the other the 
French militia, commanded by their former officers, the entire 
detachment being but little inferior in numbers to that which 
invaded the country. Mounted on horseback the expedition 
reached Cahokia before the surrender of Kaskaskia was knoAvn to 
the inhabittyits. On being perceived, the cry of "the Long Knives, 
the Long Knives," as at Kaskaskia, created the most intense con- 
sternation among the timid portion of the little community. As 
soon, however, as the new French allies could notify them of the 
change of government, this formidable appellation of the Virginians 
was changed to huzzas for freedom and the Americans. Major 
Bowman took possession of the fort without opposition ; the In- 
dian force in the vicinity was dispersed, and the inhabitants a few 
days afterward took the oath of allegiance. 

The success which had hitherto attended the efforts of Clark 
greatly exceeded the means employed, but such were the compli- 
cations of his position that he was compelled to use the greatest 
address in order to maintain it. He cultivated the most intimate 
relations with the Spanish on the west bank of the Mississippi, 
and instructed his men to create the imi:)ression that the head- 
quarters of his army was at the Falls of the Ohio ; that reinforce- 
ments were daily expected to arrive, and that when they came 
military operations would be resumed upon a more extended scale. 
This artifice enabled him to counteract the extensive influence of 
his adversaries, and ultimately triumj^h over their superior 
strength. 



182 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

In the meantime M. Oerre, • wliose influence Clark had endeav- 
ored to obtain by securing his property and faunly, became 
anxious to return to Kaskaskia. Fearing to place himself in the 
hands of the American officer without some protection, he pro- 
cured letters of recommendation from the Spanish governor of St. 
Louis, and the comumndaut of St. Genevieve, with a view to ob- 
taining a passport. Clark, however, refused his application, and 
intimated that it need not be repeated, as he understood that M. 
Cerre was a man of sense, and if be had not been guilty of encour- 
aging Indian barbarities, he need not api^rehend any danger. 
These sentiments having been communicated to M. Cerre, he im- 
mediately repaired to Kaskaskia, and called upon Colonel Clark, 
who informed him that he was charged with inciting the Indians 
to plunder and miu'der the Americans, and that humanity required 
that such violators of honorable warfare should be punished 
according to the enormity of their crimes. The merchant, in reply 
to this accusation, said he challenged any man to prove that he 
had encouraged the depredations of the Indians, and that on the 
contrary, he could produce many witnesses who had heard Lim 
repeatedly condemn such cruelties in decided terms. He further 
remarked that he never interfered in matters of state, excej)t when 
his business demanded it; that he was not weU acquainted with 
the nature of the contest in which the colonists were engaged, and 
that these charges were perhaps preferred by some of his debtors, 
who sought by this means a release from their obligations. Being 
willing to submit to an examination in the presence of liis accus- 
ers, Clark requested him to retire to another room, while he sum- 
moned them to api>ear. In a short time they came in, followed by 
a large part of the inhabitants, but Avhen M. Cerre was brought 
into their midst they were confoTinded. Clark told them that he 
was unwilling to condemn any one without a trial ; that M. Cerre 
was now in their presence, and if they found him guilty of the 
alleged crime he should be summarily punished. At the conclu- 
sion of these remarks, the witnesses commenced whispering with 
each other and retiring, till only 1 out of 7 was left. He being 
called on for his proof, replied that he had none, and M. Cerre was 
thus honorably acquitted. His friends and neighbors congratu- 
lated him upon the hapjjy termination of the trial, and Clark 
informed him that although it was desirable he should become an 
American citizen, yet if he was not inclined to do so, he was at 
liberty to dispose of his pro^ierty and remove from the village. 
M. Cerre was so pleased with the equitable and generous treat- 
ment which he had received at the hands of the American com- 
mander, he immediately took the oath of allegiance and thereafter 
remained the staunch friend of the new political power which he 
espoused. 

Clark never resorted to artifice or punishment except when he 
could make it conducive to the public good. In the cases narra- 
ted he kept up the apj^earance of rigor with the view to enhancing 
the favors which policy and the magnanimity of his own disposi- 
tion inclined him to grant. So adroit had been his managenient 
that he subdued without bloodshed all the French settlements 
within the present bouudaries of Illinois. The captures, as we 
shall have occasion to show, were fraught with gTeat consequences 
to the nation, and does it speak less honorably for him who, with 



BRITISH OCCUPATION. 183 

great skill, had accomplished them with few instead of thousands, 
or because he had conquered without the shedding of blood instead 
of making the plains of Illinois gory with the blood of the enemy 
and that of his friends "? The essence of true heroism is the same, 
whatever may be the scale of action, and although numbers are 
the standard by which military honors are usually awarded, they 
are in reality only one of the extrinsic circumstances. So 
imiiortant were Clark's achievements considered, that on the 23d 
■of November, 1778, he and his brave officers and men were voted 
the thanks of the Vh-ginia House of Delegates for their extraordi- 
nary resolution and perseverance in so hazardous an enterprise, 
and the important services thereby rendered the country. In this 
extraordinary conquest the Americans were doubtless assisted by 
the affection which the French inhabitants still retained for their 
ancient Fatherland, now alhed with the colonies. 



Chapter XVII. 

CLARK OBTAINS POSSESSION OF VINCENNES— TREA- 
TIES WITH THE INDIANS— VINCENNES FALLS INTO 
THE HANDS OF THE ENGLISH, AND IS RE-CAPTURED 
BY CLARK. 



Clark now turned his attention to the Britisli post of St. Vin- 
cents (Vincennes), the subjugation of which Avould not only extend 
the doiuiniou of his native State, but from its contiguity render his 
own position and government more secure. He, therefore, sent for 
M. Gibault, wbo, being the Catholic priest both of Vincennes and 
Kaskaskia, could give him any information he desired. He 
informed Clark that Governor Abbot had lately gone on business 
to Detroit, and that a military expedition against the place was 
Avholly unnecessary. Desirous of ha^dng his jjarishioners free 
fiom the violence of war, he offered to induce the people to transfer 
tlieir allegiance to the Americans without the assistance of troops. 
This i)ropositiou was readily accepted, and DeLafont and a spy 
were selected to accompany him. The embassy set oft' for Vincen- 
nes, and after a fidl explanation between tlie priest and his flock, 
the inhabitants concluded to sever their relations with the British 
government and take the oath of allegiance to the commonwealth 
of Vu-ginia. A temporary governor was appointed, and the Amer- 
ican flag immediately displayed over the fort, to the great sur- 
prise of the Indians. The savages were told that their old father, 
the king of France, had come to life and was angry with them 
because they fought for the English, and that if they did not wish 
the land to be bloody with war they must make i^eace with the 
Americans. M. Gibault and party returned about the 1st of 
August, with the joyful intelligence that everything was i)eace- 
ably adjusted at Vincennes in favor of the Americans. This news 
was both a source of astonishment and gratification, as such a 
residt was hardly to be expected. 

The 3 months for which Clark's men had enlisted was now ter- 
minated, and his instructions being uidetinite, he was at first at a 
loss how to proceed. If the country was abandoned at this junc- 
ture, the immense advantages already gained would be sacriticed, 
and, therefore, acting upon the discretion which necessity demanded, 
he re-enlisted as many of his own men as were willing to continue 
in the service, and commissioned French oflflcers to raise a com- 
pany of the inhabitants. He established a garrison at Kaskaskia, 
under the command of Captain Williams, another at Cahokia 
under Captain Bownum, and selected Captain Sims, who had 
accompanied the expedition as a volunteer, to take charge of the 
men who wished to return. The latter officer was also intrusted 

184 



AMERICAJ>J OCCUPATION. 185 

with orders from Clark for the removal of tlie station from Corn 
Island, at the Falls of the Ohio, to the main land, and a stockade 
fort was erected where Louisville, the metropolis of Kentucky, 
has since been built. Captain John Montgomery, in charge of 
Eocheblave and the bearer of dispatches, was sent to Richmond, 
which had become the capital of Virgiuia. It had been the inten- 
tion to restore to the British commander his slaves, which had 
been seized as public proi)erty, and he and some of his friends 
were invited to dine with Clark and his ofiicers, when ihe restitu- 
tion was to take place. M. Uocheblave, however, called them a 
set of rebels and exhibited such bitterness of feeling, that it was 
necessary to send him to the guard-house and finally a prisoner 
to Virginia. The generous idea of returning the slaves to their 
former owner having been frustated by this provocation, they were 
subsequently sold for 500 x>ounds, which was divided among the 
troops as prize money. 

The government of Virginia in the meantime was informed of 
the reduction of the country, and Clark desiring that a civil govern- 
ment might be instituted, an act was passed in October, 1778, 
organizing the county of Illinois, w^hich included all the territory 
of the commonwealth west of the Ohio river. This immense region, 
exceeding in superficial extent the whole of Great Britain and Ire- 
land, was at that time the largest county in the world, and contained 
the best section of farming lands on the continent. A bill was 
also passed to raise 500 men for opening communication with Xew 
Orleans, for the benefit of the isolated settlements, and Col. John 
Todd was appointed the principal ofidcer in the government of the 
new coimty, and justice was for the hrst time atlministered under 
the authority of Virgmia. 

About the middle of August, Clark appointed Capt. Helm com- 
mandant of Vincennes and Indian agent for the department of the 
Wabash. His great prudence and intinuxte knowledge of Indian 
character eminently qualified him for the duties of this important 
trust. It was also the intention of Col. Clark to place a strong 
detachment under his command as soon as reinforcements should 
arrive fiom Virginia. 

At that time there lived in the vicinity of Vincennes a chief of 
the Piankishaw Indians, who possessed great influence over his 
people. He was complimented by his countrymen with the appel- 
lation of the Grand Door of the Wabash, in imitation of the title 
of Pontiac, who was styled the Grand Door of St. Joseph. Clark 
had exchanged messages with him through Gibault, the catholic 
])riest, and he instructed Helm to seciu-e his influence, as nothing' 
could be done within the Indian confederacy of the Wabash without 
his approbation. The American agent arriving safe at Vincennes, 
and being received with accUimation by the inliabitants, he imme- 
diately invited the Grand Door to a conference. The proud and 
l)onipous chief was pleased with the courtesies of Capt. Helm, who, 
in a friendly talk, communicated to him an invitation from Clark 
to imite with the "Long Knives" and his old master, the King of 
France. In reply to this invitation, he said that he was glad to see 
a chief of the "Long Knives" in town, but with the caution peculiar 
to Indian character, declined giving a definite answer until he 
could confer witli tlje i)rincipal men of his tribe. In all their inter- 
course, the Grand Door observed the ceremonies of the most 



186 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

courtly dignity, and the American, to operate on liis vanity, 
exhibited the same i)omposity, till after several days the interview 
was conclu<led. Finally, Capt. Helm was in\ated to attend a council 
of chiefs, in which the Grand Door informed him, in a strain of 
Indian eloquence, that "the sky had been very dark in the war 
between the 'Long- Knives' and English, but now the clouds were 
brushed away he could see the 'Long Knives' were in the right, 
and if the English conquered them, they might also treat the 
Indians in^tlie same way." He then jumped up, struck his hands 
against his breast, and said, "he had always been a man and a 
warrior, and now he was a 'Long Knife' and would tell the 
red people to bloody the land no longer for the English." He and 
his red brethren then took Capt. Helm by the hand, and during 
the remainder of his life, he remained the staunch friend of the 
Americans. Dying two years afterward, at his request he was 
buried with the honors of war, near the Fort of Cahokia. 

Many chiefs south of Lake Michigan followed the examx)le of 
the Grand Door, and the British influence, which had caused great 
mischief to the frontier settlements, daily declined. Much of the 
success attending these negotiations was due to the influence of 
the French, for the Indians, relying implicitly upon theii" state- 
ments, became greatly alarmed at the growing power of the Ameri- 
cans. Clark's method of efiecting treaties Avith them was attended 
with remarkable success. He had studied the French and Spanish 
methods of intercourse, and thought their plan of urging them to 
make treaties was founded upon a mistaken estimate of their 
character. He Avas of oinnion that such overtures were construed 
by the savages as evidence of either fear or weakness, and there- 
fore studiously avoided making the first advances. Unlike the 
English, who endeavored to win their good will by freely grautiug 
them presents, he either bestowed them reluctantly, or fought 
them imtil they were compelled to seek refuge in treaties as a 
means of self-preservation. The ceremonies attending his coun- 
cils with these sons of the forest, as they illustrated their charac- 
ter, are worth recording. The first convocation of this kind in 
which Colonel Clark was present, met at Cahokia about the 1st of 
September. The various parties had assembled, and as the Indians 
were the solicitors, one of the chiefs approached the table where 
Colonel Clark was sitting, bearing three belts, one of which was 
emblematical of peace, another contained the sacred pipe, and a 
third the fire to light it. After the pipe was lighted, it was first 
presented to the heavens, then to the earth, next forming a circle, 
it was oflered to all the spirits, invoking them to witness their 
proceedings, and finally to Colonel Clark and the other members 
of the council. At the conclusion of these formalities, a chief arose 
and spoke in favor of peace, after which he threw down the bloody 
belt and flag, which had been given to him by the English, and 
stamped on them, as evidence of their rejection. Clark coldly re- 
l^lied that he would consider what he had heard and give them an 
answer on the following day. He howcAcr intimated that their 
existence as a nation depended on the determination of the coun- 
cil, and as peace was not concluded, he cautioned the chief not to 
let any of his countrymen shake hands Avith the white people, 
saying it would be time to giA^e the hand Avhen the heart also 
could be given with it. When he had ceased sjioaking, one of the 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 187 

chiefs remarked that such sentiments were like men wlio had but 
one heart and who did not speak with a forked tongue. The 
council then adjom-ned till the next day, and when, at the appoint- 
ed time the Indians reassembled, Clark thus addressed them : 

" Men and Warriors : Pay attention to my words. You informed 
me yesterday that you hoped the Great Spirit had brought us together 
for good. I have the same hope, and trust each party will strictly adhere 
to whatever is agreed upon, whether it be peace or war. I am a man 
and warrior, not a councilor. I carry war in my right hand, peace in 
my left. I am sent by the great council of the Long Knives and their 
friends, to take possession of all the towns occupied by the English in 
this country, and to watch tlie red people; to bloody the paths of those 
who attempt to stop the course of the rivers, and to clear the roads for 
those who desire to be in peace. I am ordered to call upon the Great 
Fire for warriors enough to darken the land, that the red people may 
hear no sound but of birds which live on blood. I know there is a mist 
before your eyes. I will dispel the clouds that you may clearly see the 
causes of the war between the Long Knives and the English ; then you 
may judge which party is in the right, and if you are warriors, as you 
profess, prove it by adhering faithfully to the party which you shall be- 
lieve to be entitled to your friendship." 

After Clark had explained in detail the cause and effect of the 
war existing- be ween the English and the colonies, he thus con- 
cluded : 

" The whole land was dark ; the old men held down their heads for 
shame, because they could not see the sun ; and thus there was mourn- 
ing for many years over the land. At last the Great Spirit took pity on 
us, and kindled a great council fire at Philadelphia, planted a post, put 
a tomahawk by it and went away. The sun immediately broke out, the 
sky was blue again, and the old men held up their heads and assembled 
at the fire. They took up the hatchet, sharpened it, and immediately 
put it in the hands of our young men, ordering them to strike the Eng- 
lish as long as they could find one on this side of the Great Water. The 
young men immediately struck the war post and blood was shed. In 
this way the war began, and the English were driven from one place to 
another, until they got weak, and then hired the red people to fight for 
them. The Great Spirit got angry at this, and caused your old father, 
the French King, and other great nations to join the Long Knives, and 
fight with them against all their enemies. So the English have become 
like deer in the woods, and you can see that it was the Great Spirit that 
troubled your waters, because you have fought for the people with whom 
he was displeased. You can now judge who is in the right. I have 
already told you who I am. Here is a bloody belt, and a peace belt ; 
take which you please ; behave like men, and do not let your being sur- 
rounded by Long Knives cause you to take up one belt with your hands 
while your hearts take up the other. If you take the bloody path, you 
can go in safety and join your friends, the English. We will then try 
like warriors who can stain our clothes the longest with blood. If, on 
the otlier hand, you take the path of peace, and are received as brothers 
by the Long Knives, and then listen to bad birds that are flying through 
the land, you cannot longer be considered men, but creatures with two 
tongues, which ought to be destroyed. As I am convinced that you 
never heard the truth before, I do not wish you to answer me before you 
have taken time for consideration. We will therefore part this evening, 
and when the Great Spirit shall bring us together again, let usspeak and 
think as men with butone heart and one tongue. " 

On the following day, the council fire was kindled with more 
than ordinary' ceremony, and one of the chiefs came forward and 
said : 

" We have listened with great attention to what the chief of the Long 
Knives told us, and are thankful that the Great Spirit has opened our 
ears and hearts to receive tlie truth. We believe you tell us the truth, 



188 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

for you do not speak like other people, and that our old men are riglit, 
who always said the English spake with double tongues. We will 
take the belt of peace, and cast down the bloody belt of war ; our war- 
riors shall be called home ; the tomahawk shall be thrown into the 
river, where it can never be found ; and we will carefully smooth the road 
for your brothers whenever they wish to come and see you. Our friends 
shall hear of the good talk you have given us, and we hope you will send 
chiefs among our countrymen, that they may see we are men, and 
adhere to all we have promised at this fire, which the Great Spirit has 
kindled for the good of all who attend." 

The pipe was again lighted, the spirits were called on to witness 
the transactions, and theconncil conclnded by shaking hands. 

In this manner alliances were formed with other tribes, and in 
a short time Clark's i)ower was so well established that a single 
soldier conld be sent in safety as far north as the head waters of 
the streams emptying into the lakes. In the vicinity of the lakes 
the British retained their inflnence, some of the tribes being 
divided between them and the Americans. This sudden and 
extensive change of sentiment among the Indians, was due to the 
stern and commanding influence of Colonel Clark, supported by 
the alliance of the French with the colonies, and the regard which 
the Indians still retained for their first Great Father. It required 
great skill on the part of Clark, wlule in command of such dimin- 
utive forces, to keep alive the impression which had originally 
been made respecting the arrival of forces from the Falls of the 
Ohio. To create a favorable impression, the fees connected with 
the administration of justice were abated. The maintenance of 
friendly intercourse with the Spanish authorities, and the per- 
mission of trade among the inhabitants on both sides of the Mis- 
sissippi, was also productive of good will. 

In his negotiation with the Indians, an incident occurred about 
this time which, from its romantic character, is worthy of mention. 
A large reward was offered the Meadow or Mascoutin Indians, 
who accompanied the other tribes to the council, to assassinate 
the American commander. For this purpose they pitched their 
camp on the same side of Cahokia creek occupied by Clark, dis- 
tant 100 yards from the fort and the American headquarters. It 
was arranged that a part of their number should cross the creek, 
which could easily be waded, fire in the direction of the Indian 
encampment, and then flee to the quarters of Clark, where, under 
the pretejise of fear, they were to obtain admission and put 
the garrison to death. The attemj)t was made about 1 o'clock in 
the morning. The flying party having discharged their guns in 
such a manner as to cast suspicion upon the Indians on the oppo- 
site side of the creek, started directly to the American encampment 
for protection. Clark was still awake with the multiplied cares 
of his situation, and the guards being stronger than had been 
anticipated, presented their pieces and compelled the fugitives to 
halt. The town and garrison were immediately under arms ; the 
Mascoutins, whom the guard had recognized by moonlight, were 
sent for, and being interrogated respecting their conduct, declared 
that they had been fired upon by enemies on the opposite side of 
the creek, and that they had fled to the Americans for refuge. The 
French, however, understanding them better than their conquer- 
ors, called for a light, and on examination discovered that their 
leggings and moccasins were wet and muddy, which was evidence 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 189 

that they had crossed the creek and that the Indians they visited 
were friends instead of enemies. The intended assassins were 
dismayed at this discovery, and Clark, to convince the Indians of 
the confidence which he reposed in the French, handed over the 
cnlprits to them to be dealt with as they thought proper. Inti- 
mations were, however, made to them privately, that they ought 
to be confined, and they were accordingly manacled and sent to 
the guard-house. In tliis condition they were daily brought into 
the council, where he whom they had endeavored to kill, was 
fomiing friendly relations with their red brethren of other tribes. 
When all the other business of the council was transacted, Clark 
ordered the irons to be struck off, and said : " Justice requires 
that you die for your treacherous attempt upon my life during the 
sacred deliberations of a council. I had determined to inflict death 
ujjon you for your base designs, and you must be sensible that you 
have justly forfeited your lives ; but on considering the meanness 
of watching a bear and catching him asleep, I have concluded that 
you are not warriors, but old women, and too mean to be killed 
by the Long Knives. Since, hoAvever, you must be piuiished for 
M'earing the apparel of meu, it shall be taken away from you, and 
you shall be furnished with plenty of provisions for your journey 
home, and while here you shall be treated in every respect as 
squaws." At the conclusion of these cutting remarks, Clark turned 
to converse with others. The offending Indians, expecting anger 
and punishment, instead of contempt and disgrace, were exceed- 
ingly agitated. After counseling with each other, one of the chiefs 
came forward, and laying a pipe and belt of peace on the table, 
made some exi)lanatory remarks. The interpreter stood ready to 
translate these words of friendship, but Clark refused to hear 
them, and raising his sword and shattering the pipe, declared that 
the Long Knives never treated with women. Some of the other 
tribes with whom alliances had been formed, now interi)osing for 
the discomfited Indians, besought Clark to pity their families and 
grant them pardon. To this entreaty he coldly replied, that "the 
Long Knives never made war upon these Indians ; they are of a 
kind which we shoot like wolves when we meet them in the woods, 
lest they kill the deer." This rebuke wrought more and more upon 
the guilty parties, and, after again taking counsel, two of the 
young meu came forward, covered their heads with blankets, 
knd sat down at the feet of the inexorable Clark. Two chiefs also 
arose, and standing by the side of the victims who thus offered 
their lives as an atonement for the crime of their tribe, again pre- 
sented the pipe of peace, saying, we hoi)e this sacrifice will appease 
the anger of the Long Knife. The American connnander, not 
replying immediately, as if still unsatisfied, the most profound 
silence reigned in the assembly, and nothing was heard but 
the deep breathing of the multitude, all tui-ning their eyes upon 
Clark, as if to read in the exjoression of his countenance the 
fate of the devoted Indians. The sudden impulse caused by the 
heroism of this ronmntic incident, almost overcame the powerful 
nerve of Clark, who, from the first, had intended to grant these 
Indians peace, but with a reluctance, as he says, that should 
enhance its value. At length, to relieve the great suspense of the 
assembly, he advanced toward the young men and ordering them 
to uncover their heads and stand up, said : "I am rejoiced to find men 



190 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

among- all nations ; these two young warriors who have offered 
their lives a sacrifice, are at least proof for their own countrymen. 
Such men only are worthy to be chiefs, and with such I like to 
treat." He then took them by the hand, and in honor of their 
magnanimity and corn-age, introduced them to the American officers 
and other members of the assembly, after which all saluted them 
as the chiefs of their tribe. "The Eoman Curtius leaped into the 
Gulf to save his countrymen, and Leonidas died in obedience to 
the laws of Greece ; butin neither of these instances was displayed 
greater heroism than that exhibited by these unsophisticated 
children of nature." They were ever after held in high esteem 
among the braves of their own tribe, and the fame of the white 
negotiator Avas correspondingly extended. A council was immedi- 
ately convened for the benelit of the INIeadow Indians ; an alliance 
was formed with their chiefs, and neither party ever afterward had 
occasion to regret the reconciliation thus effected. 

Although it was Clark's general aim not to ask favors of the 
Indians, yet some of their chiefs were so intelligent and powerful 
he occasionally invited them to visit him and explain the nature of 
the contest between the English and thecolonists. Anotedinstance 
of this kind was his intercourse with Black Bird, a very distin- 
guished chief whose lands bordered on Lake Michigan, and who 
had obtained such a reputution among his people that a departure 
from the usual policy was deemed advisable. Black Bird was in 
St. Louis when the country was first invaded, bat having little 
confidence in Spanish protection, he wrote a letter to Clark apolo- 
gizing for his absence, and returned to his tribe. A special mes- 
senger was sent requesting him to come to Kaskaskia, and comply- 
ing with the invitation, he called upon Colonel Clark with only 8 
attendants. Great preparations were immediately made for hold- 
ing a council, but the sagacious chief, disliking the usual formali- 
ties of Indian negotiation, informed Clark that he came on business 
of importance, and desired that no time might be wasted in useless 
ceremonies. He stated that he wished to converse with him, and 
proffered without ostentation to sit with him at the same table. A 
room was accordingly furnished and both, provided with interpret- 
ers, took their seats at the same stand and commenced the confer- 
ence. Black Bird said he had long wished to have an interview 
with a chief of our nation ; he had souglit information from pris- 
oners but could not confide in their statements, for they seemed 
afraid to speak the truth. He admitted that he had fought against 
us, although doubts of its justice occasionally crossed his mind; 
some mystery hung over the matter which he desired to have 
removed; he was anxious to hear both sides of the question, but 
hitherto he had only been able to hear but one. Clark undertook 
to impart the desired information, but owing to the difficulty of 
rendering himself intelligent, several hours were spent in answering 
his questions. At the conclusion. Black Bird, among other things, 
said that he was glad that their old friends, the French, had united 
their arms with ours, and that the Indians ought to do the same. 
He affirmed that his sentiments were fixed in our favor ; that he 
would never again listen to the offers of the English, who must 
certainly be afraid because they hire with merchandise the Ind- 
ians to do their fighting. He closed by saying that he would call 
in his young men, and thus put an end to the war, as soon as he 



ATMERICAN OCCUPATION. 191 

could get an opportunity of explaining to them the natiu-e of the 
contest. Tills (leterniinatioii of the chief was very agreeable to 
Clark, who informed him that he would write to the government of 
Virginia and have them registered among the friends of the white 
people. A few days afterward, this intelligent Indian, suj)plied 
"with presents and accom])anied, at his request, by an agent of 
Clark, set otf for his native forests. His conduct afterward exem- 
plilied the honesty of his professions, for he thereafter remained 
the faithful friend of the Americans. 

Clark in his intercourse with the Indians, never blamed them 
for accei)ting the presents of the English, as the necessities of 
their condition and the inability of the Americans to supply their 
wants, rendered it unavoidable. Commerce had to some extent 
already introduced among them superior appliances of civilization. 
The rilie and its ammunition had long since superseded the bow 
and arrow, and blankets, cooking utensils, cutlery, and other im- 
plements manufactured in an advanced state of arts, were as 
necessary to the savage as the civilized man. While, however, 
he forebore to reproach them for receiving presents from the 
English, he endeavored to impress upon their minds the degrada- 
tion of fighting for hire. The "Long Knives," he said, "regarded 
the scaljis taken while fighting in self-defence as the greatest of 
trophies, but those obtained in mercenary warfare, are thrown to 
the dogs or used as toys for the amusement of their childi-en." 

Another chief by the name of Lages, about this time, sent a 
letter to Clark. He was also known by the appellation of Big 
Grate, a title which he received from having shot a British soldier, 
standing at the fort when Pontiac, with whom he was then associ- 
ated, besieged Detroit. Several marauding parties against our 
frontier settlements, had been successfidly commanded by this 
warrior, who happened to fall in ^ith a party of Piankishaws 
going to Kaskaskia to make the Americans a visit. Gaudily decked 
in the full costume of war, and with the bloody belt, which the 
British had given him, suspended about his neck, he daily came to 
the council and occupied one of the most prominent seats. As a 
silent spectator he thus attended till all the public business was 
transacted, the American officer then accosted him with an apology 
for not having paid his respects during the deliberations of the 
assembly. Although we are enemies, said he, it is customary with 
the white people to treat celebrated warriors with respect, in pro- 
portion to the exploits which they have performed against 
each other in war. Being a distinguished warrior, Clark invited 
him to dinner. Surprised at this civihty he at first endeavored to 
decline the invitation. The American officer, however, when he 
attempted to offer an excuse, repeated with greater warmth his 
solicitations, tiU the feelings of the chief were wrought iip to the 
highest pitch of excitement. Eoused in this manner he advanced 
to the center of the room, threw down the war belt, tore oft' the 
clothes and flag, which had been given him by his friends, the 
English. Despoiled of these presents, he struck himself violently 
on the breast, and said that he had been a warrior from his youth, 
and delighted in battles; that he had fought three times against the 
Americans and was preparing another war party, wh(m he heard 
of Colonel Clark's arrival ; that he had determined to visit the 
Americans, who he now thought were right, and that he was hence- 



192 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS 

forth a "Long Knife" and would war no longer for the English. He 
then concluded by shaking hands with Clark and his officers and 
saluting them as brothers. The comical part of the affair was that 
the new brother was now naked, and since he must be clothed, a 
fine laced suit was provided and lie appeared at the entertainment 
arrayed in all the trappings of military costume. After the repast 
was over, in a j^rivate interview, he disclosed to Clark the situation 
of Detroit, and offered to obtain a scalp or prisoner from its garri- 
son. Clark not wishing to encourage the barbarities of the Indians, 
declined the former, but assured the warrior of his willingness to 
accept the latter, provided he treated the captive kindly when he 
got bim in his power. This policy of appealing to the better feel- 
ings of humanity was little appreciated by the savages, and in 
some instances caused them to unite with the less scrupnlous 
enemy who suffered them to plunder and miu'der without stint, 
provided British aggrandizement was the result. When the chief 
departed Clark gave him a captain's commission and a medal as 
evidence of the new relations and responsibilities which he had 
assumed. 

While the American commander was thus negotiating with the 
Indians, Hamilton, the British governor of Detroit heard of Clark's 
invasion, and was incensed that the country which he had in charge 
should be wrested fromh'mbya few ragged militia from Virginia. 
He therefore hurriedly collected a force consisting of 30 regulars, 50 
French Canadians and 400 Indians, and marching by way of the 
Wabash appeared before the fort at Vincennes on the 15th of 
December, 1778. The inhabitants made no effort to defend the 
town, and when Hamilton's forces arrived Capt. Helm and a man 
by the name of Henry were the on\y Americans in the fort. The 
latter charging a cannon, i)lace(l it in the open gateway, and the 
captain standing by it with a lighted match cried out as Hamilton 
came in hailing distance, "halt." The British officer, not knowing 
the strength of the garrison stopped and demanded the surrender 
of the fort. Helm exclaimed "no man shall enter here till I know 
the terms." Hamilton responded, "you shall have the honors of 
war." The entire garrison, consisting of one officer and one private, 
then capitulated, and receiving the customary courtesies for their 
brave defence, marched out with the honors of war. Capt. Helm 
was retained a prisoner, the French inhabitants were disarmed, 
and a large portion of Hamilton's troops were detached againstthe 
settlements on the Ohio and Mississii)pi. 

These movements transpired at Vincennes, 6 weeks before the 
intelligence reached Kaskaskia, thus verifying the serious appre- 
hensions which Clark, in the meantime, had entertained for the 
safety of the place. In consequence of these forebodings, he en- 
gaged Colonel Vigo to go and reconnoitre the situation of the 
post. No choice could have been more fortunate. Although Vigo 
was an Italian by birth, no one excelled him in devotion to the 
cause of freedom and sympathy for an oppressed people strug- 
gling for their rights. Associated as a merchant with the Spanish 
governor of St. Louis, he amassed a large fortune, which, with the 
greatest generosity, he expended during the revolution for the 
benefit of his adopted country. Having for a long time resided in 
Indiana, and died there, the State, in honor of his memory, called 
a county after his name, and Congress ultimately refunded a large 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 193 

part of the money whicli he had expended. After conferring with 
Clark, he started on his mission, and when within five miles of his 
destination, he was captured by the Indians and taken before 
Governor Hamilton. He was regarded as an American spy, but 
being a Spanish subject, and very popular with the inhabitants of 
the town, the British officer did not dare to proceed against him 
according to his suspicions. The citizens threatened to stop his 
supplies if he was not suffered to depart. Hamilton reluctantly 
proposed to let him go if, during the war, he would not do any 
act injurious to British interests. Colonel Vigo peremptorily 
refused to become a party to such a compact. Agreeing, however, 
not to do anything prejudicial in his homeward joiu-ney, he was 
permitted to return in a boat, down the Wabash and up the Mis- 
sissippi, to St. Louis. He remained neutral just long enough to 
comply with his stipulations, for, on his arrival home, he imme- 
diately changed his clothes, and set off for Kaskaskia to commu- 
nicate the information which he had obtained to Colonel Clark. 
After detailing the capitulation of Vincennes and the disposition 
of the British force, he made known Hamilton's intentions of re- 
conquering Illinois, and his meditated attack upon Kaskaskia, on 
the re-assembling of his forces in the spring, as the surest way of 
eftecting this object. When this place was reduced, with his 
forces augmented by the addition of 700 warriors from Mackinaw, 
the Cherokees and Chickasaws, and other tribes, he proposed to 
penetrate as far as Fort Pitt, and subjugate in his march all the 
intervening settlements. So elated was the British commander 
with his hopes of conquest, he intended, in a short time, to be 
master of all the territory of Virginia between the Alleghanies 
and the Mississippi. 

Clark, in view of the critical condition of the country, and the 
extreme peril of his own situation, wrote to Governor Henry, of 
Virginia, acquainting him of Hamilton's designs, and asking him 
for troops. Parties of hostile Indians, sent out by the British 
governor, began to appear, and as assistance could not be obtained 
from the State in time, with the promptness which the emergency 
demanded, he resolved to help himself. Anticipating his rival, he 
commenced preparations with his own limited means to carry the 
war into the enemy's country, for, as he says, " I knew if I did 
not take him, he would take me." Colonel Vigo had informed 
him that, owing to the dispersion of the British forces, the 
garrison at Vincennes was redticed to 80 men, three pieces of 
cannon and some swivels, and that if the town was attacked be- 
fore the troops were recalled, it might, without difficulty, be 
recaptured. Without a moment's delay, a galley was fitted up, 
mounting two 4-pounders and 4 swivels, and placed in charge 
of Capt. John Rogers, and a company of 46 men, with orders after 
reaching the Wabash to force their way up the stream to the 
mouth of White River, and remain there for further instructions. 
Clark next ordered Captain Bowman to evacuate the fort at Caho- 
kia for the purpose of organizing an exj)edition to proceed across 
by land, and co-operate with the force under Captain Rogers. 
The French inhabitants of Cahokia and Kaskaskia raised two 
companies, commanded by Captains McCarty and Charleville, 
which, with the Americans, amounted to 170 men. On the 7th of 
February, 1779, just 8 days after the reception of the news from 
13 



194 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Ymcemies, this forloru hope conimenced its march in a northeast- 
erly direction, over the inundated flats of the country, in a wet, 
but fortunately, not cold season. To relieve the hardships of the 
journey, which was perhaps the most drearj^ one performed during 
the revolution, hunting-, game feasts, and Indian war dances were 
instituted for the amusement of the men. After incredible hard- 
ships, on the 13th they reached the forks of the Little Wabash, 
the low bottom lands of which were covered with water. At this 
part of the stream the opposite banks were 5 miles apart 
and the water so deep when Clark arrived as in many places 
to be waded with the greatest difliculty. Here, drenched in 
the rains which fell almost daily, they managed to construct a 
canoe, and ferry over their baggage to the opposite shore. Hith- 
erto they had borne their labors with great fortitude, but now 
many became discouraged by the continued obstacles which beset 
the way. While wading the Wabash, and in some instances to 
the shoidders in mud and water, an incident occurred which, by 
its merriment, greatly relieved the desponding spirits of the men. 
There was in the service an Irish drummer, who was of small stat- 
ure, but possessed rare talent in singing comic songs. On coming 
to a depression beyond his depth, he put his drum into the water, 
and mounting on the head, requested one of the tallest men to 
pilot him across the stream, while he enlivened the company by 
his wit and music. 

On the morning of the 18th, 11 days after lea^^ng Kaskaskia, 
they heard the signal guns of the fort, and during the evening of 
the same day, arrived at the Great Wabash, 9 miles below Vin- 
cennes. The galley had not arrived with the supplies, and the 
men being exhausted, destitute and almost in a starving con- 
tion, it required all of Clark's address to keep tliem from giving up 
in despair-. The river was out of its banks, all the low lands 
were submerged, and before means of transportation could be pro- 
cured they might be discovered by the British and the entire party 
captured. On the 20th, a boat from Vincennes was hailed and 
brought to land, from the crew of which was received the cheer- 
ing intelligence of the friendly disposition of the French inhabit- 
ants, and that no suspicion of Clark's movements was entertained 
by the British garrison. The last day of the march, the most 
formidable difficulties were encountered. Says Colonel Clark, in 
his journal : 

" The nearest land to us, in the direction of Vincennes, was a sjaot 
called tiie 'Sugar Camp,' on the opposite side of a slough. I sounded the 
water, and finding it deep as my neclv, returned witli tlie design of hav- 
ing the men transported on board tlie canoes to tlie camp, thougli I knew 
it would spend the whole day and tlie ensuing night, as the vessels would 
pass slowly through the bushes. The loss of so much time to men 
half-starved, was a matter of serious consequence, and I would now 
have given a great deal for a day's provisions or one of our horses. 
When I returned, all ran to hear the report. I unfortunately spoke in a 
serious manner to one of the otficers; the whole were alarmed without 
knowing what I said. I viewed their confusion for a minute, and wiiis- 
pered for those near me to do as I did. I immediately put some water 
in my hand, poured powder on it, blackened my face, gave the war- 
whoop and marched into the water. Th<.^ party immediately followed, 
one after another, without uttering a word of coiuplaint. I ordered those 
near me to sing a favorite song, which soon passed through the line and 
all went clieertully. I now intended to liave them trausi^orted across 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 195 

the deepest part of the water, but when about waist-deep, one of the 
men informed me that he thought he had discovered a path. We fol- 
lowed it, and finding that it liept on higher ground, without further dif- 
ficulty arrived at the camp, where there was dry ground on which to 
pitch our lodges. The Frenchmen that we had taken on the river, 
appeared to be uneasy at our situation, and begged that they might be 
permitted, during the night, to visit the town in 2 canoes and bring, 
from their own houses, provisions. They said that some of our men 
could go with them as a surety for their conduct, and that it would be 
impossible to leave that place till the waters, which were too deep 
for marching, subsided. Some of the officers believed that this might 
be done, but I would not suffer it. I could never well account for my 
obstinacy on this occasion, or give satisfactory reasons to myself or any- 
body else why I denied a proposition apparently so easy to execute, and 
of so much advantage ; but something seemed to tell me it should not be 
done. 

" On the following morning, the finest we had experienced, I har- 
angued the men. What I said I am not now able to recall; but it may 
be easily imagined by a person who possesses the regard which I, at that 
time, entertained for them. I concluded by informing them, that pass- 
ing the sheet of water, which was then in full view and reaching the 
opposite woods, would put an end to their hardships ; that in a few hours 
they would have a sight of their long-wished for object, and immedi- 
ately stepped into the water without waiting for a reply. Before a third 
of the men had entered, I halted and called to Major Bowman, and 
ordered him to fall into ttie rear with 25 men and put to death any man 
who refused to march with us, as we did not wish to have any such 
among us. The whole gave a cry of approbation, and on we went. 
This was the most trying of all the difficulties we experienced. I gen- 
erally kept 15 of the strongest men next myself, and judged from my 
own feelings, what must be that of the others. Getting near the middle 
of the inundated plain, I found myself sensibly failing, and as there were 
no trees for the men to support themselves, I feared that many of the 
weak would be drowned. I ordered the canoe to ply back and forth, and 
with all diligence to pick up the men ; and to encourage the party, sent 
some of the strongest forward with orders that, when they had advanced 
a certain distance, to pass the word back that the water was getting 
shallow, and when near the woods, to cry out land. This stratagem 
had the desired effect. The men, encouraged by it, exerted themselves 
almost beyond their abilities; the weak holding on the stronger. On 
reaching the woods where the men expected laud, the water was up to 
their shoulders ; but gaining the timber was the greatest consequence, 
for the weakly hung to trees and floated on the drift till they were 
taken off" by the canoes. The strong and tall got ashore and built fires; 
but many of the feeble, unable to support themselves on reaching laud, 
would fall with their bodies half in the water. The latter were so 
benumbed with cold, we soon found that fires would not restore them, 
and the strong were compelled to exercise them with great severity to 
revive their circulation, 

" Fortunately, a canoe in charge of some squaws was going to town, 
which our men captured, and which contained half a quarter of buffalo 
meat, some corn, tallow and kettles. Broth was made of this valuable 
prize and served out to the most weakly with great care. Most of the 
men got a small portion, but many of them gave part of theirs to the 
more famished, jocosely saying something cheering to their comrades. 
This little refreshment gave renewed life to the company. We next 
crossed a deep but narrow lake, in the canoes, and marching some dis- 
tance, came to a copse of timber called Warrior's Island. We were now 
distant only two miles from town, which, without a single tree to ob- 
struct the view, could be seen from the position we occupied. 

" The lower portious of the land between us and the town were cov- 
ered V, ith water, which served at this season as a resort for ducks and 
other water fowl. We had observed several men out on horseback shoot- 
ing them, half a mile distant, and sent out as many of our active young 
Frenchmen to decoy and take one of them prisoner, in such a manner 
as not to alarm the others. Being successful, in addition to the informa- 



196 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tion which had been obtained from those taken on the river, tlie captive 
reported tliat tlie British liad that evening completed tlie wall of tlie 
fort, and that there were a good many Indians in town. Our situation 
was truly critical. No possibility of retreat in case of defeat, and in full 
view of the town, which, at this time, had 600 men in it — troojDs, 
inhabitants and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not 50 men, 
would now have been a re-inforcement of immense magnitude to our 
little army, but we could not think of waiting for them. Each had for- 
gotten his suffering, and was ready for the fray, saying what he had 
suffered was nothing but what a man should bear for the good of his 
country. The idea of being made a prisoner was foreign to every man, 
as each expected nothing but torture if they fell into the hands of the 
Indians. Our fate was to be determined in a few hours, and nothing but 
the most daring conduct would insure success. I knew that a number 
of the inhabitants wished us well; that many were lukewarm to the in- 
terests of either party. I also learned that the Grand Door had but a 
few days before openly declared, in council with the British, that he 
was a brother and friend of the Long Knives. These were favorable 
circumstances, and as there was little probability of our remaining until 
dark undiscovered, I determined to commence operations immediately, 
and wrote the following placard to the people of the town. ' To the in- 
habitants of Vincennes : Gentlemen, being now within two miles of 
your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and 
not being willing to surprise you, I take this opportunity to request 
such of you as are true citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty which I 
bring you, to remain still in your houses, and those, if any there be, who 
are friends of the king, let them instantly repair to the fort and join the 
hair-buyer general*, and fight like men. And if any of the latter do 
not go to the fort, and shall be discovered afterward, they may depend 
upon severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends 
to liberty, may depend upon being well treated, and I once more request 
them to keep out of the streets, for every one I find in arms on my arri- 
val shall be treated as an enemy.' " 

This forcible letter, wliicli shows Clark's insight into human 
natiu-e by inspiring conhdence in the friendly, and ttlling the adverse 
party with dismay, was half the battle that followed. On the 
receipt of the letter, the people of the town supposed the invaders 
had come from Kentucky as no one imagined it possible that an 
expedition coidd come from Illinois, in consequence of the freshets 
which prevailed at that season of the year. To deepen this impres- 
sion, letters piu'porting to come from well known gentlemen in 
Kentucky, were written and sent to the inhabitants, and so well 
established was the conviction, that the i)resence of Clark could 
not be credited till his person was pointed out by one who knew 
him. The soldiers, as on previous occasions, were directed to 
greatly exaggerate the strength of the American forces. 

About sunset on the 2od, they sallied forth to attack the fort. 
When in full view of it, they were divided into platoons, each dis- 
playing a different flag, and by marching and countermarching 
among some mounds between them and the town, their apparent 
numbers greatly exceeded their real strength. ISTearing the village 
and encamping on the adjacent heights, some commotion was per- 
ceptible in the streets, but no hostile demonstration occurred at 
the fort, and it was afterward ascertained that even the friends of 
the British were afraid to give notice of Clark's presence. The 
utmost impatience prevailing in the American encampment, to 
know the cause of the silence, Lieut. Bailey, with 14 men, was 
sent to make an attack upon the garrison. The lire of the party 

"Thus named from having hired the Indians to murder the American prisoners, by 
paying so much per scalp. 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 197 

was attributed to some drunken Indians, who had sahited the fort 
in that manner on previous occasions, and it Avas not till after one 
of the besieged was shot through a port hole that the real character 
of the assailants was ascertained, and the engagement commenced 
in earnest. Henry and Captain Helm were still retained as 
prisoners in the fort. Through the wife of the former, who lived 
in Vincennes, and was permitted to visit her husband daily, Clark 
obtained minute information respecting the garrison. Learning in 
this way where Capt. Helm lodged — knowing his fondness for 
apple-toddy, and believing he would have some on the hearth as 
usual, he sufi'ered one of his men to fire on his quarters, with a 
view, as he said, to knock the mortar into the captain's favorite 
beverage. At the time he was playing cards with Hamilton, and 
when the bullets commenced rattling about the chimney, he jumped 
up and swore that it was Clark, that he would take all of them 
prisoners, and that the d — d rascal had ruined his toddy. While 
thus conversing, Helm obserA'ed some of the soldiers looking out of 
the port holes and cautioned them not to do so again as the Amer- 
icans would certainly shoot out their eyes. It so happened that 
one of the men afterward attempting to look out was shot in the 
eye, which Capt. Helm observing exclaimed, "there, I told you so." 
These incidents, characteristic of the men and the times, doubtless 
had their efiect upon the garrison. 

The ammunition of tho Americans, who had expected supplies 
from the galley, being now nearlj- exhausted, some of the inhabi- 
tants furnished them with powder and ball, which had been buried 
to keep it from falling into the hands of the British. Had tha 
Americans also needed assistance, the Grand Door, with whom a 
treaty had previously been concluded, appeared with 100 warriors 
and olfered his services to Clark, who, though declining his aid in 
the field, requested his presence and influence in council. 

The Americans had advanced behind a bank to within 30 yards 
of the fort, whose guns in consequence of their elevation, were 
useless, and no sooner was a port hole darkened than a dozen 
rifles discharged their contents into the aperture, and the British 
soldiers could no longer be kept at their j^osts. Clark perceiving 
their difficulties, in the course of the morning demanded the sur- 
render of the fort, which Hamilton refused, stating that he would 
not be awed into anything unbecoming a British officer. The men 
were urgent to take the fort by storm, but Clark knowing that he 
could get possession of it without the expenditure of life result- 
ing from an assault, wisely 0])posed their desires. In the evening 
of the same day Hamilton, apprehensive that he Avould be com- 
pelled to surrender at discretion, sent a flag to the besiegers 
desiring a truce of three days. This Clark refused, although during 
the armistice the galley might arrive with its men and munitions, 
which would greatly facilitate his operations for the reduction of 
the fort. He proposed in return the unconditional surrender of the 
garrison, and informed the British commander if he wished to have 
an interview for that purpose, he might meet him at the church. In 
compliance with this offer. Gov. Hamilton, in company with Capt. 
Helm and Major Hay, waited on Col. Clark at the appointed place. 
At the conference which ensued, the American (commander re^ject- 
ing all the overtures of his antagonist, resolutely adhered to his 
first proposition, and when Capt. Helm attempted to moderate his 



198 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

demands, lie informed him that a prisoner had no rightto interfere. 
Hamilton thereupon replied, that he was free from that moment, 
but Clark unmoved, would notaccept his release upon these terms, 
telling- him he must retmm and abide his fate, and the British 
officers that the flrmg would recommence in 15 minutes. The gen- 
tlemen were about to retire to their respective quarters, when 
Hamilton called Clark aside, and politely asked his reasons for 
rejecting the liberal terms which had been offered. The latter 
sternly replied, "I am aware the princii)al Indian partisans from 
Detroit are in the fort, and I only want an honorable opportunity 
of putting such instigators of Indian barbarities to death. The 
cries of widows and orphans made by their butcheries, require 
such blood at my hands. I consider this claim upon me for punish- 
ment next to divine, and I would rather lose 50 men tlian not 
execute a vengeance demanded by so much innocent blood. If 
Gov. Hamilton is willing to risk his garrison for such miscreants, 
he is atperfect liberty to do so." Major Hay, who heard this state- 
ment inquired, "Pray, sir, who do you mean by 'Indian partisans?'" 
Clark promptly replied, "1 consider Major Hay one of the principal 
ones." The latter, as if guilty of the charge, immediately turned 
deadly pale, trembled and could hardly stand. Gov. Hamilton 
blushed for this exhibition of cowardice in presence of the Ameri- 
can olhcer, and Capt. Helm could hardly refrain from expressing 
contempt. Clark's feelings now relented, and secretly resolving to 
deal more leniently with the British officers, before separating he 
told them he would reconsider the matter and let them know the 
result. After retiring, a council of war was held and milder terms 
being submitted to Gov. Hamilton, he accepted them, and on the 
24th of February, 1779, the garrison surrendered.* 

The following day Clark took possession of the fort, hoisted the 
American flag, and fired 13 guns to celebrate the recovery of this 
important stronghold. Seventy prisoners were captured, and a 
considerable quantity of military stores became the projierty of 
the victors. Most of the prisoners were permitted to return to 
Detroit on parol of honor, but Hamilton and a few others were 
sent to Virginia, where the council ordered them into confinement 
as a punishment for their ultra barbarism, in offering rewards 
for the scalps of those who were captured by the Indians. Gen. 
Phillips protesting against this rigid treatment, Jefferson referred 
the matter to Washington, who considering it a violation of the 
agTeement made at the surrender of the fort, they were released. 

During the siege of the fort, a party of Indian warriors, bringing 
with them two white persons, whom they had captured in a raid 
on the frontier of Kentucky, arrived and camped in the vicinity 
of the village. Ignorant of Clark's presence, he sent against them 
a force which soon routed them, with a loss of nine warriors. The 
remainder precipitately fled, well pleased to escape with their lives 
from an enemy whose prowess on previous occasions they had 
learned to fear. A few days afterward, Capt. Helm and 60 
men were detached to proceed uj) the Wabash and intercept val- 
uable military stores then on the way from Detroit to Vincennes. 
The expedition was successful, securing the convoying party and 
property to the amount of $50,000. On the return of the detach- 
ment laden with their spoils, the galley hove in sight, and was 

•Butler's Kentucky. 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 199 

preparing for an attack oii the little river fleet, when the ensign 
of freedom was discovered waving over the fort. The crew, 
although rejoicing in the triumph of their brethren who had pre- 
ceded them by land, regretted exceedingly the circumstances 
which had denied them the privilege of participating in the reduc- 
tion of the fort. 

After taking Vincennes under obstacles which, by any other 
commander except Clark, would have been deemed insurmount- 
able, this brilhant achievement was only considered the stepping 
stone to other and richer conquests. Detroit was luidoubtedly 
within the reach of the enterprising Virginian. "Fortune has 
thus twice i^laced this point in my power," he writes to Gov. Henry. 
" Had I been able to raise 500 men when I hrst arrived in the 
country, or 300 when at Vincennes, I should have attempted its 
subjugation." Intelligence was brought to him that the gajrison 
at that time contained but 80 men, many of whom were invalids, 
and that the inhabitants of the town were so partial to the Amer- 
icans as to rejoice exceedingly when they heard of Hamilton's 
capture. In view of these facts, Clark determined to make an 
attack upon the place, when receiving dispatches from the gov- 
ernor of Virginia promising a battahon of men, he deemed it most 
prudent to postpone operations till the reinforcements should 
arrive. 

Leaving Capt. Helm in command at Vincennes, Clark embarked 
on board the galley and returned to Kaskaskia, where he found 
himself more embarrassed by the depreciated currency which had 
been advanced to him by the government of Virginia, than -pre- 
viously by the British and Indians. While adjusting these difii- 
culties, the war with England and the colonies terminated in the 
independence of the latter, and with it followed a suspension of 
the hostilities which had so long devastated the western frontier. 
Clark's services being no longer needed, at the instance of Gen. 
Harrison he was relieved of his command, receiving the most 
hearty encomiums of Virginia's noblest statesman for the valuable 
services he had rendered the country. 

The advantages resulting from the capture of the military sta- 
tions of Illinois cannot be over estimated. Hamilton, as intimated, 
had made arrangements to enlist all the southern and western 
Indians for his contemplated campaign the ensuing spring, and 
had he not been intercepted, the entire country between the Alle- 
ghanies and the Mississii)pi might have been overrun, and thus 
have changed the whole current of American history. Jeflerson 
said, in a letter to Clark, " Much solicitude will be felt for the 
result of jour expedition to the Wabash ; if successful it will have 
an important bearing in determining our north- western boundary." 
Accordingly, as predicted by 'this great statesman, in the prelim- 
inary negotiations for peace and boundary of 1782 between the 
colonies and the three great rival powers of Europe, the conquest 
of Clark had a controlling influence in their deliberations. Spain 
claimed the entire region between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, on 
the j)retense, that in the winter of 1781, sixty-tive Spaniards and 
an equal number of Indians captured St. Joseph, a small English 
fort near the source of the Illinois, and took possession of the adja- 
cent country in the name of their sovereign. Dr. Franklin, one of 
the negotiators, referring to the claim of this power, said it was 



200 HISTOKT OF ILLENOIS. 



the design of the Spanish court to restrict the United States to 
the Alleghauies, and he hoped that Congress wonld insist on the 
Mississippi as the western boundary. It was, however, found, 
impossible to connect the Spanish possessions on the Lower Mis- 
sissippi with the disputed territory, for Chirk had built Fort 
Jefferson, below the mouth of the Ohio, and Virginia had actual 
possession between the two rivers. France, at the treaty of Paris, 
in 17G3, had transferred all this vast region to England, and could 
make no claim. She, however, objected to the right of the Amer- 
icans, hoping by this stroke of policy in favorof her jealous rivals, 
to gain some other point in the controversy where she was more 
directly interested. 

Nor had England the presumption to contend, that it did not 
belong to the colonies, which had established themselves as the 
United States. The patent of Virginia covered most of the dis- 
puted territory ; the army of Clark had subdued and permanently 
occupied it. Subsequently it had been organized as a county of 
the State, and consequently the English envoy could not claim it^ 
with any more propriety than other parts of the commonwealth 
after the battle of Yorktown. He was too accurate a jurist to 
allow the claim of Spain, or to listen to the objections of France j 
but what would have been his decision looking to British aggran- 
dizement, had it not been for the civil and military rule previously 
established by the Americans "? 

In estimating the debt of gratitude we owe to Clark and his 
sturdy Virginia veterans, let us consider whether the great country 
of Louisiana, subsequently purchased by Jefferson from the First 
Consul, could have been obtained but for the service which they 
rendered. Nay, but for their valor, the magnificent national 
domain now stretching away to the Pacific, and promising to 
absorb the whole continent, might have been broken at the moun- 
tain's summit or the river's shore; and the Republic, now exerting 
controlling influence among the great nationalities of the world, 
would consequently' have remained an inconsiderable power. 

After his campaigns in Illinois, Clark engaged in a number of 
expeditions against the Indians ; fought under Baron Steuben in 
the East, against the traitor Arnold, and finally enlisted as a brig- 
adier-general in the armies of Fiance to operate against the 
Spanish possessions on the lower Mississippi. Before anything 
was effected. Genet, the French minister and leader of the enter- 
prise, was recalled, Clark's commission was annidled, and he 
retired to private life. Duriiig the latter years of his life he 
became an invalid, suffering intensely from rheumatic affections 
caused hy exposure in his previous campaigns. With advancing 
age the disease assumed the form of i>ai"alysis, and terminated 
fatally, his death and burial occurring in 1818, at Locust Grove^ 
near Loidsville. 

The rippling waters of the beautiful Ohio still murmur a requiem 
over the grave which contains his dust, and his tireless energy 
still lives in the enterprise of the millions who dwell in the land 
he loved and defended. In other respects the innovations of time 
have ruthlessly effected a change. 

Only the relics of the race which contended with him for the 
empire of the wilderness, can be found in the cabinet of the 
antiquary ; forests, sohtary and unproductive, have passed away, 



AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 201 



and a new creation of fruitful fields and cultivated landscapes has 
taken their place ; the untrained energies and stationary condition 
^ of savage life have been superseded by a civilization whose onward 
march is heard in the turmoil of rising cities, the din of railroad 
trains, or the panting steamboat lashing into foam the watery high- 
ways which bear it on the errands of commerce. 



Chapter XVIII. 

1778-1787— ILLINOIS UNDER YIEGINIA, 

The French Take the Oath of Allegiance — Illinois County — American 
Immigrants — La Balme's Expedition — The Cession of the Coun- 
try, and Delays Incident Thereto — No Regular Courts of Law 
— Curious Land Speculation. 



The respect shown by Clark and his followers for their property 
and religion, the news of an alliance between their mother conn- 
try, France, and the United States, and perhaps their hereditary 
hatred to the British, readily reconciled the French inhabitants of 
Kaskaskia and neighboring towns to the change of government 
over them. In October, 1778, the Viigiuia Assembly erected the 
conqnered conntry, embracing all the territory northwest of the 
Ohio, claimed imtler this conquest and otherwise, into the County 
of Illinois, a pretty extensive county, which has since been carved 
up into 5 large States, containing a population now exceeding 
8,000,000 souls. A force of 500 men was ordered to be raised for 
its defence, an order which Clark had in part anticipated by en- 
listments made on his owureponsibility. Colonel Clark continued 
to be the military commander of all the western territory, both 
north and south of the Ohio, including Illinois. 

Colonel John Todd, then residing in Fayette county, Kentucky, 
who, under Clark, had been the first man to enter Fort Gage, was 
appointed lieutenant-commandant of the County of Illinois. Pat- 
rick Henry, governor of Virginia, in his letter, dated Williams- 
burg, Virginia, December 12th, 1778, apprising Todd of his 
appointment, instructed him to cultivate and conciliate the afi'ec- 
tions of the French and Indians, and inculcate the value of liberty; 
that on account of his want of acquaintance with the usages and 
manners of the people, to advise with the intelligent and upright 
of the country ; to give particular attention to Colonel Clark and 
his corps, and co-operate with him in any military undertaking ; to 
tell his people that peace could not be expected so long as the 
British occupied Detroit and incited the savages to deeds of rob- 
bery and murder ; that, in the military line, it would be expected 
of him to over-awe the Indians, that they might not war on the 
settlers southeast of the Ohio ; to consider hunself as the head of the 
civil department, and see that the inhabitants have justice done 
them for any injury received from the soldiery, and quell their 
licentiousness ; to touch not upon the subject of boundaries and 
lands with the Indians and arouse their jealousy ; to punish every 
trespass upon the same, and preserve peace with them ; to mani- 

202 



A COUNTY OF VTRCrlNIA. 203 

fest a liigli regard toward His Catholic Majesty, and tender the 
friendship and services of his people to the Spanisli commandant 
at St. Louis. A large discretion was given him in his administra- 
tion of civil affairs, and monthly reports were asked. 

In the spring of 1779, Colonel Todd visited Kaskaskia, and 
began at once to organize a temporary government for the colo- 
nies. On the loth of June he issued the following proclamation : 
^'■Illinois [Count I/'] to-wit : 

" Whereas, from the fertility and beautiful situation of the lands bor- 
dering upon the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois and Wabash rivers, the taking 
up of the usual quantity of laud heretofore allowed for a settlement by 
the government of Virginia, would injure both the strength and com- 
merce of this country : I do, therefore, issue this proclamation, strictly 
enjoining all persons, whatsoever, from making any new settlements 
upon the flat lands of said rivers, or within one league of said lands, 
unless in manner and form of settlements heretofore made by French 
inhabitants, until further orders herein given. And, in order that all 
the claims to lands, in said county, may be fully known, and some 
method provided for perpetuating, by record, the just claims, every 
inhabitant is required, as soon as conveniently may be, to lay bel^ore the 
person, in each district appointed for that purpose, a memorandum of 
his or her land, with copies of all their vouchers ; and where vouchers 
have been given, or are lost, such depositions or certificates as will tend 
to support their claims : — The memorandum to mention the quantity 
of land, to whom originally granted, and when, deducing the title 
through various occupants to the present possessor. The number of 
adventurers who will shortly overrun this country, renders the above 
method necessary, as well as to ascertain the vacant lauds, as to guard 
against trespasses which will probably be committed on lands not on 
record. Given under my hand and seal, at Kaskaskia, the 15th of June, 
in the 3rd year of the commonwealth, 1779. 

" John Todd, Jr. " 

Many of the French inhabitants at Kaskaskia, Cahokia and 
Vincennes, readily took the oath of allegiance to Virginia. Not 
only these, but many of the chief men of the Indian tribes 
expressed sentiments of friendshii) for the United States goveru- 
meut. 

At the period of which we write, with the exception of the 
French along the Mississippi, and a few families scattered along 
the Illinois and Wabasli rivers, all within the present boundaries 
of Illinois was the abode of the nomadic savage. During the 
years 1779-80, the westward emigration from the Atlantic States, 
took a very considerable start. Among the circumstances wliich 
gave it impetus, were the brillinut achievements of (Jol. Clark at 
Kaskaskia and Vincennes, which were the occasion of publishing 
abroad the fertile ijlains of Illinois ; the triumph of the Britisli arms 
in the south, and a tlireatened advance upon Virginia; and the 
liberal manner of the latter State, in inviting families to take jjos- 
session of the public lands claimed by her in the w(\stern country. 
Three hundred family boats arrived at the Falls of Ohio in the 
spring of 1780, mostly destined for Kentucky.* Among the im- 
migrants to Illinois, we note the names of James Moore, vShadrach 
Bond, James Garrison, Robert Kidd and Larken liutlierford, the 
two latter having been with Clark. They were from Virginia and 
Maryland. With their families, they, without molestation in those 
perilous times, crossed the Alleghanies, descended the Ohio, 
stemmed the Mississippi, and lauded safely at Kaskaskia. James 

♦Butler's Kentucky. 



204 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Moore, the leader, and a portion of his party, located on the hills 
near Bellefontaine, Avhile Bond and the rest settled in the Ameri- 
can Bottom (from which circumstance that name is derived), near 
Harrison ville, afterwards known as the blockhouse fort. James 
Piggot, John Doyle, Eobert Whitehead and a Mr. Bowen, soldiers 
in Clark's expedition, also shortly after settled in lUiuois. Doyle 
had a family and taught school. He was, perhaps, the first teaclier 
to make that profession his business in Illinois. He also spoke 
French and Indiiin, and in the latter language was frequently em- 
l^loyed as interpieter. Not until 1785 was this little band of 
American pioneers reinforced. Then came Joseph Ogle, Joseph 
Warley and Janies Andrews, all from Virginia and each with a 
large family. In the following year the American settlements 
were again augmented by the arrival of James Lemen, George 
Atcherson, and David Waddell with tbeir families, besides several 
others.* 

While the country was under the Virginia regime (but without 
the sanction of her authorities). La Balme, a native of France, in 
the fall of 1780 during the revolutionary war, made another attempt 
to lead an expedition from Kaskaskia against the British. It con- 
sisted of 30 men, and was ostensibly formed to capture the post 
of Detroit. At Vincennes it was reinforced by a few men. The 
party moved up the Wabash, and at the head of the Maumee 
attacked and destroyed a British trading post called Kekionga, on 
the site of the present Fort Wayne. After securing the booty, 
the party retired to the banks of the small river Aboite, where 
they encamped. Here a party of Indians attacked them in the 
night, the leader and a few of his followers were killed, the re- 
mainder dispersed, and the expedition against Detroit failed. Its 
object, like those of Brady and Meillet, was doubtless i)lunder.t 

Col. Todd, the Virginia commandant spentbut little of his time in 
our iiart of the Illinois county ; he remained in office until the 
time of his death, which occurred at the battle of Blue Licks in 
Kentucky, August 18, 1782, where he was in command, not having 
resigned as commander of the militia of that district in Kentucky. 
This was the bloodiest Indian battle ever fought in Kentucky. 
Cols. Todd, Trig, Harlan, and a son of Daniel Boone, all fell. It 
was a sad day ; the Kentuckians lost G7 men, more than a third of 
their force, mostly killed. Col. Todd liad just returned from 
Virginia on business pertaining to the Illinois county. His gov- 
ernment in Illinois was i)opular. 

The successor of Col. Todd was a Frenchman, named Timothy 
deMontbrun, of whose administration, how long it lasted, or who 
was his successor, little or nothing is known. Montbrun's name 
appears to land grants and other documents among the archives 
at Kaskaskia. 

The Cession of Illinois. — As we have seen, all of the North- 
western territory, by private conquest, passed under the dominion 
of Virginia at a time when all the States were engaged in a connnon 
war, defending against the power of the mother country to reduce 
them to subjection; and whatever was the right of a State to 
organize an individual war enterprise, and turn its success to 

♦See Annals of the West. 
+fleynold's Pioneer History. 



A COUNTY OF VIRGINIA. 205 

private advantage by extending her jurisdiction over a vast and 
fertile region for her separate benefit and aggrandizement, the 
congress of the States, probably for the sake of harmony, acqui- 
esced in the validity of it. But Virginia and a number of other 
States asserted still another claim to these western lands, and 
during the revolutionary war these conflicting claims became quite 
a hindrance to the prompt adoption of the articles of confedera- 
tion. Many of the original colonies had their boundaries exactly 
defined in their royal charters, but Virginia, Connecticut, Massa- 
chusetts, and the Carolinas, claimed to extend westward to the 
farther ocean, or to the Mississippi ; since, under the treaty of 
Paris, 1763, that river had become the established western 
boundary of Great Britain. New York, too, under certain alleged 
concessions to her jurisdiction made by the Iroquois, or six nations, 
the conquerors of many Algonquin tribes, including the Illinois, 
claimed almost the whole of the western country from beyond the 
lakes on the north to the Cumberland mountains on the south, 
and west to the great river. 

Large ideas as to the pecuniary value of the western lands 
obtained at the time, from wliich vast revenues were anticipated. 
The prospective well-filled coffers of the States, as well as the 
broad exj)ansion of their dominions, excited the envy of their land- 
less sisters. The latter held, therefore, that as these lands, as well 
as their own independence, had to be wrested from the British 
croT\Ti by joint effort, they ought to become joint property. Still, 
the claimant States in congress had succeeded in getting a clause 
inserted into the proposed articles of confederation, that no State 
should be deprived of any territory for the joint benefit of all. 
But Maryland, a non-claimant State, refused her assent to the arti- 
cles with that provision. The adoption of the articles, which would 
make of the colonies a union, was very much desired. New Yoi-k 
now, whose claim was the most baseless, oi)ened the way by allow- 
ing her delegates in congress, at discretion, to cede to the union all 
her interest west of a line drawn through the western extremity of 
Lake Ontario. Congress urged this example upon the other 
claimant states, guaranteeing that the ceded lands should be dis- 
posed of for the common benefit of all ; and as the territories became 
populated they should be divided into States and admitted into 
the Union on an equal footing Avith the original States. 

Connecticut next proposed a cession of her indefinite due western 
extension, retaining, however, a tract of some 3,000,000 acres in 
Northwestern Ohio, known since as the Western Keserve. This 
she also relinquished in the year 1800. The Virginia assembly, 
hoping to reanimate the flagging cause of the South by a more 
thorough union, just prior to its adjournment, December 31, 1780, 
on the approach of Arnold, who sacked and burned liichmond 
within a few days after, ceded to the United States all her claim 
to the territory north-west of the river Ohio, requiring from con- 
gress, however, a guarantee of her right to the remainder south 
of the Ohio and east of the Mississipi)i. The New York delegates 
soon after exercised the discretion confided to them by their State, 
and executed a deed of cession, reserving the right of retraction 
unless the same guarantees were extended to New York as to any 
other ceding States. On the same day the delegates of Maryland, 
being thereunto empowered by act of the State, signed the articles 



206 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of confederation, wbicli completed the ratification, and a nation 
was laimclied. 

This was earl}' in tlie spring of 1781; Virginia, however, did not 
execute her deed of cession till March 1, 1784. In the meantime 
peace had been made with Great Britain, by which nearly all this 
country passed to the ownership of the nation, in common, and 
Virginia modified her act of cession by omitting her demand to the 
territory south-east of the Oliio. The deed of cession was executed 
by her delegates in Congress, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, 
Arthur Lee and James Monroe. It stipuhited that the territory 
should be cut into States not less than 100 nor more than 150 miles 
square; to be republican in form, and to be admitted into the 
union with " the same rights of sovereignty, freedom and inde- 
pendence as the other States;" that indemnity for the expenses of 
her expeditions incurred in subduing the British posts in the west 
be allowed her; that land, not exceedhig 150,000 acres, promised 
by her, should be allowed to George Kogers Clark, his oflticers and 
soldiers ; that the proceeds of the sales of the lands ceded shall 
be considered a common fund for all the States, present and future; 
and that "the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers 
of the Kaskaskias, Post Vincennes, and the neighboring villages, 
who have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have 
their' possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protcted in 
the enjoyment of their rights and liberties." 

Immediately after the execution of the deed of cession by Vir- 
ginia, Congress proposed by ordinance, (April 23, 1781,) to establish 
a form of government for the entii'e western region , from the Gulf to 
the Lakes, though it was not yet wholly i\ cquired. Th e plan proposed 
to divide the whole into 17 States; a tier of 8 was to border on the 
Mississii)pi, whose eastern boundary was to be a north and south 
line through the falls of the Ohio, and each to contain two par- 
allels of latitude, except the northernmost, which was to extend 
from the 45th parallel to the northern limits of the United States; 
to the east of these a corres])onding tier of 8 more was to be laid 
off, whose eastern boundary was to be a north and south line run- 
ning through the mouth of the Great Kanawha; the remaining 
tract, to the east of this and north of the Ohio, was to constitute 
the 17th State. In these territories, the settlers, either on their 
petition or by act of Congress, were to receive authority to create 
a temporary form of government; but Avhen 20,000 free inhabi- 
tants had settled within any of them, they were authorized to call 
a convention, form a constitution, and establish for themselves a 
permanent government, subject to the following requirements: to 
remain forever a part of the confederacy of the United States ; to 
be subject to the articles of confederation and the acts and ordi- 
nances of Congress like the original States; not to interfere with 
the disposal of the soil by Congress ; to be liable to their proportion 
of the federal debt, present and prospective; not to tax the lands 
of the United States ; their respective governments to be repub- 
lican; not to tax lands belonging to non-residents higher than 
those of residents; and when any one got of free inhabitants as 
many as the least numerous of the original Thirteen States, to be 
admitted into tlie Union on an equal footing with them. The com- 
mittee, of which Mr. Jefferson was chairman, reported also this 



A COUNTY OF VIRGINIA. 207 

remarkable provision, the adoption of whicli, and unalterable 
adherence to, would doubtless have prevented the late re- 
bellion: "That after the year 1800, of the Christian era, there 
shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the 
said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the 
party shall have been duly con^icted." But this proviso failed on 
account of not receiving a majority of the States. The four New 
England States, with New York and Pennsylvania, voted for it; 
New Jersey, Delaware and Georgia, were unrepresented; North 
Carolina was divided; Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia, 
(Mr. Jefferson being overborne by his colleagues,) voted against 
it. The anti-slavery clause was stricken out and the resolutions 
became an ordinance. 

While such was the law for these territories, it never received 
application to any of them ; no organization was ever effected 
under it. Nor had Massachusetts in the meantime relinquished 
her claim in the territories. In 1785, Eufus King renewed the anti- 
slavery proviso in congress, as a condition upon which she would 
make a cession of her claim. The question was referred to a com- 
mittee of eight States, where it slept the sleep that knows no 
waking. Massachusetts, however, in accordance with the Vii-ginia 
scheme of dividing the western territory into small States, ceded 
her claim, April 19, 1785; and with the consent of Congress to 
accept the cession of Connecticut, with the reservation of 3,000,000 
acres, September 13th, 1786, the title of the confederated States to 
the lands north-west of the river Ohio became complete. In the 
meantime, by act of congress, surveys and explorations were 
going on in the territories which glaringly exposed the total disre- 
gard of natural boundaries, and the inconvenience resulting from 
cutting up the western country into seventeen small states. Virginia 
and Massachusetts were now called upon to modify the conditions 
of their deeds, so as to allow that portion of the territory north- 
west of the Ohio to be diAided up into three or five States, at the 
option of Congress, which was accordingly done, and the following 
year Congress passed the ordinance of 1787. 

This was a slow transition period, which was doubly experienced 
in the settlements of Illinois which were the farthest removed 
from the seat of i)ower, be it Virginia or the United States. 
During all this time, and for three years after the adoption of 
the ordinance of 1787, and until the organization of the county 
of St. Clair, by Governor St. Clair, in 1790, there was a very 
imperfect administration of the law, which consisted of a mixture 
of the civil or the French, the English, as resulting from the pro- 
mulgations of the arbitrary acts of the British commandants at 
Fort Chartres, and such as had been instituted by the Virginia 
authorities. There were no regular courts of law in existence in 
the country, and no civil government worth mentioning. The peo- 
ple were a law unto themselves ; their morals were simple and 
pure, and the grosser vices were ker>t dormant. Crimes against 
the peace of society were rare, misdemeanors infrequent, and 
fraud and dishonest dealings seldom practiced. Dm-ing part of 
this time, too, the Indians were hostile, committing many brutal 
murders, which engaged the settlers in constant warfare and 
mutual protection against the savages ; a state of affairs not con- 



208 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

ducive to the civil administration of the law where even the most 
perfect code exists. The following curious land speculation, on the 
part of a territorial court instituted by Colonel Todd, as it relates 
in part to Illinois, may not be amiss to transcribe, as it illustrates 
also the fallibility of men in office, and the necessity of the peo- 
ple to ever hold a watchful eye over their official servants. 

In June, 1779, Colonel Todd estabhshed a court of civil and 
criminal jurisdiction at Post Vincennes, composed of several mag- 
istrates. Colonel J. M. P. Legras, having been appointed com- 
mandant of the post, acted as president of the court, and exercised 
a controlling inlluence over its proceedings. Adopting in some 
measure the usages and customs of the early French command- 
ants, the court began to grant or concede tracts of land to the 
French and American inhabitants, and to different civil and mili- 
tary officers of the country. Indeed, the court assumed the power 
of granting lands to every applicant, mostly in tracts varying from 
the size of a house lot to 400 acres, though some were several 
leagues square. Before 1783, about 26,000 acres of land were thus 
granted to different individuals ; and from 1783 to 1787, when in 
the latter year the practice was stopped by General Harmar, the 
grants amounted to 22,000 acres, making a total, first and last, 
of 48,000 acres. The commandant and magistrates, after ha^ing 
exercised this j^ower for some time, were easily led to believe that 
they had the right to dispose of all that large tract of land which, 
in 1742, had been granted by the Piankishaw Indians, for the use 
of the French inhabitants at Post Vincennes. Once convinced of 
their supreme dominion over this entire tract, the court was not 
long in arriving at the conclusion that they might make grants to 
themselves with as much proi)riety as to others ; and if they could 
do this with small tracts, they might with the whole; hox)ing, 
doubtless, that, as the country passed under the government of the 
United States, the grants would receive confirmation. Accord- 
ingly, all that tract of country extending on the Wabash 72 miles 
from Pointe La Coupee to the mouth of White river, westward into 
Illinois 120 miles and east from the Wabash 90 miles (excluding 
lands already conceded), " to which the Indian title was supjiosed 
to be extinguished, was divided between the members of the 
court, and orders to that effect entered on their journal ; each 
member [as a matter of delicacy] absenting himself from the 
court on the day that the order was made in his favor, so as to give 
it the appearance of being the [disinterested] act of his fellows 
only."* 

This shameful transaction being totally illegal, as no agent or 
trustee can make sale to himself, failing to prove a source of profit 
to the grantees in open market, was in a measure abandoned. 
StUl, as the grant was in due form, under the great seal and 
authority of Vu"ginia, land speculators, sjiying out the matter, 
quietly purchased freely of the lands thus granted, which could 
be readily done for a song, and then dispersed themselves over all 
the United States, and for many years after, duped great numbers 
of ignorant and credulous people, many of whom did not dett-ct 
the swindle until moving out to their lands so purchased, they dis- 
covered their titles to he a myth. These swindling practices 

•Letter of GoverDor Harrison. 



A COUNTY OF VTRaHSriA. 209 



never wholly ceased until Governor Harrison, in 1802, at Yin- 
cennes, forbid prothonotaries from authenticating under the sanc- 
tion of the official seal of the territory, and recorders from 
recording- any of these fraudulent papers.* 



•Annals of the West. 



14 



Chapter XIX. 

1787— 1800— ILLINOIS UXDER THE GOVERXMENT OF THE 
XORTH-WESTERX TEEEITOEY. 

Ordinance of 1787 — Organization of St. Clair County — Bar of Illi- 
nois in 1790 — Im^poverished Condition of the French — Indian 
Hostilities, 1783 to 1795 — Randolph County — American Immi- 
gration — Siclcness — Territorial Assembly at Cincinnati — Notable 
Woonen of the Olden Time — Witchcraft in Illinois. 



The celebrated ordinance of 1787 was passed by the congress 
of the confederated States on the 13th of July of that year. By 
it, the whole of the country north-west of the river Ohio was con- 
stituted one district, for the purposes of temporary government. 
It provided for the descent of property in equal shares, substan- 
tially as under our present laws, (a Just provision, not then 
generally recognized in the States,) "saving, however, to the 
French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of Kaskaskia, 
St. Vincents, and other ueigliboring villages, who have heretofore 
professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs 
now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance 
of proj)erty." A governor was provided for, whose term of office 
was three years, who was to reside in the district and own a freehold 
of 1,000 acres of laud ; a secretary, whose commission was to run 
four years, subject to revocation: he was to reside in the district 
and own 500 acres of land. A court was provided for, to consist 
of three judges, two of them to constitute a court ; they were to 
exercise common law jurisdiction, to reside in the district, own 
500 acres of land, their commissions to last during good behavior. 
They, jointly with the governor, were to adopt such laws of the 
original States as were suitable to the conditions of the country, 
to remain in force until tlie organization of the general assembly, 
which migbt alter or re-adopt them ; congress, also, might dis- 
approve tliem. The governor was constituted commander-in-chief 
of tlie militia, with power to appoint all officers below the grade 
of general officers. Until the organization of the general assembly, 
the governor was to appoint all the civil officers in each county. 
He was to establish counties from time to tinie, to whose limits 
legal process was to run. With 5,000 free male inhabitants of full 
age, the territory was entitled to a general assembly, the time and 
place of election to be fixed by the governor; each 500 were 
entitled to one representative, till the number reached 25, after 
which the legislature was to regulate the number and pro])ortion. 
The qualifications of a member were, either a residence in the 

210 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 211 

territory three years, or citizenship iu a State for three years and 
present residence in the territory, and a fee simple right to 200 
acres of land within the same; qnalihcationof an elector : freehold 
of 50 acres and citizenship in one of the States, or a like freehold 
and two years residence in the district. Ke])resentatives were 
elected for the term of two years. The assembly was to consist 
of the governor, conncil and house of representatives. The council 
was to consist of tive members, three to constitute a quorum; 
time of service, tive years. Con'gress was to select the council 
from ten men — residents of the territory, each having- a freehold 
of 500 acres — nominated by the house of representatives. Bills, 
to become laws, must pass both houses by a majority and receive 
the signature of the governor, who possessed an absolute veto by 
simply withholding his approval. The two houses, by joint ballot, 
were to elect a delegate to congress, who was allowed to debate, 
but not to vote. An oath of office was to be taken by all the 
officers. 

For extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious 
liberty, and to fix the basis of government of future States to be 
formed out of said territory, it was further provided, in six unal- 
terable articles of perpetual compact between the people of the 
original states and the people of the territory : 

I. No person, in peaceable demeanor, was to be molested on 
account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments. 
, II. The inhabitants were guaranteed the benelits of the writs 
of habeas corpus and trial by jury; a proportionate representation 
in the legislature and judicial j)roceedings according to the course 
of the common law. "All persons shall be bailable, unless for 
capital offences, where the proof shall be evidentor the i:)resumiitian 
great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or uiuisual pun- 
ishments yhall be iniiicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty 
or his property, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of 
the land ; and should the i>ublic exigencies make it necessary, for 
the common preser^■atiou, to take any person's property, or to 
demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made 
for the samco" No law ought ever to be made or have force in 
said territory, that shall, in any manner, interfere with or affect 
private contracts or engagements made in good faith and Avithout 
fraud. 

III. Eeligion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good 
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means 
of education shall forever be encouraged. Good faith, justice and 
humanity toward the Indians, was to be observed ; their lamls and 
property' not to be taken without consent, and j^eace and friend- 
ship to be cultivated. 

TV. The territory, and States to be formed therein, were to 
remain forever a part of the United States, subject to her laws; 
the inhabitants to i)ay a just proportion of the public debt, con- 
tracted or to be contracted; not to tax the lands of the United 
States, nor those of non-residents higher than those of residents; 
the navigable waters of the lakes to remain forever free to all 
citizens of the United States. 

V. The teriitory was not to be divided into less than three States, 
and, at its option, congress might "form one or two (more) States 
in that part which lies north of an east and west line drawn 



212 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

through the southerly bend or e:s:treine of Lake Michigau." With 
60,000 free iuhabitauts, such States were to be admitted into the 
union on an equal footing with the original States. 

VI. " There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted 5" this section 
provides also for the reclamation of fugitives from labor. 

Such was substantially the fundamental law of this vast territory, 
which has ever had a coutrolling intluence upon the destiny of the 
States carved out of it, and saved some of them from tlie perma- 
nent blight of slavery. Wliile the convention at Philadelphia 
was occupied in framing the constitution of the United States, 
congress, sitting in New York, disposed of this subject, which was 
fraught Avith an importance second only to the constitution itself. 
The auti-slavery clause, it will be observed, was substantially the 
same as that reported by Jefferson in 1784, for the organization of 
all the western territory, but which was then rejected. The ordi- 
nance was reported from committee by Mr. Dane, of Massachusetts, * 
and unanimously adopted by the eight States then only repre- 
sented in congress. On October 5, 1787, Major General Arthirr 
St. Clair was, by congress, elected governor of the Northwestern 
territory. St. Clair was born in Scotland and emigrated to 
America in 1755. He served in the French and British war, 
under General Amherst, at the taking of Louisbui'g, in 1758, and 
at the storming of Quebec, under Wolfe, in 1759. After the peaca 
of 1763, he settled in western Pennsylvania. In the war of the 
Revolution he was first commissioned a colonel, raised a regiment 
of 750 men and was afterward promoted to the rank of major 
general. In 1777 he was tried by court-martial for evacuating 
Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence, but was honorably acquitted. 
He remained in the service until the close of the war. In 1786 he 
was elected to congress, and ^as chosen i)resident of that body. 
Owing to his losses in the war of the revolution, his friends pressed 
him for the governorship of the Northwestern Territory, that he 
might retrieve his fortune. But he "had neither taste nor genius 
for speculation in lands, nor did he think it consistent with the 
office."* 

The instructions from congress were, in effect, to promote peace 
and harmony between the Indians and the United States, to defeat 
all combinations or confederations between them, and conciliate 
good feeling between them and the white settlers ; to regulate 
trade with them; to ascertain as far as possible the several tribes, 
their head men and number of warriors, and by every means 
attach them to the government of the United States ; and to neg- 
lect no opportunity to extinguish the Indian titles to lands west- 
ward as far as the Mississippi, and north to the 41st degree of 
north latitude. 

In the summer of 1788, the governor and judges (Samuel Holden 
Parsons, James Mitchell Yarimm, and John Cleves Symmes), met 
at Marietta, the seat of government, and adopted and promulgated 
a code of laws for the whole territory. The governor immediately 
established some counties, except in Illinois, appointed the civil 
officers for them, and thus, July 15th, the machinery' of the terri- 
torial government under the U. S. was put into operation. These 

'His letter to W. B. Giles, of Virginia. 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 213 

steps by tlie judges and governor were commonly denominated the 
first grade of territorial government nnder tbe ordinance. 

As characteristic of the period, we note that the punishments 
for crimes, owing to the want of prisons, were generally of a sum- 
mary character : death, for murder, treason, and arson (if loss 
of life ensued therefrom) ; whii)ping with 39 lashes, and fine, for 
larceny, burglary and robbery ; for perjury, whipping, tine, or 
standing in the pillory ; for forgery, line, disfranchisement and 
standing in the pillory ; drunkenness, tine, for non-payment of 
which to stand in the stocks ; for non-payment of fines generally, 
the sheriff was empowered to bind out the convict for a term not 
exceeding 7 years; obscene conversation and profane swearing 
Avere admonished against, and threatened vnth the loss of the gov- 
ernment's confidence ; morality and piety were enjoined, and the 
Sabbath pronounced sacred. 

Under date of October 6th, 1789, president Washington wrote 
to Governor St. Clair : You will also proceed, as soon as you can, 
with safety, to execute the orders of the late congress respecting 
the inhabitants at Post Vincemies and at the Kaskaskias, and the 
other villages on the Mississippi. It is a circumstauce of some im- 
portance, that the said inhabitants should, as soon as possible, 
possess the lands which they are entitled to^ by some known and 
fixed prmciple. Accordingly in February, Gov. St. Clair and the 
Secretary, Winthrop Sargent, arrived at Kaskaskia. The country 
"within the boundaries of our present State extending northward to 
the mouth of the Little MackinaAv creek on the Illinois was organ- 
ized into a county, which was named after His Excellency, St. 
Clair, and may be called the mother of counties in Illinois. It 
was divided into three judicial districts; a court of common pleas 
established ; 3 judges appointed, namely: John Edgar, of Kas- 
kaskia , John Babtiste Barbeau, of Prairie du Eocher, and John 
de Moulin, of Cahokia, each to hold the courts for and in the dis- 
trict of his residence. The terms were fixed to be held every three 
mouths, hence the name of quarter sessions, by which the couits 
were generally known. William St. Claix, brother of the governor, 
was appointed clerk and recorder of deeds, and William Biggs, 
sheriff. Cahokia became the county seat. While the clerk could 
issue process for the county, and the sheriif serve the same, suit 
had to be brought and entitled of the district where the defendant 
resided, and the writs to bear test of the judges of the respective 
districts, dated at the respective Adllages and run with the resjiec- 
tive districts. Grand juries were to be quarterly organized in each 
district. The right of appeal was rendered practically nugatory, 
and in no case was it resorted to. The sessions of the U. 6. 
judges for the territory were held in banc at either Cincinnati or 
Chillicothe, a distance so great from Illinois, by the then facilities 
of travel, as to render appeal impracticable. Of the judges, John 
de Moulin, a native of Switzerland, possessing a good education 
and fair knowledge of the civil law, was a large, fine looking man, 
a bachelor. He was also colonel of the militia, and showed well 
on parade days. He was very popular. Jean Babtiste Barbeau, 
was of the original Canadian French stock, long settled in Illinois; 
energetic, fair business talent, and extensive exijerience. John 
Edgar was an Englishman. Justices of the peace were also aj)- 
pointed. throughout the county. Their jurisdiction was limited to 



214 HISTOET OF ILLINOIS 

$20 in civil cases ; in criminal, they possessed only examining 
power 5 juries before tliem were not countenanced. Appeal lay to 
the common pleas courts.* Thus was launched the first county 
of Illinois upon its career of usefulness, with all its pohtical ma- 
chinery duly organized under the laws of the United States. Down 
to this period, a mixture of the old French, Enghsh and Virginia 
laws had maintained a sort of obsolete existence and operation. 

It may not be uninteresting to relate that the bar of Illinois, in 
1790, was illuminated by but a single member, who was, however, 
a host himself. This was John Eice Jones, a Welshman, born 
1750. He was an accomplished linguist, possessed of a classical 
education, and a thorough knowledge of the law. He was the 
earliest j^ractitioner of law in Illinois and would have been con- 
spicuous at any bar. His pi-actice extended from Kaskaskia to 
Vincennes aud Clarks^'ille, (Louisville, Ky.) Contrary to the 
habits of frontier life, he was never idle. As a speaker, his cai)acity 
for invective uuder excitement was extraordinary. Removing to 
Vincennes. he became a member of the territorial legislature, and 
in 1807 rendered important services in revising the statute laws for 
the territory of Indiana.t In 178(), news found currency in the 
western country that congress, whose meetings were in great part 
secret, had by treaty agreed with Spain to a temporary relinquish- 
ment of the right to the free navigation of the Mississippi. The 
western people, who received these reports greatly magnitied, were 
bitterly incensed thereat. At Vincennes a body of men was en- 
listed without authority, known as the Wabash regiment, to be 
subsisted by impressment or otherwise, of whom George Rogers 
Clark took command, and by his orders the Spanish traders there 
and in the Illinois, were plundered and despoiled of their goods 
aud merchandise in retaliation of similar alleged offences by the 
Spaniards at J^atchez. In these outrages John Rice Jones took a 
leading part. He became the commissary general of the 
maranders, to the supi)ort of whom Illinois merchants contributed. 
Such goods as were un suited to the use of the garrison were sold 
by Jones. These acts tended to embroil us with Spain. Jones 
later removed to Missouri, became a member of the constitutional 
convention, and was a candidate for U. S. Senator in opposition to 
Mr. Benton. He held the office of judge of the Supreme Court of 
Missouri until his death, in 1824. 

The second lawyer of Illinois, prior to 1800, was Isaac Dar- 
neille. To a strong native intellect, classical education and a 
tolerable knowledge of the law, he added an engaging manner, 
free benevolent disi)osition, and a rather large, portly and attractive 
person. He was an agreeable speaker, conspicuous at the bar, and 
l)opular with the people. He was said to have been educated for 
the ministry and had occupied the pulpit. But his great forte lay 

*Brown, History of Ills. p. 273, (with a confused idea as to boundary), to show the 
inconvenient size of St. Clair County, relates the following' : 

Suit having- been brought before a Justice of Cahokia to recover the value of a cow, 
and judg-ment having- been rendered for S16, the case was appealed. The adverse 
party and witnesses resided at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, distance 400 miles. The 
Sheriff, who was also an Indian trader, having received a summons for the party and 
subpoenas for the witnesses, fitted out a boat with a suitable stock of goods for the 
Indian trade and proceeded thiUier with his papers Having- served the summons and 
subpoenaed the witnesses, which included the greater part of the inhabitants of Prairie 
du Chien, he made his return charging mileage and S' rvice for each, as he had a right 
to, his costs and the cost of the s-jit altdg-ether. it is stated, exceeding- $900. Whether 
the costs were ever paid or not, chroniclers have tailed to transmit. 

+See Reynold's Pioneer Hist, of Ills. * 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 215 

iu the court of Venus, where he practiced with consummate art ami 
•\vitli more studious assiduity than his books received. He never 
married aud jet apparently was never without a wife. This course 
of life brought its inevitable consciiuences. While youth and 
vigor lasted all was well, but with advancing age, he was com- 
pelled to abandon his profession, and finally died in western 
Kentucky, at the age of 00, a poor and neglected school-teacher.* 

As to the practice of those times, ex-governor Eeynolds relates 
seeing the records of a proceediug in court at Prairie du Eocher, 
against a negro for tlie "murder" of a hog. The case was mali- 
cious mischief, for wantonly destroying a useful animal, which it 
was sought to bring before the court ; but in the absence of a j)ros- 
ecuting attorney, officers disallowed at that time, the grand jury, 
groping about in the law books, met with a i^recedent of an indict- 
ment for murder and applied it to the case in hand. Perhaps 
justice was meted out as fully under this indictment as if drawn 
with the nicest precision as to the nature of the offence, and pros- 
ecuted by the ablest attorney in the country. 

In the deed of cession from Virginia, it was stipulated that the 
French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers, who had 
professed allegiance to Virginia, should have theii- titles con- 
firmed to them. By a law of congress of 1788, the governor of 
the territory was authorized to confirm the possessions and titles 
of the French to their lauds, and those people in their rights, 
who, on or before the year 1783, had professed themselves citizens 
of the United States, or any of them. But nothiug had been 
done in this direction up to the arrival of Governor St. Cla]r at 
Kaskaskia. It was to this that Washington had called the gover- 
nor's attention, in his letter of October 6, 1789. In March, 1790, 
to carry these instructious into effect, the governor issued his proc- 
lamation to the iuhabitants, directing them to exhibit their titles 
and claiuis to the lands which they held, in order to be confirmed 
in their possessions, lumbers of these instruments were exhib- 
ited, aud for those found to be authentic, orders of siu'vey were 
issued, the expense whereof was to be paid by the owners. Such 
payment was anything but satisfactory to the people, as wiR be 
seen by the subjoined quotation from the governor's report to the 
secretary of state, in 1790 ; and from it may further be gleaned 
the deplorable condition of the French, at the time of the gover- 
nor's visit in this oft-painted Eden of the Far West as if over- 
flowing with abundance : 

" Orders of survey were issued for all the claims at Kaskaskia, 
that appeared to be founded agreeably to the resolutious of con- 
gress ; and surveys were made of the greater part of them. A 
part of these surveys, however, have only been returned, because 
the people objected to i)aying the siu-veyor, and it is too true that 
they are ill able to pay. The Illinois country', as well as that upon 
the Wabash, has been involved in great distress ever since it fell 
under the American dominion. With great cheerfulness the peo- 
ple furnished the troops under Colonel Clark, and the Illinois 
regiment, with everything they could spare, and often with much 
more than they could spare with any convenience to themselves. 
Most of these certificates for these supplies are still in theii' hands, 

♦Reynold's Pioneer Hist. 



216 HISTORY OF LLLmOIS. 

unliquidated aud unpaid ; and in many instances, where applica- 
tion has been made for payment to the State of Virginia, under 
whose authority the certificates were granted, it has been refused. 
The Illinois regiment being disbanded a set of men, pretending 
the authority of Vu-ginia, embodied themselves, and a scene of 
general depredation ensued. To this, succeeded three successive 
and extraordinary inundations from the Mississippi, which either 
swept away their crops, or prevented their being planted. The loss 
of the greater part of their trade with the Indians, which was a 
great resource, came uj)ou them at this juncture, as well as the 
hostile incursions of some of the tribes which had ever been in 
friendship with them ; and to these was added the loss of their 
whole last crop of corn by an untimely frost. Extreme misery 
could not fail to be the consequence of such accumulated misfor- 
tunes. " 

The impoverished condition of the French settlements is fur- 
ther portrayed, and doubtless truly, in a memorial addressed to 
Governor St. Clair, while in Illinois, which bears the date ''June 9, 
1790," and is signed by "P. Gibault, Priest," and 87 others. 
Gibaidt was the same ecclesiastic who, in 1778, conducted the suc- 
cessful embassy of Colonel Clark to Vincennes, severing the 
allegiance of that iJost from the British : 

" The memorial humbly showeth, that by an act of congress of June 
20, 1788, it was declared that the lands heretofore possessed by the said 
inhabitants, should be surveyed at their exjiense ; and that this clause 
appears to them neither necessary nor adapted to quiet the minds of the 
people. It does not appear necessary, because from the establishment 
of the colony to this day, they have enjoyed their jjroperty and posses- 
sions without disputes or law suits on the subject of their limits ; that 
the surveys of them were made at the time the concessions were obtained 
from their ancient kings, lords and commandants ; and that each of 
them knew what belonged to him without attempting an encroachment 
on his neighbor, or fearing that his neighbor would encroach on him. It 
does not appear adapted to pacify them ; because, instead of assuring to 
them the peaceable jjossessions of their ancient inheritances, as they 
have enjoyed it till now, that clause obliges them to bear expenses which, 
in their i^ resent situation, they are absolutely incapable of paying, and 
for the failure of which they must be deprived of their lands. 

" Your Excellency is an eye-witness of the poverty to which the 
inhabitants are reduced, and of the total want of provisions to subsist 
on. Not knowing where to find a morsel of bread to nourish their fam- 
ilies, by what means can they sujiport the expenses of a survey which 
has not been sought for on their parts, and for which, it is conceived by 
them, there is no necessity? Loaded with misery, and groaning under 
the weight of misfortunes, accumulated since the Virginia trooi3s entered 
the country, the unhappy inhabitants throw themselves under the pro- 
tection of Your Excellency, and take the liberty to solicit you to lay 
their deplorable situation before congress ; and as it may be interesting 
for the United States to know exactly the extent and limits of their 
ancient possessions, in order to ascertain the lands which are yet at the 
disposal of congress, it appears to them, in their humble opinion, that 
the expenses of the survey ought more properly to be borne for whom 
alone it is useful, than by them who do not feel the necessity of it. Be- 
side, this is no object for the United States ; but it is great, too great, for 
a few unhappy beings, who. Your Excellency sees yourself, are scarcely 
able to support their pitiful existence. " 

The French settlements steadily declined aud melted away in pop- 
ulaliou from the time the country passed under Anglo-Saxon rule, 
1765, until their exodus, many years later, became almost complete. 
After their first hegira, commencing with the English occupation^ 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 217 

down to 1800, the iinmigratiou of the latter race scarcely comiterbal- 
aucedthe emigration of the former. Indeed, there was a time dnriug 
the Lidian troubles, tliat the balance fell much behind ; but after 
the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, immigration was greatly increased. 
In 1800, the ])opulation was little, if any, greater tlian in 1765. 
Incapacity for conquest or colonization, for energy of character, 
thrift, ingenious and labor-saving inventions, the Anglo-Saxon 
race surpasses all others. It was this race which established the 
Bi'itish constitution ; which permanently colonized the shores of 
America and gave to it municipal liberty, the gem of republicanism, 
and which furnished our unrivaled federative system, which may 
yet be the means of politically enfranchising the world. To have 
his secluded abode and remote qnietude stirred np by such a race, 
with whom he felt himself incapable to enter the race of life, the 
Frenchman of these wilds lost his contentment, and he aban- 
doned his ancient villages in Illinois to the new life, instinct with 
the i)i"0gr6ss opening all around them, after an occui^ation of 
over a century. 

INDIAN HOSTILITIES — 1783 TO 1795. 

After the tide of European immigration had forced back the red 
men of America from the Atlantic slopes, they found their best 
hunting grounds in the magnificent forests and grassj' plains 
be^' ond the Alleghanies, north of the Ohio and east of the Missis- 
sippi. When, after the war of the Revolution, this empire region, 
wrested from the grasp of the British crown, was thrown open to 
settlement, and the pioneers of the pale faces began to ponr over 
the mountains and into the valley with a steadily augmen ting- 
stream, the red men detei-mined not to give back farther. They 
resolved to wage a war of extermination for the retention of this 
vast and rich domain. Here had gathered the most warlike tribes 
of the Algonquin nations, who have given to known Indian history 
the ablest chieftains and greatest warriors, Pontiac, Little Turtle, 
Tecumseh, and his brother the one-eyed Proj^het, Black Hawk, and 
Keokuk. 

During the war of the Revolution all the most belligerent tribes 
residing within this region, and the fisheries along the great lakes 
of the north, had adhered to the side of Great Britain. But by 
the treaty of peace, 1783, the territory was transferred to the U. 
S. without any stipulations by England in favor of her sa^- age 
allies. The British, during their twenty years rule, had not extin- 
guished the Indian title to any part of the country. The French, 
dm-iug their long occupation, had made no considerable purchases 
of lands from the western Indians ; and by the treaty of Paris, 
1763, the English succeeded only to the small grants of the French 
about the various forts, Detroit, Kaskaskia, Vincennes, etc. True, 
in 1701, at Fort Stanwix, the Iroquois had ceded to Great Britain 
then- shadowy claim over a part of the northwestern territory, ac- 
quired by their wars with the Hurons and Illinois, and in 1768 the 
six nations had conceded to her their rights to the lands south of 
the Ohio, but the conquered tribes residing upon them and making 
them their hunting grounds, abandoned them but temporarily, and 
returned and did not respect the transfers. An Indian conquest, 
unless followed by permanent occupation, was seldom more than a 



218 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

mere raid, and could not be said to draw title after it. There- 
fore, by the treaty of peace of 1783, the U. S. received nothing 
from England beyond the old small French grants, and the title of 
the six nations by conquest, such as it was, to the western territory. 
Indeed, the general government in the I Vth article of the ordinance 
of 1787, seems to acknowledge that it had yet to secure the title 
to the lands from the Indians. 

The general government, on account of the adherence of the 
Indians to the side of the British durmg the war, if not deducing 
actual title, was inclined to regard the lands of the hostile tribes 
as conquered and forfeited. But while it attempted to obtain 
treaties of cession from the several nations, it also immediately 
threw open the country- to settlers, made sales to citizens, and in 
the exercise of supreme dominion, assigned reservations to some 
of the natives, dictating terms and prescribing boundaries. This 
at once produced a deep feeling of discontent among the Indians, 
and led directly to the formation of an extensive confederation 
among a great luimber of the northern tribes. 

hi October, 1781, the government Indian commissioners made a 
second treaty at Fort Stanwix with a i^ortion only of the Iroquois, 
which, on account of its not being made at a general congress of 
all the northern tribes, was refused to be acknowledged by their 
leading chiefs, Brant, Red Jacket, and others. The following 
year, at Fort Mcintosh, the government again treated with a x)or- 
tion of the tribes — the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and 
Ottawa nations — only ijartly represented ; and in January, 1786, 
at the mouth of the Great Miami (Fort Kinney,) with the Shaw- 
nees, the Wabash tribes refusing to attend. 

We have seen that among the instructions issued to Gov. St. 
Clair, he was to carefully examine into the real temper of the 
Indians, and to use his best efforts to extinguish their titles to 
lands, westward as far as the Mississippi, and north to the lakes. 
In the fall of 1788, he invited the northern tribes to conlirm the 
late treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort Mcintosh, ceding lands ; 
but the Indians, in general council assembled, refused to do so and 
informed the Governor "that no bargain or sale of any part of 
these Indian lands would be considered as valid or binding." The 
Governor, nevertheless, persisted in collecting a few chiefs of two 
or three nations, at Fort Harmar, (mouth of the Muskingum), and 
from them obtained acts of confirmation to the treaties of Forts 
Stanwix and Mcintosh, ce<ling an immense country, in which they 
were interested only as a branch of the confederacy, and unauthor- 
ized to make any grant or cession whatever.* The nations who 
thus participated in the acts of confirmation, were the Wyandots, 
Delawares, Ottawas, Chipi)ewas, Potawatamies, and Sacs; but 
the Confederation of the north claimed that it was done without 
authority, with the young men of the nation, alleged to have been 
intimidated and over-reached.t But aside from the fact that the 
government had treated with separate tribes, the grants obtained 
from the Iroquois and their kintlred, the Wyandots, and the Dela- 
wares and Shawnees, were open to scarcely any objections.^ Those 
most vehement in denouncing the validity of the concessions were 
., — 

^Proceedings of Indian Council 1793— See American State papers, V. 337—7. 

+Ideni. 

tStoue, ii. 281. 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 219 

the Miamis, Cliippewas, Piankishaws, Eel River Indians, Weas 
(Qiiias Ouiateuons,) and Kaskaskias, tlie latter (bur making tlieir 
residence in great part in Illinois. 

The confederacy of Indians at all times strenuously insisted that 
the Ohio river should constitute a perpetual boundary between 
the red and white men ; and to maintain this line the former organ- 
ized a war against the latter, the ablest and most stupendous 
kuow^n to their annals, in the quelling of which the government 
was actively engaged for six years, and which was tiually accom- 
plished only by the prowess of "Mad Anthony" Wayne. In their 
determination, evidence is quite abundant that the Indians were 
inspired and supported by the advice and encouragement of 
British agents and officials, supplemented by the avarice of British 
traders. It was to their interest to have this splendid country 
remain the abode of the savages, with whom to exchange their 
gew-gaws for valuable pelts and furs ; a lucrative trade Avhich would 
cease with the advance of American civilization. The British, 
continued to hold the northwestern posts from which to supply the 
Indians ; and the home cabinet entertained hopes that circum- 
stances might yet compel the U. S. to recognize the Ohio as its 
northwestern boundary.* Much of the dissatisfaction of the 
Indians was clearly traced to the influence and intrigues under the 
superintendence of Col. McKee, the British agent at Detroit and 
the Rapids of the Maumee.t The Indian dis(;outent was openly 
encouraged, and their hostility fanned into a tlame of war ; the 
warrior bands obtained their outfit of arms and ammunition from 
the British traders ; to trade with the Indians while at war ^vith 
the U. S. they maintained as but fair and just. 

As the main operations of this war occurred within the limits 
of the present States of Ohio and Indiana, we shall not treat of 
them in detail, notwithstanding Illinois was united with them 
under a common government. Indian depredations u^ion the settle- 
ments and miu'ders of the whites became frequent, iusi)iring terror 
on every hand. In the fall of 1790, Gen. Harmar conducted a 
large, but fruitless, expedition of 1500 men, mostly Kentucky and 
Pennsylvania militia, poorly armed and without discipline, from 
Fort Washiugtoi), (Cincinnati) against the Miami villages on the 
Maumee and head waters of the Wabash. Caution had foolishly 
been talcen to notify the British at Detroit, that the troops 
collected were to be used against the Indians alone.f The villages 
were found deserted. They were destroyed, together with 20,000 
bushels of corn. Two detachments of from 300 to 400 men each, 
the first under Col. Trotter and the next under Col. Hardin, rival 
Kentuckians, engaged the Indians, but owing to wretched manage- 
ment and worse discipline, both met with defeat and very heavy 
losses. 1 1 The defeated army marched back to Fort Washington, 
and the Indians were only encouraged in their dastardly work of 
murder ux)on the settlements. 

In the spring of 1791, congress authorized Brig. Gen. Charles 
Scott, and others of Kentucky, to conduct an independent expe- 
dition against the Wabash Indians. It consisted of about 1,000 

*See Burnett's Letters, p. 100. 

(■Am. State Papers— Wayne's Dispatches. 

II Am Slate Papers, Asheton's Statement, and Cists' Cin. Miscellany 



220 HISTOKY OP LLLINOIS. 

mouuted volunteers, who left the Ohio, May 23d. Early on the 
morning' of June l«t they reached the Wabash at the old Wea 
toM'ns, a few miles above the present Terre Haute. The \dllages 
were discovered by the ascending smoke from the lodges. The army 
was formed in order of battle and moved briskly forward; the in- 
habitants being in blissful ignorance of the stealthy approach of 
the foe. Gen Scott reports that the town was situated on the low 
ground bordering the Wabash below the plain across which they 
marched. " On turnuig the point of woods, one house presented 
in my front. Capt. Price was ordered to assault that with 40 men. 
He executed the command with great gallantry, and killed two 
warriors." This remarkably "gallant" exi)loit doubtless was the 
means of sa\iug many human lives, otherwise totally surprised on 
this early June morning. Gen. Scott continues : 

" When I gained the summit of the eminence which overlooks the 
villages on the banks of the Wabash, I discovered the euemy in great 
confusion, endeavoring to make their escape over the river in canoes. I 
instantly ordered Lieutenant Colonel commanding Wilkinson to rush 
forward with the first battahon. The order was executed with promjjti- 
tude, and this detacliment gained the bank of tiie river just as the rear 
of tlie eneiny had embarked ; and, I'egardless of a brisk tire kept up from 
a Kiclvapoo town on tlie opposite bank, they, in a few minutes, by a well 
directed tire from the rifles, destroyed all the savages with which five 
canoes were crowded."* 

How this attack differed from a regular murderous Indian raid, 
is left to the discovery of the reader ; as also, how many of the enemy 
were women and children. "JMany of the inhabitants of the village 
(Ouiatenon) were French and lived in a state of civilization. By 
the books, letters, and other documents found there, it is evident 
that the place was in close connection with and dependent on 
Detroit. A large quantity of corn, a variety of houseliold goods, 
peltry, and other articles, were burned with this village, which 
consisted of about 70 houses, many of them well finished."! Col. 
John Hardin, "burning to retrieve his fame," was sent with a de- 
tachment to a village six miles down the river, where he killed six 
warriors and took fifty-two prisoners. In the meantime another 
force under Col. Wilkinson had crossed the swollen river at a 
secluded place two miles above and proceeded on the opi^osite 
bank to dislodge the refractory Kickapoos. On the following day 
Col. W. was again detached with a force of 360, on foot, to destroy 
the town of Kethtipenunk (Tippecanoe) which was done, no doubt 
"gallantly." Gen. St. Clair in a letter to Washington dated Sept. 
14, 1798, says the Kentuckians were "in the habit of retaliating, 
perhaps, without attending precisely to the nations from Avhich 
the injuries are received." 

In August, Col. Wilkinson, with an independent command, sur- 
prised the natives on Eel river. "The men," says Wilkinson, 
"forcing their way over every obstacle, plunged through the river 
with vast intrepidity. The enemy was unable to make the smallest 
resistance. Six warriors, and (in the hurry and confusion of the 
charge) two sqttaws and a child were killed, 31 prisoners (squaws 
and children) were taken, and an unfortunate captive released, 
with the loss of two men killed and one wounded." Four thousand 

*Am. State Papers, V. 131. 
tScott's Ueport. 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 221 

acres of corn was destroyed, and tlie cabins biu-ned.* He was 
voted the thanks of congress. 

On tlie early morning of November 4, 1791, occnrred that most 
disastrons defeat of Gen. St. Clair, in western Ohio, on a small 
branch of the Wabash ; by 9 o'clock a. m. his beaten and confnsed 
array, what little was left of it, was in a complete and precipitate 
rout toward Fort Jefferson, distance 29 miles. From the first 
onset, the troops were thrown into disorder and confusion by the 
murderous tire of the savages, and i)anic reigned supreme. t The 
loss was 890 out of a force of 1400 engaged in battle. "Six hundred 
skulls," writes George Mill from General Wayne's army, which 
camped on the battle field three years later, "were gathered up 
and biu-ied ; when we went to lay down in our tents at night, we 
had to scrape the bones together and carry them out, to nuxke our 
beds."| The Indians engaged were estijnated at 1040. Little 
Turtle, Mechecunaqua, cliief of the Miamis, was in command. 
The battle field was afterwards known as Fort Recovery. 

The general government made repeated efforts, both before and 
during the war, to arrange a peace upon a fair equivalent for the 
lands of the aborigines. But the red men flushed with victories, 
and influenced by the artful whispers of the British emissaries, 
closed their ears to every appeal for peace, and rejected proposition 
after proposition; nothing but the boundary line of the Ohio would 
be entertained as a basis for peace. At the foot of the Maumee 
Rapids, August 13, 1793, 16 of the confederated nations being 
represented in council, replied to the American peace commis- 
sioners : 

"Brothers : We shall be persuaded that you mean to do us justice, if 
you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. * * 
Money to us is of no value ; and to most of us unkuowu ; and, as no con- 
sideration whatever can induce us to sell the Jands on which we get 
sustenance for our women and children, we hope we may be allowed to 
point out a mode by which your settlers may be easily removed, and 
peace tliereby obtained. 

"Brothers: We know that these settlers are poor, or they would never 
have ventured to live in a country which has been in continual trouble 
ever since they crossed the Ohio. Divide, therefore, tliis large sum of 
money, which you have ottered to us, among these people. Give to each, 
also, a proportion of what you say you would give to us, annually, over 
and above this very large sum of money ; and as we are persuaded, they 
would most readily accept of it in lieu of the land you sold them. If you 
add, also, the great sums you must ex^jend in raising and paying armies, 
with a view to force us to yield you our country, you will certainly have 
more than sufficient for tlie purpose of repaying these settlers for all their 
labor and their improvements. * * We want peace. Eestore to us our 
country, and we shall be enemies no longer." 

It is a curious fact, illustrating our dealings with the Indians, 
that a treaty of peace and friendship was entered into at Viu- 
cennes, September 27, 1792, by Brig. Gen. Eufus Putnam, accom- 
panied by John Heckvelder and 31 Indians of the Wabash and 
Illinois tribes, the 4th article of which contained the following 
language : 

"Art. 4. The United States solemnly guaranty to the Wabash 
and Illinois nations or tribes of Indians, all the lands to which 
they have a just claim ; and no part shall ever be taken from them 

♦Wilkinson's Report. 

+Am. State Papers, 

tAin. Pioneer— Wayne's Statement. 



222 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



but by a fair purchase, and to their satisfaction. That the lands 
originallj^ belonged to the ludians ; it is theirs, aud theirs only. 
That they have a right to sell, and a right to refuse to sell. And 
that the United States will protect them in theu* said rights." 

When the treaty, which contained 7 articles, was laid before the 
United States Senate, the 4th article was objectionable, and after 
much deliberation, it was, Jan. 9, 1794, rejected by a vote of 21 to 
4._ Senate Jour. I. 128 to 146. 

The Illinois settlements were fortunately beyond the main 
theatre of this savage war; still, owing to the general hostility 
of nearly all the tribes, their depredations were each year extended 
to them^ and a comparatively great number of barbarous murders 
were committed by the Kickapoos. These we will give condensed 
from the "Annals 'of the West," pages 700 to 705: 

In 1783, a single murder, that of James Flannory, was first committed 
while on a hunting excursion, but it was not accounted an act of war. 
In 1786 the Indians attacked the American settlements, killed James 
Andrews, his wife and daughter. James White and Samuel McClure, 
and two girls, daughters of Andrews were taken prisoners. One of these 
died with the ludians, and the other was ransomed by French traders. 
She is now (1850) alive, the mother of a large family, and resides iu St. 
Clair county. The Indians had previously threatened the settlement, 
and the people had built and entered a blockhouse ; but this family was 
ov;taud defenceless. 

1787. Early in this year, five families near Bellefountaine, united and 
built a blockhouse, surrounded it with palisades, in which these families 
resided. While laboring in the corn field they were obliged to carry 
their rifles, and often at night had to keep guard. Under these embar- 
rassments, and iu daily alarm, they cultivated tlieir corn-fields. 

1788. This year the war assumed a more threatening aspect. Early in 
the spring, William Biggs was taken prisoner. While himself, John 
Vallis, and .Foseph and Beujamiu Ogle, were passing from tlie station ou 
the hills to the blockhouse fort in the bottom, they were attacked by the 
Indians. Biggs aud Vallis were a few rods iu advance of the party. 
Vallis was killed and Biggs taken prisoner. The others escaped unhurt. 
Biggs was taken through the prairies to tlie Kickapoo towns on tiie 
Wabash, from whence he was finally liberated by nieaus of the French 
traders. The Indians treated him well, oftered him the daughter of a 
brave for a wife, and proposed to adopt him into their tribe. He after- 
wards became a resident of St. Clair county, was a member of the terri- 
torial legislature, judge of the county court, and wrote and published a 
narrative of his captivity among the Indians. 

Ou the 10th day of December, in the same year, James Garrison and 
Benjamin Ogle, while hauling hay from the bottom, were attacked by 
two Indians ; Ogle was shot in the shoulder, where the ball remained; 
Garrison sprang from the load and escaped into the woods. The horses 
taking fright, carried Ogle safe to the settlement. In stacking the same 
hay, Samuel Garrison and Mr. Riddick were killed and scalped. 

17S9. This was a period of considerable mischief. Three boys were 
attacked by six Indians, a few yards from the blockhouse, one of which, 
David Waddel, was struck with a tomahawk in three places, scalped, 
and yet recovered ; the others escaped unhurt. A short time previous, 
James Turner, a young man, was killed on the American bottom. Two 
men were afterwards killed and scalped while on their way to St. Louis. 
In another instance, two men were attacked on a load of hay, one was 
killed outright, the other was scalped, but recovered. The same year 
John Ferrei was killed, and John Demphsey was scalped and made his 
escape. The ludians frequently stole the horses and cattle of the 
settlers. 

1790. The embarrassments of these frontier people greatly increased, 
and they lived in continual alarm. In the winter, a party of Osage In- 
dians, who had not molested hitherto, came across the Mississippi, stole a 
number of horses and attempted to recross the river. The Americans 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 223 

followed and fired upon them. James Worley, an old settler, having 
got in advance of his party, was shot, scalped, and his head cut off and 
left on the sand-bar. 

The same year, James Smith, a Baptistpreacher from Kentucky, while 
on a visit to these frontiers, was taken prisoner by the Kickapoos. On 
the 19th of May. in company with Mrs. Huff and a Frenchman, he was 
proceedinp: from the blockhouse to a settlement then known by the name 
of Little Village. The Kickapoos fired upon them from an ambuscade 
near Bellefountaine, killed the Frenchman's horse, sprang upon the 
woman and herchild, whom they dispatched with a tomahawk, andtook 
Smith prisoner. His horse being shot, he attempted to flee on foot ; and 
having some valuable papers in his saddle bags, he threw them into a 
thicket, where they were found next day by his friend. Having retreated 
a few yards down the hill, he fell on his knees in prayer for the poor 
woman they were butchering, and who had been seriously impressed, 
for some days, about religion. The Frenchman escaped on foot in the 
thickets. The Indians soon had possession of Smith, loaded him with 
packs of plunder which they had collected, and took up their line of 
march through the prairies. Smith was a large, heavy man, and soon 
became tired under his heavy load, and with the hot sun. Several con- 
sultations were held by the Indians, how to dispose of their prisoner. 
Some were for dispatching him outright, being fearful the whites would 
follow them from the settlement, and frequently pointed their guns at 
his breast. Knowing well the Indian ciiaracter, he would bare his 
breast as if in defiance, and point upwards to signifj'^ the Great Spirit 
was his protector. Seeing him in the attitude of prayer, and hearing 
him singing hymns on his march, which he did to relieve his own mind 
of desi^ondency, they came to the conclusion that he was a "great medi- 
cine," holding daily intercourse with the Good Spirit, and must not be 
put to death. After this, they took off his burdens and treated him 
kindly. They took him to the Kickapoo towns on the Wabash, where, 
in a few months, he obtained his deliverance, the Inhabitants of New 
Design paying $170 for his ransom. 

1791. In the spring of this year, the Indians again commenced their 
depredations by stealing horses. In May, John Dempsey was attacked, 
but made his escape. A party of eight men followed. The Indians 
were just double their number. A severe running fight was kept up for 
several hours, and conducted with great prudence and bravery on the 
part of the whites. Each party kept the trees for shelter, the Indians 
retreating, and the Americans pursuing, from tree to tree until night put 
an end to the coufiict. Five Indians were killed without the loss of a 
man or a drop of blood on the other side. This party consisted of Capt. 
Hull, who commanded, Joseph Ogle, sen., Benjamin Ogle, James N. 
Lemen, sen., J. Ryan, Wm. Bryson, John Porter, and D. Draper. 

1792. This was a period of comparative quietness. No Indian fight- 
ing ; and the only depredations committed, were in stealing a few 
horses. 

1793. This was a period of contention and alarm. The little settle- 
ments were strengthened this year by the addition of aband of emigrants 
from Kentucky ; among which was the family of Whiteside. In Feb- 
ruary, an Indian in ambuscade wounded Joel Whiteside, and was 
followed by John Moore, Andrew Kinney, Thos. Todd, and others, 
killed and scalped. Soon after, a party of Kickapoos, supposed to have 
been headed by the celebrated war chief, Old Pecan, made a predatory 
excursion into the American bottom, near the present residence of S. W. 
Miles, in Monroe county, and stole 9 horses from the citizens. A number 
of citizens rallied and commenced pursuit ; but many having started 
without preparation for loug absence, and being apprehensive that an 
expedition into the Indian country would be attended with much 
danger, all returned but 8 men. This little band consisted of Samuel 
Judy, John Whiteside, Wm. L. Whiteside, Uel Whiteside, William 
Harrington, John Dempsey and John Porter, with Wm. Whiteside, a 
man of great prudence and unquestionable bravery in Indian warfare, 
whom they chose commander. 

They passed on the trail near the present site of Belleville, towards the 
Indian camps on Shoal Creek, where they found 3 of the stolen horses, 



224 HISTORY OP ELLINOTS. 



which they secured, The party then, small as it was, divided into two 
parts of four men each, and approached the Indian camps from opposite 
sides. The signal for attack was the discharge of tlie captain's gun. 
One Indian, a son of Old Pecan, was killed, another mortally, and others 
slightly wounded, as the Indians fled, leaving their guns. Such a display 
of courage by ihe whites, and being attacked on two sides at once, made 
them believe there was a large force, and the old chief approached and 
begged for quarter. But when he discovered his foes to be an insignificant 
number, and his own party numerous, he called aloud to h is braves to return 
and retrieve their honor. His own gun hesurrendered to the whites, but 
now he seized the gun of the captain, and exerted all his force to wrest 
it from him. Captain Whiteside was a powerful man, and a stranger to 
fear, but he compelled the Indian to retire, deeming it dishonorable to 
destroy an unarmed man, who had previously surrendered. This in- 
trepid band was now in the heart of the Indian country, where hundreds 
of warriors could be raised in a few hours' time. In this critical situa- 
tion, Capt. Whiteside, not less distinguished for prudence than bravery, 
did not long hesitate. With the horses they had recovered, they imme- 
diately started for home without the loss of time in hunting the 
remainder. They traveled night and day, without eating or sleeping, 
till they reached in safety Whiteside's station, in Monroe county. On 
the same night. Old Pecan, with 70 warriors, ari'ived in the vicinity 
of Cahokia. From that time the very name of Whiteside struck terror 
among the Kickapoos. Hazardous and daring as this exi^edition was, it 
met with great disapprobation froin many of the settlers. Some alleged 
that Old Pecan was decidedly friendly to the whites ; that another party 
had stolen the horses; that the attack upon his camp was clandestine 
and wanton ; and that it was the cause of much subsequent mischief. 
These nice points of casuistry are difRcult to be settled at this period. It 
has long been known, that one portion of a nation or tribe will be on 
the war jiath, while another party will pretend to be peaceable. Hence 
it has been found necessary to hold the tribe responsible for the conduct 
of its party. 

1794. The Indians, in revenge of the attack just narrated, shot Thos. 
Whiteside, a young man, near the station ; tomahawked a son of Wm. 
Whiteside, so that he died, all in revenge for the death of Old Pecan's 
son. In February of the same year, the Indians killed Mr. Hutf, one 
of the early settlers, while on his way to Kaskaskia. 

1795. Two men at one time, and some French negroes at another 
time were killed on the American bottom, and some prisoners taken. 
The same year the family of Mr. McMahon was killed and himself and 
daughters taken prisoners. This man lived in the outskirts of the settle- 
ment. Four Indians attacked his house in day-light, killed his wife 
and four children before his eyes, laid their bodies in a row on the floor 
of the calain, took him and his daughters, and marched for their towns. 
On the second night, Mr. McMahon, finding the Indians asleep, put on 
their moccasins and made his escape. He arrived in the settlement just 
after his neighbors had buried his family. They had inclosed their 
bodies in rude coffins, and covered them with earth as he came in sight. 
He looked at the newly formed hillock, and raising his eyes to Heaven 
in pious resignation, said, "they were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
and in their death are not divided." 

His daughter, now Mrs. Catskill, of Ridge Prairie, was afterwards 
ransomed by the charitable contributions of the people. Not far from 
this period, the Whitesides and others to the number of 14 persons, made 
an attack upon an encami^ment of Indians of superior force, at the foot 
of the blufls west of Belleville. Only one Indian ever returned to his 
nation to tell the story of their defeat. The graves of the rest were to be 
seen, a few years since, in the border of the thicket, near the battle 
ground. In this skirmish Capt. Wm. Whiteside was wounded, as 
thought, mortally, having received a shot in the side. As he fell, he 
exhorted his sons to tight valiantly, not yield an inch of ground, nor 
let the Indians touch his body. tJel Whiteside, who was shot in the 
arm, and disabled from using the rifle, examined the wound, and found 
the ball had glanced along the ribs and lodged against the spine. With 
that presence of mind which is sometimes characteristic of our backwoods 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 225 

hunters, he whipped out his kuife, gashed the skin, extracted the ball, 
and holding it up, exultingly exclaimed, "Father, you are not dead!" 
The old man instantly jumped up on his feet, and renewed the fight, ex- 
claiming, "Come on, boys, I can fight them yet!" Such instances of 
desperate intrepidity and martial energy of character, distinguished the 
men who defended the frontiers of Illinois in those days of peril. 

After the defeat of St. Clair, the conduct of the war in the 
northwest was placed in the hands of Geu. Anthony Wayne. His 
camj)aign during the summer of 1794, which culminated iu the 
victory of the 20th of August ou the Maumee, proved a complete 
success. The confederated tribes, defeated and dishearteued, now 
retired to wait the loug ijromised support of the English. Brant, 
of the Iroquois, said : "A fort had been built iu their country [by 
the Euglish] under pretense of giving refuge iu case of necessity, 
but when that time came, the gates were shut against them as 
enemies."* For several years difliculties had existed between 
Great Britain and the United States, which British Indian agents 
and traders had sedulously taught the red men must speedily even- 
tuate iu war, when they would become their open and i)owerful 
ally. But on the 19th of November, 1794, after protracted nego- 
tiations. Jay, at London, concluded a treaty of amit\-, commerce, 
and navigation between the United States and Great Britain, in 
which the King pledged a firm peace and agreed to withdraw, by 
the 1st of Jime, 1790, all his troops and garrisons from the i)osts 
within the boundary lines of the United States, as fixed by the 
treaty of 1783. This took away from the Indians the last hope of 
British aid, so long promised them, and the vast Confederation of 
savage tribes, bending to their inevitable fate, hastened to the 
headquarters of Geu. Wayne during the ^^ inter, and signed prelim- 
inary articles of peace, which resulted in the treaty of Greenville, 
and which, after a protracted council with all the sachems, chiefs, 
and principal men of the confederacy, lasting from June to August 
3d, 1795, was finally signed. A vast body of land in Ohio and 
Indiaiui, large enough for a good sized State, was ceded by the 
confederate tribes, besides 16 tracts 6 miles square at various 
points in the northwest, among which we note, as Ijeiug iu Illinois, 
''one piece of land, 6 miles square, at the mouth of Chikajo river, 
emptying into the south-west end of Lake Michigan, where a fort 
formerly stood ;" one piece 12 miles square, at or near the mouth 
of the Illinois river, and "one piece G miles square, at the old 
Peorias fort and village, near the south end of the Illinois lake, ou 
said Illinois river." The Indians also allowed free passage through 
their country, in Illinois, from the mouth of the Chicago ri\'er and 
over the portage to the Illinois and down to the Mississippi, and 
down the Wabash. Under the treaty of what may be considered 
Illinois tribes, the Pottawattomies were to receive an annual 
stipend of $1000 in goods (being as much as any tribes received,) 
and the Kickapoos, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskias, $500 each.t 

And now, as the news of this important treaty spead abroad, 
the retarded tide of emigration began to flow with a steadily aug- 
menting stream into these territories ; apprehension of danger 
from the Indians was banished, and friendly intercourse succeeded 
former enmity; forts, stations, and stockades were abaiuloned to 
decay ; the hardy pioneer pushed ever forward and exteuded the 

*Am. State Papers, V. 
tScott's Brant, II, 390. 

15 



226 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

frontier; and men of capital and enterprise, secnring titles to ex- 
tensive bodies of fertile lands, organized colonies for their occupa- 
tion, and thus the wilderness under the tread of civilization was 
made to blossom as the rose. 

By an act of congress, 1791, 400 acres of land was granted to 
all heads of families who made improvements in Illinois prior to 
1788, except village improvements. These rights were commonly 
designated as ''head-rights." A list of names of heads of families, 
who settled in Illinois previous to the year 1788, entitling them to 
these donations, which included also non-residents who should 
return in live years' time to occupy their claims, shows a total 
number of 244 claimants, 80 of whom were Americans. By allow- 
ing the usual number of 5 souls to the family, we have a popula- 
tion in that year of 1220. This excluded negroes. Before 1791, 
under the militia law of the governor and judges, the muster roll 
gives about 300 men capable of bearing arms, of which number 
65 only were Americans.* 

In 1797 a colony of 126 persons — the largest which had yet 
arrived — were most fatally stricken with disease. They were from 
Virginia, had descended the Ohio in the spring, and landed at Ft. 
Massac, from which they made their way across by land to the 
New Design. This place, in the present county of Monroe, was 
established in 1782. It was located on an elevated and beautiful 
plateau of ground, barren of timber, which commanded a view of 
both the Kaskaskia and Mississippi rivers. The season was ex- 
ceedingly w^et, the weather extremely warm, and the roads heavy 
and muddy. The colonists toiled through the woods and swamps 
of Southern Illinois for 26 days, distance about 135 miles. They 
were worn down, sick, and almost famished. Arrived at their 
destination, they found among the old settlers long harassed by 
Indian warfare, from which they had not recovered, but poor ac- 
commodations. There was no lack of hospitality in feeling, but 
that did not enlarge the cabins, which usually contained but one 
room, into many of which 3 and 4 families were now crowded with 
their sick and all. Food was insufficient, salt was very scarce, 
and medical aid was almost out of the question. A putrid and 
malignant fever broke out among the newcomers, attended by such 
fatality as to sweep half of them into the grave by the approach 
of winter. No such fatal disease ever appeared before or since in 
the country.t The old inhabitants were not affected. • The intelli- 
gence of this unwonted mortality produced abroad the wrongful 
impression that Illinois was a sickly country, which tended no 
little to retard immigration. It is now well established that Illinois 
is far healthier than many of her western sisters. 

Among the first Americans who formed settlements remote from 
the French, a great want was mills. The latter had their 
wind mills and water mills since a very early date ; but with their 
hegira the wmd mills fell into decay, and for the others the water 
frequently failed, and the Americans were compelled to have 
recourse to other means. The simplest mode of trituration was 
by means of the grater and the mortar. The first consisted in the 
brisk rubbing of an ear of corn over a piece of tin closely pierced 
with orifices. The mortar was extemporized by excavating with 



•Reynold's Pioneer Hist. 
+ Western Annals. 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 227 

fire the butt of a good sized short log, up-ended, sufficiently deep 
to hold a peck or more of corn. Over this was erected a sweep 
to lift, by counter-traction, a piston with a firm, blunt end, 
which served to pound the corn into meal. To these primitive and 
laborious processes succeeded, in the order of their simplicity and 
in due time, hand mills, band mills, horse mills, and last water 
mills.t 

From 17S8 to 1795, Gov. St. Clair and the Judges of the north- 
western territory, in their legislative capacity, adopted 04 stat- 
utes, 38 at Cincinnati in the last named year. In Ai)ril, 1798, 11 
more were adopted.* Four-fifths of these laws were imported 
from Pennsylvania, and a few from Massachusetts and Virginia. 
This gave to the country a complete system of statute law, which 
was perhaps but little inferior to that of any of the States at that 
early period. Among them was the common law of England and 
statutes of Parliament in aid thereof,of a general nature and not local 
to that Kingdom, down to the 4th year of the reign of James I; which 
is the law in Illinois to this day, except as varied by statute. From 
it we derive all those fundamental principles of the British Consti- 
tution which secure to the citizen personal liberty and protection 
to life and property — the habeas corpus, trial by jury, &c. This 
was imported from Virginia; but the bill of rights is also in the 
ordinance of 1787. In 1795 the Governor also divided St. Clair 
county in Illinois by running aline through the]S"ew Design settle- 
ment in the present Monroe county, due east to the Wabash — all 
that country lying south of it being established into the county of 
Eandolph, named in honor of Edmund Eandolph, of Virginia. 

Before the close of the year 1796, the white i)opnlation of Ohio 
alone was ascertained to exceed 5,000. By the ordinance of 1787, 
the country was entitled to the 2d grade of territorial government 
so soon as it should contain 5,000 white inhabitants. There being 
no longer any doubt regarding this, Gov. St. Clair, October 29, 
1798, issued his proclamation directing the qualified voters to 
hold elections for territorial representatives on the 3d Monday of 
December, 1798. From Illinois, Shadracli Bond, subsequently the 
first governor of this State, was elected. The representatives 
elect were convened January 22d, 1799, at Cincinnati. In accord- 
ance with the provision of the ordinance of 1787, they nominated 10 
men to the President of the U. S. (Adams) to select 5 from, who 
were to constitute the legislative council. These were confirmed 
by the Senate of the U. S., March 22, 1799. The assembly, after 
making the nominations for the council, immediately adjourned to 
September 16th following, at which time both houses met, though 
they did not perfect their organization till the 24th. This was the 
first time that the people of this country, through their representa- 
tives, enacted their own laws for their own local government. The 
Legislature confirmed many of the laws enacted by the governor 
and judges, and passed 48 new ones, the governor vetoing 11. 
They were prorogued December 19, 1799.t 

tReynolcl's Pioneer History, 

♦Dillon's Ind. [. Chase's Statute 1790, 1795. 

tSee Dillona's Ind„ Vol. 11. 



228 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



NOTABLE WOMEN OF THE OLDEN TIME. 

Mrs. LeCompt. — Among tlie ladies of Illinois at the close of the 
last and the beginning of the present century, presenting such 
marked characteristics as to leave their impress upon the period 
of their existence, we cannot in justice forbear to mention a few. 
The tirst which we notice was the well known Mrs. LeCompt. 
She was born in 1734, of French parents, on the eastern shore of 
Lake Michigan, at the old station on the St. Joseph. . This was the 
country of the warlike Potawatamie tribe of Indians. Throughout 
her long life Mrs. LeCompt had ever the western savage for a 
neighbor. She early became proficient in the dialect of the 
Indians and gained a deep insight into their character. She was 
married at Mackinaw, settled with her husband, whose name was 
St. Ange, or Pelate, at Chicago, but subsequently removed to Ca- 
hokia, and, her husband dying, she here married Mr. LeCompt, a 
Canadian. From this marriage sprung one of the largest French 
families in Illinois. Ijater in life, after the death of LeCompt, she 
married again, this time that Thomas Brady who conducted an un- 
fortunate marauding expedition against the Fort St. Joseph in 
1778. Of this union no issue resulted. This extraordinary woman 
was possessed of an iron constitution, a strong mind and dauntless 
courage. Her person was attractive and her manner winning. 
She traveled much, took many long trips, and underwent much 
exposure to the inclemencies of the weather, yet she was seldom 
sick. She lived a hardy and frugal life. By her knowledge of the 
Indian language, and a thorough appreciation of his character, she 
acquii'ed a wonderful influence over the tribes with which she was 
brought into contact. And this was turned to a blessed account 
for the benefit of the settlement where she lived. From the con- 
quest of Clark, the French, as we have seen, sided with the 
Americans, while the Indians adhered.to the British. From that 
time down to the peace of Greenville, in 1795, the old kindly 
feeling between the French and Indians was more or less inter- 
rupted, and many a meditated attack upon Cahokia did Mrs. 
LeComi)t frustrate by her rare sagacity and friendly counsel with 
the savages. It is said, that such was the infatuated friendship of 
the savages for her, that they would invariably advise her in 
advance of their meditated attack upon the village. It was upon 
such occasions that the heroine within her would become manifest. 
In the dead hour of night she would go forth from the village to 
meet the warrior hosts, often camx^ed near the foot of the Quentin 
mound, at the foot of the blulfs, or wherever they might be ; in 
their vicinity, dismiss her attendants, and solitary and alone pro- 
ceed on foot amid the' savage horde. Such devotion to her people 
and such courage in a woman, joined by her ready wit, would 
awaken a chord of sympathy in the warrior's breast. At times she 
would remain among them for days, pleading for the delivery of 
her village, counseling peace, and appeasing the anger of the 
savages. Her efforts were not intermitted until she was well con- 
vinced that the storm was allayed and bloodshed averted. At 
such times the young men of the viUage were mostly away on the 
chase, or as boatmen down the river, while the remaining inhabi- 
tants, terror stricken, would arm themselves for such defence as 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 229 

they were capable of. What would be their joy to see this extraor- 
dinary woman escorting a swarthy band of warriors to the village, 
changed from foes to friends ! (The Indians, upon such occasion, 
would paint themselves black to manifest their sorrow for their 
infernal murderous intent upon their friends.) After a thorough 
feasting of the savages, sometimes for days, their reconciliation 
woidd usually last some time. Mrs. LeCompt, as she was still 
called after Bi-ady's death, hved to the extreme age of 109 years. 
She died in 1843, at Cahokia. Ex-Gov. Reynolds, from whose 
pioneer history we are in great part indebted for the above 
account, says he knew her well for 30 years. 

Mrs. John Edgar. — This accomplished woman, the center of 
fashion for remote Illinois in the olden time, presided for many 
years with equal grace and dignity over her husband's splendid 
mansion at Kaskaskia, the abode of hospitality and resort of the 
elite for near a half century. It was in the spacious and elegantly 
furnished parlors of this house that La Fayette, on his visit to 
Illinois in 1825, was sumptuously entertained, by a banquet and 
baU. Mrs. Edgar's name merits high rank on the scroll of revolu- 
tionary heroines. By birth, education, and sympathy, she was 
American, but her husband, John Edgar, was an ofticer in the 
British navy, lighting against the colonies in their struggle for 
liberty" and independence. By her talent, shrewdness, and above 
all, her i)atriotic devotion to her country, she won over not only 
the heart of her husband to the American cause, but was the pro- 
jector of many plans by which soldiers in the British army were 
induced to quit and join the ranks of the patriots. She had, upon 
one occasion, arranged a plan of escape for three soldiers and was 
to furnish them guns, American uniforms, etc., and all needful in- 
formation to enable them to reach the patriot camp. When they 
came she was absent from home, but her husband, a confidante of 
all her operations, notwithstanding his position in the enemy's 
navy, supplied them with the outfit prepared for them by her. 
But the deserters were apprehended, returned to the British camp, 
and compelled to divulge the names of their abettors. This impli- 
cated Edgar and he lied; remaining a while in the American army 
he deemed it safer for his life to seek greater seclusion and came 
to Kaskaskia. His property was confiscated ; but the rare sagacity 
of his patriotic and devoted wife, who remained back, enabled her 
to save from the wreck some $12,000, with which she joined her 
husband two years afterwards in his western home.* Their union 
was childless; but they were for many years the most wealthy 
family in Ilbnois. Edgar was a large, ijortly man. A county of 
the State perpetuates his name. 

Mrs. Robert Morrison. — This talented lady was a rare acquisition 
to the society of Kaskaskia. Eeared and educated in the monu- 
mental city, she, in 1805, accomi)anied her brother, Col. Donaldson, 
to St. Louis, in the far off wilds of the west, whither he was sent 
as a commissioner to investigate the land titles. But the west 
became her permanent home. She was married the following year 
to Robert Morrison, of Kaskaskia, which place became her resi- 
dence thenceforth. Well educated, sprightly and energetic, her 
mind was gifted with originality and romance. ''Her delight was 

•See Hitt. Sketch of Randolph Co. and Reynold's Pioneer Hist. 



230 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS 

in the rosy fields of poetry."t Her peu was seldom idle. She coui- 
posed with a ready facility, aud her writiugs possessed a high 
degree of merit. Her contributious to the scieutitic piibUcatious 
of W. Walsh, of Philadelijhia, aud other ijeriodicals of the time, 
both verse aud prose, were much admired. Nor did the political 
questions of the day escape her ready peu. The discussion of 
these topics in our newspapers was eagerly read by the politicians 
of Illinois. A feat of much iugeuuity was her work of remodeling 
and converting iuto verse the Psalms of David. The volume was 
preseuted to the Philadelphia Presbytery aud met with high com- 
meudation for many of its excellencies, though it was uot adopted. 
Later in life she gave a thorough tuvestigation to the doctrines of 
religious sects, and after much reflection uuited with the Catholic 
church. Possessed of great force of character, and zealous and 
ardeut in whatever she espoused, her examjile and i)recepts con- 
tributed greatly- toward i)rosely tiug members to that faith. She 
became the mother of an interestiug family. Souie of her sons 
have been quite conspicuoas in the affairs of this State. Mrs. 
Morrison lived to an advanced age, aud died at Belleville iu 
1843. 

VOUDOUISM OR WITCHCRAPT IN ILLINOIS. 

It is recorded that at least two human lives have fallen a sacil- 
fice to the miserable superstition of witchcraft in Illinois in early 
times. An African slave by the name of Moreau was, about the 
year 1790, hung on a tree a little ways southeast of Cahokia, 
charged with and convicted of this imaginary crime. He had ac- 
knowledged, it is said, that by his power of devilish incantation 
"he had poisoned his master, but that his mistress had proved too 
powerful for his necromancy," and this it seems was fully believed, 
and iie was executed. The case was murder ; but there was at this 
jjeriod a very imperfect administration of the laws in Illinois. In 
the same village, ignorantly inspired by a belief in the existence 
of this dread power of diabolism, another negro's life was ofl'ered 
up to the Moloch of superstition, by being shot down in the public 
streets. An old negress of that vicinity, immed Janette, commonly 
reputed to possess the supernatural power of destroying life and 
property by the potency of her incantations, insphed such terror 
by her appearance that adults as well as children would flee at 
her approach. It was a very common feeling among the French 
to dread to incur in any way the displeasure of certain old colored 
people, under the vague belief and fear that they possessed a 
clandestine power by which to invoke the aid of the evil one to 
work mischief or injury to person or property. Nor was this belief 
solely confined to the French, or this power ascribed ouly to the 
colored people. An old woman living on Silver Creek was very 
generally accredited with the power of Avitchcraft, wliich, it was 
believed, she exercised in taking milk from her neighbor's cows at 
pleasure, without the aid of any physical agency. The African's 
belief in fetishes, and the power of their divination, is Avell-kuown. 
Many superstitious blacks in this country have claimed the descent 
to them of fetish power; the infatuation regarding voudouism, 
formerly so wide spread, is not yet extinct among many ignorant 
i 

tKeynold's Pioneer Hist. 



NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. 231 



blacks of Louisiana, as we read occasionally from New Orleans 
papers. Kenault, agent of the "Company of the West," bought 
in 1720, at San Domingo, 500 slaves which he brought to Illinois, 
many of whom were direct from Africa, and thus was imported 
the claim to this occult power, whicli, perhaps, had no difliculty in 
finding lodgment in the minds of the superstitious French of 
Illinois. Mankind has . ever been prone to superstitious beliefs; 
there are very numy i)ersons now who are daily governed in the 
multiplied affairs of life by some sign, omen, or augury. 

Nor were the red children of the forest in America free from 
superstition. The brother of the Shawnee warrior, Tecumseh, 
named Lawlelueskaw, the loud voiced, better known as the one 
eyed Prophet, who commanded the Indians at the battle of Tippe- 
canoe, seeking to reform his people, earnestly declaimed against 
the vice of witchcraft, as Avell as drunkenness, intermarrying with 
white men, etc. Li obedience to the commands of the maniteau, 
the Great Spuit, he fulmuiated the penalty of death against those 
who practiced the black art of witchcraft and magic. His vehe- 
ment harangues evoked among his followers a paroxysm of 
superstitious infatuation. An old Delaware chief, named Tate- 
bockoshe, was accused of witchcraft, tried, condemned, tomahawked 
and consumed on a pyre. This was enacted on the present sire of 
Yorktown, Delaware county, Indiana.* The chief's wife, his 
nephew, BiUy Patterson, and an aged Indian named Joshua, were 
next accused of witchcraft and the two latter convicted, sentenced 
and burned at the stake; but a brother of the chief's wife boldly 
stepped forward, seized his sister and led her from the council 
house, without opposition from those present, and immediately re- 
turned, and in a loud tone harangued the savages, exclaiming : 
^'Maniteau, the evil spirit has come in our midst and we are 
murdering one another." This, together with the earnest letter of 
Gov. Harrison, sent by special messenger in the spring of 1806, 
exhorting the Indians to spurn the pretended prophet, checked the 
horrid delusion. See Drake's Tecumseh, 88. 

*He had also offended by his influence in bringing about the treaty of Aug. 1804, by 
which the chiefs and head men of the Delawares ceded to the U. S. that large tract ox 
land in southern Iiidiana, since known as the "pocket." 



Chapter XX. 

1800-1809— ILLmOIS AS PAET OF THE INDIANA TERRI- 
TORY. 

Its Organisation — Extinguishing Indian Titles to Lands — Gov. Har- 
riso7i^s Facility in This — Land Speculations and Frauds in 
ii Improvement-rights^' and '■'■ Head-rights'' — Meeting of the Legisla- 
ture at Vincennes in 1805 — Statutes of 1807. 



By act of Congress, approved May 7, 1800, tlie large and 
unwieldy territory of the Northwest was divided ; all that part of 
it lying westward of a line beginning on the Ohio river opposite 
the mouth of the Kentucky, running thence north via Fort Recov- 
ery to the British ijossessions, was constituted a separate territory 
and called Indiana. It enclosed the present States of Illinois, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana except a small strip on the 
eastern side between the mouth of the Kentucky and Great Miami. 
The white population of the country was estimated at 4,875, and 
negro slaves 135, while the aggregate number of Indians within 
the extreme limits of the territory was fairly reckoned at 100,000.. 
The seat of Government was fixed at Vincennes, and the ordinance 
of 1787 was applied to the territory in amodified form : that clause 
requiring 5,000 free white male inhabitants of the age of 21 years 
and upwards, before a general assembly could be organized, was 
clianged to the wish of a simple majority of the freeholders. The 
law was to go into effect on the 4tli of July following. 

A chief reason for making this division was the large extent of 
the nortliwestern territory, which rendered the ordinary operations 
of government uncertain and the prompt and efficient administra- 
tion of justice almost impossible. In the three western counties — 
Knox, St. Clair and Randolph, the latter two in Illinois, there had 
been but one term of coiu-t, having cognizance of crimes, held in 
five years. Such immunity to offenders offered a safe asylum to 
the vilest and most abandoned scoundrels. The law of 1791, con- 
firming titles and granting lands to certain persons for military 
services, and the laying out thereof, remained unexecuted, causing 
great discontent ;* and the unpopularity of Governor St. Clair was 
constantly on the increase. His unfortunate campaign against the 
Miami towns, which had greatly shaken the confidence of the 
l^eople, had but rendered his conduct of civil affairs more arbitra- 
ry and defiant. He vetoed nearly every act of the legislature 
establishing new counties, to the great inconvenience of the people 

*See report of Committee ia Congress — Am. State Pap. XX, 306. 

232 



INDIANA TERRITORY. 233 

ill their traiisactious \nth clerks and recorders, and to the vexation 
of suitors at law. 

The territorial legislature sitting at Cincinnati, elected, on the 
3d of October, 1791), William Henry Harrison, then secretary of 
the territory, a delegate to congress, over Arthur St. Clair, jun., by 
a vote of 11 to 10. The contest elicited \Yide and unusual interest, 
and was not unattended by much acrimony and ill blood. The 
St. Clairs were federalists, and party feeling ran extremely high 
in those days. Harrison was largely instrumental in Congress in 
obtaining the passage of the act of diWsion. Up to this time the 
smallest tract of public lands which could be entered was 400 
acres, except fractional pieces cut by important streams. This 
was a great hindrance to settlement, and to the poor our laud sj^s- 
tem was a curse rather than a blessing. Harrison, fully 
ai)preciating this grievance, urged through Congress a law 
authorizing the sale of the public lands in tracts of 320 acres, with 
a cash payment of only one-fourth and the balance in one, two and 
three years. The passage of this law was regarded in the west as 
a public service of the greatest importance, rendering Harrison ex- 
tremely poi)ular. He was. May 13, 1800, appointed Governor for 
the Indiana territory. John Gibson (he to Avhom in 1774, Logan, 
the great Indian chief had delivered his celebrated speech), was 
appointed secretary : and William Clark, John Griffin and Henry 
Vanderburgh, territorial judges. In the absence of the governor, 
secretary Gibson proceeded in July to put the machinery of terri- 
torial government in motion by appointing the necessary local 
oflicers for the administration of the laws, «&c. In January, 1801, 
Governor Harrison, having arrived at his post of duty, immediate- 
ly convened the judges with himself at the seat of government, for 
the adoi)tion of "such laws as the exigency of the times" required, 
and to the discharge of such other duty for the government of the 
territory as congress had by law imposed upon them. They 
remained in session two weeks, passed several resolutions provi- 
ding payment for various ser^ices, and adopted a number of laws, 
one i)roviding for the establishment of coiuts of quarter sessions 
of the peace in the counties of St. Clair, Randolph and Knox. A 
term of the general court for the territory at large, was commenced 
by the three judges on the 3d of March, 1801. Thus the first 
grade of teiritorial government was put in full working order. 

The purchase of Louisiana from Fiance having been consumma- 
ted in 1803, that vast domain lying west of the Mississippi, was by 
act of Congress, March 26, 1804, annexed to the Indiana territory. 
Gov. Harrison and the judges, in October, 1804, adopted the 
necessary laws for the government of the district of Louisiana. 
The union was, however, of shoi't duration ; March 3, 1805, Louis- 
iana was detached and erected into a separate territory. Shortly 
after this Aaron Biut entered upon his treasonable effort to wrest 
from the United States this large domain and to found his south- 
Avestein empire. To organize an expedition for his enteri)rise, he 
visited, among other places in the west, Viucennes and KaBkaskia, 
and induced a few men of the territory to enroU their names on the 
list of his followers ; but the scheme came speedily to naught — his 
men abandoned it, and he was arrested in Mississippi in the spruig 
of 1807. After the pur(;hase of Louisiana, it became desirable to 
learn something respecting the vast region lying between the Mis- 



234 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

sissippi aud the Pacific. Congress therefore autLorized an 
overland exploring expedition, to the command of which the 
President appointed Captains Merriweather Lewis and William 
Clark, the latter a brother of Gen. George Eogers Clark. The 
party, consisting of 34 men, encamped during the winter of 
1803--4 in the American Bottom, near the mouth of Wood river, 
below Alton — then the ultima thule of the white settlements in Illi- 
nois — and started thence upon their toilsome and perilous journey, 
May 14th, reaching the Pacific November 17, 1805. The explorers 
returned in safety to St. Louis about a year there after. The 
l^eninsula of Michigan w^as also, by act of Congress, January 11, 
1805, detached from Indiana and erected into a separate territory, 
the act to take effect June 30, 1805. 

The main topics of interest during the 9 years that Illinois con- 
stituted a part of the Indiana territory, were : the acquisition of 
land titles from the resident Indian tribes, land speculations, and 
the adjustment of land titles; negro slavery- ; organization of the 
territorial legislature, extension of the right of suffrage and the 
detachment of Illinois from the Indiana territory.* Captain W^il- 
liam Henry Harrison, besides his apiioiutment as governor, was 
also constituted superintendent of Indian affairs, and vested 
with plenary powers to negotiate treaties between the United 
States and the several tribes of Indians residing within his ofticial 
jurisdiction, for the cession of lauds. As the rapidly advancing 
settlements of the whites penetrated farther daily, and crowded 
upon the domain of the red man, it became desirable on the part 
of the general government to enlarge the area of its landed acqui- 
sitions beyond the stipulations of the treaty of Greenville, by 
which 17,724,489 acres of land were obtained. By an active exer- 
cise of these powers, in which his Excellency discovered a 
remarkable aptitude, no less than ten treaties were concluded with 
various tribes by the close of the year 1805, extinguishing the In- 
dian titles to about 30,000,000 acres more of land. We cite in 
brief the treaties of that period, by which lands lyrug either Avholly 
or in part within Illinois, were relinquished : 

Treaty of Fort Wayne, concluded June 7, 1803, with certain 
chiefs and head men of the Delaware, Shawnee, Pofawatamie, 
Eel River, Wea, Kickapoo, Piaukishaw, and Kaskaskia tribes — 
ratified at Vincennes August 7, 1803, by three of the tribes and 
the Wyandots, by which there was ceded to the United States, 
1,684,000 acres of land, 336,128 of which was situated within 
Illinois. 

Treaty of Vincennes, concluded August 13, 1803, with certain 
chiefs and warriors of the Kaskaskias, in consideration of the pro- 
tecting care of the government, of $580 in cash, of an increase of 
their annuity under the treaty of Greenville to $1000, of $300 
toward building a church, aud an annual payment for seven years 
of $100 to a Catholic priest stationed among them, the tribe of 
Kaskaskias, reduced to a few hundred individuals, but still repre- 
senting the once powerful confederacy of the Illinois, ceded to the 
United States, except a small reservation, all that tract inchided 
within a line beginning below the mouth of the Illinois, descend- 
ing the Mississippi to its junction Avith the Ohio, ascending the 
latter to the W^abash, and from a point up the Wabash west to 

The subject of slavery is deterred to Gov . CoJe's administration, 



INDIANA TERRITORY. 235 

the Mississip])i, einbnicing tlie greater part of Southern Illinois, 
some 8,608,107 acres, a magiiifieent grant. 

Treaty of St. Louis, conchuled i^ovember 3d, 1804, by which the 
chiefs and head men of the united Sac aud Fox nations ceded to 
the United States a great tract on both sides of the Mississippi, 
extending on the east bank from the mouth of the Illinois to the 
head of that river aud tlience to the Wisconsiu, and iuchidiug on 
the west cousiderable portions of Iowa and Missouri, from the 
moutli of tlie Gasconade northward. In 181G the government 
granted back to the united tribes about 5,000,000 acres in Iowa . 
but of this treaty, as we shall see, subsequently grew the Black 
Hawk war. 

Treaty of Vincennes, concluded December 30th, 1805, by which 
the chiefs aud warriors of the Piankishaw tribe ceded to the United 
States their claim to a tract of country in Illinois, bordering on 
the Wabash river opi)osite Vinceunes, extending north and south 
for a cousiderable distance, aud comprising 2,610,924 acres. 

Thus by successive treaties all the southeru third of Illinois and 
a broad belt of land between the Illinois and Mississipi)i rivers, 
bordering on both streams and running northward to the Wiscon- 
sin. Avas divested of the Indian title as early as 1805; but while 
much of the country was thus lawfully thrown open to the advance 
of the enterprising j)ioueer, the children of the forest still lingered 
around their ancient hunting grounds, reluctant to abandon the 
scenes of their youth and the graves of their ancestors, notwith- 
standiug the solemn cession of their native land to the powerful 
government of the pale faces, the receipt of payment, and their 
promises to retire. Nor did they abstain from occasioiuil maraud- 
ing excursions into the frontier settlements of the whites. The 
remoteness of Illinois from the Atlantic sea-board, its destitution 
of many of the comforts of civiUzed society, and exposure to the 
pi'ecarious amity of the savages, to a great extent deterred emi- 
grants from coming hither. They found, aside from the quality of 
the soil, equal opportunities in Kentucky, Ohio, and southern 
Indiana, with greater security from danger and more convenience 
of access in their slow and toilsome mode of travel. Hence, at this 
time the settlements on the Wabash, the Illinois, and the Upper 
Mississippi, increased slowly, compared with the regions above 
mentioned. 

Virginia, by her deed of cession, had stipulated that "the French 
and Canadian inhabitants, and all other settlers of the Kaskas- 
kias, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who professed 
themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions and 
titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyments of 
their rights ami liberties." Tlie congress of the old confederation, 
by resolutions of June 20tli and August 29, 1788, ordained that 
steps be immediately taken for confirming in their possessions and 
titles to lands the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other 
settlers, who, on or before 1783, had professed themselves citizens 
of the Ilnited States, or of any State; and that a donation should 
be gi\'eu each of the families then living at either of the villages 
of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Eocher, Caliokia, Fort Chartres, or St. 
Phillips. Out of this grew the old "head-right" claims, of which 
it seems there were only a total of 244 in all the country. We 
have seen that in 1790 the French, in their imi)Overished condition, 



236 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

objected strenuously to paying the expense of surveys. Congress 
passed a law March 3, 1791, providing further, that where lands had 
been actually improved and cultivated, under a supposed grant of 
the same by any commandant or court claiming authority to make 
such grant, the Governor of the territory was emi)o\vered and 
charged with the duty to confirm to the persons entitled thereto, 
as above, their heirs or assigns, the land supposed to have been 
granted to them, or such share of it as might be adjudged upon the 
proof to be reasonable, not exceeding 40U acres to any one person 
however. The benefits of this act were extended to persons enti- 
tled under it, but who had removed out of the country, provided 
they or their heirs should return and Qccupy their lands \^'ithin 5 
years. By the 0th section of the same act, in the same manner, a 
grant of land not exceeding 100 acres was granted to each person 
who had not already obtained a donation as above from the United 
States, and who, on the first day of August, 1790, had been en- 
rolled in the militia and done militia duty. 

Governor St Clair liad made many conlirmations of these grants, 
but still a large number of claims remained unadjusted. The 
abeyance of these confirmations Avas a great hindrance to the set- 
tlement of that portion of the country where they were located. 
No one cared to invest a fair price in lands, the title whereof was 
not established by survey and record. Tlierc was naturally much 
anxiety on the j)art of claimants, and those who desired to see the 
country fill up and prosper, to have these obstacles cleared away. 
As a remedy, a law Avas passed by congress, March 15, 1804, estab- 
lishing land offices at Kaskaskia, Vincennes and Detroit, for the 
sale of the public lands, and constituting the registers and receivers 
a board of commissioners, upon which was devolved, for the 
respective districts at each place, the former powers and duties of 
the governor to examine the validity of land claims, decide thereon 
according to justice and equity, and not confirm, but report theii* 
decisions to congress. The land office at Kaskaskia was author- 
ized to sell such of the lands included in the cession of the Kas- 
kaskia tribe of Indians, ))y treaty of August 13, 1S03, as were not 
claimed by any other tribes. 

Michael Jones and E. Backus were appointed register and re- 
ceiver, respectively, of the land office at Kaskaskia. These 
gentlemen, in entering upon their duties as commissioners, soon 
learned that it would be necessary to proceed with great circum- 
spection, as many of the land claims piesented disclosed 
evidences of fraud, and hence then- labor of investigation became 
immense, and they made but slow progress. They made an elabo- 
rate report in 1810, which may be seen in Vol. II, American State 
Papers — Public Lands, to which we are indebted for our facts in 
great part. See page 102. 

From a very early time these land claims of ancient grants, both 
French and English — of donations to heads of families, "head 
rights," of improvement rights, and militia rights, became a rare 
field for the operation of sijeculators. The French claims, owing 
to the poverty of this people, were in great part unconfirmed, 
and this circumstance, with others, contributed to force many of 
them into market. We have seen, also, with what facility the 
British commandant, Wilkins, made extensive grants to numerous 
favorites in various portions of the country, and these being 



INDIANA TERRITORY. 237 

apparently in contravention of tlie King's proclamation of October 
7tli. ITGo, Avere purchased for a trifle; and as for the militia rights 
of 100 acre tracts, while valid, they sold freely at 30 cents per 
acre, in high priced and inferior merchandise. From the passage 
of the law of 1791 to the time that the commissioners took up the 
investigation of these cUiims, speculation in them was rife, and very 
few of them remained in the hands of original claimants. The 
greed of speculators caused numerous claims to pass current with- 
out close scrutiny as to the proofs upon which they rested, a 
circumstance which at the same time tended all the more to stimu- 
late the production of fraudulent claims. The number of 
fraudulent claims was comparatively great, but by purchase and 
assignment they, more than the genuine, became concentrated in 
the hands of a few speculators. The official report of the commis- 
sioners for the district of Kaskaskia, made in ISIO to the secretary 
of the treasury, shows that they rejected 890 land claims as either 
illegal or fraudulent, 370 being supported by peijury, and a 
considerable number forged. The rej^ort further shows that the 
assignee? were privy to both these attempted frauds; the perjured 
depositions api)eared in the handwriting of claimant speculators 
not unfrequently without a word changed by the sworn signers. 
There are 11 names given, both English and French, who made it 
a regular business to fnniish sworn certificates, professing an in- 
timate knowledge, in every case, of the settlers who had made 
certain improvements, and A\'hen and where they Avere located, 
upon which claims were predicated. In some cases these names 
Avere assumed and the de])onent would never ai>pear; in some they 
were real and well known ; while still in others, purportingto come 
from a distance, well known names were forged. In one case 
several hundred depositions poured in upon the commissioners 
from St. Charles, Missouri, in the names of gentlemen formerly 
well known in Kaskaskia. The commissioners, having their 
sus])icions aroused that they were forgeries, summoned them to 
ap])ear before them, which they readily did, though they could not 
have been compelled to, and with tears in their eyes declared on 
oath that they lived in Ui)per Louisiana, that they had never been, 
in St. Charles in their lives, and that the dej^ositions were despic- 
able forgeries. A Frenchman, clerk of the Parish of Praiiie du 
Kocher, "without property and fond of liquor," after havmg given 
some 200 depositions in favor of three certain land claimant spec- 
ulators, whose names would be familiarly recognized to-day, "was 
induced either by compensation, fear, or the impossibility of 
obtaining absolution on any other terms, to declare on oath that 
the said depositions were false, and that in giving them in, he 
had a regard to something beyond the truth."* 

It is not i)leasant for an Illinoisan to read in the j^ublic archives 
of our country, noted after the honored names of the first promi- 
nent settlers of our State, whose descendants have become 
conspicuous in its subsequent history, by sworn and intelligent 
ofticials the damaging words of "perjury," "deed forged," " fraud 
and i^erjiuy," time and again, in support of land claims; but such 



[Note— The forged and perjured depositions were mostly adduced to support claims 

Eresented by Robert Morrison, John Edfrar, Robert Keynol'ds. Wm. Morrison, Richard 
"rc>, Wm. Kelley, and others. Am. State Papers, vol. ii, 104— Pub. Lands, 2, ib. 115— 



238 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



is the fact. Well miglit a cotemporary, young- at the time, subse- 
quently exclaim, that "parties were branded with perjury and 
forgery to an alarming extent."t But when he further says that 
"the best citizens in the country were stigmatized with the above 
crimes, without cause," the facts appear against him. Much 
rancor and partisan feeling was engendered against the commis- 
sioners by the influential claimant speculators, who w^ere thus 
thwarted to a great extent in their rascally schemes. The com- 
missioners close their report with these words: 

"We close this melancholy picture of human depravity, by ren- 
dering our devout acknowledgments that, in the awful alternative 
in.which we have been placed, of either admitting perjured testi- 
mony in support of the claims before us, or having it turned 
against our characters and lives, it has, as yet, pleased Divine 
Providence which rules over the affairs of men, to i^reserveus both 
from legal murder and private assassination." 

The claimants, particularly those who held by assignment, had 
met with little trouble in having their claims confirmed and patents 
issued to them by Gov. St. Clair, while Illinois was part of the north- 
western territory. On the occasion of his visit to Illinois, in 1790, 
while the impoverished French were unable to bear the expense 
of the government surveys, the rich and influential speculators 
readily met this difficulty and obtained their patents. It seems 
that many of the governor's confirmations were made by the 
bundle. As but a single instance, out of many, we will cite his 
confii'mation, in one bulk, of 90 donation rights to heads of fam- 
ilies, of 400 acres each, amounting to 36,000 acres of land, in the 
hands of John Edgar as assignee. We have already noted his 
confirmation of an English grant described as containing 
13,000 acres but which really contained 30,000, a moiety of which 
had been iireviousl}' conveyed to his son. While this was the 
largest, there were many others in which his son shared, that 
readily received his confirmation. Evident fraud and imposition 
were also practiced upon Governor Harrison in procuring his con- 
firmation to land claims. 

As the report of the commissioners raised manifest doubts re- 
specting the validity or propriety of a number of confirmations by 
the governors, and as there was much dissatisfaction on the part 
of the claimants, congress, Feb, 20, 1812, passed an act for the 
revision of these land claims in the district of Kaskaskia. The 
commissioners under this law were Michael Jones, John Caldwell, 
and Thomas Sloo. Their investigations resulted in unearthing 
more facts and confirming many pre\aous ones, damaging to the 
good names of gentlemen high in official life. Regarding the 
English grant of 30,000 acres, which Governor St. Clair confirmed 
to his son, John Murray and John Edgar, they declared that the 
patent was issued after the governor's powers had ceased to exist 
and the Indiana Territory was stricken off", which rendered it a 
nullity, and that the claim was founded neither in law nor equity, 
and ought not to be confirmed. It was, however, confirmed by 
congress. Governor St. Clair was empowered to make absolute 
confirmations and issue patents for the lands; but the land com- 
missioners imder the act of 1804 were not vested with the power 
of confirmation — they were only an examining board for the in- 

tileynold's Pioneer History. 



INDIANA TERRITORY. 239 

vestigatiou of the riglits of claimants to ancient grants, head, 
imi)iovenient and militia rights. 

A vote, taken September 11, 1804, showed a majority of 138 
freeholders of the territory in favor of the second grade of terri- 
torial government, and in obedience to the will of the people. Gov- 
ernor Harrison ordered an election for representatives to the 
territorial general assembly, for January 3, 1805, which was to 
meet at Viucennes, February 7th following, and nominate ten men 
for the legislative council. The members elect from Illinois were 
Shadrach Bond and William Biggs, of St. Clair, and George Fisher, 
of Kandolph. The names presented from Illinois for councilors, 
were Jean Francis Perrey and John Hay, of St. Clair, and Pierre 
Menard, of Eandolph. President Jefferson waived his right of 
selection in favor of Governor Harrison, asking only that he reject 
"land jobbers, dishonest men, and those who, though honest, 
might suffer themselves to be warped by party prejudice." Perrey 
and Menard were selected for Illinois. On the 7th of June follow- 
ing, the governor issued his j)roclamation convening the legislature 
for the 29th of July, 1805. This was the second time that the 
people of this country, through their representatives, exercised 
the law making power for their own local government. 

In his message, delivered the following- day, the governor re- 
commended the passage of laws to prevent the sale of intoxicating 
liquors to the Indians, saying : " You have seen our towns crowded 
with drunken savages ; our streets flowing with blood ; their arms 
and clothing bartered for the liquor that destroys them ; and their 
miserable women and children enduring all the extremities of cold 
and hunger; whole villages have been swept away. A miserable 
remnant is all that remains to mark the situation of many warlike 
tribes." He recommended, also, a remodeling of the inferior 
courts, so as to insure a more efficient administration of justice j 
an improved militia system; more efficient punishment for horse 
stealing; and ways and means for raising a revenue, stating, that 
this latter would be their most difficult and delicate duty; that while 
few were the objects of taxation in a new country, it must still be a 
burthen, and the commencement of our financial operations must 
be expected to be attended by some trifling, though he trusted, 
temporary embarrassments. The legislature, by joint ballot, 
elected Benjamin Parke, of Indiana, territorial delegate to con- 
gress. The levying of taxes, as was anticipated, created consid- 
erable dissatisfaction among some of the people. The poll tax was 
particularly obnoxious to the French residents. Their indignation 
found vent at a public meeting, held at Vincennes, Sunday, Au- 
gust 16, 1807, where it was "resolved" that they would "withdraw 
their confidence and support forever from those men who advocated, 
or in any manner promoted, the second grade of government."* 

The legislature re-enacted many of the general laws selected and 
adopted by the governors and judges of both the JSTorthwesteru 
and Indiana territores; under the first grade of their respective 
governments. Provision was made for a collection and thorough 
revision of the laws, by a commission. Accordingly, a volume was, 
two years later, produced, bearing the following title: "Laws of 
the Indiana Territory, comprising those acts formerly in force, and 
as revised by Messrs. John Eice Jones and John Johnson, and 

♦Dillon's Indiana. 



240 HISTORY OF rLLINOIS. 

passed (after amendments) by the legislature; and the original 
acts passed at the first session of the second general assembly of 
the said territory — begun and held at tlie borough of Vincennes, 
on the 16th day of August, A. D. 1807." Messrs. Stout and 
Smoot, "printers for the territory," were the publishers ; the paper, 
on which it was printed, was brought on horseback from George- 
town, Kentucky. 

This collection of old statutes relates principally " to the organ- 
ization of suj)erior and inferior courts of justice, tlie appoint- 
ment and duties of territorial and county officers, prisons and 
prison bounds, real estate, interest and money, marriages, 
divorces, licenses, ferries, grist-mills, elections, militia, roads and 
highways, estrays, trespassing, animals, inclosure and cultivation 
of common fields, relief of poor, taverns, improving the breed of 
horses, taxes and reveiuies, negroes and mulattoes under inden- 
tures as servants, fees of officers, sale of intoxicating liquors, 
relief of persons imprisoned for debt, killing wolves, prohibiting 
the sale of arms and ammunition to Indians and other persons, 
the standard of weights and measures, vagrants, authorizing aliens 
to purchase and hold real estate in the territory,"* etc, Tlie pen- 
alties provided for crimes and misdemeanors, were, death for 
treason, murder, arson and horse-stealing ; manslaughter, punish- 
able as provided at common law ; burglary and robbery, each by 
whipping, fine and, in some cases imprisonment not exceeding 40 
years; riotous conduct, by fine and imi)risonment ; larceny, by 
fine or whipping, and in certain cases, binding out to labor not 
exceeding 7 years ; forgery, by fine, disfranchisement and stand- 
ing in the pillory ; assault and battery, as a crime, by fine not 
exceeding $100; hog-stealing, by fine and whii)ping ; gamblhig, 
profane swearing and Sabbatli -breaking, each by fine; bigamy, by 
fine, whipping and disfranchisement. The disobedience of ser- 
vants and children, a justice of the peace was entitled to punish 
by imprisonment in the jail until the culprit was " humbled," aiul 
if the offence was accomi)anied by assault, he might be whipi)ed, 
not exceeding 10 stripes. 

•Dillon's Indiana. 

The laws relating to indentured slaves are treated under Governor Cole's adminis- 
tration. 



Chapter XXI. 

1809— ILLINOIS TEEEITOEY. 

Opposition to Division — Jesse B. Thomas — Gov. Udwards — Nathaniel 
Fope — Territorial FederalJudges — The Governor avoids the meshes 
of the Separationists and anti-Separationists — Condition and Pop- 
ulation of the Territory. 



By act of congress, approved February 3, 1809, all that part 
of the Indiana Territory lying "west of the Wabash river, and a 
direct line drawn from the said Wabash river and Post Vinceniies, 
due north to the territorial line between the United States and 
Canada," should, after the first of March followuig, constitute a 
separate territory, and be called Illinois. This, it will be perceived, 
included the present State of Wisconsin. The population of the 
newly organized territory was estimated at about 9,000, leaving 
in Indiana about double that number. 

There are many things which usually influence an American 
community in the desire to be independent. The main reasons 
advanced by Illinois in favor of a separation from Indiana were, 
the "wide extent of wilderness country" which intervened between 
the civilized settlements of the country on the Mississippi, about 
the only ones in Elinois, and the seat of government on the 
Wabash, rendering the ordinary j^rotection of government to life 
and property almost nugatory; the inconvenience, expense and 
dangers of long journeys whose routes led through sections wholly 
inhabited by savages, which litigants in the superior courts of the 
territory were compelled to incur for themselves and witnesses ; 
and the almost total obstruction to an efiticient administration of 
the laws in counties so distant from the seat of government as 
those of Illinois. Notwithstanding the remoteness and isolation 
of the country from the centers of i)0])ulation in the United 
States at that early day, the tide of emigration pressed westwai-d 
with a gradual but ever increasing flow. In 1805 Michigan was 
erected into a separate territory, and by this time Illinois contained 
a white poi)ulation fully as great as that of the whole territor.N of 
Indiana when detached from Ohio five years before. The question 
of separation in Illinois grew apace from this time on ; it was re- 
peatedly pressed upon the attention of congress b}' legislative 
memorials in 180G, 1807 and 1808, until that body finally disposed 
of the subject as above stated. But while the people of Vincennes 
and neighboring villages east of the Wabash opposed the separa- 
tion from interested motives, for a division would before many 
years elapsed take from them the seat of government and remove 
it to a more central locality, and woidd also increase the rates of 
16 241 



242 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



taxation, what may appear difficult of solution was the fact that 
in Illinois there was anything but unaniniitj^ in favor of division and 
independence. A violent anti-separation party sprung up liere^ 
which, though greatly overborne by numbers, by its activity 
aroused a deep and angry feeling which ultunately resulted in 
bloodshed. By the machinations of the opposers to a division 
"one of the warmest friends and ablest advocates of the measure 
was assassinated at Kaskaskia in consequence."* The question 
of separation turned upon the ability of the Illinois members of 
the Legislature, in session at Vincennes in October 1808, to elect 
a delegate to congress in place of Benjamin Parke, resigned, who 
should be favorable to the division. The Illiuoisans found a suit- 
able candidate in an Indiana member of the House, who was also 
Speaker, by the name of Jesse B. Thomas, who, for the sake of 
going to congress, was ready to violate the sentiments of his con- 
stituents upon this question. But the Illinois members, with a 
due ai)preciation of the j)romises of i^oliticians, even at that early 
day, required of this gentleman, before they wouhl vote for him, 
to sui)port his pledges by his bond, conditioned that he would 
procure from congress a division, whereui)ou he was triumphantly 
elected by a bare majority with the aid of his own vote.t He was 
hung in effigy at Vincennes by the anti-separationists ; yet he dis- 
charged his i^ledges and his bond, by procurmg the division from 
congress; and, as it was doubtless desirable to change his residence, 
he came home with a commission for a federal judgeship of the 
new territory in his pocket and removed to Illinois. 

By the act of separation, the people of Illinois were also entitled 
to all and singular the rights, privileges and advantages granted 
and secured to the people under the ordinance of 1787, which was 
applied to the territory — fair words enough, but the oi dinance con- 
ferred little political power. The previous duties were imposed ujjon 
the new officers, and the President was empowered to make 
appointments during the recess of congress ; provision was made 
for the organization of the second grade of territorial government, 
whenever the governor should at any time be satisfied that a ma- 
jority of the freeholders of the territory desired the same, 
notwithstanding there mightbeless than 5,000 inhabitants, fixing the 
number of representatives, in such case, at not less than seven nor 
more than nine, to be apportioned among the counties by the gov- 
ernor; the legislative council and delegates to congress were made 
elective by the people; the old officers were continued in the exer 
cise of their duties in Indiana, but prohibited in Illinois ; provision 
was made for the final disposition of all suits from Illinois i:)ending 
in the court at Vincennes, for the collection of taxes levied and 
due; and the seat of government was fixed at Kaskaskia, until 
otherwise ordered by the legislature. 

•See address of citizens to Gov. Edwards, at Kaskaskia, June, 1809, 

+j!ee Ford's Illinois, p. 30. 

[Note —A curious state of affairs obtained with reg'ard to Indiana after the separa- 
tion of Illinois. On the 2('>th of October, 180S, the governor had dissolved the legisla- 
ture : by act of congress, February 3, 1809, Illinois was detached, taking- with it five 
members, whicli would have dissolved the legislature had it notalready been dissolved; 
later in the same month, on the 27th, congress passed a law extending the right of 
suffrage and prescribing tlie number of representatives for tlie territor.y, and further, 
directed the legislature to apportion the representatives ; but there was no legislature 
lu e.xistence to make the apportionment. Indiana was in political chaos— something 
was required of a body that she did not possess, and which it was impossible for her to 
legally create. But Governor Harrison cut the gordian knot, and, legally or otherwise, 
apportioned the territory, issued writs of election for a new legislature, and in October 



n^LINOIS TERRITORY. 243 

Kiiiian Edwards, at the time chief justice of the Court of Appeals 
in Kentucky, became governor of the newly organized territory 
of Illinois. John Boyle, of the same State, at first received the 
appointment of Governor, but declined the office and accepted 
that of associate justice of the same court whereof Edwards was 
Chief Justice. Edwards was desirous of filling the vacancy, and at 
the recommendation of Henry Clay, received the appointment from 
President Madison, his commission bearing date April 24, 1809. 

In his letter to the president, Henry Clay spoke of Judge Ed- 
wards as follows : " The honorable appointments which this 
gentleman has held (first as a judge of our Superior Court, and 
then promoted to his present station), evince how highly he is esti- 
mated amongus." And in a letterof the same date to the Hon. Eobt. 
Smith, he said: "His political principles accord with those of the 
Republican party. His good understanding, weight of character 
and conciliatory manners, give him very fair pretensions to the 
office alluded to. * * * I have no doubt that the whole rei>re- 
sentation from the State, when consulted, would concur in ascrib- 
ing to him every qualification for the office in question." 

E^inian Edwards was born in Montgomery county, Md., in 1775, 
and at the time of his appointment as governor was about 34 years 
old. He obtained his early education in company with and partly 
under the tuition of William Wirt, his senior by two years, and life 
long friend. After a collegiate course at Carlyle, Pa., he com- 
menced the study of law, but before finishing it was sent to 
Kentucky to select lands for his brothers and sisters and ojyen a 
farm. He located in Nelson county, and being furnished with 
ample means in a new country where the character of society was 
as yet unformed, and surrounded by companions whose pleasures 
and pursuits were iu sensual indulgences, he fell into indiscretions 
and excesses for two or three years.* But in the then standard of 
society, this did not prevent his election to the Kentucky Legisla- 
ture. Subsequently he broke away from his dissolute comx)anious 
and habits, removed to Russelville, and devoted himself to labori- 
ous study. He soon attained eminence in his jirofession. Before 
he was 32 years old he had filled in succession the offices of pre- 
siding judge of the general court, circuit judge, 4th judge of the 
court of appeals, and chief justice of the State, which last he held 
when his associate justice, Boyle, received the appointment of 
territorial governor for Illinois. The two, to suit their respective 
inclinations, exchanged offices, Edwards, through the patronage 
of Mr. Clay, becoming governor, and Boyle chief justice. Governor 
Edwards was a large, fine looking man, with a distinguished air and 
courtly manners, who wielded a ready pen and was fluent of speech. 

The territorial judges appointed, besides Thomas, were Alex- 
ander Stuart and William Sprigg. The former was a Virginian, a 
man of fijie education and polished manners, who,t however, re- 

fol lowing convened it for business. Butthat body, entertaining- doubtswhether it was 
really a legislature or not, prepared a statement to congress, petitioning tbat power to 
constitue it a legal body, and adjourned temporarily to await action upon the case. 
Sach are some of the inconveniences of government where original sovereigntj- does 
not reside in the people, but is derived from a power superior to them— an apparent 
anomaly in the theory of American government. — See Dillon's Ind.] 

*Gov. Edward's Life, by his son. 

tJudge Breese, in the address of laying the corner stone of the new State House by 
Judire Caton, says : '"And withall a good liver, of whom it is said he esteemed the 
turkey the most inconvenient of the poultry tribe, as it was too large for one and not 
large enough for two." 



244 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

maiued on the beucli in Illinois but a sbort time, being changed 
to Missouri. His successor was Stanley Griswold, a good lawyer 
and an honest man, who, as Gov. Eeynolds says in his Pioneer 
History, "paid his debts and sung David's Psalms." He was after- 
wards transferred to Michigan, and Thomas Towles became his 
successor. William Sprigg was born and reared in Maryland, where 
his brother attained to the high ofiice of governor. His education 
was classical and he was deeply read in the law. He was a man 
of singular purity of heart and simplicity of manner — lacking 
totally in all the arts of the politician.* 

]Srathaniel Pope, a relative of the governor, was appointed secre- 
tary of the territory. He was born in Kentucky, at the Falls of the 
Ohio, in 1784. His education was collegiate, being one of the early 
graduates of Transylvania University, at Lexington. His natural 
endowments of head and heart, were very superior. To a fine 
analytical mind, he added a genial and benevolent disposition, 
and great dignity of character. He selected the law for a profes- 
sion, and soon mastered its intricacies. At the age of 21, he emi- 
grated to St. Genevieve, then Upper Louisiana, where he learned 
to speak French quite fluently. Five years later, he was appointed 
secretary of the Illinois territory. As such, in the absence of tho 
governor, he was emi^owered, under the ordinance of 1787, to dis- 
charge the duties of the executive office. On the 25th of April, 
1809, at St. Genevieve, before Judge Shrader, he took the oath of 
office, and coming to Illinois, inaugurated tlie new government on 
the 28th instant, by issuing his proclamation to that eflect. The 
counties of St. Clair and Randolph were reinstated as the two coun- 
ties of the Illinois territory. On the 3d of May, he appointed and 
commissioned Elias Eector attorney -general, John Hay sherifl', 
Enoch Moore coroner, and 17 justices of the peace. 

On the 11th of June following, Governor Edwards assumed the 
duties of his office. He had taken the oath of office in Kentucky, 
before his departure. Upon his arrival at Kaskaskia, his Excel- 
lency was tendered a flattering public address by the citizens, in 
which he was asked to espouse the side of the "virtuous majority" 
by whose patriotic exertions the territory had been divided 
and he had attained his high station, and to whom ought 
to be distributed the offices in his gift, rather than to those who 
never ceased to oppt)se the measure and heap calumnies aaid indig- 
nities upon its friends. The governor, unwilling to become a part- 
isan on either side, made a felicitous but non-committal reply. He 
re-appointed John Hay clerk of St. Clair county, and, as a curious 
instance of official self-succession to office in this country, we will 
mention that he held that public trust from thence on, until his 
decease, in 1845. In place of Hector, Benjamin H. Doyle had 
been appointed attorney-general, and he resigning, John J. Crit- 
tenden, of Kentticky, was appointed; but the latter, after holding 
the office a few months, also resigned, when his brother, Thomas 
L., succeeded him. 

On the 10th of June, 1809, the governor, joined by Judges Stuart 
and Sprigg (Thomas being still absent in Washington), constitut- 

*Reynolds, in his Pioneer History, says that Sprig'g accompanied Governor Edwards in 
his campaiprn against the Indians on Peoria Lake, in 181:.', unencumbered by sun or other 
weapon indicating- bellijierency. ''His pacific and sickly appearance, together with his 
perfect philosopliic indifference as to war or peace, life or death made him the subject 
of much discussion among the troops. He was the only savant in thearmy." 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 245 

ing a legislative body in the first grade of territorial government, 
under the 5th section of the ordinance of 1787, met and re-enacted 
such of the laws of the Indiana territory, with which the people, 
who for nine years had formed a part thereof, were familiar, and 
as were suitable and applicable to Illinois, and not local or special 
to Indiana. Many of these laws were those which, without change 
of phraseology, had either been originally imported or enacted by 
the authorities of the old Northwestern territory. 

Thus was put into operation the machinery of civil government 
in the Territory of Illinois ; but Governor Edwards, owing to the 
local political dissensions, growing out of the question of territor- 
ial division, which had degenerated into personal animosities, met 
with no inconsiderable difficulties in avoiding the meshes of these 
factions, struggling fiercely for respective ascendancy. He re- 
solved not to be caught in the toils of either party, and for the 
interests and prosperity of the country sought to ignore the entire 
question that it might pass into oblivion. At that day, the militia 
system, which had received the earnest recommendation of Gover- 
nor Harrison, and which was also a necessity of the times, was in 
full and eftective operation. With the dissolution of the Indiana 
territory, it became the duty of Governor Edwards to re-organize 
the militia for the new territory of Illinois. The separationists 
urged his Excellency to appoint none to office in the militia who 
had ever opposed the division of the territory ; but this would 
have committed him contrarj^ to his judgment. The anti-separa- 
tionists pressed him to re-appoint all the old officers ; but as a new 
commission would have voided all offences for which any officer 
might have been tried and punished hj dismissal, he refused to 
accede to that also. To steer clear of both Scylla and Charybdis, 
he referred the question to the people, by directing the militia 
companies to elect the company officers, and the latter to choose 
the field officers. With these orders, his Excellency retired from 
the field of contention to Kentucky, to wind up some unfinished 
court business, and upon his return, late in the fall, he issued an 
address to the people, explanatory of his course, and commissioned 
the militia officers returned to him as elected. 

The population of the territory, at the time of its organization, 
was estimated at 9000 ; the census of 1810 returned it at a total of 
12,282—11,501 whites, 168 slaves, 613 of all others, except Indians 
— being an increase of so^ne 400 per cent during the preceding 
decade. The frontiers had been steadily advanced by the adven- 
turous pioneers. To the north, the settlements had extended 
to the Wood river country, in the present Madison county; east- 
ward, on Silver creek and up the Kaskaskia river; south and east, 
from Kaskaskia, some 15 miles out on the Fort Massac road; the 
Birds had located at the mouth of the Ohio ; at old Massac and 
the Ohio salines, there had been nuclei of settlements for 
some time ; Shawneetown,* the nearest point on the Ohio to the 
salt wells, 12 miles west, had contained a few straggling houses 

•Shawneetown. which derives its name from a dissatisfied band of that tribe of Ind- 
ians located there from 1735 to about 1760, was laid out by the direction of the United 
States goverment, in 1813-14, and for a quarter of a century was the principal town in 
the State. The site, chosen with reference to its contiguity to the United States salines, 
was an unfortunate one, being subject to repeated inundations. In 1813, a flood rose to 
the ridge poles on the roofs of many of the log houses, and swept 40 of them away, be- 
sides other damage to stock, fencing, etc, Petitions to change the location to the 
mouth of the Saline creek, 8 miles below, were disregarded . 



246 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

since 1805 ; along the west side of the Wabash, opposite Yin- 
ceuues, were scattered a few families, one McCawley having pen- 
etrated inland to the crossing of the Little Wabash by the Vin- 
cennes road, but the latter were mostly abandoned during the war 
of 1812. Indeed, the new settlements were very sparse and all 
feeble, and from 1810, until the close of the war, 4 years later, 
immigration was almost at a stand. Nine-tenths of the territory- 
was a howling wilderness, over which red savages held domin- 
ion and roamed at will, outnumbering the whites at least three to 
one. 



Chapter XXII. 

INDIAN TEOUBLES IN ILLINOIS PEECEDING THE WAR 

OF 1812. 

The Country put in a State of Defence by the Organization of Rang, 
ing Companies and the Building of Block-house and Stockade 
Forts — Governor Edwards Sends an Envoy to Gomd's Village — 
Battle of Tippecanoe — Indian Council at Cahohia. 



The British, after the war of Independence, relinquished with 
great reluctance, as we have seen, theix hold upon the northwest- 
ern territory. The confederated tribes of the Northwest only 
•ceased their warfare when they found their last hope of British 
aid cnt off by Jay's treaty at Loudon, November, 1794 ; but this 
treaty did not cover all the outrageous pretensions of Great Brit- 
ain. In her desperate war with France, later, she boldly boarded 
American vessels on the high seas, searching for English-born 
seamen, impressing them into her marine service upon the ground 
of " once an Englishman, always an Englishman," and denying 
expatriation and American citizenship by uaturalizatiou. Nor did 
she scrutinize very closely as to the nationality of the seamen 
impressed, as in the case of the Chesapeake, boarded off the 
coast of Virginia, where, of four of the crew taken as deserters, 
three were of American birth. In the retaliatory measures 
"between France and England, to prevent trade and commerce 
with either power, our vessels, as neutrals, became the prey of both 
hostile nations. The affair of the Chesapeake intensified the feel- 
ing already deep ; Jefterson ordered all British ships-of-war out 
of the waters of the United States, and congress laid an embargo 
on American vessels, forbidding them to leave port, to the great 
injury of American commerce. 

In the West, British emissaries were busy arousing the north- 
western savages to war against the United States. Harrison's 
zeal and activity in divesting the Indian titles to western lands, 
"was no inconsiderable provocation. In September, 1809, he had 
lield a treaty at Fort Wayne with the Delaware, Potawatamie, 
Miami, Kickapoo, Wea and Eel River Indians, who, in consid- 
■eration of |-2,B50 as annuities, and |8,200 of presents in hand 
<5eded to the United States a large tract of country, comprising 
near three million acres of laud in Indiana, extending up the Wa- 
bash above Terre Haute, and interiorly to include the middle 
waters of White river, and trenching upon the home and hunting, 
ground of the great Shawnee warrior, Tecumseh, whose nation 

247 



248 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

was not a party to the treaty, and who denounced it as unjust and 
illegal. 

At a council, invited by Governor Harrison and held at Vin- 
cennes, August 12, 1810, Tecuinseh, followed by 400 warriors, 
maintained that all the northwestern tribes were one nation, hold- 
ing their lands in common, and that without the consent of all 
the tribes concerned, no treaty of purchase and cession was validj 
that his purpose was to wrest power from the village chiefs 
and put it in the hands of the M^ar chiefs. Nor did he deny having 
threatened to kiU the chiefs who had treacherously signed the 
treaty. An angry discussion arose between Harrison and Tecum- 
sell, the latter boldly avowing his purpose to hold the lands con- 
veyed by the treaty, and resist the further intrusion of the 
whites. He made an impassioned and bitter recital of the wrongs 
and aggTessious of the whites upon the Indians, declaring they 
had been driven back from the sea coast now to be pushed into 
the lakes. Harrison ridiculed his pretensions and the wrongs of 
his people, whereupon Tecumseh sprang to his feet, and excitedly 
charged his Excellency with cheating and imposing upon the Ind- 
ians. His red warriors, inflamed by his vehement manner, sim- 
ultaneously siezed their tomahawks and brandished their war 
clubs, as if ready for the work of massacre. A moment of silent 
but awful suspense to the whites, who were unarmed, followed. 
No fiu'ther demonstration was however made, and Tecumseh, 
spurned by Harrison, retired, determined to adhere to the old 
boundary. 

The iil-feeling, steadily on the increase, between the United 
States and Great Britain, was early apprehended by the savages- 
through the machinations of British agents andtraderson the north- 
western frontier. Nicholas JaiTott, of Cahokia, having just 
returned from a trip to Prairie du Chien, made afhdavit, June 28, 
1809, that British agents and traders at that post, and on the fron- 
tiers of Canada, were inciting the Indians to hostility, and fitting^ 
them out with guns and ammunition for demonstrations against 
the western settlers.* The savages were greatly emboldened by 
these friendly offers to commit depredations ui)on the American 
settlemeuts. In July, 1810, a band of Potawattomies, from Illinois, 
made a raid upon a settlement in Missouri, opposite the mouth of 
the Gasconade, stealing horses and other property. The owners, 
with their friends to the number of six, made pursuit. The Ind- 
ians, who were discovered at the distance of a few miles, to baffle 
their pursuers, changed their course. The whites, after a fatiguing- 
march, went into camp, and neglecting to post a guard, fell soundly 
asleep. In the night, the Indians, with demoniac yells, pounced 
upon the sleepers and tomahawked all but two. The survivors 
speedily spread the dreadful tidings, which created great excite- 
ment at the time. The proof from various circumstances being 
clear that the nuu^derers were Potawattomies, the governor of 
Missouri made a requisition upon the governor of Illinois for them. 
During the same year, hostile demonstrations were made by the 
Sac and Fox nations, of Illinois, against Fort Madison, situate 
on the west bank of the Mississippi, above the DesMoiues Rapids. 
Hostilities also existed between the lowas and Osages, both resid- 

*Annals of the West,— Appendix. This was, however, denied by a communicatioD- 
from Messrs. Bleakiy and Portier.the parties implicated, of Prairie du Chien. 



ILLmOIS TERRITORY. 249 

iug west of tlie Mississippi. In 1811, the Indians committed 
many murders upon the whites in Illinois. Near the forks of Shoal 
creek, on the 2d of June, the family of one Oox being- absent, 
except a young man and woman, a party of savages killed the 
former, mangling his body horribly, stole the horses, and carrie<l 
off the girl a i)risoner. The Coxes and neighbors, to the number 
of eight or ten, made jmrsuit, and some 50 miles north of the pres- 
ent Springflekl, overtook the Indians, re-captured their property, 
and during the rambling tight, the girl, after being wounded by a 
tomahawk hi the hip, made her escape and joined her friends. In 
the same month, at the lower part of the present city of Alton, 
where a Mr. Price and another named Ellis, were plowing corn, 
a party of Indians were observed a|)proacliing a spring in the 
vicinity, where there was a cabin. The whites unhitched their 
horses and seized their guns; but the Indians declared themselves 
friendly, and one of them, a tall, stout fellow, laid down his giin 
and gave Price his hand, but in so doing, held him fast Avhile the 
others tomahawked him to death. At this, his companion bounded 
on his horse and made good his escape, with a Avonnded thigh.* 
But we will not further detail these horrid Indian butcheries. 
The people saw their imminence, and began to make preparations 
for defence. Forts and stockades began to be built, and in July 
of the same year, a comi)any of "rangers," or mounted riflemen^ 
was raised and organized in the Goshen settement of Illinois. 

Congress, in 1811, passed an act for the organization of 10 com- 
panies of mounted rangers, to protect the frontiers of the West. 
These companies constituted the 17th United States regiment, 
and Colonel William Russel, an old Indian tighter of Kentucky, 
was assigned to its command. The companies were generally 
made up of frontier citizens, who had the additional stimulus iu 
their duties of immediately defending their homes, kindred and 
neighbors. Each ranger had to furnish his own horse, provisions 
and equipments all complete, and the recompense from the govern- 
ment was one dollar per day. They appointed their own company 
officers, and were enlisted for one year. Four companies were 
allotted to the defence of Illinois, whose respective captains were, 
Samuel and William B. Whitesides, James B, Moore, and Jacob 
Short. Independent cavalrj^ companies were also organized for 
the protection of the remote settlements in the lower Wabash 
country, of which Willis Hargrave, William McHenry, Nathaniel 
Journey, Captain Craig, at Shawueetown, and William Boon, on 
the Big Muddy, were, respectively, commanders, ready on short 
notice of Indian outrages, to make pursuit of the depredators. 
These ranging comi)anies performed most efficient service iu the 
protection of the settlements in Illinois against the savage foe. 
The rangers and mounted militia, in times of supposed iieril, con- 
stantly scoured the country a considerable distance in advance of 
the frontier settlers ; and yet the savages would often prowl 
through the settlements, commit outrages, and elude successful 
pursuit. 

Great numbers of block-house forts, or stations for the security 
of families, were built, extending from the Illinois river to the 
Kaskaskia, thence to the United Stated salines, near the present 
town of Equality, up the Ohio and Wabash, and nearly to all set- 

•Reynold's Pioneer History. 



250 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tlements in Illinois. Some of tliese forts were situated as follows : 
One on the present site of the towu of Carlyle; oue a small dis- 
tance above tlie present town of Aviston, known as Journey's 
fort J two on the east side of Shoal creek, known as Hill's and 
Jones' forts ; one a few miles southeast of the present tow^n of 
Lebanon, on the west side of Looking-glass prairie, known as 
Chambers' fort; on the Kaskaskia river were Middleton's and 
Going's forts; oue on Doza creek, a few miles from its mouth, 
known as Nat. Hill's; two in the Jourdan settlement, eastern 
part of Franklin county, on the road to the salt works ; one at 
the mouth of the Illinois river, and later, John Campbell, a United 
States officer, erected a small block-house on the west bank of the 
Illinois (Prairie Marcot), 19 miles above its mouth. More preten- 
tious military stations were established on the Mississippi, oppo- 
site the mouth of the Missouri, to guard the river ; and on Silver 
creek, near Troy. But the main military depot was established 
about a mile and a half northwest of the present town of Edwards- 
ville, called Camp Eussell, in honor of the colonel commanding 
the 10 ranging companies. 

The simplest form of block-house forts consisted of a single 
house built of logs, compactly laid up a story and a half or two 
stories high, with the corners closely trimmed, to prevent scaling. 
The walls of the lower story w^ere provided with port-holes ; the door 
was made of thick puncheons, and was strongly barred on the 
inside. The upper story projected over the lower three or four 
feet, with port-holes through the floor of the projecting part, 
which commanded the walls and space below against any Indian 
attempts to force an entrance. They aftbrded entire security 
against the rude arts of savage war, but were only single 
family forts. A stockade fort consisted of four block-houses, 
as described above, or larger, placed one at each corner of a 
square piece of ground, of dimensions am^jle enough to accommo- 
date the number of people seeking shelter therein. The interven- 
ing space was filled u\) with timbers or logs, firmly set on end in 
the ground, and extending upwards 12 or 15 feet. This was the 
stockade into whose sides port-holes were cut, high enough to be 
above the head, and to which platforms were raised, from which 
to fire upon the enemy. There were also port-holes in the project- 
ing- walls of the corner block-houses, which thus commanded the 
whole of the stockade walls on the outside. Within the stockade, 
cabins were built for the families to live in. Wells were dug- for 
water, or, possibly, the site was selected over a spring. There 
were usually two heavy entrance gates in the ' stockade walls, 
securely barred on the inside, and large enough to admit teams. 
In times of extra peril, horses, and sometime.s other valuable do- 
mestic animals, were taken into the stockade over night for safety. 
If the fort was not built out on the prairie, the woods was invaria- 
bly cleared back some distance, so as to afitbrd no place of con- 
cealment to the stealthy enemy. It was often hazardous to first 
open the gates of a morning. Milking parties, upon their errands, 
were not unfrequently attacked by the skulking red foe. At 
times, sentinels were often posted during the night, as in the case 
of regular garrisons. 

The most notable, as also the largest, strongest, and best 
appointed in every resi^ect of the stockade forts, was Fort Russell, 



LLLINOIS TERRITORY. 251 

established by Governor Edwards early in 1812, about 1^ miles 
northwest of the present Edwardsville, then on the extreme north- 
ern frontier. The cannon of Lonis XIV, which had done service 
for man 3' years in the ancient Fort Chartres, were removed thither 
and placed in position, where, if they served no other purpose, 
their thunder tones reverberated over the broad expanse of wilder- 
ness prairie, audupon days of festivity, dress parade, and other 
displays, added eclat to the occasions. This stockade was made the 
main depot for military stores, and became also the general ren- 
dezvous for the militia volunteers, rangers and regulars, as well as 
the great point dhiiyind for the organization of expeditions into 
the country of savages on the Peoria lake. The only United States 
regulars, however, which camped at this fort during the war, was 
a small company, under the command of Captain Ramsey, early 
in the spring of 1812. 

When Governor Edwards, during the perilous times of 1812, with 
Indian hostilities threatening on every hand, assumed command 
of the Illinois forces, it was here that he established his head- 
quarters. Here were gathered about him the beauty and chivahy 
of those days. AYithin the protecting walls of this stockade, 
defended without and withmby brave, stouthearts, were attracted 
and found shelter, much of the talent, fashion and wealth of the 
country ; and here, his Excellency, not devoid of a natural love for 
display and parade, presided with a courtly grace and stately dig- 
nity well betitting his fine personal apj)earance and his many 
accomplishments. 

Early in the year 1811, numerous were the comi)laints of horses 
being stolen, houses i)lundered, and alleged murders committed 
by tlie savages. Governor Clark, gf Missouri, after the murder of 
the four citizens near the mouth of the Gasconade, in August, 1810, 
made a requisition upon Governor Edwards for the authors of 
the crime. The latter also wanted the tribes on the Illi- 

nois to surrender the murderers of the Cox boy and Price, before 
noticed, and to deliver up the property stolen by the Indians for 
two years past. To effect these objects, he commissioned Captain. 
Samuel Levering, an intelligent and discreet officer, who was fit- 
ted out with a boat by Governor Clark, duly provisioned, manned 
and equipped. Levering was accompanied by Captain Herbert 
Henry Swearingen, a Potawattomie named Wish-ha, and eight 
oarsmen, who signed articles to act as boatmen and soldiers, each 
armed with a gun. They started from Cahokia for Peoria, July 
25, 1811. Before leaving the Mississippi, they met Captain 
Whitesides with his rangers from the block-house, near the mouth 
of the Illinois, who informed them of firing on a party of Sacs 
ascending the Illinois, but that this "summons" was disregarded. 
At Prairie Marcot, they found Lt. Campbell and his force of 17 
men. On the 3d of August they arrived at Peoria, and met 
Mr. Forsythe, the government Indian agent, who, by his long res- 
idence among the Indians, was thoroughly versed in their tongue. 
The principal chief of the Potawattomies there was Masseno, 
better known as Gomo. To him Mr. Forsythe had previously 
delivered a letter from Governor Clark, demanding a surrender 
of the Gasconade murderers. Gomo was thought to be not unfa- 
vorable to \\\e surrender, but claimed to not have power to enforce 
his sole will against so many. Here Captain Levering learned, 



252 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

from a Frencliman, uamed Jacques Mettie, the whereabouts of the 
murderers ou Shoal creek, who were Potawattoniies. A Freuch- 
man, named Fouruier, was sent forward to ai)prise Gomo of the 
arrival of Captain Levering with a letter for him from Governor 
EdAvards; but an Indian had preceded him, and reported that 
Levering was accompanied by a force of 50 men, and Gomo was 
unwilling to meet hiui without an armed escort of 14 warriors. 
On the morning of the 5tli, however, the chief raised the Ameri- 
can flag, and in answer to a message, called and received the 
governor's letter from the hands of Levering. He immediately 
sent out his young men to call together in council all his chiefs, 
who were mostly absent on distant journeys. Gomo professed 
his readiness to do justice to the Americans, so far as his power 
extended. Levering gave Gomo tobacco to be sent as a present 
with a message to the chiefs, and retired. The murderers of Price 
were found to be five brothers, Polsawines. 

In the jueantime, Capt. Levering and j\Ir. Fourniermade a visit 
to the Indian tOAvns some 20 miles up the Illinois river. Gomo's 
town was still some 4 miles farther on and back of the river 
bottom, where they arrived late one night. They were hospitably 
entertained in the wigwam of the chief, Avhich was built of bark 
and aftbrded lodging room for 30 or more persons. It Avas 25 by 
50 feet on the inside; sleeping bunks, G by 7, and 5 feet high were 
arranged around tlie lodge, upon wliich the Indians slept or 
lounged, with their heads pointing toward the centre of the room 
and their feet toward the walls. Captain Levering and his 
companions were honored with one next to that of the chief and 
his family. Although it was late when the visitors arrived, a 
dish of new corn was set befoFC them by the chief's squaw, and 
while they were partaking of it, the chief smoked his pipe, as 
also the men, who generally quitted their sleeping places and 
squatted around the lodge fires in the centre, "in all the solemnity 
of profoimd smoking," as a maik of etiquette due to strangers.* 

l]i his frequent informal communications with the Indians, 
Captain Levering learned much of their internal polity and their 
feelings toward the Americans, whom they regartled as their ene- 
mies, notwithstanding their professions of peace and friendship 
for them. Their adroitness in diplomacy is well disclosed in the 
replies of the chiefs to Captain Levering ; their most customary 
evasions to deliver up any of their braves, charged with crime, 
being, that they had departed with such and such chiefs on an 
expedition ; that they had no control o\'er them ; that it was not 
their business, and did not concern them, etc. The ambition of 
the young braves to be able to exclaim, during their orgies, "I am 
a man : who can gainsay it ? I have killed an Osage ! I have killed 
a white !" stimulated them to the commission of outrages ; while 
their frequent immunity from punishment, led them to infer inac- 
tivity, if not fear, on the part of the whites. Gomo was anxious 
the chiefs should attend at the delivery of the governor's address, 
and hear for themselves, so that they could not afterwards charge 
him with fear or treachery, and denounce him as "sugar mouth." 
In a conversation, Gomo spoke of seeing Washington at Phila- 
delphia, in 1793, and his elder brother remembered the time when 
the British put the Indians in the front of battle. 

*N. W. Edwards' Life of his Father. " 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 253 

A number of chiefs and warriors having arrived, in obedience to 
Gonio's summons, they indulged their contempt in a little act of 
ofifeusiveness by displaying the American flag union down. Cap- 
tain Levering, inclining to attribute this to their ignorance, 
attempted to explain its meaning, to which they replied that 
they knew it. But on the mornijig following, the flag was dis- 
played union up. The Indians in council differed as to the policy 
to be adopted regarding the demand of the Americans for the 
surrender of the murderers and the stolen property. The offend- 
ers were greatly scattered, receiving the protection of chiefs hun- 
dreds of miles away. Gomo favored the sending of an Indian 
commission for them, but foresaw that it would be said to him 
that he belonged on the Illinois, and that he better attend to 
his own tribe ; and he disliked the cowardly appearance of hav- 
ing made the attempt and failed. Others opposed the surrender 
of anything but the stolen property. Meanwhile, the British 
inspired the policy of sending Little Chief, who was a "talkative 
fellow," to give the Americans any amount of assurance to 
answer present purposes, with which these, like many previous 
outrages, soon to be covered by passing events, would likewise 
directly blow over. Little Chief, in a preliminary conversation 
with Captain Levering, indicated his displeasure by saying that 
he hoped the letter of the governor would be fully told them 
as it was written, at which insinuation Mr. Forsythe, the 
interpreter, became not a little incensed. 

On the morning of the 16th of August, 1811, Captain Lerering 
being informed that the Indians were ready to proceed to the 
council chamber, promptly repaired thither, accompanied by his 
leading men and the inhabitants of Peoria whom he had invited. 
After a preliminary "talk" on the part of Captain Levering, and 
smoking the pipe, the address of Governor Edwards, dated Kas- 
kaskia, July ULst, was slowly delivered to them and carefully 
interpi-eted. It was addressed "to the chiefs and warriors of 
the tiibes of Potawattomies, residing on the Illinois river and 
its waters, in the territory of Illinois." The governor explained 
to them how faithfully the president had carried out all treaty 
obligations with the Indians, and that it was his great desire to 
have his red and white children live in peace aiul friendship ; that 
the tonudiaM'k and scali)ing-knife had been for a long time buried, 
but that a storm seemed now to be gathering ; that the whites 
were being plundered and murdered, citing a number of acts of 
hostility and giving the names of Indians who had committed 
them ; that the relatives and friends of these victims cried aloud to 
the Great Spirit, their hearts aflame with revenge, and who could 
onlj be repressed from instant war by showing them that these 
acts of barbarity were not a])i)roved by the nations of the authors 
of them, whom he demanded to be surrendered for trial. Allusion 
was also made to the British emissaries among them, who flat- 
tered, deceived and instigated them to the commission of these 
horrible acts ; concluding with a full explanation of the power and 
resources of the American nation. 

After the reading of the address the council dispersed, and on 
the following day Gomo made the subjoined reply, which was 
interpreted and written down on the spot, and is not only very 
interesting to peruse but shows this chief to have been the pos- 



254 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

sessorof a liigh order of iiitellect. After inviting attention to 
his words, and expressing gladness for the opportunity, Gomo 
spoke as follows : 

" You see the color of our skin. The Great Spirit, when he made 
and disposed of man, placed the red-skins in this land, and those who 
wore hats, on the other side of the hig waters. When the Great Spirit 
placed us on this ground, we knew nothing but what was fur- 
nished to us by nature. We made use of our stone axes, stone knives 
and earthen vessels, and clothed ourselves from the skins of the beasts 
of the forest. Yet, we were contented! When the French first made 
large canoes, they crossed the wide waters to this country, and on first 
seeing the red people, they were rejoiced. They told us that we must 
consider ourselves as the children of the French, and they would be 
our father ; the country was a good one, and they would change goods, 
for skins. 

"Formerly, we all lived in one large village. In that village there was 
only one chief, and all things went on well ; but since our intercourse 
with the whites, there are almost as many chiefs as we have young 
men. 

"At the time' of -the taking of Canada, when the British and the 
French were fighting for tlie same country, the Indians were solicited 
to take part in that war— since which time there have been among us a 
number of foolish young men. The whites ought to have staid on the 
other side of the waters, and not have troubled us on this side. If we 
are fools, the whites are the cause of it. From the commencement of 
their wars, they used many persuasions with tlie Indians ; they made 
them presents of merchandise in order to get them to join and assist in 
their battles — since which time there liave always been fools among us, 
and the whites are blameable for it. 

" The British asked the Indians to assist them in their wars with the 
Americans, telling them that if we allowed the Americans to remain 
upon our lands, they would in time take thewholecouutry, and we would 
then have no place to go to. Some of the Indians did join the British, but 
all did not; some of this nation, in particular, did not join them. 
The British persisted in urging upon us that if we did not assist them in 
driving the Americans from our lands, our wives and children would 
be miserable for the remainder of our days. In the course of that war, 
the American general, Clark, came to Kaskaskia, and sent for the 
chiefs on this river to meet him there. We attended, and he desired us 
to remain still and quiet in our own villages, saying that the Americans 
were able of themselves to fight the British. You Americans generally 
speak sensibly and plainly. At the treaty of Greenville, General Wayne 
spoke to us in the same sensible and clear manner. I have listened with 
attention to you both. At the treaty of Greenville, General Wayne told 
us that the tomahawk must be buried, and even throwji into tlie great 
lake; and should any white man murder an Indian, he should be 
delivered up to the Indians; and we on our part, should deliver up 
the red men who murdered a wliite person to the Americans. [Mis- 
take]. 

"A Potawattomie Indian, by the name of Turkey Foot, killed an 
American, for which he was demanded of us ; and although he was a 
great warrior, we killed him ourselves in satislaction for his murders. 
Some of the Kickapoos killed an American. They were demanded, 
were given up, and were tied up with ropes around their necks for 
the murders. This was not wliat tlie chief, who made the demand, 
promised, as they were put to death in another manner. Our custom is 
to tie up a dog that way when we make a sacrifice. Now, listen to me 
well in what 1 have to say to you. 

"Some time ago, one of our young men was drunk at St. Louis, and 
was killed by an American. At another time, some person stole a horse 
near Cahokia. The citizens of the village followed the trail, met an 
innocent Kickapoo, on liis way to Kaskaskia, and killed him. Last 
fall, on the other side, and not far from Fort Wayne, a Wyauaot Indian 
set fire to the prairie ; a settler came out and asked him liow he came 
to set fire. The Indian answered that he was out hunting. The set- 



ILLINOIS TERRITOEY. 255 

tier struck the Indian and continued to beat him till they were parted, 
when another settler shot the Indian. This summer, a C'hippewa Ind- 
ian, at Detroit, was lookinoj at a gun, when it went oflf accidentally and 
shot an American. The Chippewa was demanded, delivered up and 
executed. Is this the way General Wayne exhibits his charity to the 
red-skins? Whenever an instance of this kind happens, it is usual for 
the red-skins to regard it as an accident. You Americans think that all 
the mischiefs that are committed are known to the chiefs, and immedi- 
ately call on them for the surrender of the offenders. We know noth- 
ing of them ; our business is to hunt, in order to feed our women and 
children. It is generally supposed that we red-skins are always in the 
wrong. If we kill a hog, we are called fools or bad men ; the same, or 
worse, is said of us if we kill an horned animal ; yet you do not take 
into consideration that, while the whites are hunting along our rivers, 
killing our deer and bears, we do not speak ill of them. When the 
French came to Niagara, Detroit, Mackinaw and Chicago, they built no 
forts or garrisons, nor did the English, who came after them ; but when 
the Americans came, all Was changed. They build forts, and garrisons 
and blockades wherever they go. From these facts, we infer that they 
intend to make war upon us. Whenever the United States make the 
Indians presents, they afterwards say that we must give them such a 
tract of land ; and after a good many presents, they ask for a larger 
piece. This is the way we have been served. This is the way of extend- 
ing to us charity. Formerly, when the French were here, they made 
us large presents ; so have the English ; but the Americans, in giving 
their presents, have asked a piece of land in return. Such has been the 
treatment of the Americans. 

" If the whites had kept on the other side of the waters, these acci- 
dents would not have happened ; we could not have crossed the wide 
waters to have killed them there ; but they came here and turned the 
Indians into confusion. If an Indian goes into their village, like a dog he 
is hunted and threatened with death. The ideas of the Potawattomies, 
Ottawas and Chippewasare, that we wish to live peaceable with all man- 
kind, and attend to our hunting and other pursuits, that we may be 
able to provide for the wants of our women and children. But there 
remains a lurking dissatisfaction in the breasts and minds of some of 
our young men. This has occasioned the late mischiefs which, at the 
time, were unknown to the chiefs and warriors of the nation, I am sur- 
prised at such threatenings to the chiefs and warriors (old people), who 
are inclined entirely for peace. The desires of the chiefs and warriors 
are to plant corn and pursue the deer. Do you think it possible for us to 
deliver the murderers here to-day ? Think you, my friends, what would 
be the consequence of a war between the Americans and Indians. In 
times passed, when some of us were engaged in it, many women were 
left in a distressful condition. Should war now take place, the distress 
would be, in comparison, much more general. This is all I have to say 
on the part of myself and warriors of my village. I thank you for your 
patient attention to my words."* 

Captain Levering replied to them, giving a resume of the his- 
tory of the white settlers on this continent, and their contact with 
the red men. He denied that the forts at Chicago, Fort Wayne, 
or the one opposite the mouth of the Missouri, were established to 
threaten or make war on the Indians, but that they were built to 
afibrd protection to their friends ; that the Americans, unlike the 
British, had never taught nor employed the red men to join in wars 
and outrages upon the whites; that even in the revolutionary 
struggle they had advised the Indians to lie on their skins at 
home, raise corn and kill deer, but not to engage on either side; 
he showed them their mistake regarding the treaty of Greenville, 
that all murderers, on either side, should be delivered up to the oppo- 
site party ; that the government at Washington would not have 

•See Edwards' Life of Edwards. 



256 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

permitted Wajme to do this, but that all offenders against our 
laws must be tried under the laws by a jury of 12 men, and that 
justice would be meted out to ludians the same as the whites. 

At the conclusion, Little Chief said : "I request you now to take 
the names of the chiefs and warriors, that you may show to your 
father in Kaskaskia, how ready we have been to attend his words." 
Gomo, the day following-, upon the final adjournment of the coun- 
cil, said: "We have listened with patient attention, and I hope 
that the great Master of Light was noticing it. When the Mas- 
ter of Light made man, he endowed those who wear hats with 
every gift, art and knowledge. The red-skins, as you see, live in 
lodges and on the wilds of nature." This sentiment evinced a 
high appreciation of the relative status of the two races. 

Two horses only were delivered up, Little Chief promising to 
return two more to Captain Heald, at Chicago, and Gomo prom- 
ised to try and return all, as soon as they could be found. The 
murderers of the Coles party in ]VIissoiu'i, were revealed to be in a 
village about 20 miles west of the Prophet's town — Tippecanoe; 
that by inviting them to Fort Wayne with others they might there 
be seized in the fall. But it is said that some of tlieni were, in 
point of fact, with them then. So ended Levering's mission. By 
the exposure incmred on the Illinois, this clear headed soldier con- 
tracted disease and died soon after his return to Kaskaskia. 

A mission, in charge of Joseph Trotier, a sagacious French 
Creole of Cahokia, was also sent to the Kickapoos, who inhabited 
the country along Sugar Creek in the northern part of the i)resent 
county of Logan. The usual "talks," or sx)eeches, with many fair 
promises from this rather shrewd but treacherous and implacable 
nation, were had, which were also written down as interpreted. 

But throughout the west Engli.sh emissaries kept up the dastardly 
work of "setting the red men like dogs upon the whites," in the 
energetic language of Tecumseh to Harrison. That great warrior, 
the fit successor of Pontiac, having conceived the plan of bring- 
ing the southern tribes, the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chicasaws, 
into a league with the tribes of the north, to make war against the 
United States till their lands were restored to them, started thither 
on his errand in the spring of 1811. The purposes of this chief- 
tain and his brother, the one-eyed Prophet, being well understood 
by Gov. Harrison, he determined, during the former's absence, to 
strike and disperse the hostile forces collected under the latter at 
Tippecanoe. He started from Vincennes in the fall of 1811 and 
arrived in the vicinity of the Prophet's town on the 6th of Nov., 
with an effective force of something over 700 men. Here he was 
met by embassadors trom the Prophet, and a suspension of hostili- 
ties was arranged until an interview on the following day could be 
had. The governor, desiring a good i)iece of ground to camp 
upon, allowed the treacherous foe to point it out; but the site was 
not selected without examination and apjuoval b}" his officers. 
Upon this spot, before the dawn of the following morning, the 
stealthy foe,witli a sui)erior force, at tempted to re-enact the defeat 
of St. Clair 21 years before. Under cover of darkness he ci-ept 
upon the American cam}), and began a murderous attack with 
savage fury uncommon even to him, and maintained it with great 
obstinacy; but the surprise was not complete, and he was ulti- 
mately repulsed and i>ut to flight, with a loss equaling that of the 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. "257 



Americaus. The loss of the latter was, in killed, 37 ; mortally 
wounded, 25 ; wounded, 126. The loss in officers was particularly 
heavy. Of the Illinoisans who fell here we may mention Isaac 
White, for some years the government agent of the Ohio saluies, 
who, having- received the appointment of captain of a militia com- 
pany from Gov. Edwards, in 1810, joined the expedition of Gov. 
Harrison. His death was much regretted, and the Territorial Leg- 
islature, in 1815, to perpetuate his memory, named the county of 
White iu honor of him. Here, too, fell the gifted and brilliant 
young Major Joe Daviess, whose deeds of valor have also been 
commemorated in Illinois by naming a county after him. The 
intelligence of the battle of Tippecanoe was peculiarly alarming* 
to the settlements of Illinois, so contiguous to these hordes of 
savages, and additional measures were concocted as speedily as 
circumstances permitted, to meet the exigency of the times. 

During the winter of 1811-12, the Indians on the Ui)per Missis- 
sippi were very hostile and committed many murders. In antici- 
pation of an early war with the United States, the British agent at 
Prairie du Chieu, Col. Dixon, it was reported by Indian traders, 
had engaged all the warriors of that region to descend the Missis- 
sippi and exterminate the settlements on both sides of the river;* 
but upon the breaking out of actual hostilities in June of that 
year there was more pressing need for savage recruits in Canada, 
which doubtless saved the effusion of much blood in the denser 
settlements of Illinois; still many murders were committed. The 
Louisiana Gazette, March 21st, 1812, reports 9 murders in the dis- 
trict of St. Charles; 1 at Fort Madison; 2 at the lead mines in 
Illinois, and a party of men who left the Fort in February for the 
mines, not having been heard from, were supposed to have fallen 
into the hands of the savages. Two hundred Winnebagoes from 
Illinois made a plundering raid upon a "factor^' store" of the 
United States, situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, the 
present site of Bellevue. Lieutenants Hamilton and Vasques, with 
a small force of regulars, made a gallant defence and repulsed the 
savages. 

A few marauding parties penetrated far down into Illinois. 
Andrew Moore and his son, on their way home from the Jourdan 
blockhouse, made camp near the middle fork of the Big Muddy, 
not far from the crossing of the old Massac road. Here they were 
attacked by the savages, and after a bloody encounter both 
father and son were killed and their horses stolen. Moore's 
Prairie in the present county of Jefferson, perpetuates then- names. 
At Tom Jourdau's fort, on the road to Equality, three men ven- 
tured out after dark to gather fire^^ood, when they were fired 
on by Indians concealed in the brush, killing Barlbara, wound- 
ing James Jourdan, but missing Walker. A marauding band of 
Winnebagos attacked Lee's settlement at Hardscrabble, about 4 
miles from Fort Dearborn, near the present junction of the canal 
with the Chicago river, and killed a Mr. White and a Canadian iu 
his employ. Two other men escaped. 

At Hill's Fort, later in the same year, a band of warriors ap- 
peared. They removed the mud from between the logs of a 
chimney of one of the blockhouses, inserted a gun, and shot a man 
sitting inside by the fire. A soldier by the name of Lindley, iu 

•Reynolds' Own Times. 

17 



258 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



carrying feed out to his horses, left the stockade gate open, for 
which the skulking foe made an instant rush, but the occupants^ 
quickly slammed the gate shut, leaving the soldier outside with 
the savages. He sheltered himself from their missiles among the 
cattle, which directly stampeding, he managed by feats of great 
dexterity to ride on and under an ox, thus escaping the savages^ 
and saving his life. The Indians were meanwhile engaged in a 
fight at the fort over the pickets, and were repulsed with loss, as 
indicated by the trails of blood, they, as usual, carrying away the 
wounded or dead.* 

In March, 1812, Governor Edwards sent Oapt. Edward Hebert 
with another friendly message to the Indians residing on the Illinois, 
inviting them to a council, and requesting traders of every descrip- 
tion to withdraw till the Indian affairs became more settled, and if 
the latter did not instantly comply they need expect no further 
indulgence. 

On the 16th of April, 1812, His Excellency met in jDrotracted 
council at Cahokia, with the chiefs and Avarriors of the following- 
nations : Of the Pottawatomies — Gomo, Pepper, White Hair,. 
Little Sauk, Great Speaker, Yellow Son, Snake, Maukia, Bull, 
leman, Neckkeenesskeesheck, Ignance, Pottawatomie Prophet, 
Pamousa, Ishkeebee, Toad, Manwess, Pipe Bird, Cut Branch, The 
South Wind, and the Black Bird ; of the Kickapoos — Little Deer^ 
Bine Eyes (representative of Pamawattau), Sun' Fish, Blind of an 
Eye, Otter, Makkak, Yellow Lips, Dog Bird, and Black Seed. Of 
the Ottawas — Mittitasse (representative of the Blackbird), Kees- 
kagon, and Malshwashewii. Of the Chippewas— the White 
Dog.t 

The Governor delivered in person a forcible address to them. 
He spoke of the ardent desire of the general government to main- 
tain peace and harmony with all the Indian nations; defended the 
United States against the charge of rapacity for their lands j 
warned them against the arts and deceptions of the Shawanee 
Prophet and other "bad birds," or evil counselors, whom the 
British had sent among them ; portrayed the power and resources 
of the American nation, which desired not war but peace; insisted 
that the murderers, Avhdm they liad harbored all the time, notwith- 
standing their denial to Levering, must be surrendered ; that he 
understood well their unfriendly disposition and the efforts at com- 
binations attempted to be formed among the tribes; warned them 
that their depredations could not be laid to the Winnebagos, who 
were at open hostility; that he was prepared with energetic meas- 
ures to protect the whites and punish the Indians, &c. 

The leading chiefs of the different tribes represented all deferred 
to Gomo as the one who was to answer the Governor's speech, 
which he did on the following day : He professed that the words 
of the Governor had sunk deep into his heart; that he spoke the 
sentiments of all the chiefs according to their instruction. He 
declared the Great Spirit to be angry with the red men for selling 
their lands, which he had given them to live upon, and denied the 
power of a chief to sell lands ; they wanted to live in peace ; if 
there was a chief among them of influence enough to deliver up a 

•Reynolds' Own Times. 
+Edwards' Life of his Father. 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 259 

murderer Le would like to see liim; if lie attempted to secure the 
murderers without the couseut of all the chiefs he would be killed, 
aud that the Missouri murderers were Kickapoos; he deuiedbeiug 
himself a great chief, aud said he could not control his youug men 
who were so scattered that it would be impossible to bring them 
together; they had no laws amoug them liivc the whites to punish 
offenders; denied listening to evil birds or interfering between the 
British and Americans. They would not joiu the British, for in 
the last war they had left them in the lurch aud would do so again. 
When he wanted a blanket he bought it. The British had invited 
them to aid them, but they had sent them word to fight their own 
battles, that they wanted to live in peace. He complained that 
the Americans did not live up to their promises in supplying their 
wants, and that they had been fired upon by whites in coming 
down to the council. Promised good behavior, which they hoped 
the Good Spirit would help them to perform, and jirofessed great 
humility.* 

The Indians had brought their women and children along to 
show his Excellency, as Gomo naively said, how ragged and needy 
they were. This, together with their fair promises of good be- 
havior and peaceable intentions, had the desired effect. They 
came away loaded with substantial i)resents. An early writer 
says : "The wild men exercised the most diplomacy, and made the 
governor believe the Indians were for peace, and that the whites 
need dread nothing froui them. They promised enough to obtain 
presents, aud went off laughing at the credulity of the whites."t 
Some of them were in August following concerned in the horrible 
massacre at Chicago. 

The savages of the northwest, however, were thoroughly stirred 
up and did not desire peace; in this the reports of travelers, 
traders, and spies all concurred; the red wampum was constantly 
passiug between the different tribes in all parts of the country, 
from the Sioux of the St. Peters to the tribes at the head of the 
Wabash, and a geueral combination was fast riiieuing. The 
British agents at Prairie du Chieu, Fort Maldeu, aud other points, 
in anticipation of a war with the United States, sought to enlist 
the favor of the savages by the distribution of large supplies of 
goods, arms and ammunition to them. The English continued their 
insults to our flag upon the high seas, and their government refus- 
ing to relinquish its offensive course, all hope of a peaceful issue 
was abandoned, and congress, on the 19th of June, 1812, formally 
declared war against Great Britain. In Illinois the threatened 
Indian troubles had already caused a more thorough organization 
of the militia along the frontiers, from the mouth of the Illinois 
down the Mississippi to the Ohio, thence up that stream and the 
Wabash above Yinceuues. Additional forts were also built, one 
towards the mouth of the Little Wabash, one at the mouth of La 
Motte Creek. 



♦Edwards' Life of Edwards. 
tReynolds' Own Times. 



Chapter XXIII. 

THE MASSACEE AT CHICAGO— EARLY HISTOEY OF 

THE PLACE. 



The greatest, as well the most revolting, massacre of "whites 
that ever occurred in Illinois, was perpetrated by the Potawat- 
tomie tribe of Indians, on the site of the present city of Chi- 
cago. 

From early Indian tradition, it has been gathered that the 
mouth of the Chicago river was a favorite resort of the Illinois 
tribes in very remote times. Besides its fishing facilities, it was 
the only deep inlet from the lake on its southwesterly bend. The 
portage between the Chicago and the headwaters of the Illinois, 
ottered but a narrow interruption to canoe travel from the great 
lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico. It is said, that the 
Tauiaroas gave name to the river, derived from Checaqua, the 
title of a long succession of governing chiefs, which, by an easy 
transition, attached to the place. It was said also to mean thun- 
der, tbe voice of Manitou, and ''skunk," an appellation but too 
suggestive during a few years preceding the deepening of the 
canal, by which its current was reversed with the pure waters of 
the lake. But its most commonly accepted definition is "wild 
onion," from that rather odorous vegetable growing abundantly 
on its banks in early times.* 

A small French trading j)ost was established there in the period 
of the French explorations. For the better possession of their 
western empire, the French built forts at various points, from 
Canada, via Peoria, to New Orleans, including one at Chicago. 
On the earliest known inap of this region, dated Quebec, 1688, a 
correct outline of the lake is given, and the river accurately loca- 
ted, with "Fort Chicago" marked at its mouth. Subsequently, the 
Ameiicans found no vestige of tbe early French settlers there. 
By tlie treaty of Greenville, to which the Potawattomies from this 
region, with many otliers, were parties, "one piece of land miles 
square, at the mouth of the Chekajo river, emptying into the 
south-west end of Lake Michigan, ichcre a fort formerly stood, ^^ 
was relinquished. The tide of emigration setting into Lidiana 
ami Michigan after the treaty of Greenville, 1795, concentrated 
the Indians in greater numbers about this point, and largely in- 
creased the Indian trade, for which a number of traders were here 
located ; John Kinzie being one whose descendants are residents 
of Chicago down to the present time. The general government, 
in 1804, built, on tbe south side of the river, Fort Dearborn, 

• Chicago and its great contlagration. 

260 



ILLINOIS TEREITORT. 261 

named after a general of the army, and garrisoned it with 50 men 
and 3 pieces of artillery. The fort consisted of 2 block-houses, 
with a parade ground and sally-port, or subterranean passage to 
the river, the whole surrounded by a stockade. With this pre- 
carious protection, the number of traders increased and a few set- 
tlers gathered around the post. 

For eight years, this isolated garrison and community furnished 
scarcely an incident worthy of record. Friendly intercourse 
between the garrison and neighboring Indians grew apace. The 
attachment of the Indians for the traders was particularly cordial. 
While nearly all the chiefs visited Fort Maiden yearly, and 
received large amounts of presents, and many Potawattomies, 
Winnebagos and Ottawas were in the battle of Tippecanoe with 
the Shawauese, the principal chiefs of the neighborhood were yet 
on amicable terms here with the Americans. Then our trouble 
with Great Britain threatened an open rupture ; but the Indians, 
long before the declaration of hostilities, took the war-path, as we 
have seen. We have already noticed their attack on an outpost 
of this place called Hardscrabble. 

On the 7th of August arrived the order of Governor Hull, 
commander-in-chief of the northwest, by the hand of a trusty 
chief of the Potawattomies, called Winnemeg, or Cat-fish, "to 
evacuate the post if practicable, and in that event, to distribute 
the property belonging to the United States, in the fort and in 
the factory or agency, to the Indians in the neighborhood." The 
dispatches further announced, that the British had taken Mack- 
inaw, and that General Hull, with his army, was proceeding from 
Fort Wayne to Detroit. 

The garrison, at the time, consisted of 75 men, few of whom 
were effective soldiers. The officers were. Captain Heald, the 
commander. Lieutenant Helm and Ensign Ronan (both very young 
men), and Doctor Yoorhees, the surgeon. John Kinzie was the 
principal trader. He and the first two named officers had families 
there. So also some of the soldiers and other traders. Consider- 
able coolness existed between Ensign Eonan, a brave and gallant 
soldier, but overbearing in his disposition, and Captain Heald. 

Winnemeg, the bearer of the dispatches, well api)rised of the 
hostile disposition of the treacherous savages, advised strongly 
against the evacuation, which was discretionary. The fort was 
well supi)lied with ammunition and provisions for six months, and 
in the meantime succor might come. He sought to learn the 
intention of the commander, and further urged, that if it should 
be decided to evacute, then let it be done immediately, and by 
forced marches elude the concentration of the savages before the 
news, of which they were yet ignorant, should circulate among 
them. To this most excellent advice Captain Heald gave no heed; 
he decided not only to evacuate, but deemed it obedience to orders 
to collect the neighboring Indians and make an equitable distribu- 
tion of the property amongthem. Again the sagacious Indian chief, 
strongly seconded by Mr. Kinzie, who had much at stake, sug- 
gested the expediency of prom])tly marching out, leaving all 
things standing, and while the Indians should be engaged in divid- 
ing the spoils, to effect an unmolested retreat. But the com- 
mander, not apprehending the murderous intent of the savages to 
the extent the advisers did, and impressed with the duty of obedi- 



262 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ence to orders, disregared this also, notwitLstaudiug the discretion 
allowed him. On the following morning, without consultation with 
the subordiuate oflQcers — with whom he was estrauged — he pub- 
lished on i:)arade the order for evacuating the post. The officers 
whose counsel had been thus ignored in so important an emergeucy, 
remonstrated against this step, and pointed out the improbability 
of then- party reaching Fort Wayne without molestation ; how 
they would be retarded in their marches by the women and chil- 
dren, and invalid and superannuated soldiers ; how the few friendly 
chiefs, who had from motives of x^rivate regard for the faniilj^ of 
Mr. Klinzie, opposed successfully an attack upon the fort the pre- 
ceding autiunn, were now, when the country was at war with 
Great Britain, powerless to restrain their tribes. They advised 
remaining and fortifying themselves till succor came ; at any rate, 
it was better to fall into the hands of the British, as i^risoners, 
than a sacrifice to the brutal ferocity of the savages. Captain 
Heald, however, dreading censure, stood upon his idea of obedi- 
ence to orders, and expressed confidence in the friendly profess- 
ions of the Indians. With this, the officers, who regarded the 
project as little short of nuidness, held themselves aloof from their 
commander, and dissatisfaction and insubordination spread among 
the soldiers. The Indians, too, became daily more unruly. They 
entered the fort in defiance of the sentinels, and made their way 
without ceremony into the quarters of the officers. On one occa- 
sion, an Indian fii-ed a rifle in the parlor of the commanding offi- 
cer. This was by some construed as a signal to the young braves 
for an attack. The old chiefs were passing to and fro among the 
assembled groups with much agitation, while the squaws were 
rushing hither and hither, as if looking for a fearful scene. Still 
Captain Heald clung to his conviction of having created a feeling 
so amicable among them, as would ensure the safe passage of the 
party to Fort Wayne. In the meantime, a runner had arrived 
with a message from Tecumseh, who had joined the British with 
a large force, conveying the news to the Indians ot the capture of 
Fort Mackinaw in Jidy, the defeat of Major Van Home at Browns- 
town, and the inglorious retreat of General Hull from Canada, 
saying further, that he had no doubt but that Hull would, in a 
short time, be compelled to surrender ; and urged them to arm 
immediately. 

The Indians from the neighboring villages having at length 
collected, a council was held on the 12th of August. Of the offi- 
cers of the garrison, though requested, none attended beside the 
commander; the others, in anticii^ation of intended mischief, 
opened the port-holes of the blockhouses and with loaded cannons 
commanded the council. This action, it was supposed, j)re vented 
a massacre at the time. Capt. Heald promised the Indians to dis- 
tribute among them all the goods in the United States factory, and 
the ammunition and provisions in the fort, desiring an escort of 
the Pottawatomies to Fort WajTie in return, and j)romising them 
a further liberal reward upon arrival there. The Indians, with 
many professions of friendship, assented to all he proposed and 
promised all he required. 

Ko sooner had the commander made these indiscreet i)romises 
than he allowed himself to be persuaded to violate them. Mr. 
Kinzie, well knowing the treachery of the Indian character, repre- 



ILLINOIS TEREITORY. 263 

«euted to him the danger to their party of funiishiiig- the savages 
with arras aud ammunition, and liqnor to fire their brains. This 
argument, true and excellent in itself, was now certainly inoppor- 
tune, and if acted upou could only incense the treacherous foe. 
But Capt. Heald, struck with the impolicy of his conduct aud 
falUng iu with the advice, now resolved to break his indiscreet 
promise. Accordingly, on the 13th, all the goods in the factory 
store were duly distributed ; but in the night time the arms were 
broken, the ammunition secretly thrown in a Avell, and the barrels 
of whisky, of which there was a large quantity, mostly belonging 
to traders, were rolled quietly through the sally-port, their heads 
knocked in and their contents emptied into the river. But the 
lurking redskins witnessed the breaking of the casks, and quickly 
appreheuding how faith had been brokeu with them by the whites, 
were greatly exasperated at the loss of their fond "tire water," 
which they asserted was destroyed in such abundance as to make 
the river taste "groggy." At a second council held on the 14th, 
they expressed their indignation at this conduct, and their murmurs 
and threats were loud and deep. Black Hawk, who lived many 
years after, always maintained that this violation of promises on 
the part of the whites precipitated the massacre on the following 
day. 

While nearly all the Indians in alliance with the British partook 
•of the hostility of their people against the Americans, there were 
still several chiefs and braves who retained a personal regard for 
the inhabitants of this place. Among these was Black Partridge, 
a chief of some renown. He now entered the quarters of Capt. 
Heald and spoke as follows: "Father, I come to deliver up to you 
the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans, and I have 
long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. But our young 
men are resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the 
•whites. I cannot restrain them, and I will not wear a token of 
peace while I am compelled to act as an enemy." 

On the same day, the 14th, the despondency of the garrison was 
for a time dispelled by the arrival of Capt. Wells from Ft. Wayne, 
with 15 friendly Miamis. Capt. Wells was the son of Gen. Wells, 
of Kentucky, and either a brother or uncle to Mrs. Capt. Heald. 
When a child, he Avas taken prisoner by the Miamis and reared 
and adopted in the ftimily of Little Turtle, who commanded the 
Indians in the defeat of St. Clair, in 1790, Wells leading 300 of the 
warriors in the very front of that battle. He subsequently joined 
the army of Gen. Wayne, and by his knowledge of the country, 
proved a powerful auxiliary. Later he rejoined his foster father. 
He was a brave and fearless warrior. Having learned the order 
of evacuation, and knowing well the hostile disposition of the 
Pottawatomies, he made a rapid march through the wilderness to 
save, if possible, his sister aud the garrison at Chicago, from their 
impending doom. But he came too late. The ammunition was 
destroyed and the savages were rioting on the provisions. Pre- 
parations were therefore made to march on the morrow. The 
reserved ammunition, 25 rounds to the man, was now distributed. 
The baggage wagons for the sick, the women and the children, con- 
taining also a box of cartridges, were got ready, and amid the 
pervading gloom, a fatiguing march through the wilderness in 
prospect, and the fears of disaster on the route, the whole party 



264 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. . 

except the Mtliful sentinels retired for a little repose. The morn- 
ing of the fatal 15th of August, 1812, arrived. The sun slione 
with its wonted splendor, and Lake Michigan "was a sheet of burn- 
ished gold." Early in the morning Mr. Kiuzie received a message 
from Topeueebe, a friendly chief of the St. Joseph band of Potta- 
■watomies, warning him that his people, notwithstanding their 
promise of safe conduct, designed mischief. Mr. Kinzie with his^ 
eldest son, who had agreed to accompany the garrison, was urged 
to go with his family, for which a boat had been fitted out tO' 
coast around the southerly end of the lake to the St. Joseph. 

At 9 a. m. the party quitted the fort amidst martial mnsic and in 
military array. Capt. Wells, at the head of his band of Miamis, 
led the van, his face blackened after the manner of the Indians. 
The troops with loaded arms came next, followed by the wagons 
containing the women and children, the sick and the lame and the 
baggage. A little distance in the rear followed the escort of about 
500 Pottawatomies. The party took the beach road south ward with 
the lake upon their left. On reaching the range of sand hills sepa- 
rating the beach from the prairie, the Indians defiled to the right,, 
bringing these shore elevations between them and the whites down, 
on the beach. They had marched about a mile and half from the 
fort, when Capt. Wells rode furiously back, shouting: "They are 
about to attack us; form instantly and charge upon them." The 
words were scarcely uttered when the savages poured a volley of 
musketry from behind the hills upon the party. The troops were 
hastily formed into line and they charged up the bank. One 
veteran of 70 years fell as they ascended. The action became 
general. The Miamis tied at the outset; their chief rode up to the 
Pottawatomies, charged them with treachery, and bran ishing his 
tomahawk, declared "he would be the first to head a party to 
return and j)unish them." He then turned his horse and galloped 
after his cowardly companions. The troops behaved gallantly, 
but were overwhelmed by numbers. The savages flanked them, 
and "in about 15 minutes got possession of the horses, provisions,, 
and baggage of every description."* Next the murderous work 
upon the helpless women and children was commenced. 

Mrs. Helm, wife of Lieutenant Helm, was in the action, and 
furnished Mr. Kinzie, her step-father, many thrilling incidents.f 
Br. Voorhees, who had been wounded at the first fire, was, while 
in a paroxysm of fear, cut down by her side. Ensign Eonan, a 
little way olf, though mortally wounded, was struggling with a 
powerful savage, but sank under his tomahawk. A young brave 
with uplifted tomahawk sought to cleave her skull ; she sprang 
aside and the blow grazed her shoulder; she seized him around 
the neck and while grappling for his scalping knife, was forcibly 
boine away by another and plunged into the lake and held down in 
the Avater. She soon found, however, that her captor did not design 
to drown her, and now for the first time recognized, through his 
disguise of paint and feathers, the friendly chief, Black Partridge.. 
When the firing had somewhat subsided her x>reserver bore her 
safely to the shore. A soldier's wife, under the conviction that 
prisoners taken by Indians were subjected to tortures worse than 
death, though assured of immunity, fought a party of savages, 
■who attempted to take her, with such desperation that she was 

*Heald's Report. tSee J. H. Kiuzic's Narative. 



ILLINOIS TEREITOKY. 265 

literally cut to pieces and her mangled remains left on the field. 
<'Mrs. Heald, too, fought as a perfect heroine and received several 
wounds. After she was in the boat, a savage assailed her with 
his tomahawk, when her life was saved by the iuterjjosition of a 
friendly chief." 

The troops having fought gallantl,y till over half of their number 
were slain, the remainder, but 27 out of 06, surrendered. And 
now the most heart-rending and sickening butchery of this 
calamitous day was committed by a young brutal savage, who 
assailed one of the baggage wagons containing 12 children, every 
one of whom fell beneath his murderous tomahawk. When Capt. 
Wells, who with the others had become a prisoner, beheld this 
scene at a distance, he exclaimed in a tone loud enough to be heard 
by the savages around him: "If this be your game, I can kill too !" 
and turning his horse, started in full gallop for the Pottawatomie 
camp, located about what is now State street, near the crossing of 
Lake, where the squaws and pappooses had been left. The Indians 
pursued, and he avoided the deadly aim of their rifles for a time by 
laying iiat on his horse's neck, but the animal was directly killed and 
he wounded. He again became a prisoner ; Winnemeg and Waban- 
see, both friends of the whites, interceded to save him, but 
Peesotum, a Pottawatomie, while he was being supported along, 
gave him his death blow by a stab in the back. Thus fell Wm. 
WajTie Wells, a white man of excellent parentage and descent, 
reared among the Indians, and of as brave and generous a luiture 
as man ever possessed, a sacrifice to his own rash impulse inspired 
by a deed of most savage ferocity. His remains were terribly 
mutilated : the heart was cut in pieces and distributed among the 
tribes, as was their wont, for a token of bravery. Billy Caldwell, 
a half-breed W^vandot, long well-known in Chicago afterward, 
arriving next day, gathered up the several j)ortions of the body 
and buried them in the sand. Wells street, in the present city of 
Chicago, perpetuates the memory of his name. 

The following is copied from the official report of Captain 
Heald: 

"We proceeded about a mile and a half, when it was discovered the 
ludians were jirepared to attack us from behind the bank. I immediately 
marched the company up to the top of the bank, when the action com- 
menced ; after firing one round, recharged, and the ludians gave way in 
front and joined those on our flanks. In about 15 minutes they got pos- 
session of all our horses, provisions and baggage of every description, and 
finding the Miamis did not assist us, I drew off the few men I had left, 
and took possession of a small elevation in the open prairie out of shot 
of the bank or anj^ other cover. The Indians did not follow me, but 
assembled in a body on the top of the bank, and, after some consultation 
among themselves, made signs for me to approach them. I advanced 
towards them alone, and was met by one of the Pottawatomie chiefs, 
called tiie Blackbird, with an interpreter. After shaking hands, he re- 
quested me to surrender, promising to spare the lives of all the prisoners. 
On a few moments consideration I concluded it would be the most pru- 
dent to comply with his request, although I did not putcntire confidence 
in his promisee. After delivering up our arms, we were taken back to 
their encampment near the fort and distributed among the different 
tribes. The next morning they set fii'e to the fort, and left the place, 
taking the prisoners with them. Their number of warriors was between 
400 and 500, mostly of the Pottawatomie nation, and their loss, from the 
best information I could get, was about 15. Our strength was 54 regulars 
and 12 militia, out of which 26 regulars, and all the militia, were killed 
in the action, with two women and 12 children. Ensign George Ronau 



266 . HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and Dr. Isaac V. Van Voorhees, of my company, with Captain Wells, 
of Fort Wayne, are to my great sorrow, numbered among the dead. 
Lieut. L. T.'Helm, with 25 nou-coinmissioned officers and privates, and 11 
women and children, were prisoners, when we sejparated. Mrs. Heald 
and myself were taken to the mouth of the river St. Joseph, and being 
both badly wounded, were permitted to reside with Mr. Burnet, an In- 
dian trader. In a few days after our arrival there, the Indians all went 
off to take Fort Wayne, and in their absence I engaged a Frenchman to 
take us to Mackinaw, by water, where I gave myself up as a prisoner 
of war, with one of my sergeants. 

In the surrender, Caj)tain Heald bad stipulated for tlie safety of 
the remnant of liis force and the" remaining women and children. 
The wounded prisoners, in tlie harry of the moment, were unfor- 
tunately omitted, or rather, not particularly mentioned. These 
helpless sufferers, on reaching the Pottawattomie camp,were there- 
fore regarded as proper subjects upon whom to wreak their savage 
and cowardly brutality. A distinguishing trait of ' civilized 
humanity is, protection for the helpless ; with the savage, these 
become the objects of vengeance. Mrs. Helm writes : ''Ati old 
.squaw, infuriated by the loss of friends or excited by the sangui- 
nary scenes around her, seemed possessed of demoniac fury. She 
seized a stable fork and assaulted one miserable victim, who lay 
groaning and writhing in the agony of his wounds, aggravated by 
the scorching beams of the sun. With a delicacy of feeling 
scarcely to have been exjiected under such circumstances. Wan- 
bee -nee-wau stretched a mat across two poles between me and this 
dreadful scene. I was thus spared, in some degree, a view of its 
horrors, although I could not entirely close my ears to the cries of 
the sufferer. The following night five more of the wounded pris- 
oners were tomahawked."* 

When the Indians about the fort first learned of the intended 
evacuation, they dispatched ninners to all the villages of the 
nation, apprising them of the news and their purpose to overpower 
the garrison. Eager to share in the act of bloodshed and plun- 
der, many warriors hastened forward, only to be too late. 

A baud of Potawattomies, from the Wabash, were met at the Aux 
Plains by a party from Chicago, bearing home a wounded chief. 
Being informed that the battle had been fought and won, the 
prisoners slain and scalped, and the spoils divided, their disap- 
liointment and rage knew no bounds. They accelerated their 
march, and reaching Chicago, determined to glut their taste for 
blood on new victims. They blackened their faces, and without 
ceremony entered the parlor of Mr. Kinzie and sullenly squatted 
upon the floor amidst the assembled family, who had been 
kindly restored to their home on the north side of the river 
by Black Patridge, Wabansee and others, and who now guarded 
them. Black Patridge, interpreting their looks and intent cor- 
rectly, observed to Wabansee in an undertone, that their white 
friends were lost. But at this moment the whoop of another band 
of Indians was heard on the opposite shore. Black Patridge hast- 
ily advanced and met their chief in the darkness, on the river's 
bank. "Who," said he, "are youf "A man," answered the 
chief, "who are you f "A man, like yourself," replied Black 
Patridge ; "but tell me, who are you for f "I am," said the 

*Brown, Hist. Ills., page 316, note 5, says: "Mrs. Heald and Mrs. Helm having 
eclipsed the most visionary taste of romance, with which modern literature abounds, 
lived tor many years thereafter, highly respected." 



rLLINOIS TERRITORY. 267 

chief, " the Sau-ga-iiash" (that is, the Englishman). "Then make 
all speed to the house," was the reply; "your friends are in dan- 
ger, and you alone can save them." 

It was Billy Caldwell, the half-breed Wyandot, to whom we 
have referred as burying the remains of Captain Wells. He hur- 
ried forward, entered the house with a resolute stej), deliberately 
removed his accoutrements, placed his rifle behind the door and 
saluted the Potawattomies : "How now, my friends, a good day to 
you. I was told there were enemies here ; but I am glad to find 
only friends. Wby have you blacked your faces ? Are you mourn- 
ing for friends lost in the battle? (adroitly mistaking the token 
of their evil intent), or, are you fasting I If so, ask our friend 
and he will give you food. He is the Indian's friend, and never 
refused them in their need." 

Diverted by the coolness of his manner, they were ashamed to 
avow their murderous purpose, and simply asked for some cotton 
goods to wrap their dead, preparatory to burial. This, with other 
presents, was given them, and they quietly departed. Thus, by 
his presence of mind, Caldwell averted the murder of the Kinzie 
family. 

The prisoners, with their wives and children, were dispersed 
air^ong the Potawattomie tribes on the Illinois, Eock river, the 
Wabash, and some to Milwaukee. The most of them were ran- 
somed at Detroit the folio wing spring. A part of them remained 
in capti^dty, however, another year, but were more kindly treated 
than they expected. Lieutenant Hebn was taken to the AuSable, 
thence to St. Louis, where he was liberated through the interven- 
tion of Thomas Forsythe, long the government Indian agent at 
Peoria.* 

•Brown's Hist. Ills. 



Chapter XXIY. 

ILLINOIS IN THE WAR OF 1812.— GOVERNOR EDWARDS' 
MILITARY CAMPAIGN TO PEORIA LAKE. 

Gen. Sopkins with 2000 Mounted Kentucky Riflemen Marches over the 
Prairies of Illinois — His Force Mutinies and Marches hack — Gapt. 
Graig Burns Peoria and takes all its Inhabitants Frisoners — /Sec- 
ond Expedition to Feorla Lake — Indian Murders — Illinois and 
Missouri send two Expeditions tvp the Mississippi in 1814 — Their 
Battles and Disasters. 



After his ignomiiiions retreat from Canada, Gen. Hull, in aniipst 
unaccountable manner, on tlie lOtli of August, the day after the 
Chicago massacre, at Detroit surrendered his army, all the mili- 
tary stores, and the whole of Michigan, without a struggle, while 
his men, it is said, wept at the disgrace. Thus by the middle of 
August the British and their red allies were in possession of the 
whole northwest, with the exception of Forts Wayne and Harrison. 
This activity and success of tlie enemy aroused the people of this 
region to a realization of their imminence. To the impulse of self- 
preservation was added the patriotic desire to wipe out the dis- 
grace with which our arms were stained, stay the tide of savage 
desolation which menaced the frontiers, and retrieve our losses. 

The savages grew bolder and penetrated deeper into the settle- 
ments. Early in September a large force from tlie Prophet's town 
made a night attack on Fort Harrison, located a few miles above 
the present city of Terre Haute, in command of Capt. Zachary 
Taylor, afterwards president. They ingeniously fired one of the 
blockhouses, killed during the engagement three men and wounded 
several more. By the coolness of the commander and the energy of 
the garrison, though greatly reduced by sickness, the buildings were 
mostly saved, and the Indians at daylight repulsed. They, how- 
ever, shot, killed, or drove away, nearly all the hogs, cattle and 
work oxen belonging to the fort. 

Gov. Harrison superseded Gen. Hull, and was also appointed 
major-general by brevet in the Kentucky militia. This young 
State, in the course of a few weeks, by the aid of Richard M. John- 
son and others, had raised a force of 7,000 men, a portion of which 
was directed to the aid of Indiana and Illinois, Vincennes being 
designated as the rendezvous* The British had descended the 
Mississippi to Rock Island, and were distributing loads of goods 
as presents to the Indians, through one Girty. 

In the meantime Governor Edwards was active in making pre- 
parations for an expedition against the Kickapoos and Potawat- 

*Lanman Bio. Sketches. 

208 



rLLINOIS TERRITORY. 269 



tomies on the Illinois river. His excellency, "before congress had 
adopted any measures on the subject of volunteer rangers, organ- 
ized companies, snpplied them with arms, built stockade forts, 
and established a line of posts from the month of the Missouri to 
the Wabash," His commission had at this time expired.and his 
appointment had not been renewed, rendering- him legally' liable 
for the expenses of the exi)edition, a responsibility which, relying 
upon the justice of hisconntry, he did not hesitate to assume. Col. 
William Russell, of the 17th regiment, on the 11th of October, 
started from the neighborhood of Vincennes with two small com- 
l^anies of U. S. Rajigers, commanded by Captains Perry and 
Modrell to join the expedition of Governor Edwards. The place 
of rendezvous for these forces was CampEussell, already described. 

General Sanuiel Hopkins, a veteran officer of the Revolution, 
had been invested with the command of the Kentucky mounted 
volunteers, some 2,000 in number, at Vincennes. His instructions 
were to break up tlie villages and disperse the Indians residing on 
the Wabash and Illinois rivers. 

The plan was now suggested that the expedition of Edwards, 
then in preparation, act in concert with that of Hopkins ; that 
the latter, consisting of mounted Kentucky riflemen, should 
move up the Wabash to Fort Harrison, destroy the villages in its 
course, pass over into Illinois, march across the prairies via the 
head waters of the Sangamon and Vermilion rivers to the Illinois, 
effect a junction with the Illinois forces under Edwards and Rus- 
sell, and sweep all the villages along the Illinois river. The plan 
thus arranged was sent by the hand of Col. Russell and readily ac- 
ceded to by the Governor, but it was destined to meet with failure 
and disgrace on the part of the Kentuckians. In that ill-compacted 
and undisciplined crowd of horsemen thei'e had already been dis- 
content and murmurs against proceeding further, at Vincennes 
and Eosseron. At Fort Harrison a number of the men and one 
officer "• broke off and returned." About the middle of October, 
however, the Wabash was crossed at tliis point, and great harmony 
prevailing the expedition bore promise of success. At the request 
of Gen. Hopkins, a council t)f the officers was now held, and the 
object and destination of the expedition considered, which were 
highly favored. In his letter to Gov. Shelby, of Kentucky, dated 
October 20, 1812, Gen. Hopkins writes: 

" Thinking myself secure in the confidence of my brother officers and 
the army, we proceeded on our march early on tlie 15th, and continued 
it four days — our course hiy north on the praiiie — until we came to an 
Indian liouse wliere some corn, &c., had been cultivated. The last day 
of the marcli to tins place I had been made acquainted with a return of 
that spirit of [discontent] that had,iis I had hoped, subsided; and when 
I ordered a halt near sunset (lor the first time that day), in a fine piece 
of grass in the prairie, to aid our horses, 1 was addressed in the most 
rude and dictatorial manner, recjuiriug me immediately to resume my 
march, or his battalion would break from the army and return. This 
was a Major * * * I mention him in justice to the other officers of that 
grade; but, from every int<)rniation,I began to fear that the army waited 
but for a pretext to return. This was afforded the next day by our guides, 
who thought they had discovei'ed an Indian village at the site of a 
grove, about ten miles from where we had encamped on the fourth night 
of our march, and turned us six or eight miles out of our way. An almost 



270 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

universal discontent seemed to prevail, and we took our course in such a 
direction as we supposed would atone for the error in the morning. About 
or after sunset, we came to a thin grove affording water. Here we took 
our camp ; and about this time arose one of the most violent gusts I ever 
remember to have seen, not proceeding from clouds. The Indians had 
set tire to the prairie, which drove on us so furiously that we were com- 
pelled to fire around our camp to protect ourselves. This seems to have 
decided the army to return. I was informed of it in so many ways, that, 
early the next morning, Oct. 20th, I requested the attendance of the 
general and field officers and stated to them my apprehensions— the ex- 
pectations of our country— the disgrace attending the measure— the ap- 
probation of our own consciences. Against this I stated the weary 
situation of our horses and the want of provisions — which to me seemed 
only partial— six days only having passed since every part of the army 
was furnished with ten days' rations in bacon, beef, or breadstuff. The 
reasons given for returning, I requested the commandants of each regi- 
ment, with the whole of the officers belonging to it, to take fully the 
sense of the army on this measure* * * and to report to me in writing- 
adding that if 560 volunteers would turu out, I would put myself at their 
head, and proceed in quest of the towns ; and the balance of the army 
might retreat, under the conduct of the officers, in safety, to Fort Har- 
rison. In less than an hour the report was made, almost unanimously, 
to return. I then requested that I might dictate the course to be pur- 
sued that day only, which, I pledged, should not put them more than six 
miles out of their way— my object being to cover the reconnoitering 
parties I wished to send out for the discovery of the Indian towns. About 
this time— the troops being paraded — I put myself in front, took my 
course, and directed them to follow me. The columns moving off quite 
a contrary way, I sent Captain [Zachary] Taylor and Major Lee to apply 
to the officers to turn them. They were told that it was not in their 
power— the army had taken their own course, and would pursue it. Dis- 
covering great confusion and disorder in their march, I threw myself in 
the rear, fearing an attack on those who were there from necessity, and 
continued in that position the whole day. The exhausted state of the 
horses, nor the hunger of the men, retarded that day's march. * * * The 
generals — Ray, Ramsey and Allen — lent all their aid and authority in 
restoring our march to order ; and so far succeeded as to bring on the 
whole with much less loss than I had feared." They were not followed 
or menaced by an enemy. They had " marched at least 80 or 90 miles 
into the heart of the enemy's country." A Major Dubois commanded 
the corps of spies and guides. Messrs. Barron, Lasselle and Laplante 
were the interpreters. Gen. Hopkins was certain they "were not 20 
miles from the Indian village when [they] were forced to retire." The 
exact point at which they commenced their retrograde march is not 
known. 

Governor Edwards bad collected and was organizing- all the 
disposable forces of Illinois, amouutiug to about 350 men, at Camp 
Enssell, by the time Captain Eussell arrived from Vincenues with 
a part of two companies, consisting of 50 privates. The volun- 
teers were divided into two small regiments, commanded by- 
Colonels Elias Eector and Benjamin Stephenson, respectively. 
Col. Russell commanded the U. S. Bangers. Col. Desha of the U. 
S. army, Major John Moredock and others, were the field ofticers. 
The companies were commanded respectively by Captains Samuel 
and William B. Whitesides, James B. Moore, Jacob Short, Willis 
Hargrave from the Ohio Salina, McHenry afterwards of White 
County, Janney, and Lieut. Roaksou with a small independent 
company. Captain Samuel Judy had also organized an inde- 
pendent corps of spies, consisting of 21 men. The staff of 
Governor Edwards, who was in chief command, were Secretary 
Nathaniel Pope, Nelson Rector, and Lieut. Robert K. McLaughlin, 
of the U. S. Army. Col. Russell, an unpretending but very 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 271 

efficient officer, was next in command to his Excellency, but lie 
neither had nor wanted aids. Baggage wagons for the army were 
not provided in this short campaign. The men were ordered to 
pack each on his horse 20 days' rations. The horses were to 
sustain themselves on prairie grass. Some of the officers emploj^ed 
extra pack-horses. 

Captain Craig, of Shawneetown, was detached with a sufficient 
force to man two boats, one laden with provisions and the neces- 
sary tools to build a fort, and the other armed with blunderbusses 
and a swivel, both so fortified that the enemy's bullets could not 
penetrate their sides. He was dispatched in advance up tlie Illinois 
river, with orders to wait at Peoria until further word from the 
army. He was also to make offensive war upon the French 
iu habitants of Peoria, who were suspected of inciting the savages 
to their murderous raids, and he possessed besides large discre- 
tionary powers. On the IStli of October, the defences of the 
frontiers having been duly provided for, this crude army of about 
400 mounted men, took up its line of march from Camp Russell. 
The privates, it seems, looked upon the expedition as affording 
them rare sport, not caring whether they were " marched into 
danger or frolic." The route pm^sued was upon the west side of 
Cahokia creek, thence to the Macoupin, which was crossed near 
the present site of Carliuville; thence northeasterly, crossing the 
Sangamon below the junction of the north and south forks, east 
of the present capital of the State; passing thence east of Elkhart 
grove, crossing Salt creek not far from the present city of Lincoln, 
and thence in a northward direction striking an old deserted 
Kickapoo village on Sugar creek. These tenantless bark wigwams, 
which were painted up here and there with rude savage devices, 
mostly representing the red-skins scalping whites, provoked the war- 
like indignation of the army. The town was assaulted, set on fire and 
reduced to ashes ! After this, fearing that their nightly camp-fires 
would reveal their approach to the Indians, the marches were mostly 
continued after dark till midnight. The course was now directed 
towards the upper end of Lake Peoria, where was located the 
Black Partridge village of the Potawattomies, on the eastern bluff 
of the river. A small party in charge of Lieut. Peyton was dis- 
patched to Peoria on a direct west course, which, however, made 
no discoveries, and Capt. Craig had not yet arrived thither. The 
army moved rapidly but cautiously forward, and late in the night 
preceding the attack encamped within a few miles of the 
village. It was now desirable to reconnoitre the position of the 
enemy, or rather the Indian town. Four men, namely Thomas 
Carlin (subsequently governor), and three of the Whitesides — 
Robert, Stephen and Davis — volunteered for this perilous service, 
and were entrusted by the governor with its delicate execution. 
They proceeded to the village, explored it and the approaches to 
it, thoroughl}^, without starting an Indian or provoking the bark 
of a dog. The position of the town was ascertained to be about 
5 miles distant, situated on a bluff separated in great part from 
the high lands by a swampy glade, through Avhich meandered a 
miry branch or creek, whose low banks were covered by a rank 
growth of tall grass and clumps of brush, so high and dense as to 
readily conceal an Indian on horseback until within a few feet of 



272 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS 



liim. The ground had become additionally yielding by recent 
rains, rendering it almost impassable to mounted men. 

In the tireless and cheerless camp all was silent as the grave. 
A deep gloom, with many misgivings, had settled upon the men. 
The fatiguing marches had ceased to be frolicsome. The troops 
felt jaded and sulky, and they were within the enemy's country. 
They reposed upon their arms, with their horses tethered near at 
hand, ready saddled to be instantly mounted for action. During 
the night a gun in the hands of a trooper was carelessly discharged, 
which caused great consternation in the camp. The stealthy foe, 
with gleaming tomahawk raised over his victim, was momentarily 
expected. All the horrors of the night attack at Tippecanoe, then 
fresh in the minds of every one, presented themselves to the active 
imaginations of the men. Ever}^ white coated soldier at that 
battle, it was said, had been singled out in the dusky morning and 
killed by the savages. In a moment now not a white coat 
remained in sight. But directly the assuring voice of his Excel- 
lency cried out that the iiring was an accident, and all became 
quiet again. 

Early on the following morning, with a dense fog prevailing, the 
army took up its lijie of march for the Indian town. Captain 
Judy with his corps of spies in advance. On the route in the tall grass 
they came up with an Indian and his scpiaw, botli nu)unted. Tlie 
Indian wanted to surrender, but Capt. Judy observed that he "did 
not leave home to take prisoners," and instantly shot one of them. 
With the blood streaming from his mouth and nose, and in his 
agony "singing the death song," prompted by the instinctive 
emotion of self-defence which even a trodden worm will exercise, 
the dying Indian raised his gun, shot and mortally wounded in 
the groin a Mr. Wright, and in a few^ minutes expired. Wright 
was from the Wood river settlement, and died after he ^\as 
brought home. The rest of those who had incautiously approached 
the wounded Indian, when they saw him seize his gun, quickly 
dismounted on the far sides of their horses, making of them, as 
it were, a breast- work. Many guns were immediately discharged 
at the other Indian, not then knowai to be a squaw, all of which, 
in the trepidation of the occasion, missed her. Badly scared, and 
her husband killed by her side, the agonizing Avails of the squaw 
were heart-rending. Slie was taken prisoner, and subsequently 
restored to her nation. 

Owing to the fog, the army was misled into the si>ongy bottom, 
some three-fourths of a mile below the town, with a miry creek 
to cross, which deranged the plan of attack. The village thus 
escaped a surprise ; and whde a halt was made, preparatory to 
crossing, the Indians were observed running IVom tlie town, 
bounding tkrough the tall grass on their horses, almost hid from 
view. An attack was every moment expected while crossing the 
treacherous stream, and the advanced corps, under Judy, sat 
lightly in theii' saddles, expecting to draw the tire of the hidden 
foe. To their great satisfaction, no attack was made or meant; 
the Indians were fleeing from theii" village and impending death, 
pell-mell, women and children, some on horse-back and some on 
foot, into the swamp among the tall grass, and toward a point of 
timber, in which the governor, disappointed in his charge ui)on 
the town, judged they intended to make a stand for battle. " I 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 273 

immediately changed my course," he writes, "ordered and led on a 
general charge upon them," but "owing to the unsoundness of the 
ground," the pursuers, horses, riders, arms and baggage, from 
his Excellency, so valiantly leading the charge, to the shouting 
subaltern and private, all shared in the common catastrophe alike, 
and were unborsed and overwhelmed in the morass. It was called 
a democratic overthrow, in which all were literally "swami)ed." 

Upon this yielding ground, into which a horse would sink and 
plunge without avail, a mounted force could not be moved. A 
pursuit on foot was ordered, which was both difficult and extremely 
dangerous on account of the tall grass in which the Indians were 
lurking. Several parties on foot trailed in pursuit of the Indians, 
however, two or three miles across the saturated bottom to the 
river, killing some of the enemy while attempting to cross to the 
farther shore. To such a pitch of excitement were some of the 
men wrought, that Charles Kitchen, John Howard and Pierre St. 
Jean, finding some Indian canoes, in the fury of the chase, crossed 
the river alone in fuU view of the retreating foe, but without moles- 
taion. 

A Potawattomie town, called by the governor, Chequeneboc, 
after a chief, was here burned. The Indians fled toward the inte- 
rior wilderness. Another party made pursuit of the fugitives in a 
different direction; but the Indians making a stand in considerable 
force, these were compelled to retreat. Eeinforcements were sent, 
when the savages entkely dispersed. Some of the troops were 
wounded in this action it is reported, but none killed. In the 
meantime, the village was pillaged and burned by the main body 
of the troops. The Indians, in their precipitous flight, had left 
behind all of their winter's store of provisions, which were de- 
stroyed or taken away. Hiding about the burning embers of the 
ruins, were found some Indian children, left by the frightened 
fugitives ; also, some disabled adults, one of whom was in a starv- 
ing condition, and partook of the bread given him with a vora- 
cious appetite. He is said to have been killed by a cowardly 
trooper straggling behind, after the main army had resumed its 
retrograde march, who wanted to be able to assert or boast that 
he had killed an Indian. Governor Edwards reports that four 
prisoners were taken away, and some eighty head of horses ; of 
the Indian losses, gathered from their own account, between 24 
and 30 were killed ; our loss being one wounded. The Indian 
losses, based entirely upon their own reports, made by the few 
prisoners taken, to please the vanity of the whites, were, doubt- 
less, apocryi^hal. To show the reckless daring of the Indian 
character, it is mentioned that a warrior walked calmly down the 
blufl' some 200 yards distant, deliberately raised his gun and fired 
upon the troops in the town, then turned and strode slowly away 
amid a shower of bullets. 

Nothing having been heard from General Hopkins and his 2000 
mounted Kentucky riflemen, and apprehensive that a large force 
of warriors would be speedil}' collected, it was deemed jirudent 
not to protract their stay, and accordingly the retrograde march 
of the army was commenced that very day. A heavy and con- 
tinuous rain prevailed at the time, but the dread of pursuit caused 
them not to intermit their travels till darkness overtook them, 
when, greatly exhausted and wet, without fire to dry their clothes, 
18 



274 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

or food to nourish their bodies, they sank into sleep on the wet 
ground, their clothing covered with the mud of the morass. The 
dread warrior did not appear. " Our army returned home 
with all convenient speed," writes Governor Reynolds, who in the 
campaign earned the soubriquet of " Old Eanger," and to whose 
account we are largely indebted for this. 

On the morrow, a detachment in charge of Lieutenant Peyton^ 
was again sent over to Peoria with a message to Captain Craig 
in charge of the provision boats, to return as speedily as possible. 
This party on their way burnt a Miami village within a half-mile 
of Peoria. 

The force of Captain Craig, in charge of the provision boats 
for the armies of Hopkins and Edwards, and under instruction 
from his Excellency to proceed to Peoria "and take prisoners those 
persons who were there for the piu-pose of assisting the savages to 
murder the frontier settlers," was not idle. His armed boat, by 
force of a gale ha^mig broken its cable and drifted ashore, was 
in the night time fired upon by ten Indians, who immediately lied. 
Discovering at daylight their tracks leading up into the town, 
Captain Craig inquired of the French their whereabouts. These 
denying all knowledge of them, said "they had heard or seen noth- 
ing," but he took the whole of them prisoners, burned and de- 
stroyed Peoria, and bore the captured inhabitants away on 
his boats to a point below the present Alton, where he landed 
and left them in the woods — men women and children — in the in- 
clement month of November, without shelter, and without food 
other than the slender stores they had themselves hu.rriedly gath- 
ered up before their departure. They found their way to St. Louis 
it is said, in almost a starving condition. They numbered perhaps 
75, the names of the heads of families given exceeding a dozen.* 
Thomas Forsythe, the government Indian agent stationed at 
Peoria, was included among the number. This was owing to his 
true relation to the government not being disclosed to the Indians 
or others, that he might have more infl^uence with them in releas- 
ing or ransoming the prisoners captured in the recent Chicago 
massacre. From his long residence among the Indians, he was 
very poj)ular with them. The burning .of Peoria and taking pris- 
oners its inhabitants, upon the mere suspicion that they symj)a- 
thized with the Indians, was generally regarded as a needless, if 
not wanton, act of military power.t 

After an absence of 13 days the gallant army of Governor 
Edwards returned to Camp Russell without loss. It was received 
with the honors of war, amidst the booming of the old but royal 
cannon which had done duty for many years at Fort Chartres, 
and the rattle of smaU arms. The troops were mostly dis- 
charged ; the governor, in a letter to the secretary of war, be- 
speaks for them a speedy payment as " the reward due to their 

*See life of Governor Edwards, by his son. 

tAfter the building' of Fort Crevecceur, in 1680, Peoria lalie wasever familiar to wes- 
tern travel and history ; but there is no authentic account of a permanent European 
settlement there until 1778, when Laville de Meillet, named after its founder, was 
started. On account of the quality of the water and its greater salubrity, the location 
was changed further down the lake to the present site of Peoria, and b.v 1796, the old 
had been entirely abandoned for the new village. After its destruction, in 1812, it was 
not settled again' until 1819, and then bj' American pioneers, though in 1813, Fort Clark 
was built there, which gave a name to the place tor several years. In 1818, the fort 
was destroyed by fire. In 1825, the county of Peoria was established and the county 
seat located. 



ELLINOIS TERRITORY. 275 

services." In his address, to tlie St. Olair county militia, the gov- 
ernor said : "Your bravery has enabled me to repel hostile invas- 
ion and to wage war upon the enemy in their own country. * * 
Your intrepidity and patriotism have been equally honorable to 
yourselves, and useful to your country." jSTot to be outdone in 
such flattering testimonials, the militia, through their officers, 
replied in as felicitous a vein, that his Excellency had "greatly 
increased his claims ui)on the gratitude of the country for his wise 
measures," and that they had "\vitnessed his coolness, deliberation 
and i)romptitude in the hour of peril." It seems, however, that 
his Excellency was not without rivals for the laurels pf this 
campaign. With much concern, he writes, under date of Decem- 
ber 25th, 1812 : "I discover that some pitiful attempts are making 
to deprive me of the credit I am entitled to, by giving it to Colonel 
Eussell, who hapiiened to join me (about three days before I com- 
menced my march) with 50 rangers. The injustice of this is known 
and attested by the whole of my little army," etc.* 

1813. — Early in this year, the country was put in such state of 
defence against the hostile Indians as its sparse population admit- 
ted of. Block house stations and stockade forts were repaired and 
strengthened along the entire frontier, and the remote settlers 
and feeble garrisons were removed to the denser settlements. 
New ranging companies were formed and so stationed as to easily 
range through the settlements. From the present Alton to Kas- 
kaskia, twenty-two family forts were scattered along. In spite of 
these i)recautions, the extent of the frontier was so great that no 
diligence in ranging aftbrded entire immunity from savage attacks. 
Numerous depredations and murders were committed by maraud- 
ing bands of the red foe. Of these, only a few will be men- 
tioned. 

The savages fell upon the family of Mr. Lively, four miles south- 
east of Covington, in the present Washington county, and four 
were slain. The bodies of two women were shockinglj^ mangled ; 
a little boy of seven years was borne away from the house, his 
head severed from his body, his entrails torn out, and both 
carried away, it was thought, for pmposes of cannibalism. Mr. 
Lively's body was indecently mutilated. A son and a stranger 
stopping there, were out in quest of their horses, and from a dis- 
tance saw the house attacked. These in their retreat to the 
settlements, bivouaced in a grove 6 miles southeast of Fayette- 
ville on the Kaskaskia river, which peri^etuates the name of the 
murdered family. The Indians, supposed to be Kickapoos, were 
pursued by Captain Boon's company, but having 4 days the start, 
made good their escape. That a pursuing force should be 4 days 
behind, shows how incautiously remote from the denser settle- 
ments some families must have located. On the banks of Kas- 
kaskia, near the present Carlyle, a Mr. Yonng and a minister by 
the name of McLean, had a desperate struggle with a party of 
savages. The former having been killed, as also both horses, a 
single but powerful savage pursued McLean, who was unarmed 
and on foot. McLean would come to a stand at times and in a 
menacing manner defy the savage to approach with his tomahawk. 
The Indian seeking the advantage, would hestitate. At such 
times, McLean would divest himself of a portion of his surplus 

♦Edwards' Life of Edwards. " 



4 



276 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

clotliing, and finally, the attention of tlie Indian Laving been 
arrested by his cast off garments, McLean plnnged into the river, 
swam to the further shore, and eftected his escape.* Some murders 
were also committed on Cacheriver in the present Alexander county. 
On the Wabash, 30 miles above Vincennes, near FortLamotte, the 
wife of a Mr. Houston and four children were killed. In a small 
prairie 2 or 3 miles from the present Albion, in Edwards county, a 
farmer by the name of Boltenhouse was killed; the prairie i^erpet- 
uates his name. 

Considering the frequent murders and the fact that the general 
government had made no provision to sustain the militia and 
volunteers, which caused those of Illinois to be discharged from 
the service on the 8th of June, by the governor, it may be said 
that the year 1813 presented but a gloomy prospect for the exposed 
settlements in the west. 

iSeco7id Expedition to Peoria. — Large numbers of hostile Indians 
were known to have collected among the Potawatamies and 
Kickapoos on Lake Peoria, whence marauding parties, which 
harassed the frontiers of both Illinois and Missouri, were sent 
out. It became again an object therefore to penetrate their coun- 
try with a military force, disperse them from their convenient loca- 
tion, and drive them far into the interior. In the latter part of the 
summer a joint expedition from Illinois and Missouri was projected 
for this purpose. An army of some 900 men was collected, and 
Gen. Howard, who had resigned the office of Governor of Missouri 
to accept a Brigadier General's commission in the United States 
army, was placed in command. The Illinois troops were ordered 
to rendezvous at Camp Kussell ; one company Avas ordered to the 
Mississippi at a point called the Piasa, opposite the Portage des 
Sioux, where it remained several weeks and became quite sickly. 
The Illinois troops were formed into the second regiment, and 
Benjamin Stephenson, of Randolph county, Avas appointed colonel; 
W. B. Whitesides and John Moredock were majors; and Joseph 
Phillips, Samuel Judy, ]Sathaniel Journey, and Samuel White- 
sides, cai)tains. There was some delay on account of the Missou- 
rians, who were being collected at St. Louis. 

Finally the order for a forward movement arrived, and the 
Illinoisans marched up the Mississippi by companies to the Illinois, 
which was crossed 2 or 3 miles above its mouth. The movement 
was slow ; in Calhoun County, where the bee-trees were very 
numerous, a few rangers, who rambled from the main body, got 
into a skirmish with some Indians, but no loss was sustained 
except that a gun-stock was shivered by an Indian bullet. The 
Missourians marched 100 miles north, on the west side of the 
Mississippi to Fort Mason, where they swam the river, mounted 
naked on their horses, while their garments Avere crossed on a 
platform, borne up by 2 canoes, and joined the Illinoisans. They 
Avere commanded by Col. McIsTair, afterward goA^ernor of Missomi. 
The whole force was re-organized into a brigade, of which General 
Howard was in cliief command. Tlie march Avas continued up the 
Mississippi. On the present site of Quincy they passed a recentl}' 
deserted cam}> and Adllage, supposed to have contained 1,000 Sac 
warriors. At a point called the " Two rivers," they struck out east- 
AN^ard and across the high prairies to the Illinois, Avhich was reached 

♦Missouri Gazette, March 1813. 



ILLINOIS TEREITOE,Y, 



near the mouth of Spoon river. Here their provision boats arrived 
and took on board the sick. The march was continued up the 
IlUnois to Peoria, where tliere was a small stockade in charge of 
Caj)tam Nicholas of the U. S. Army. Two days before, the 
Indians had made an attack on the fort, but were repulsed. On 
the line of march from the Mississippi, numerous fresh trails indi- 
cated that the Indians, gaining knowledge of the invading force, 
were fleeing northward. 

Being in the enemy's country, knowing his stealthy habits and 
the troops at no time observing a high degree of discipline, jnany 
unnecessary night alarms occurred ; they were paraded, frequently 
ordered to arms, and under the general excitement incident to a 
constant dread of momentary attack, guns were incautiously fired, 
and one fine young Kentucky trooper was shot dead by a fear 
smitten sentinel. All this time the dread savages were far away. 

The army was marched up the lake to Gorao's village, the 
present siteof Chillicothe, and finding that the enemy had ascended 
the Illinois, two deserted villages were demolished under the shock 
of its onset, and burned, when it took up its retrograde march. 
At the outlet of the lake, the present site of Peoria, the ti'oops 
remained in camp several weeks, building Fort Clark, named in 
memory of Gen. George Eogers Clark. Major Christy, in the 
meantime, was dispatched with a force in charge of two fortified 
keel-boats up the river to the foot of the rapids, to chastise and 
rout such of the enemy as might have lodged in that region. 
Major Boone was sent with a force to scour the Spoon river 
country, towards Eock river. Both expeditions returned without 
other discoveries than signs of alarm on the part of the enemy, 
and his retreat into the interior. The army returned by a direct 
route to Camp Russell, where the volunteers and militia were dis- 
banded, October 22d, 1813. 

The campaign, though no battle was fought or enemy seen, Avas 
still fraught with great benefit in aftbrding the frontiers immunity 
from the murderous incursions of the savages for the entire suc- 
ceeding winter. To the foe was unfolded the power and resources 
he had to contend with, and shaking his head he muttered, "pale 
faces like tlie leaves in the forest — like the grass on the jirairies — 
they grow everywhere !" 

1811. — The year 1814, was, however, also prolific with horrible 
deeds of savage butchery. Those fiends, with a natural aptitude 
for such work, received additional incentives from their British 
allies. Our naval victories on Lake Erie, the recovery of Detroit, 
and the defeat of the British at the battle of the Thames, where 
Tecumseh fell, which was fought before the close of 1813, had the 
effect to cause the savages to retreat from Canada, and concentrate 
in great numbers on the banks of the upper Mississii^pi; and 
marauding bands again visited the settlements of Illinois and 
Missouri, committing many depredations and murders. We do 
not pretend to cite all. 

In July, a band of Indians raiding in the Wood river settle- 
ment, 6 miles east of the present Alton, massacred a Mrs. Reagan 
and her 6 children. The husband and father, absent at the time, 
was the first to discover the dreadful slaughter. On arriving 
home after night-fall, and opening the door of his cabin, he 

•Annals of the West— Appendix. 



278 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

stepped into the gore of his loved family, and beheld their stark 
aud maugled remaius. Captain Samuel Whitesides with his 
company of rangers pursued the savages to the Sangamon, where, 
in a thicket, all escaped except the leader of the band, who was 
shot out of a tree-top. In his belt he had dangling the scalp of 
Mrs. Eeagau. 

In the western part of Ohnton county, near the crossing of the 
present O. & M. E. R. over a stream, Jesse Bailes and wife were 
looknig for their hogs on a Sunday evening in the creek bottom, 
and the dogs baying at a thicket, it was supposed they were found ; 
but on approaching the thicket, the Indians, concealed within, 
fired upon both, the lady only being hit. She was taken to her 
father's house, Mr. Bradley, and died in a short time. 

In August, while a company of Captain Short's rangers were 
encamped at the Lively cabins, a trail was discovered Avhich led 
directly to the starting of 7 Indians with 14 stolen horses. When 
overtaken a skirmish ensued, in which the rangers were rather 
worsted; one was wounded, a horse killed, and another, Moses 
Short, received a bullet which lodged in a twist of tobacco in his 
pocket. William Stout, with great speed, went to camp for rein- 
forcements. Caj^tain SLiort with 30 men now followed the trail all 
night, and next morning overtook the marauders on a fork of the 
Little Wabash. A lagging Indian here shot a turkey, and the 
report of his gun apprised the pursuers of their proximity. On 
discovering the whites, the rear Indian ran in great haste forward, 
and all prepared for battle, in ignorance probably of the number 
of the pursuing force, and assured doubtless by their previous 
success, for they might have easily jnade their escape. They were 
directly surrounded, and when they realized their situatio)j, sang 
the death song, shouted defiance, and fought bravely to the last. 
All were killed. The pursuers lost one man, William O'i^eal, 
who, while taking deliberate aim, met an adversary quicker than 
himself, aud was shot. 

[Note. — The most desperate single-handed combat with Indians, ever foughton the 
soil of Illinois, was that of Toin Hifjg-ins, August 31, 1814. Higgins was 35 years old, of 
a muscular and compact build, not tall, but strong- and active. In danger he possessed 
a quick and discerning judgment, and was without tear. He was a member of .lourney's 
rangers, consisting of 11 men, stationed at Hills Fort, 8 miles southwest of the present 
Greenville. Discovering Indian .signs near the fort, the company early the following 
morning started on the trail. They had not gone far before they were in an ambus- 
cade of a larger party. At the first lire, their commander Journey aud 3 men fell. Six 
retreateu to the fort in flight, but Higgins stopped " to have another pull at the red 
skins," and taking deliberate aim at a straggling savage, shothim down. Higgin's horse 
had been wounded at the first tire, as he supposed, mortally, but coming to, he was 
about to elTect his escape, when the familiar voice of Burgess hailed him from the long 
grass, "Tom don't leave me." Higgins told him to come along, but Burgess replied that 
his leg was smashed. Higgins attempted to raise him on his horse, but the animal took 
fright and ran away Higgins then directed Burgess to limp off as best he could, and 
by crawling through the grass he reached the fort, while the former loaded his gun 
aud remained behind to protect him against the pursuing enemy. When Burgess was 
well out of the way, to throw any wandering enemy oil the trail, Higgins took anothei- 
route whioh led by a small thicket. Here he was unexpectedly conf ronU-d by 3 savages 
approaching. He ran to a little ravine near at hand for shelter, but in the effort dis- 
covered for the first time that he was badly wounded in the leg. He was closely pressed 
by the largest, a powerful Indian, who lodged a ball in his thigh. He fell, but instantly 
rose again, only to draw the fire of the other two and again fell wounded. The 
Indians now advanced upon him with their tomahawks and scalping knives, but as he 
presented his gun first at one, then at another, from his place in the ravine, each 
wavered in his purpose. Neither party had time to load, and the large Indian, suppos- 
ing finally that Higgins' gun was empty, rushed forward with uplifted tomahawk and a 
yell, but as he came near enough, was shot down. At this, the others raised the war- 
whoop and rushed upon the wounded Hi,ggins, and now a hand to hand conflict ensued. 
They darted at him with their knifes time and airain,inflicting many ghastly flesh wounds 
which bled profusely, One of the assailents threw his tomahawk at him with such 
precision as to sever his ear and lay bare his skull, knocliing him down. They now 
rushed in on him, but he kicked them off, and grasping one of their spears thrust at 



ILLINOIS TEREITORY. 279 

The military expeditions of 1814, in which Illiuois participated, 
were by water on the Mississippi. The first projected in the west 
was that of Governor Clark (in the absence of General Howard), 
which left St. Louis about the 1st of May. It comprised a force 
of some 200 men in five armed barges, its destination being- 
Prairie du Chien. The notorious Dickson, British agent and In- 
dian trader, a man of pleasing manner and captivating address, 
had but a few days before recruited for the British army 300 
Sioux, Winnebagoes and Folsavoisns, whom he was couductiug to 
Canada. A small garrison of "Mackinac fencibles ", in command 
of a British ofiicer, was left in charge of the place, but beiug greatly 
outnumbered by Clark's forces, they johied the fleeing inhabitants. 
Clark's unopposed troops were quartered in the house of the 
Mackinaw Fur Company, and a fort, calledShelby, was built. In 
June Gov. Clark returned to St. Louis, where the people tendered 
him a public ovation in honor of his conquest. Thus easily did he 
win military glory. But in July a large force of British and Indians 
under Col. Mackey, came by water from Mackinaw, via Green 
Bay and the Wisconsin, and after a short siege. Gov. Clark's entire 
garrison capitulated and was paroled, leaving the British with the 
new fort in much better condition than two months before. Such 
are the fortunes of war. 

In the meantime. Gen. Howard, having retiu-ned to his jjost, 
deemed it advisable to strengthen so remote a post as Prairie du 
Chien, and to that end sent reinforcements to the number of 108 
men, in charge of Lieut. Campbell of the regular army, in three 
keel boats up the river. Of this force 66 men were Illinois Bang- 
ers, under Ca^jtains Stephen Rector, and Eiggs, who occupied two 
boats. The remainder were with Campbell in the other boat. 
Eock Isla nd, where they laid up for a night, was passed without 
molestation, but at the foot of the rapids great numbers of the 
Sac and Fox Indians visited the boats with professions of friend- 
ship. Some of the French boatmen were known to the Indians, 
and very much liked by them. They would squeeze their hands 
with a puU down the river, indicating that it would be well for 
them to leave. It was rightly judged by them that the treacherous 
savages meditated an attack, of which Lieut. Campbell was duly 
informed. He, however, disregarded these hints. The sutler's 
and contractor's boats, and two barges with the Illinois rangers, 
had passed the rai^ids, and had got some two miles ahead, when 
Campbell's barge was struck by a gale from the west so strong as 
to force her against a small island, next to the Illinois shore. 
Thinking it advisable to lie to till the wind abated, sentinels were 
immediately stationed, while the men went ashore to cook break- 

him, was raised up by it. He quickly seized his gun, and by a powerful blow crushed 
in the skull of one, but broke his rifle. His reinaininf^- ahtag-onist still Kept up the 
contest makins' thrusts with his knife at tlie bleeding- and exhausted Hifiglns, which he 
parried with his broken gun as best he could. Most of this desperate engagement was 
in plain view of the Fort, but the rangers, having been in one ambuscade, saw in this 
fight only a ruse to draw out the balance of the garrison. But a Mrs. Pursely, residing 
at the Fort, no longer able to see so brave a man contend unaided for his lite, seized a 
gun, and mounting a horse, started to his rescue. At this the men took courage and 
hastened along. The Indian seeing aid coming, fled. Higgins being nearly hacked to 
pieces, fainted from loss of blood. He was carried to ihe Fort. There being no sur- 
geon, his comrades cut two balls from his flesh ; others remained in For days his life 



was door-keeper of one of the houses of the treneral Assembly at Vaudalia. ■ Eeyii^ -^'s 
Pio. Hist.— p. 321. ., 



280 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

fast. At this time a large force of Indians on the main shore^ 
under tlie command of Bhick Hawk, commenced an attack. The 
savages, in canoes, passed rapidly to the island, and with a war 
whoop rushed upon the men, who retreated and sought refuge in 
the barge. A battle of brisk musketry now ensued between the 
few regulars aboard the stranded barge and the hordes of Indians- 
under cover of trees on the island, with severe loss to the former. 
Meanwhile, Captains Rector and Riggs, ahead with their barges, 
seing the smoke of battle, essayed to return, but in the strong- 
gale Riggs' boat became unmanageable and w^as stranded on the 
rapids. Rector, to avoid a similar disaster, let go his anchor. The 
rangers, however, opened with good aim and telling effect on the 
savages. 

The unequal combat having raged for some time, the command- 
er's barge, with many wounded and several dead on board, among 
the former of whom, very badly, was Campbell himself, had almost 
ceased fighting when she was discovered to be on fire. And now 
Stephen Rector, and his brave crew of Illinois rangers, compre- 
hending the horrid situation, performed, without delay, as cool 
and heroic a deed, and did it well, as ever imperiled the life of 
mortal man. In the howling gale, in full view of hundreds of the 
enraged savages, and within range of their riiies, they deliberately 
raised anchor, lightened their barge by casting overboard quan- 
tities of provisions, and guided it with the utmost labor down the 
swift current, to the windward of the burning barge, and, in the 
galling fire of the enemy, rescued the survivors, removed the 
wounded, the dying and all, to their vessel. This was as heroic a 
deed of noble daring as was performed during the war in the 
west. The island, in memory of the struggle, was named after 
Campbell, but with Rector and his crew of Illinois rangers remains 
the glory of the action. 

The manner of effecting the rescue displays the resource of 
courageous minds in the crisis of imminent peril. Rector's barge 
was first quickly lightened by casting overboard the provisions, 
the crew (mostly experienced French boatmen,) got into the water 
on the windward side of the barge, which brought it between 
them and the fire of the enemy. In this manner it was guided in 
close proxindty to the disabled barge, and held there till the re- 
moval was effected, when, after being hauled against the wind far 
out into the stream, it glided safely away. The loss was 25 ; 9 
killed — 4 rangers, 3 regulars, 1 woman, 1 child ; wounded IG, 
among whom were Lieut Campbell and Dr. Stewart, severely.* 
Rector's barge was uncomfortably crowded for the wounded, but 
as the force was large they rowed night and day until St. Louis was 
reached. The Indians, after the abandonment of Camj)bell's 
barge, feasted upon the contents of their prize. 

It was now feared that Riggs and his company were captured 
and sacrificed by the savages. His vessel, which was strong and well 
armed, was for a time surrounded by the Indians, but the whites 
on the inside were well sheltered. The wind becounng allayed iu 
the evening, the boat, under cover of the night, glided safely down 
the river without the loss of a single man. At St. Louis there was 
great ojcicing on the arrival of Riggs and crew, all safe. Many 
fer^ jit ] layers had gone up, many anxious eyes had eagerly 

Mo. Gaz itte, July 30, 1814 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 2S1 

watclied the river, and many a patriot heart was made giad by the 
final tidings of their safety. 

Still another expedition for the Upper Mississippi was projected 
this season after tlie two foregoing disasters. It was fitted ont at 
Cape an Gris, an old French hamlet on the left bank of the Mis- 
sissippi, a few miles above the mouth of the Illinois. It consisted 
of 334 effective men, 40 regulars and the rest rangers and volun- 
teers, in command of Major Zachary Taylor (afterwards president.) 
Nelson Kector and Samuel Whiteside, with the Illinoisans, were in 
command of the boats. It was generally regarded as of material 
importance to have a strong fort with a garrison well up the Mis- 
sissippi in the heart of the Indian country. The plan was to 
proceed above the rapids, and in descending sweep both banks of 
the river of the Indian villages, destroy their corn dovni to 
Eock Island, and there build the fort. The exijedition departed 
its place of rendezvous, August 23, 1814, and passed Rock Island 
and the Eaj)ids unmolested. It was now learned that the country 
was not only swarming with Indians, but that the English were 
there in command, with a detachment of regulars and artillery. 
The advanced boats in command of Rector, Whitesides, and 
Hempstead, turned about and began to descend the Rapids, fight- 
ing with great gallantry the hordes of the enemy pouring their fire 
into them from the shore at every step. A little way above the 
mouth of Rock river, not far from some willow islands. Major 
Taylor anchored his fleet out in the Mississii)pi. During the night 
the English planted a battery of six pieces down at the water's 
edge to sink or disable the boats, and tilled the islands with 
redskins to butcher our men, who miglit, unarmed, seek refuge 
there. But in this scheme they were frustrated. In the morning 
Taylor ordered all the force, except 20 boatmen on each vessel, to 
the upi^er island to dislodge the enemy. The order was executed 
with great gallantry, the ishind scoured and the savages, many of 
whom were killed, driven to the lower one. In the meantime the 
British cannon told with effect uj^on the fleet, piercing many of the 
boats. The men rushed back and the boats were dropped do^vn 
the stream out of range of the cannon. Captain Rector Avas 
now ordered with his company to make a sortie on the lower island, 
which he did, driving the Indians back among the willows, but 
they being reinforced, in turn hurled Rector back upon the sand 
beach. A council of ofiicers called by Taylor had by this time 
decided that their force was insuflicient to contend with the enemy^ 
who outnumbered them three to one, and the boats were in full 
retreat down the river. As Rector attempted to get under way, 
his boat grounded, and the savages, with demoniac yells, sur- 
rounded it, when a most desperate hand to hand engagement 
ensued. Tlie gallant ranger, Samuel Whitesides, observing the 
imminent peril of his brave Illinois comrade, went immediately 
to his rescue, who, but for his timely aid, would undoubtedly have 
been overpowered with all his force and murdered. Taylor's loss 
was 11 meu badly wounded, 3 of whom had died at the date of 
his re[)ort to Gen. Howard, Sept. 6, 1814. 

Oijposite the mouth of tlie Des Moiues, on the site of the present 
town of Warsaw, a fort was built by Taylor's men, called Edwards^ 
which consisted of a rough stockade and blockhouses of unhe^ra 
logs. Fort Madison, on the west side of the Mississippi and farther 



282 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

up, after being repeatedly attacked by the enemy, was evacuated 
and burnt. A few weeks later (in October) Fort Edwards shared a 
similar fate; the troops got out of provisions, and unable to sustain 
their position, retreated down the river to Cape au Gris. The 
people of Illinois and Missouri were astonished at this extraordi- 
nary evacuation and destruction of the fort by our own troops. 
The rangers and volunteers were discharged October 18th, 
1814.* 

Thus ended the last, like the two previous expeditions up the 
Mississippi during the war of 1812, in defeat and disaster. The 
enemy was in undisputed possession of all the country north of the 
Illinois river, and the prospect respecting these territories boded 
nothing but gloom. With the approach of winter, however, 
Indian depredations ceased to be committed, and the peace of 
Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814, closed the war. 

*The account of these expeditions has beeu in great part gathered from Reynolds ' 
Own Times. 



Chapter XXV. 

CIVIL AFFAIRS OF THE ILLIXOIS TEERITORY FROM 

1812 TO 1818. 

Meeting of the Legislature — The Members — Laws — Conflict between 
the Legislature and Judiciary — Curious Acts — Territorial Banks 
— Cairo BanTc — Commerce — First Steamboats — Pursuits of the 
People. 



For nearly four years after tlie orgauization of the territorial 
goverument no legislature existed iu Illinois. The governor was 
both executive and, in great part, the law-making power. These ex- 
traordinary powers, authorized by the ordinance of 1787, viewed at 
this day, seem strangely inconsistent with our republican notions of 
the necessity of co-ordinate branches of government. Under that 
celebrated ordinance, the jjolitical privileges of the citizen were 
few or none. He could not exercise the elective Irauchise unless 
he was a freeholder of 50 acres, nor aspii-e to a seat in the territo- 
rial legislature unless he was a freeholder of from 200 to 500 acres. 
Those of the territorial oflicers whom the president did not appoint, 
were appointed by the governor. The jjeople could not elect jus- 
tices of the peace, county surveyors, treasurers, coroners, sheriffs, 
clerks, judges of the inferior courts, nor even choose the oflicers of 
the territorial militia ; all this power and much more was vested 
in the governor. By the act establishing the Illinois territory, it 
was provided that whenever his Excellency was satisfied that a 
majority of the freeholders desired it, then he might authorize a 
legislature. While none of these extraordinary powers were per- 
haps ever arbitrarily exercised by any of the governors, unless it 
was St. Clair, the iDCople were all the time clamorous for an exten- 
sion of suftrage. Congress (not the governor) finally, by act 
of May 21, 1812, raised Illinois to the second grade of territorial 
government, and further extended the right of suttrage to any 
white male person 21 years old, who had j^aid a territorial tax and 
resided one year in the territory nextpreceding any election, author- 
izing such elector to vote for representative, member of the legis- 
lative council and delegate to congress. The property qualification, 
under the ordinance of 1787, was abolished. This was a very 
great concession to the people. The governor was required to 
apportion the territory. On the 14th of Februarj^, 1812, accordingly, 
he issued his proclamation, ordering an election to take the sense 
of the people for or against entering upon the second grade of 
territorial go%ernment. The election was to be held for three suc- 
cessive days in each county, commencing on the second Monday 
iu Ax)ril. The question was decided in the affirmative by a large 

' 283 



284 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

majority. On September 16tli, following, the governor and judges 
Laving organized the new counties of Madison, Gallatin and John- 
son, making now, with the two old counties of St. Clair and Ran- 
dolph, a total of tive, a proclamation was issued, publishing their 
establishment. By another proclamation of the same date, an 
election for 5 members of the legislative council, 7 representatives 
and a delegate to congress, was oidered to be held in each county 
on the 8th, 9th and lOth days of October following. At this elec- 
tion, Shadra(;h Bond was elected to congress. The members elect 
of the legislative council were, Pierre Menard, of Eandolph — 
chosen to preside ; William Biggs, of St. Clair ; Samuel Judy, of 
Madison; Thomas Ferguson, of Johnson, and Benjamin Talbot, 
of Gallatin. 

The members elect of the house of representatives were, George 
Fisher, of Eandolph; Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short, of St. 
Clair ; William Jones, of Madison ; Phillip Trammel and Alexan- 
der Wilson, of Gallatin, and John Grammar, of Johnson. 

We subjoin brief sketches of the members constituting the first 
general assemblj' of Illinois. Pierre Menard, a Canadian French- 
man, settled at Kaskaskia in 1790. He was a merchant and 
enjoyed an extensive trade with the Indians, over whom he ex- 
erted a great influence and was for many years the government agent 
for them. He Avas well informed, energetic, frank and honest, 
and was very popular with all classes. William Biggs was an 
intelligent and respectable member, who had been a soldier in 
Clark's expedition, and ten years afterward had been a prisoner 
for several years among the Kickapoos. He wrote and published a 
complete narrative of his Indian captivity, and in 1826, congress 
voted him three sections of land. He was for many years county 
judge. Samuel Judy — the same who, in the fall preceding, com- 
manded the corps of spies in Governor Edwards' military cam- 
paign to Peoria lake — was a man of " energy, fortitude and 
enterprise." Some of his descendants now reside in Madison 
county. Joshua Ogleshy was a local Methodist preacher of ordinary 
education, who lived on a farm and was greatly respected by his 
neighbors. Jacob Short, the colleague of Oglesby, removed to 
Illinois with his father, Moses, in 1796, and pursued farming. Dur- 
ing the war of 1812 he distinguished himself as a ranger. George 
Fisher possessed a fair education, and was by profession a physi- 
cian. He removed from Virginia to Kaskaskia in 1800, and en- 
gaged in merchandizing, but at this time he resided on a farm. He 
was afterward in public life. Fhillip Trammel was a man of dis- 
ctiminating mind, inclined to the profession of arms. He was the 
lessee of the United States saline in Gallatin county. His col- 
league, Alexander Wilson, was a popular tavern keeper at Shaw- 
neetown, of fair abilities. William Jones was a Baptist preacher, 
grave in his deportment, and i^ossessed of moderate abilities. He 
was born in North Carolina, removed to Illinois in 1806, ami set- 
tled in the Eattan prairie, east of Alton * This was the first 
appearance in public life of John Grammar. He afterwards rep- 
resented Union county freqnently during a period of 20 years. 
He had no education, yet was a man of shrewdness. After his 
election, it is related that to procure the necessary apparel to 
appear at the seat of government, he and the family gathered a 

•Annals of the West. 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 285 

large quantity of hickory nuts, which were taken to the Ohio 
saline and traded for bkie strouding, such as the ludians wore for 
breech-clotli. When tlie neighboring women assembled to malice 
up the garments, it was found that he liad not invested quite 
enough nuts. The pattern was measured in every way possible, 
but was unmistakably scant. Whereupon it was decided to make 
a "bob-tailed coat and a long pair of leggings." Arrayed in these, 
he duly appeared at the seat of government, where he continued 
to wear his primitive suit for the greater part of the session. 
Notwithstanding his illiteracy, he had the honor of originating the 
practice much followed by public men since, of voting against all 
new measures — it being easier to conciliate public opinion for 
being remiss in voting for a good nieasure, than to suffer arraign- 
ment for aiding in the passage of an unpopular one.* 

On the 10th of November, the governor, by proclamation, or- 
dered the members elect to convene, on the 2oth instant, at Kas- 
kaskia, the seat of government. The two bodies met in a large, 
rough old building of uncut limestone, with steep roof, and gables 
of unpainted boards, situated in the center of a square, which, 
after the ruin and abandonment of Fort Chartres, had served the 
French as the headquarters of the military commandant. The 
first floor, a large, low, cheerless room, was fitted up for the house, 
and a small chamber above for the council chamber. The latter 
body chose John Thomas their secretary, and the former elected for 
clerk William C. Greenup. The two houses had a door-keeper in 
common. All the 12 members boarded with one family, and lodged, 
it is said, in one room. How unlike the present times ! The 
members addressed themselves to the business in hand, without 
delay or circumlocution. Windy speeches or contention were 
unheard of, and parliamentary tacticians, if any there were, met 
with no indulgence. It has been naively remarked that not a 
lawyer appears on the roll of names. 

The assembly effected a peaceful revolution of the civil polity 
of tlie territory, at a time when actual war was the all-absorbing 
public question. By act of December 13, 1812, all the laws 
passed by the Indiana legislature, and in force March 1, 1809, 
general in their natm-e and not local to Indiana, which stood 
luu-epealed by the governor and judges of Illinois, and all laws 
originally adopted for Illinois under the first grade of territorial 
government, remaining unrepealed, were by them re-enacted. 
The idea manifestly was, that by the assembling of the legislature, 
the territory stood forth iii utter nakedness, divested of all law 
until reinvested by them. The enacting clause of the territorial 
laws was : "Be it enacted by the legislative council and house of 
representatives, and it is hereb}^ enacted by the authority of the 
same." To the coiu"ts of common pleas was given the same juris- 
diction previously had under the Indiana territory. The general 
court, established at the seat of government, besides being a trib- 
unal of oyer and terminer for jail delivery on indictments found by 
the grand juiies of the common pleas court, was also constituted 
a court of original jurisdiction, of appeals, to correct errors of 
inferior courts, and to punish the contempts, neglects, favors or 
corruptions of the justices of the peace, clerks, sheriffs, etc., its 
process running to any county, to the great inconvenience of the 

*Ford's Illinois. ~~ 



286 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

people. Such other laws as it was deemed the country required, 
were passed, aud after a brief session, the first legislature ad- 
jourued. 

The laws of the territory were afterward revised and digested, 
under the authority of the legislatue, by JSTathaniel Pope, and 
printed in one volume by Mattliew Duncan, printer of the terri- 
tory, which bears the date June 2, 1815. There are besides, two 
small volumes, by the same printer, of the session laws of 1815--16 
and 1817-18. While the laws are faithfully rendered, the mechan- 
ical appearance of these books, owing to the great coarseuess of 
the paper and the use of clumsy type, illy compares with work of 
the present time. Many of the laws imported, revised and 
adopted by the governor and judges, were well drawn but the 
great body of those originated in the legislature present much 
crudity, both in composition and grasp of tlie subjects intended to 
be subserved. We will allude to some features of the territorial 
code, now happily obsolete, which give, by contrast with the pres- 
ent, an idea to the reader of the progress and amelioration 
attained in criminal jurisprudence and the punishment for debt. 
Thus, in the punishment of crimes, both felonies and misdemean- 
ors, the barbarous practices of whipping on the bare back, con- 
finement in stocks, standing in the pillory, and branding with hot 
irons, were the penalties frequeutly prescribed; besides fines, 
imprisonment, and loss of citizenshi]). These summary modes of 
chastisement grew, in part, out of the condition of the countrj^ 
It was but sparsely settled, the people were poor, they had no gen- 
eral prison or penitentiary, and the few jails were so insecure as to 
present scarcely any barrier to the escape of prisoners. Whip- 
ping upon the bare back, besides other punishments at the option 
of the court, was prescribed in burglary or robbery, 39 stripes ; 
in perjury, larceny, the receiving of stolen goods, and obtaining 
goods by fraudulent pretenses, 31 strii^es; horse-stealing, first 
offence, from 50 to 100 lashes ; hog-stealing, from 25 to 39 lashes ; 
altering and defacing marks or brands on domestic animals at 
large, 40 lashes "well laid on;" bigamy, punished with from 100 
to 300 stripes ; for sodomy, from 100 to 500 lashes were prescribed; 
forcibly taking away a female to marry against her consent, was 
declared a felony and might be punished by whipping ; children 
or servants for disobedience, might, upon complaint and conviction 
before a justice, be whipped not exceeding 10 stripes. In all these 
offences there were other penalties provided, alternatively or addi- 
tionally, at the ox)tion of the coiu-t — such as fines, imi^risonment, 
restitution, etc. Fines were collected from those unable to pay, 
by the sheriff' hiring or selling them to any one who would pay the 
fine or costs, for such terms as the court might deem reasonable, 
and if the deUnquent should abscond, the penalty was double the 
term of servitude aud 39 stripes. Standing in i)illory was pre- 
scribed, in addition to other penalties, in perjury, forgery, and the 
altering or defacing of brands or marks on domestic animals. For 
this last offence, on second conviction, the culprit was to have the 
letter T branded in the left hand with a red-hot iron. To prevent 
the common crime of killing stock running on the range, every one, 
including the owners, was required to exhibit the ears of hogs, or 
hides of cattle, killed, to a magistrate or two freeholders within 
three days, under a penalty of $10. For aiding the escajpe of a 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 287 

convict, tlie punishment was tlie same as that of the culprit, ex- 
cept in capital cases, when stripes, standing in pillory, or sitting- 
on the gallows with the rope adjusted about the neck, at the option 
of the court, was the penalty. Besides in treason and murder, 
the penalty of death by hanging was pronounced against arson 
and rape, and horse-stealing on second conviction. For selling 
intoxicating liquors to Indians, slaves, apprentices and minors, 
severe penalties were enacted. For reveling, quarreling, fighting, 
j)rofanely cursing, disorderly behavior at divine worship, and 
hunting on the Sabbath, penalties by fines were prescribed. Cock- 
fighting, horse-racing on the highways, gambling, keeping E. O. 
tables, sending challenge to fight or box at fisticuffs, lotteries, etc., 
were punished by fines. In 1810, a law was adopted to suppress 
dueling, which made the fatal result of a duel murder, including 
the aiders, abettors or counselors as princii)als in the crime. 

In regard to the collection of debts, the principles of the com- 
mon law obtained, which wholly favored the creditor. All the pro- 
perty of the judgment debtor, both real and personal without any 
of the present humane features as to exemption, might be levied 
upon and sold under execution. The sale was absolute — no time 
of redemption, as at present, was allowed in the case of realty. 
K the land failed to sell for want of bidders, it was the judgment 
creditor's right, at his option, to take it absolutely at the appraised 
value made by 12 jurors. But this was not all. If the property 
was insufiicient to pay the judgment, the body of the debtormight 
be seized and cast into prison. Here he would be allowed the prison 
bounds, extending 200 yards from the jail in any du-ection, on con- 
dition only of giving bonds in double the sum of the debt, not 
to depart therefrom. 

The territorial revenue was raised by a tax upon lands. Those 
situated in the river bottoms of the Mississippi, Ohio and the 
Wabash were taxed at the rate of $1 on every 100 acres. The 
uplands were classed as second rate, and were taxed at the rate 
of 75 cents per 100 acres. Unlocated, but confirmed land claims, 
were taxed at the rate of 37^ cents per 100 acres. The county 
revenue was raised chietiy by a tax upon personal property, in- 
cluding slaves or indentured servants between the ages of 16 and 
40, not to exceed $1 each. The only real property taxed were lots 
and houses in towns, and mansion houses in the country, worth 
$200 and upwards. There was levied also a capitation tax of $1 
on every able-bodied single man, having attained his majority 
and owning $200 worth of taxable property. This ought to have 
induced marriage. Two men were appointed to appraise theprop- 
erty required to be assessed. Merchants and ferries were licensed 
at $15 and $10 respectively. Horses and cattle were taxed by 
the head, not exceeding 50 and 10 cents, respectively — not accord- 
ing to value, as at present. 

The entire territorial revenue, between the 1st of November, 
1811, and the 8th of ISTovember, 1814 (3 years), was reported by 
the legislative committee on finance, in 1814, to be $4,875 45. 
But of this amount, only $2,516 89 had actually been paid into the 
treasury ; the balance — nearly half— $2, 378 47 remained in the 
hands of delinquent sheriffs. The delinquencies of sheriffs, in 
their capacity as collectors of the revenues, remained a curse to 



288 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Illinois not only diuing its territorial existence, but for many- 
years after it became a State. 

In 1814 the legislature attempted to reorganize tlie judiciary by 
establishing the supreme court of the territory. The United States 
judges for the territory were assigned to circuit duty, each having 
a, circuit comi^osed of two counties in each of whi(;h two terms of 
court were to be held annually. The courts possessed common 
law and chancery jurisdiction, and suits were to be tried in the 
counties in which they originated. Once a year the judges were 
to convene in banc at the seat of government, to hear appeals and 
revise erroneous decisions from the courts below. This arrange- 
ment was well calculated to give to the people in their 
counties a more thorough administration of the laws than the 
courts of common pleas aftbrded ; but the idea of circuit duty was 
manifestly distasteful to the judges. In the legislature much 
discussion arose as to its power to prescribe the duties of the 
appointees of the general government. The judges were requested 
to give a written opinion upon the merits and legality of the pro- 
posed act. These gentlemen — Spriggs and Thomas, Griswold 
being absent — wanted no better opportunity to assail it, which 
they did in a very emphatic manner, arguing at length the inva- 
lidity of the act: that "the court established by the ordinance of 
1787 cannot be subjected to the revision or control of any tribunal 
established by the Territorial Legislature; and that an appeal from 
the same cornet to the same was a solecism." The governor, at the 
instance of the legislature, in his message ai)proving the bill, took 
up the question, elaborately argued the power of the legislatiu-e in 
tlie premises, and apparently demolished the i^osition of the judges. 
The bill without finally becoming a law was by the legislature re- 
ferred to congress, together with the objections of the judges and 
thereply of the governor, with an address "requesting the passageof 
a law declaring the aforesaid act valid, or to pass some law more 
explanatory of the relative duties andpowersof the judges aforesaid 
and of this legislature." Congress, by act of March 3, 1815, 
j)assed "an act regulating and defining the duties of the United 
States judges for the Territory of Illinois," which substantially 
embodied the provisions required hy the legislature. The judges 
were required to do circuit duties and reside in then' respective 
circuits, and to meet in banc twice a year at the seat of govern- 
ment, as a court of appeals. They were also subjected to the 
regulations of the legislature as to the times of holding their 
terms. The governor appointed the clerks 

In the meantime, by a supplemental act, the legislature at the 
same session had abolished the general court, whose jurisdiction 
was to be superseded by the supreme court ; and by another act 
the court of common pleas was abolished, and county courts (the 
germ of our present county system) which had no jurisdiction for 
the trial of ordinary cases, substituted. Until congress, therefore, 
acted, a period of some two months and a half, Illinois presented the 
anomalous condition of benig without a judicial tribunal higher 
than that of a justice's court, whose civil jurisdiction, by another 
act of the same session, wa« enlarged to $20 in debt. Sitting as 
an examining tribunal, to what court could a justice of the peace 
have validly bound over a culjirit dnring this period of partial 
judicial vacuum? However, we have nothing showing to the coir 



ILLINOIS TEKRITORY. 289 

trary, but that tlie people got along just as well as before and after. 
By act of Jan. 9, 181G, the duties of the judges of the court of 
appeals were more clearly delined, and a law relating to this court 
was amended in 1817 and the circuits reorganized; next by an act 
of June 12, 1818, a radical change was made. There being some 
obscurity in tlie county coiu't act passed in 1814, its duties were 
more clearly deiined by a sui)p]emental act of the same session. 
The civil jurisdiction of the justice's court was in 1817 extended to 
$10. 

Thus it will be obser\'ed that at ti very early i)eriod the Legis- 
lature of Illinois fell into the habit, which became chronic, of 
changing and reorganizing the courts anil modifying tlieir jurisdic- 
tion at almost every session, down to the adoi)tion of the constitu- 
tion of 1818. Since then this species of legislation seems to have 
expended itself in the frequent changes of the terms of court in 
the various circuits. Next to changing and shifting the well 
settled principles of the law in its relation to the rights of i^roperty 
and the multifarious transactions of business, nothing is so per- 
nicious as the varying of the means and modes of obtaining 
redress in our courts. Both ought to be permanent. 

During the territorial existence of Illinois three general assem- 
blies were elected by tiie people — the council holding over the 
second term. In 1814 Col. Benjamin Stephenson, father of the 
late gallant James W. Stephenson, of Galena, was elected delegate 
to congress, and in 181G Nathaniel P(»pe, who took his seat in 
congress December 1817. The legislature met every year at Kas- 
kaskia, but the sessions were short. New counties were established 
from time to time; in 1815, the first formed by the legislature, 
was named Edwards, in honor of the governor. In 1815, White 
county was organized, named in honor of Capt. Isaac White, who 
fell at Tippecanoe; in 181G, Monroe, Crawford, Jackson, and 
Pope, the latter in honor of the newly elected delegate to congress; 
in 1816, Bond, in honor of Shadrach Bond, lirst Governor of the 
State afterward ; and in 1818, Union, Franklin, and Washington 
counties were organized. 

We subjoin a few specimens of curious legislation during terri- 
torial times. It will be observed that the Solons of that i)eriod 
thundered considerably in the preamble. By a law of September 
17, 1809, to regulate the elections, all commissioned officers, either 
federal or territorial, except justices of the i)eace and militia 
officers, were made ineligible to a seat in either branch of the 
general assembly. The object of this law is not so clear, unless it 
was to avoid a monopoly of official dignity and importance; but 
such proscription could not be brooked, and accordingly it fell by 
act of December 14, 1814, the preamble of which, consisting of 3 
whereases, is as huge a specimen of gaseous buncombe to conceal a 
true intent, and make it appear that the law of 1809 was immensely 
oppressive to the people, as can be reclaimed from the early annals 
of political demagogTiery in Illinois : 

"Whkreas, The free people of this TeiTitoiy areaseompeteutas their 
public servants to decide on whom it is their interest to elect to represent 
them in the general a sembly ; and are too enlightened and independent 
to recognize the odious and aristocrat! cal doctrine that they are their own 
worst enemies, or to admit that it is the duty of their representatives to 
save the people from themselves ; and 

19 



290 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



"Whereas, This legislature, being composed of the servants, not the 
masters of the people, cannot witliout an arbitrary assumption of power 
impose restrictions upon tlie latter as to the ciioice of their representa- 
tives, whicli are not warranted by the express words or necessary 
implications of the ordinance from which the legislature derives its 
powers ; and 

"Whereas, The duties of the judges of the county court established 
by law are such as have heretofore been performed in the territory by 
justices of the peace, by whom they are also usually performed in many 
of the States, and there being nothing in the ordinance, nor any reason 
to exclude from a seat in the legislature those judges of the county, or 
surveyors, or prosecuting attorneys, that do not apply with equal force 
to military officers and justices of the peace, and the duties of the former 
being no more iuconipatable with a seat in the legislature than those 
of the latter, therefoi'e," &c. By one short section of two or three lines, 
laws inconsistent with the above sentiments were abolished. 

Another specimen, whose object is disclosed iuthe preamble, we 
cannot forbear to give : 

"Whereas, Voters have hitherto been obliged to vote by ballot, and 
the iguoi'ant as well as those in pinbarrassed circumstances are thereby 
subject to be imposed upon bj^ electioneering zealots; and 

" Whereas, Itisiaconsistent with the spirit of rei^reseutative republican 
government, since the opening for bribery is so manifest which should 
ever be suppressed in such a government, for remedy whereof, " &e., 
Avhen follow the sections abolishing the ballot. These reasons would 
hardly be tenable at the present time, and were doubtless false then. 

By an act of December 24, 1814, "To promote retaliation upon 
hostile Indians," we find evidences of the extreme measures of 
defense to whicli the pioneers had to resort. This may be difficnlt 
for us at this time, with a population exceeding 3,100,000, and the 
Indians many hundreds of miles away, to appreciate. The pre- 
amble refers to the "hostile incursions of savages, their indiscrim- . 
inate slaughter of men, womeu and children. Experience shows 
that nothing so much tends to check those blood-thirsty monsters 
as retaliation," and "to encourage the bravery aud enterprises of 
our fellow citizens aud other persons hereafter engaged in frontier 
defences," it is enacted : 1. That when in such iucursions into 
the settlements, the commission of murder or other depredations 
by Indians, citizens, raugers, or other persons who shall make 
jnisouers of or kill such Indians, shall receive a reward for each 
Indian taken or killed, of $50— if done by raugers or others 
eulisted in the defence of the country, $25 only. 2. That any 
person, Laving obtained permission from a commauding officer ou 
the frontier to go into the territory of hostile Indians, who shall 
kill a warrior, or take prisoner a squaw or child, is entitled to a 
reward of $100 for each warrior killed, or squaw or child taken 
prisoner. 3. That any party of raugers, not exceeding 15, who 
ou leave granted nmke incursions into the country of hostile 
Indians, shall receive a reward of $50 for each warrior killed, or 
squaw or child taken prisoner. 

lu 1810 a retaliatory act was passed to prevent attorneys at law 
from Indiana practicing in any of the courts of Illiuois, for the 
reason stated in the preamble, ''Whereas, by a law now in force in 
the State of Indiana, persons who do not reside therein are not 
permitted to practice iu the courts of the said State ; and whereas, 
that restriction is illiberal, unjust, aud contrary to those ijriuciples 
of liberality and reciprocity by which each and every State or 
territory should be governed, therefore," &c. The young Hoosier 



ILLINOIS TEKKITOEY. 291 

State onglit not to have put on such exalted airs; but, perhaps, 
she was right after all, as we find that by act of January 9, 1818, 
Illinois offered the following premiums for sustained indict- 
ments. In section 4, fixing the salary of j)rosecuting attorneys at 
$100, it is provided that in addition to his salary he shall receive 
" in each and every case of felony where his indictment is sus- 
tained the sum of $15;" and for other "presentments in cases less 
than felony, "if the indictment Avas sustained," he was to receive 
a perquisite of $5. But the most unaccountable feature of this 
law remains to be told. In section 6 it was provided that if the 
indictment Avas sustained, notwithstandiug the accused should be 
acquitted by the traverse jury, the fee of the prosecuting attorney 
was to be paid by the i)rosecuting witness. What persou, though 
never so good a citizen, in view of the quirks of the law, the finesse 
and the ability of counsel, and the notorious uncertainty of how 
any jury will decide, would, with the prospect of having such fee to 
pa}", care to engage in an attempt to bring an offender to justice. 
A singular provision Avas contained in an act of Dec. 22, 1814, 
which did away with prosecution by an attorney, in cases of treason, 
murder, or other felony. 

By an act of Dec. 31, 1817, the territory of Illinois was in a 
manner turned over to and parceled out between the medical 
doctors. It was divided into the east and west districts, the head 
quarters of the doctors being located at Carmi and Kaskaskia, 
respectively. The incorporators comj)rised about all the doctors 
in the territory, and they proposed and were empowered to hold 
these extensive fields of practice for their exclusive use and benefit, 
unless every new comer, proposing to practice the healing art, 
should first be examined by their board and procure from them per- 
mission to do so, for the sum of $10, failing to do which, he was 
disqualified from collecting his fees in any court or before any 
magistrate. The act was repealed by the first legislature under 
the State government. 

With the close of the war of 1812, and the cessation of Indian 
hostilities, the tide of emigration set into Illinois with a volume 
unequaled and strength unabated. To this prosperity contributed, 
in no small degree, the act of congress passed in 1813, granting the 
right of preemption to settlers upon the public domain. This was 
the first great lever to move Illinois forward in the path of empire. 
Prior to this, emigrants in four cases out of five "squatted" on the 
public lands, without right or title to Avhat they were improving 
by their labor, and with the ever harassing doubt that some 
speculator might spy out and buy their homes before they could do it 
themselves. Small and inferior improvements were of course the 
result, and prosperity lagged. To stimulate a man to industry 
. and enterprise, let him be assured that his labor is not misapplied 
and his title is indisputable. Shadrach Bond, our delegate in 
congress at the time, contributed largely by his influence in pro- 
curing the passage of the act of pre-emption. 

Prior to the close of the war of 1812, money was very scarce in 
the west. The pelts of the deer, raccoon, &c., for which there was 
a ready market, were to a certain extent a standard of exchange, 
and supplied in a manner the circulating medium. This condition 
of the country was greatly improved by the money distributed in 
the payment of the rangers and militia for their services during 



292 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the war, and by the increased immigration after its close. Besides, 
the territorial legislature, emulating the liiiancial aspirations of 
Ohio and Kentucky, which had each authorized a number of banks, 
incorporated at its session of 1810, the Bank of Illinois, located at 
Shawueetown, and at the succeeding session, the banks of 
EdAvardsville and Kaskaskia. They were banks of issue. And 
the legislature, not satisfied with this, very unjustly lent its aid in 
forcing the issue of these banks upon the people; not only these, 
but the issues of the banks of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and 
Missouri, by the enactment of laws postponing the collection of 
debts unless the creditor ^yould receive the notes of these banks, 
were thus likewise forced upon the people. Both became banks 
of deposit for the United States funds, arising from the sales of 
public lands, which they used as their own. The government lost 
by the Edwardsville bank, $54,000, for which judgment was 
obtained, but never collected ; the Shawneetown bank eventually 
accounted to the government in full. 

This made money, such as it was, abundant, times flush, and 
rendered a spirit of speculation rife, which was apparently a 
desirable state of affau's, if it had been all. The circulation of 
bank notes among a people largely ignorant and unused to them, 
afforded to the vicious a rare opi^ortuuity to set afloat quantities of 
counterfeit money. This evil became so great that, to restrain it, 
many of the best citizens of St. Clair county did what no good 
citizen should ever do — organized themselves into "Regulating com- 
panies," as tliey designated themselves, to visit swift judgment 
and condign i)unishment in the forum of Judge Lynch, upon such 
oflenders as were to their secret cabal proven guilty. A L)r. Estes, 
of Belleville, was chosen as their captain. Many makers or 
utterers of the base currency, and for other crimes, fell under their 
ban and were punished. It created great excitement in the country. 
Public opinion soon withdrew its countenance and condemned the 
order. After a few months time its organization ceased to exist. 

The visionary schemes of banking operations during territorial 
tinu^s culminated in the Cairo City charter, granted at the session 
of 1817-18. The low tongue of land between the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi ri\ ers at their confluence, was at a very early period re- 
garded as the best position hi the west for a great ami imi)ortant 
city, " as it res]>ects commercial advantages and local supply," as 
the preamble had it. Such a city, it was argued, must become of 
Aast consequence to the prosperity of the territory. But this low 
point of land Avas frequently inundated ; in answer to which it 
was further argued, that as the ordinary inundations of the 
two great rivers rarely happened simultaneously, an embankment 
might be constructed to effectually obviate the injurious conse- 
quences of floods. The proprietors and incorporators of the city 
and bank of Cairo were John G. Comyges, Thomas H. Harris, 
Charles Slade (afterwards member of Congress), Shadrach Bond 
(afterwards Governor), Michael Jones, Warren Brown, Edward 
Humphries, and Charles W. Hunter. These gentlemen proposed 
the following self-executing scheme to build up a large city there, 
pour wealth into their coffers, and at the same time render them- 
selves pubhc benefactors. The basis or capital of the banking in- 
stitution was 2000 Cairo city lots, 60 by 120 feet, valued and lim- 
ited at $150 each. The streets were to be 80 feet in width. As fast 



ILLINOIS TERRITORY. 293 



as the lots were sold $50 of the proceeds of each was to be devoted 
to the constructiou of a levee to secure thein against the floods, 
and to the iniproveiueut of the city by the building of public edi- 
fices. The residue — being $100 per lot — was to constitute the cap- 
ital of the bank, amounfing to $200,000. Thus was a great city 
to be founded ! Could Utopia go further ? Of course tlie scheme 
l)roved a failure. Cairo languished for many years, but at the 
present, with actual capital, the power of nerve and muscle, and 
the concentration of railroads, she is making rapid strides toward 
the realization of her early dreams. During the interiuil improve- 
ment mania of 1837 this Cairo Bank was galvanized into life, but 
after flouiishing a short period expired. 

Another Utopia was the incorporation of a company, at the same 
session, for the cutting ot a canal a few miles north of Cairo to 
unite the waters of the Mississippi with the Ohio, via the tOAvn of 
America, then in Johnson county, owned by the comi^any. Tolls, 
wharfage charges, etc., under certain restrictions, were i)ermitted 
to this company ; but nothing came oi it. The scheme was some 
15 or 18 years since revived, iu connection with the present 
Mound City. 

Commerce throughout the early and territorial period of Illinois, 
and to no inconsiderable extent for some time afterward, was in its 
helpless infancy. All foreign products consumed here, either nat- 
ural or manufactured, were brought to Illinois via New Orleans, 
in keel-boats, pushed at great labor, with long jioles, and towed at 
points with long ropes, a process called "cordelling," against the 
stong current of the Mississippi, by the hardy boatmen of that 
day ; or wagoned over the Alleghany mountains from Philadelphia 
to Pittsburgh, or from Baltimore to Wheeling, thence in flat-boats 
floated down the Ohio and landed at convenient points, whence they 
were again taken by wagons to the final points of destination. A 
trip from St. Louis to New Orleans and back, with keel-boats, 
was a six months voyage. But a revolution in the carrying busi- 
ness of the world, was at hand. The power of steam had been 
utilized, and by Fulton successfully applied to the propulsion 
of vessels, which produced a wonderful efl:ect uj)on the western 
country in contrast between steam as a motor for couA-eyance and 
the ordinary mode by keel or flat-boat, which inaugurated a new era. 

The first steamboat to ascend the Upper Mississippi, reached 
St. Louis August 2, 1817. It was named the " General Pike," and 
was commanded by Captain Jacob Reed. 

[Of the first steamboat on the Ohio, the "New Orleans," which was launched at 
Pittsburgh in the summer of 1811, it is related that. The novel appearance of the 
vessel, and the tearful rapidity with which the passage was made o\-er the broad 
reaches of the river, excited a mixture of terror and surprise amon^ many of the 
settlers on the banks, whom the rumor of such an invention had never reached : and 
it is related that on tiie unexpected arrival of the boat before Louisville, in the course 
of a fine, still nK)onlig'ht night, the extraordinary sound which filled the airas the pent 
up steam was allowed to escape from the valves, on rounding to, prrduceda general 
alarm, and multitudes in the town rose from their beds to ascertain the cause. * * 
The general impression among the good Kcntuckians was, that the comet [of 1811, visi- 
ble at the time with its immense fiery tail, and by the superstitious believed to be the 
harbinger of war and all sorts of direevill, had fallen into the Ohio. 
'•She walked the waters like a thing of life. 
And seemed to dare the elements of strife." 
At Louisville, owing to the small depth of water on the falls, the boat was detained 3 
weeks, during which time several trips were made by her between that place and Cin- 
cinnati . The waters finally rose, and the trip to New Orleans was resumed. On reach 
ing the Lower Mississippi, the boat was nearly overwhelmed by the earthquakes which 
rocked the waters of the great river to and fro, and which continued for several days, 



294: HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The pursuits of tlie people during territorial times were mainly 
agricultural, varied by hunting and trapping. Few merchants 
were required to supply the ordinary articles of consumption not 
produced or manufactiu'ed at home. Coffee, tea, and sugar did 
not then generally enter into the daily meals of the family. Ma- 
terials for i)ersonal wear were either grown, or taken in the 
chase, and manufactured into garments by wife or daughter, the 
merchant suj)plying only some of the dye stuff to color the wool, 
flax or cotton. Foreign manufactured boots and shoes, or hats 
and caps, were worn but by few — home-made moccasins and rac- 
coon caps sujiplying the place. Mechanics in pursuit of their 
trades are seldom pioneers, and every settler Avas his own carpen- 
ter. The houses, mostlj' log cabins, were built without glass, 
nails, hinges or locks ; the furniture, too, modeled in the same 
rude fashion, was uuide by the same hand. Yokes for oxen, and 
liarness for horses, the carts and wagons in daily use — without 
tires, boxes or iron — whose woeful creakings, for the want of tar, 
which was not imported, miglit be heard at a great distance, all 
were manufactured as o(;casion required by self-taught artifi- 
cers. 

commencing on the morning of the 16th of December, 1811. They were severest in the 
neitrhborhood of New Madrid, where, on the Tennessee side, a few miles back o f the 
river, the earth sunk in many places 50 and 60 feet, carrying- with it great trees left 
standing erect, producing what is known as the Reel-foot lake — Rambler in North 
America. 










^'^- 






-t,.^— 



Chapter XXVI. 

OEGANIZATION OF THE STATE GOVEENMENT— AD- 
MINLSTRATIOX OF GOVEENOR BOKD. 

Our Northern Boundary — First Constitutional Convention and Some- 
thing of the Instrument Framed — Governor Bond — Lieutenant- 
governor Menard — Meeting of the Legislature and Flection of 
State Officers — First Supreme Court — Hard Times and First State 
Bank — Organization of Counties. 



By the year 1818, owing to her rapid increase of population, 
Elinois aspired to a position among the sisterhood of sovereign 
States. 'Accordingly, the territorial legislature, in session at Kas- 
kaskia in January of that year, prepared and sent to Nathaniel 
Pope, our delegate in congress, their petition praying for the 
admission of Illinois into the Union on an equal footing with the 
original States. The petition was promptly presented, and the 
committee on territories in due time reported a bill for the admission 
•of Illinois with a population of 40,000. The ordinance of 1787 
required 60,000. Mr. Pope, looking to the future of this State, 
succeeding in amending the bill as it came from the hands of the 
■committee, in several essential features. Oue of these was to ex- 
tend the northern boundary of the State to the parallel of 42 
•degrees 30 minutes north latitude. The 5th section of the ordi- 
nance of 1787, required that at least three States be formed out 
of the Northwest territory — defining the boundary of the western 
State by the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Wabash rivers, and a 
line running due north from Post Vincennes, on the last named 
stream, to Canada. This included the present States of Illinois 
and Wisconsin. But, by a proviso, it was reserved " that if con- 
gress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority 
to form one or two States in that part of said territory' which lies 
north of an east and west line diawn thiough the southerly bend of 
Lake Michigan." The line of 42 deg.30 min. extended the boundary 
50 miles farther north. To the vigilance of Nathaniel Pope, 
therefore, are we indebted for a coast on Lake Michigan to this 
extent : for the site' occupied by the present mighty city of Chi- 
cago ; for the northern terminus of the Illinois and Michigan 
canal, and for the lead mines of Galena — all of which come 
within that extension. It was upon the above quoted language 
of the ordinance of 1787, which was declared a compact to remain 

295 



296 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

forever unalterable, tliat Wisconsin subsequently based her claim 
to the 14 northern counties of this State. 

While the foregoing were paramount considerations with the 
peoi)le of Illinois, others were urged with much force and entire 
effectiveness upon congress, acting for the nation at large. Even 
at that day statesmen had not failed to mark the inherent weak- 
ness, and consequent easy dissolution, of confederated republics. 
The late civil war had not then demonstrated the strength and 
unity of the American confederation through the loyalty of the 
l^eople. European statesmen had entertained no other thought 
than that at the first interiuil hostile trouble, the bonds of the 
Union would be broken and scattered to the winds. It was easily 
shown that the geographical ]30sition of Illinois made her the key 
in the western arch of States. The southern extren)ity of Illinois 
penetrated far between the slaves States down to the main Mis- 
sissippi, aftbrdiug an outlet to the Gulf the year round, and 
skirted with hundreds of miles of navigable rivers on either side ; 
to give her, therefore, a fair coast on the lake would also unite 
her interests through the strong bonds of trade and commerce 
with the north and east. Linking thus the north and the south 
by her "geographical position and the ties of intercourse, her in- 
terests must be conservative, and she would ever exert a controll- 
ing influence upon the perpetuity of the Union. This view has- 
been amply verified in the late war by the prompt occupation of 
Cairo, and the rally of her near 200,000 sons to the national 
standard. 

Another amendment was, that the three-fifths of the 5 per cent 
fund from the sale of public lauds, applied to the construction of 
public Avorks in other States carved out of the northwest territory, 
should instead be devoted by the legislature to the encouragement 
of education ; one-sixth of which to be exclusively bestowed on a 
college or university. These important amendments were sug- 
gested and urged by Mr. Pope without instruction, but they re- 
ceived the ready sanction of the people, and to-day we are 
realizing the full fruition of his foresight.* The bill became a law 
April 18, 1818. 

•Nathaniel Pope was an able lawyer, and in his official relations was ever faithful to 
his trusts. His tirst appearance in Illinois, as we have seen, was as secretary of the 
te-ritory. In 1816, he was elected delegate to cong'ress and procured the enabling 
act for the admission of llhnois as a State Subsequently he was appointed United 
States district judge, in which capacity heserved for many years, residing- in Spring- 
field. He died in 1850, 

[Note — The question of our northern boundary agitated the people of the section 
concerned for man.v years, entering into their political conflicts and exercising an> 
important influence upon their local affairs. Many of the old settlers down to a. 
late date, condemned this striking departure from the ordinance of 1787, which fixed 
the present line 50 miks further north. Boundary meetings at various places in the- 
14 northern counties continued to be held from time to time, showing the feeling to. 
be deep and wide spread. sVe note the proceedings of a large meeting held at Ore-- 
gon City, January 'Zi, 1813, as showing the grounds of complaint, and the purpose of" 
the people to either belong to Wisconsin or set up for themselves: 

"ftesolutd, That in the opinion of this meeting, that part of the northwest territory^ 
which lies north of an 'east and west line through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake 
Michigan,' belongs to and of right ought to be a part of the State or States which, 
have been or may be formea north of said line." , 

Wisconsin was yet a territory. They resolved further that the ordinance of 1787 
could not be altered or changed without the consent of the people of the original 
Slates and of the northwest territory ; that as part of the people of said territory, 
they would not so consent ; that the lines designated in the oroinance were better 
suited to the geographical situation and local interests of their region ; that they 
were decidedly opposed to place any of the territory north of said line within the 
jurisdiction of a State south of it ; that they recommended the legislature of Wis- 
consin to apply for admission into the Union, claiming the line of the ordinance as. 



bond's administration. 297 



In pursuance of the enabling act a convention was called to draft 
the first constitution of the State of Illinois, wliich assembled at 
Kaskaskia in July, 1818, and completed its labors by signing- the 
constitution on the 20th of August following. We sul)ioin the 
names of the delegates, and the counties which they represented^ 
in the order of their organization : 

St. Clair county — Jesse B. Thomas, John Messinger, James 
Lemon, jr. 

Randolph — George Fisher, Elias Kent Kane. 

Madison — Benjamin Stepheusou, Joseph Borough, Abraham 
Prick ett. 

Gallatin — Michael Jones, Leonard White, Adolphus Frederick 
Hubbard. 

Johnson — Hezekiah West, Wm. McFatridge. 

Edwards — Seth Gard, Levi Compton. 

White — Willis Hargrave, Wm. McHenry. 

Monroe — Caldwell Cams, Enoch Moore. 

Pope — Samuel O'Melveny, Hamlet Ferguson. 

Jackson — Conrad Will, James Hall, jr. 

Crawford — Joseph Kitchell, Edward IS". Cullom. 

Bond — Thomas Kilpatrick, Samuel G. Morse. 

Union — Wm. Echols, John Whitaker. 

Washington — Andrew Bankson.* 

Franklin — Isham Harrison, Thomas Roberts. 

Jesse B. Thomas was chosen president, and Wm. C. Greenup 
secretary of the convention. 

The constitution was not submitted to a vote of the people for 
their approval or rejection; nor did the people have much to do 
with the choice or election of officers generally under it, other than 
that of governors, the general assemblies, slierift's and coroners. 
Notwithstanding the elective franchise was in a blazon manner 
extended to all white male inhabitants above the age of 21, having 
a residence in the State of 6 months next preceding any election, 
which it will be perceived included aliens and possibly invited 
immigration, there was scarcely an office left to be filled by its 
exercise. 

The electors or people were not trusted with the choice of State 
officers, other than mentioned; nor of their judges, either supreme, 
circuit, or probate ; nor of their prosecuting attorneys, county or 
circuit clerks, recorders, or justices of the peace; the appointment 
of nearly all these being vested in the general assembly, which 
body was not slow to avail itself of the powers thus conferred to 
their full extent. The language of the schedule was, "an auditor 
of public accounts, an attorney general, and such other officers of 
the State as may be necessary, may be appointed by the general 
assembly, whose duties may be regulated by law." It is said to 
have been a question for many years, in view of this language, 

their southern boundary : that they disclaimed any intention to absolve themselves 
from any pecuniary responsibility created by the leg-islature of Illinois on account of 
the inter iial improvement system, etc. The resolutions were adopted unanimously. 
A committee of 9 was appointed to proceed to Madison, with full power to consult 
with the governor and the legislature of Wisconsin territory. Governor Dot.v and the 
lefrislature gave them their a-ssurancps of earnest co-operation in petitioning congress 
toward the end in view. But nothing ever came of all the clamor. The essential 
point was, whether the acts of the congress of the confederated States are of shcI> 
binding force that a congress of tliu United States cannot annul or amend them 
— whether the former possessed a higher power than the latter. 
*Bankson's colleague died during the session of the convention 



298 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



what was "an officer of the State." The goveruoi.s were for a time 
allowed to appoint State's attorneys, recorders, State commis- 
sioners, bank directors, &c., but the legislatures afterward vested 
by law the appointment of all these and many more in themselves. 
Occasionally, when in full political accord, the governor would 
be allowed the appointing power pretty freeiy, to perhaps be 
shorn of it by a succeeding legislature. In the administration of 
Duncan, wlio had forsaken Jackson and incurred the displeasure 
of the dominant party, tlie governor was linallj' stripped of all 
patronage, except the appointment of notaries public and public 
administrators. It was a bad feature of the constitution ; it not 
only deprived the people of their just rights lo elect the various 
officers as at present, but led hordes of place hunters to repair to 
the seat of government at every session of the legislature, to 
besiege and torment members for office. Indeed, this was the 
chief occupation of many an honorable member. Innumerable in- 
trigues and corruptions for place and power were thus indulged. 

To the governor was denied the veto power; but he, jointly with 
the four supreme judges, was constituted a council to revise all 
bdls i)assed, before they should become laws. For this purpose 
the judges were required to attend at the seat of government 
during the sessions of the legislature, Avithout compensation. The 
validity of all laws was thus decided in advance. If the council 
of revision, or a majority, deemed it improper for any bill to become 
a law, their objections were to be noted in writing ; but the bill 
might, notwithstanding, be passed over their objections by a ma- 
jority and become a law. While the executive is commonly 
a co-ordinate branch of the law-making power, here he wasentirely 
stripped ; and while the judicial department is never thus vested, 
here it was clothed with a quasi legislative prerogative. 

The constitution was wboutthe iirst organic law of any State in 
the Union to abolish imprisonment for debt. It did not prohibit 
the legislature from granting divorces; and this was a fruitful 
source of legislation, as the old statutes abundantly testify. But 
its worst feature, perhaps, was the want of a limitation against 
the legislature loaning or pledging the faith and credit of the State 
in aid of, or to* the undertaking of, any public or private enter- 
prise; or to the aid of any individuals, associations, or cori)ora- 
tions. The absence of such most necessary limitations, caused 
her repeated connections afterward Avith banking schemes, and 
her undertaking the vast system of internal improvement in 1837, 
all of which proved detrimental to her credit, harassing and 
expensive to her finances, and came near bankrupting and com- 
pleting her ruin. Of the members of the convention, Elias Kent 
Kane, afterward a senator in congress, is mentioned with commenda- 
tion as a leading spirit, and as largely stami)ing the constitution 
with its many excellencies. 

["During the sitting- of the convention the Rev. Mr. Wiley and congTeuation. of a sect 
called Covenanters, in Eiandolph county, sent in their petition asltins' that body to 
declare in the constitution, that "Jesus Christ was the head of the government, and that 
the Holy Scriptures were the only rule of faith and practice." The petition was not 
treated "with any attention, wherefore the Covenanters have never fully recotinized 
the State government. They have looked upon it as "an heathen and unbaptized 
government," which denies Christ; for which reason they havf^ constantly refused to 
work the roads, serve on juries, liold anj^ office, or do anj' otiier act showing that tliey 
recognized the government For a long time they refused to vote, and never did until 
the election of 1824, when the question v/as, whether Illinois should be made a slave 
State, when they voted for the first time, and unanimously againstslavery."— Governor 
Ford's History.] 



bond's administration. 299 

The first electiou uutler the constitiitiou, for goveiiior, Ueut. 
governor, and members of the general assembly, was, according 
to the appointment of the convention, held on the third Thursday, 
and the two succeeding days, in September, 1818. All white male 
inliabitants 21 years old, residing in the State at the adoption of 
the constitution were permitted to vote. The general assembly was 
to meet at Kaskaskia on the first Monday (being the 5th) of Oct. 
following, to set the machinery of the new government in motion. 
After that, regular sessions were to commence on the first Mondays 
of December. Shadrach Bond was elected governor and Pierre 
Menard lieutenant governor, as had been exj)ected even before 
the formation of the con.stitution; they had no opposition. Their 
terms of service were till 1822, four years. 

Governor Bond was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1773, 
and was raised a farmer on his father's plantation, and agriculture 
was his pursuit in Illinois, whither he emigrated in 1794. He had 
received but a plain English education. To a convivial, benevolent 
disposition, he joined a naturally shrewd observation of men and 
a clear appreciation of events. His person was erect, standing 6 
feet in hight, and after middle life he became portly, weighing 
200 pounds. His features Avere strongly masculine, complexion 
dark, hair jet, and eyes hazel. He was a favorite with the ladies.t 
His jovial disposition, thorough honesty and unostentations inter- 
course with the people, made him the most popidar man of his 
day. He had been a member of the general assembly under the 
Indiana Territory, a delegate to congress in 1812, and in the latter 
capacity he procured the right of pre-emption on the public 
domain ; in 1814 he was appointed receiver of the public moneys 
at Kaskaskia. After his gubernatorial term expired he ran in 
1824, for congress against Daniel P. Cook, but was beaten. Sub- 
sequently he was appointed register of the land oflice at Kas- 
kaskia ; where he died, in peace and contentment, April 11, 1830. 
The county of Bond was named in honor of his memory. 

Pierre JMenard was born at Quebec in 1767. At the age of 19, 
inspired by adventure, he came to Vincennes and entered the 
employ of Col. Vigo, a merchant. In 1790 heremoved to Kaskaskia 
and engaged in merchandising with DuBois, of Vincennes. By 
his trade with the Indians, and in various public capacities, he soon 
became well known. Nature made him frank, kind and honest; 
his mind, with but an ordinary education, was strong, and his 
judgment quick and unerring. His industry was wonderful, being 
never idle. For many years he was government agent for the 
Indians, and that race had the most implicit confidence in his in- 
tegrity. As a merchant, it is said, he could buy their peltries 
at half the price a "Long-Knife" would have to pay. He 
had been a member of tlie lower house of the legislature while 
Illinois was under the Indiana regime, and a member of the Illinois 
legislative council from 1812 to 1818, being the president of that 
body. In the framing, of the constitution the qualifications for 
lieutenant governor were first fixed the same as those of the gov- 
ernor — one of which was citizenship of the United States for 30 
years ; but as that would exclude Col. Menard, who had been natur- 
alized only some two years, the convention changed this provision 
intheschedule as a special favor to him, he being generally looked 

+Rey Hold's Pioneer History. 



300 HISTOHY OF ILLINOIS. 

forward to for that position. After- the expiration of his term of 
ofiice lie dechned all further tenders of office, accepting only that 
of United States Commissioner to treat with the Indians, whose 
character he knew so well. He accnmulated qnite a fortune, but 
it was greatly impaired by that kindness of heart which allowed 
him to become secnrity for his friends. In 1839 the legislature 
honored his name by establishing the county of Menard. He died 
in 1814: at the ripe age of 77 years. 

The State legislature met at the appointed time, October 5th, 
1818. Ninian Edwards, the retiring execntive of the defunct 
territorial government, and Jesse B. Thomas, one of the federal 
judges for the territory, who had also been president of the con- 
stitutional convention, both looked forward to the United States 
senatorship, and were not disappointed in their aspirations. Our 
member to the lower house of congress at the time, was John 
McLean, elected in the September previous, in one of the most 
memorai)le political campaigns ever had in Illinois, Daniel P. 
Cook being his opponent. Elijah C. Berry was elected auditor of 
public accounts, John Thomas, State treasurer, Daniel P. Cook, 
attorney general, and Messrs. Blackwell & Berry State printers.^ 
Elias Kent Kane was appointed Secretary of State. The supreme 
court, the judges whereof were required also to do circuit duty, 
was to consist of one chief justice and three associate justices. 
Both houses again met in joint session on the 8th, and on the first 
ballot Joseph Phillijxs was elected chief justice by 34 out of 40 
votes cast; Thomas C. Brown receiving 4, and Henry S. Dodge 3. 
Eor associate justices, Wm. P. Foster and Thonuis C. Brown were 
chosen on the tirst ballot, Henry S. Dodge receiving at the same 
time 18 votes, William Wilson 15, C. R. Matheny 9, John Warnock 
1, James W. Whiting 1, and Joseph Kitcheli 7. On balloting 
again, a new candidate, John Reynolds, afterwards governor, was 
brought forward and on the second ballot elected by 22 out of the 
40 votes cast. Phillips was a lawyer of fine intellectual endow- 
ment. He had been a captain in the regular army, and during the 
war of 1812 had seen service in Illinois; afterward he was appointed 
secretary of the territory in place of Nathaniel Pope. Being 
ambitious, he aspired above the dull routine of the court at that 
day, and in 1822, becoming a candidate for governor against 
Coles, resigned his place upon the bench on the 4th of Jnly, but 
was defeated. This was more than his high-strung nature would 
brook, and with feelings of disgust at the ingratitude of the people, 
afterward quitted the State and removed to Tennessee. On the 31st 
of August, 1822, Thomas Reynolds was appointed in his place. 
Brown was a large, somewhat stately looking, affable man, yielding 
in his disposition, with little industry for study, and few of the 
higher qualities for a jndge. He remained on the bench till the 
constitution of 1848 went into effect, a period exceeding thirty 
years. 

Reynolds, in his "Own Times," written many years later, tells 
how he came to be chosen a member of that exalted tribunal, the 
supreme court. At the time he resided at Cahokia and had no 
intention of visiting the session of the legislature, which was dis- 
pensing so many fat things on the first organization of the State 
gover-nment. He cared little who obtained office, and certainly 
wanted none for himself. But being urged by his friends, he 



bots^d's administration. 301 

joined tliem in a visit to Kaskaskia, Upon arrival tliey found 
inucli excitement and commotion at the capital, incident to the 
selection of State ofticers. In a few days lie was uryed to give 
his assent to bec<jme a candidate for supreme judge. Tliis request, 
he says, broke upon him like a clap of thunder. His consent was 
yielded, he was elected. His experience in the law was four years 
practice of " commerce in land." * "I speculated, sold land and 
bought two stores of dry goods, amounting to $1(),(H)0." His first 
term of court was to him a "strange and novel business." This was 
at Covington, Washington county, among his former comrades 
of fudian rangers, who now failed to draw the line of distinction due 
him as a supreme judge. The sheriff, unmindful of the exalted 
])osition of bis old comrade in arms, on opening coui't, made proc- 
lainafion of the fact, without rising from the rude bench in the 
court room which he occupied astride, saying, in a familiar tone, 
"Boys, the court is now open, John is on the bench." These 
omissions of ceremony were not distasteful to his honor, for he 
utterly detested any kijul of mock dignity, though he says he was 
not regardless of the "solemn, serious dignity and decorum" proper 
in the proceedings of court.* 

Foster, another of the supreme judges, resigned within a 
year — June 22, 1819. He " was almost a total stangerin the coun- 
try. He was a great rascal, but no one knew it then, he having 
been a citizen of the State oidy for about three weeks before he 
was elected. He was no lawyer, never having either studied or 
practiced law ; but a man of winning, polished manners, and 
withal a gentlemanly swindler, from some part of Virginia. * * 
He was believed to be a clever fellow, in the American sense of 
that i)lirase, and a good hearted soul. He was assigned to hold 
courts in the circuit on the Wabash ; but being fearful of expos- 
ing his utter incompetency, he never went near any of them. 
In the course of one year he resigned his high office, but took care 
first to pocket his salary, and then removed out of the State. He 

*Gov. Ford in his history, writes; "This same judge presided at a court in which a 
man named Green was convicted of murder; and it became his unpleasant duty to pro- 
nounce sentence of death upon the culprit. He called tlie prisoner before him, and 
said to him: 'Mr. Green, the jury in their s'erdict say j'ou are guilty of murder, and the 
hiw says you are to be hung-. Now I want you and all your friends down on Indian Creek, 
to know thiit It is not I who condemns you, but it is the jury and the law. Mr. Green, 
the law allows y-ou time for preparation, and so the court wants to know what time j^ou 
would like to bu hung.' To this the prisoner replied, 'May it please the court, I am 
ready at any time ; those who kill the boly have no power to kill the soul ; my prepara- 
tion is made, and I am ready to suffer at any time the court may sippoint.' The judge 
then said, 'Mr Green, you must know that it is a very serious matter to be hung; it 
can'thappen to a man more than once in his life, and you had better take all the time 
you can g-et; the court will give you until this daj' lour weeks. Mr. Clerk, look at the 
almanac, and see whether this daj' four weeks comes on Sunday.' The clerk k)oked 
at the almanac, as directed, and reported that 'thatday four weeks came on Thursday.' 
The judge then said, 'Mr. Green, the court gives you until this day four weeks, at 
which time you are to be hung.' The case was iirosecutcd by James Turney, Esq.. the 
attorney general of the State, who here Interposed and said : 'May it please the court, 
on solenm occasions like the present, when the lite of a human being is to be sentenced 
away for crime, by an earthly tribunal, it is usual and proper for courts to pronounce a 
formal sentence, in which the leading features of the crime shall be brought to the re- 
collection of the prisoner, a sense of his guilt impressed upon his conscience, and in 
which the prisoner should be duly exhorted to repent^mee, and warned against the 
judgment in the world to come.' To this the judge replied. 'O! Mr Turney, Mr 
Green understands the whole matter as well as if I had preached to him a month. He 
knows he has got to be hung this day four weeks. Vou understand it in that way. Mr. 
Green, don't you?' 'Yes,' said the prisoner; ui)on which the judge remanded him to 
jail, and the court then adjourned." 

Reynolds, in his work entitled "My Own Times," takes pains to deny the "sill.y fabri- 
cation recorded in history," and says : '•! may not have acted in that frigid, unfeeling 
and mechanical manner that would please heartless and superficial men, who gen- 
erally write and detail these tea-pot slanders. * * I considered them both [alluding 
to the case of one Bennet also] guilty, and the judgment of the court was so under- 
stood, that they were both to be executed." 



302 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



afterwards became a noted swindler, moving from city to city, 
and living by swindling strangers, and prostituting his daughters, 
who were very beautiful."* 

On the 7th' of August, 1819, William Wilson was appointed to 
fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Foster. Wilson 
was a young man, scarcely 25 years old, of spotless character, 
good education (though not collegiate), and fair attainments as a 
lawyer. He was social in his disposition, candid and artless by 
nature, with a manner i^leasantand winning. He proved a sound 
judge, and presided with a dignity which inspired the utmost 
respect in the bar and attendants. Thus organized, and with 
these men to guide her helm of State, was Illinois launched on 
her career of independence among the sisterhood of sovereign 
States. The men who, a little over a half century ago, assisted 
at the political birth of this now great State, were, many of them, 
the equals in sturdy virtues of the heroes of the Eevolution, 
and the peers in commanding intellect of the founders of any 
of the States ; but, without exception, they.bave passed to the land 
of shadows, and many of them lie buried in obscure graves, their 
fleeds of greatness unknown to the great majority of the busy 
throng of to-day. 

But Illinois had not yet been declared admitted into the Union; 
congress was not in session. At the October meeting of the 
assembly therefore, no legislation or business other than tlie elec- 
tion of officers was attempted, for obvious reasons. After a 
session of eight days a recess was taken till the first Monday in 
January, 1819. In the meantime congress met, and by resolution 
of December 3d, 1818, declared Illinois to be " one of the United 
States of America, ami admitted into the Union on an equal foot- 
ing with the original States in all respects." 

Of the 15 counties organized at the adoption of the constitution, 
the farthest north was Bond. Only about one-fourth of the terri- 
tory^ of the State was embraced in these 15 counties. The settled 
portions of the State were all south of a line drawn from Alton, 
via Carlyle, to Palestine on the Wabash ; but within this area 
were large tracts of wilderness country of several days journey in 
extent ; the settlements being mostly scattered along the borders 
of the great rivers. All the vast prairies north of this line, com- 
prising the most fertile lands of the State, and nearly every acre 
of which was susceptible of cultivation, ready cleared and j^re- 
pared, as it were, for the hand of the husbandman, was a howling 
wilderness, uninliabited save by the red savage and the prairie 
wolf. 

The population of the new State for admission into the Union 
was required to be 40,000 ; the (;ensus of 1820 showed 55,211. 
This was a remarkable ratio of increase — exceeding 300 per cen- 
tum within the preceding decade — the greater part of which had 
come hither since the close of the war of 1812. Of this iiopulation, 
scarcely a twentieth part were the descendants of the old French or 
Canadian settlers, whose blood, by their long isolation, had become 
freely intermingled with that of the Indians. Nineteen-twentieths 
of the residue were Americans, and with the exception of some 
from Pennsylvania, were almost wholly from the southern States. 
The latter stamped their peculiar characteristics of manners and 

*Ford'8 History Illinois, 



bond's administration. 303 

customs, in business and social relations, upon all of southern 
Illinois, which are in great part retained to this day. The means 
of education were extremely limited, and with the exceptiou of 
one school for surveying- and book-keei)ing, the only branches of 
learning taught at that time were sj^elliug, reading, writing and 
arithmetic. Nor were the latter generally taught, or without price. 
Professional men came almost invariably from abroad, iinless they 
were ministers of the gospel, who, at that day, more than perhaps 
at the present, in obedience to the voice of the Lord, entered at 
once upon their sacred calliug without other preparations than a 
diligent reading of the scriptures — the free quotation of which, 
often without jjoint or application, and their vehement exhorta- 
tions being about all that was expected of them by the jieople. 

In his message to the general assembly, January, 1819, Governor 
Bond reported the treasury of the new State in an embarrassed 
condition, and advised a temporary loan. The total revenue of 
the State, due December 1st, 1818, was reported by the auditor 
at $7,510 44, part of which was in the hands of delinqjient col- 
lectors, while for still another part, the sheriffs of St. Clair and 
Gallatin counties had refused to receive the warrants. A tempo- 
rary loan of $25,000 was therefore authorized by the legislature. 
The governor also advised a revision and modification of the ter- 
ritorial laws for the punishment of crimes, the penalties whereof 
were unnecessarily severe. But this the legislature did not view 
in the same light, aud uo amelioration in the barbarous penalties 
of the territorial code was made. They were re-enacted verbatim 
(the enacting clause alone being changed to conform to the new 
government), with all the whippings, the stocks and pillory, and 
death by hanging for rape, arson, horse-stealing, etc., left intact. 
They were, however, modified at the session of 1821 ; and not only 
the criminal code, but all the standard laws were regularly altered 
at every session down to the revision of 1827.* 

The building of jails and a penitentiary was also recommended 
by the governor ; so also the leasing of the school sections — the 
proceeds to be expended for education, and those from the town- 
ship of seminary lands, to be reserved for subsequent use. The 
governor also recommended at that early day, the taking of some 
steps toward the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal, 
a work which was not accomplished, however, for thirty years 
after, but through which, at this writing, by the enterprise of Chi- 
cago, the limpid waters of Lake Michigan course their way to the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

The legislature fixed the salaries of the State officers as follows : 
Governor and supreme judges, $1000 each; auditor, $700 ; sec- 
retary of State, $t)00 ; treasurer, $500 ; payable quarterly out of 
the State treasmy. The per diem compensation allowed to mem- 
bers of the legislature, and also to the delegates who framed the 
constitution, was $4, and to each of the presiding officers $5. 

The State revenue was chietiy raised by a tax upon lands owned 
by non-residents, which at an early day fell almost wholly upon 
the military tract between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, while 

•"For a long- time the rag-e for amendino: and altering was so great, thiit it was said to 
be a g-ood thing that the Holy Scriptures did not have to come before the legislature, for 
that body would be certain to alter or amend them, so that no one could tell what was 
or was not the word of God, any more than could be told what was or was not the law 
of the State."— Ford's History 111. 



304 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tlie comity reveuues were raised by a tax on personal property, 
including- slaves or indentured servants, and by a resident laud 
tax. Unlike as at present, the vahiation of lands were then fixed 
by law, in three classes, of $15, $3 and $4 per acre, respectively. 
The levies of taxes were made according to the estinuites of the 
sums required to defray accruing exjienses, either State or county. 
Non-residents were required to enter their lands for taxation 
directly with the auditor, under oath as to class ; and the taxes 
on their lands were i)ayable directly to this officer. The collection 
of the State revenue on delinquent lands was enforced by sending 
lists thereof to the sheriffs of counties where situated to be ex- 
posed at public sale. The penalty for failure of j)ayment was 
three times the tax imposed and costs. 

A j)eculiar feature in the legislation of the times was the mak- 
ing of imi)ortant public improvements bj means of jirivate lot- 
tery schemes. Thus, the navigation of the Big Wabash at the 
Grand Eapids, near Palmyra, by the digging of a canal, was 
to be accomi)lished by a lottery. Perhaps a superfluous provision 
in the law was, that the overplus of any moneys arising from the 
scheme, should, at the discretion of the managers, be laid out in 
further improvements. Other like schemes had for their object 
the drainage of ponds in the American Bottom, the building of 
levees, and the reclamation of lands; all of them most Avorthy 
objects, but, as might have been expected, the means provided 
were very inadequate to the accomplishment of the ends. The 
session of 1819, was the last ever held at the ancient village of 
Kaskaskia. 

We have noted the fact that the legislature, duriiig the latter 
years of territorial existence, granted charters to several banks. 
Prior to that, Ohio and Kentucky had each a large number in oper- 
ation. Missouri also authorized two at St. Louis. The result was 
that paper money became very abundant, times flush, credit un- 
limited, the throng of immigrants, all with more or less means to 
invest large, and property rose rapidly in value. A spirit of spec- 
ulation became rife. Towns were numerously platted, lots pur- 
chased on credit, houses built on promises, government lands 
entered in large quantities — the price at the time being $2 i)er 
acre, one-fourth cash (the paper money of the banks being re- 
ceived at the land offices, which also deposited with the bank), 
and three-fourths on 5 years time, under penalty of forfeiture for 
non-i>ayinent at maturity of contracts. Everybody invested to 
the utmost limit of his credit, with the confident expectation of 
realizing a handsome advance before the expiration of his credit, 
from the coming immigrant. The merchants, ever enterprising, 
bought vast quantities of goods on time, transported hither by the 
increased facilities of steam navigation, while the ready credit 
obtained at the stores, begot extravagance among the people. 
Everybody was inextricably in debt to everybody. 

By 1819, it became apparent that a day of reckoning would 
approach before their dreams of fortune could be realized. Banks 
everywhere began to waver, paper money became depreciated, 
while gold and silver were driven out of circulation by the irre- 
deemable currency. The legislature, at its session of 1819, sought 
to bolster up the times, or stem the tide of approaching disaster, 
by incorporating a new Bank of Illinois, a monster concern, with 



bond's administration. 305 



a capital of $2,000,000 ; stock was divided iuto shares of $100, 
which might be subscribed by corporations or individuals, the 
State reserving- the right to take part or all that should remain, as 
the condition of the treasury might warrant, whenever the legisla- 
ture should deem it proper to do so. The charter was to run 27 
years. When 15 per cent of the stock was i^aid in, it was to go 
into operation. The total amount of its debts was never to exceed 
twice the amount of paid up stock, beyond which officers were to 
become liable individually. It might deal in specie, exchange, or 
paper pledged by goods sold, or goods which might be the pro- 
ceeds of its lands. This last was a very objectionable featirre. 
Books were opened for subscription in divers towns, but not a dol- 
lar of stock was ever taken, and it utterly failed to meet the 
exigency of the times. 

By 1820, the banks of neighboring States were broken, and those 
of Illinois suspended ; specie had Hed the country ; immigrants 
came as moneyless as were those who had looked forward to their 
well filled purses; paper towns failed to grow into flourishing vil- 
lages ; trade flagged; there was no commerce to bring- money into 
the country ; real estate was unsalable ; while contracts wildly 
entered into, matured. As the folly of the people became appar- 
ent, ruin stared them in the face. Enormous sacrifices of property 
under prospective executions must ensue, unless some scheme for 
relief could be devised. In August, 1820, a new legislature was 
elected. The genius of this body was invoked on the behalf of 
the embarrassed people. At its session of 1820-21, it willingly 
addressed itself to this work, and evolved the " Illinois State 
Bank" with a capital of half a million dollars, based entirely upon 
the credit of the State. 

The bills of this bank, issued in from $1 to $20 notes, were, by 
section 12, directed to be loaned to the people in sums of $100 on 
personal security, deemed to be, in the oi)inion of the board, good 
and sufficient ; and all sums over $100 — not to exceed $1,000 to 
any one borrower — on real estate security of double value. In- 
terest was six per cent. To bring the bank nearer to the people, 
a mother bank was located at Vandalia with branches well distrib- 
uted — at Edwardsville, Brownsville, Shawneetown and the county 
seat of Edwards county — the State, for the convenience of the 
public, being apportioned into 4 bank districts. Each county was 
entitled to a director, who with the bank officers, were all elected 
by the legislature. The notes weremade receivable in payment of all 
State and county taxes, costs and fees, and the salaries of the pub- 
lic officers wf re payable in them. They were also made a species 
of legal tender, for unless an execution creditor endorsed his exe- 
cution "The bills of the State Bank of Illinois, or either of the 
branches, will be received iii discharge of this execution," the de- 
fendant was entitled to three years stay bj' replevy- and personal 
security, a most unjust feature. Three hundred thousaml dollars 
were ordered to be issued immediately, to be distributed among the 
respective districts in proportion to the inhabitants thereof. When 
the banks commenced operation, every one who was able to fur- 
nish security, borrowed his $100, and those with lands uiiencum- 
bered, took their $1000 on mortgages ; and as both officers and 
directors were mostly politicians looking forward to place or polit- 
ical advancement, few applicants, it has been inferred, were denied 
20 



306 HISTOEY OP ILLINOIS. 

or had their endorsers closely scrutinized ; thus the $300,000 were 
soon absorbed by the people, and little of it was ever paid back. 
Mauy of those who received accommodations, regarded it from the 
start as "■ so much clear gain," and neither did nor intended to pay. 
although at the subsequent depreciation of the currency it was^ 
not dillicult to do so. 

The issues bore 2 per cent annual interest, and were redeemable 
by the State in 10 years time, which constituted them in fact bills 
of credit, Avhose emission is inimical to the constitution of the 
United States.* About this point no trouble was nuule however,, 
other than that the council of revision pointed out this among 
other objections to the bill ; but it was promptly passed notwith- 
standing. Although no i)rovision was made for the conversion of 
the notes into specie at any time, it was, nevertheless, confidently 
believed that the bills A^ ould keep at par with gold and silver, and 
our delegation in congress was gravely instructed to use their 
utmost exertion to jprocure them to be made receivable at the land 
offices in this State. "When this resolution was put to a vote in 
the senate, the old French lieutenant-governor. Colonel Menard^ 
presiding over that body, did up the business as follows: Gentle- 
men of de senate, it is moved and seconded dat de notes of dis 
bank be made land oftice money. All in favor of dat motion say 
aye ; all against it, say no. It is decided in de aftirmative. And 
now, gentlemen, I bet you $100 he never he made land office money.^^ 
Such pro^'ed to be the fact. 

The legislature were not unadvised of theu- infatuation. John 
McLean, subsequently a senator in congress, was speaker of 
the house. He was oi)posed to the measure, and his power as 
a forcible debater was justly dreaded by the bank men. It is 
rulable to debate all important bills in committee of the whole, 
that the speaker may participate. To avoid an arraignment of 
their bantling by him, the bank majority resorted to the trick of 
refusing to go into committee of the whole. Burning with indig- 
nation at such treatment, he promptly resigned the speakership, 
and taking the floor, denounced in scathing terms the expensive 
folly of the scheme, i)resaged the injurious results which must 
inevitably flow from its passage, involving creditors in ruin and 
the State in bankruptcy. But it was predetermined to pass the 
bill, which was done over the veto by the requisite majority. The 
issues of the bank did not long remain at par ; as their worthless- 
ness became apparent, good money was driven out of circulation. 
This was particularly so with small coins, and it became so difli- 
cultto make change that bills had to be cut in two. By various 
steps, they depreciated to 25 cents on the dollar; and with this 
worthless State currency were the people cursed for a i)eriod ex- 
ceeding four years. By the year 1821 the depreciation had the 
effect to almost impede the wheels of government. The ordinary 
revenue for State pur])oses, amounting to some $30,000 annually, 
wasraisedbya tax on lands belonging to non-residents; the expen- 
ditures in good money equaled the revenue. As taxes might be 
paid in bills of the State bank, non-residents, as well as residents, 
availed themselves of the depreciated currency for this purpose. 
Taxes from non-residents were collected biennially — an unfair ad- 

•Oraig- vs. the State of Missouri.— Supreme court of the U. S. 
tFord's Illinois. 



bond's abministeation. 307 

vantage over residents whose tax went into the county treasuries. 
But the latter, in many instances, resorted to the artifice of listing 
their lauds in the names of unknown or fictitious persons sup- 
posed to be non-residents, gaining thus the same advantages, 
which was a prolific source of injury to many counties. While 
the State thus nominally received its full revenue, it was in point 
of fact worth only one-fourth, or one-third, as much as good money. 
Under these circumstances, the legislature, the department of the 
government that had made the bills a quasi legal-tender which an 
execution creditor was compelled to take or wait three years for 
his pay — than which nothing could be more unjust— hesitated not 
to commit the enormity of voting themselves, the State oflBcials, 
judges, and for other expenses, their per diem compensation, sala- 
ries, etc., in treble the amount of auditor's warrants, rated with the 
depreciated stuff to equal in value good money. Thus while the 
ortlinary exj)enses of the State government were $30,000 annually, 
by these practices they were swollen to $90,000, which the tax-pay- 
ers had ultimately to foot. Never was law more dishonorable. 
With such examples from their law makers, what would have been 
the moral effect upon the people had they been influenced bj' them. 
A crumb was, however, thrown to the latter. It was enacted for 
the accommodation of the debtors — the larger class, but again 
most unjustly to the creditors — authorizing the rendering of judg- 
ments against them for only one-third of their debts, and exempting, 
by another act, all real property, other than mortgaged lands, "from 
liability to satisfy judgments for said debts." 

This banking folly, not to characterize it worse, is said to have 
cost the State, first and last, dming the ten years for which its 
charter was to run, the full amount of the authorized issue, $500,- 
000, though $300,000 was all that was ever actually issued. Its 
pernicious influence on the general prosperity of the State, and 
its damaging effects upon the revenue, became speedily so palpa- 
ble that no legislature possessed hardihood enough to encounter 
the public resentment by proposing that the State issue the 
remaiming $200, 000 provided for in the charter. Still issuing 
auditor's warrants and paying them out at $3 for $1 to defray 
State expenses generally, as authorized by the legislature, Avas 
infinitely worse. In 18-!5, the State thus paid out $107,000 in au- 
ditor's warrants when its ordinary annual expenses in good money 
would not at the uttermost have exceeded $35,000. This was 
equivalent to borrowing money at 200 jjer centum interest — a most 
ruinous policy if well followed. 

The current expenses of the principal bank for the year 1824, 
exceeded the discounts by $2,403 90. Without ever meeting the 
fond expectations of its friends — unless it was in the contrivance 
of robbing the creditor class for the benefit and relief of the 
debtor class — without observing any of its promises, the old bank, 
a frightful source of legislation all its life, lingered out the allotted 
time of charter, and was finally wound up by the State in 1831. 
This was done by means of the " Wiggins loan" of $100,000, 
which gave to the State the requisite funds. This loan was for 
a long time unpopular in many sections of the State, where it 
was currently believed, it is said, that the State was sold to Wig- 
gins. It has been asserted that if the State had originally 
assumed directly and gratuitously the obligations of the clamorous 



308 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

debtors, it would liave proved less expensive to the treasury ; cer- 
tainly less injiu^ious to its credit. 

At the session of 1821, the counties of Greene, Fayette, Mont- 
gomery, La\vi"euce, Hamilton, Sangamon and Pike, the latter 
including all the State north and west of the Illinois river and 
wluit is now Cook, were established. Applications for the author- 
ity to form new counties poured in so rapidly that the legislature 
provided for 12 weeks publication of their intentions before the 
petitions of parties would in future be entertained. A joint reso- 
lution was passed requesting of Kentucky concurrent jurisdiction 
ou the Ohio river, so far as the same forms a common boundary to 
both States, which has been conceded by that State. 



,^f%/9^>- 




laU^jti^ /C^^^t^ 



Chapter XXVII. 

1822-1826— ADMINISTRATION^ OF GOVEENOR COLES. 

A resume of Slavery in Illinois from its earliest date — Indentured 
Slaves — BlacTc Laivs — Kidnapping — Life and Character of Gov, 
Coles — The effort to make Illinois a Slave State in 1824. 



The general election of August, 1822, resulted in the choice of 
Edward Coles as governor, by a pliu-ality of votes over his prin- 
cipal opponent, Joseph Phillips, then chief justice of the State. 
There were two other candidates in the field, Thomas C. Brown, 
associate justice of the supreme court, and Major General James 
B. Moore, of the State militia. Adolphus Frederick Hubbard was 
elected lieutenant governor. The other candidates for lieutenant 
governor were James Lemon, jr., John G. Loften, Wm. Pine, and 
James A. Peacock. 

luto this election the question of slavery entered to a very con- 
siderable extent. Coles and Moore being anti, and Phillips and 
Brown i)ro-slavery. The country had but just emerged from the 
angry contest over that subject as connected with the admission 
of Missouri into the Union, in which our senators in congress, 
Messrs, Edwards and Thomas, had taken a leading part, being the 
originators of the compromise line of 30 degrees and 30 minutes, 
Avhile our member of the House, Daniel P. Cook, Avith much vigor 
had opposed the admission of Missouri as a slave State. Thomas' 
term as senator would expire with the existing congress, and he 
looked forward to an approval of his course in congress and a re- 
election. Of the legislature chosen at the same election, a majority 
was against the governor in his anti-slavery views. But the sub- 
ject of principal interest during his administration was the 
convention struggling to make Illinois a slave State. To give the 
reader a more connected idea, we have heretofore purposely omitted 
to present in chronological order the kindred subjects constituting 
the heading of this chapter, and now group them together. 

African slaves were first brought to Illinois in 1720 by Renault, 
agent and business manager of the "Company of St. Phillips." 
The belief obtained in France at that time that tlie wealth of the 
western world consisted in its pearl fisheries, its mines of gold and 
silver, and the wool of its wild cattle.* A monopoly of these 
resources with many others, was first granted by the King to Crozat 
ui 1712, and upon his resignation in 1717, to the great "Company 
of the West," of which the St. Phillips was a branch. Renauft 
left France in 1719 with a cargo of mechanics, miners and laborers 

•Charlevoix, iii, 389. 

309 



/ 



310 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



numbering some 200, and on his way liitlier touched with his vessels 
at San Domingo, where he purchased 500 slaves, and thus pre- 
pared to prosecute the objects of the company, he arrived in 
Illinois. He foiuided the village of "St. Phillips," in what is now 
the southeast corner of Monroe county, whence he sent out explor- 
ing jiarties to various sections in Illinois and Missouri, to prospect 
for the precious metals. In 1744, before his return to France, 
Eenault sold these slaves to the French colonists of Illinois. 
Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, six leagues from Fort 
Chartres, under date of June 8, 1750, writes: "We have here, 
whites, negroes, and Indians, to say nothing of the cross breeds. 
There are iive French villages, and three of the natives, within a 
space of 21 leagues, situated between the Mississippi and another 
river called the Kaskashia. In the five French villages are, 
perhaps, 1,100 whites, 300 blacks, and some GO red slaves or 
savages. The three Illinois [Indian] towns do not contain more 
than 800 souls, all told." These San Domingo slaves thus intro- 
duced became the progenitors of the French slaves in 
Illinois. 

The edict of Louis XIII, dated April 23, 1615, first recognized 
slavery in the French possessions of America, and the French 
settlers of Illinois brought with them from Canada the French laws 
and customs, among them the law which tolerated slavery. In 
March, 1724, Louis XV published an ordinance reenacting the edict 
of Louis XIII, and for the "regolation of the government and ad- 
ministration of justice, police, discipline, and traftic in negro sl;ives 
in the province of Lousiana," which included Illinois, It provides 
that the slaves be baptized and instructed in the Eoman Catholic 
religion and that they observe the Sabbath : prohibits the inter- 
marriage of whites and blacks, under x>enalties, and the piiests 
from solemnizing such marriages; provides that the children of 
slaves shall be bondsmen, or if one i)arent is free the children shall 
follow the condition of the mother; that slaves enfeebled by age or 
intirmity shall be nuiintained by the master; allows the master to 
pursue and recapture fugitives ; in^oliibits tlicir severe treatment, 
and the separate sale of husband or wife, or children under age, 
of a fanuly, either by bill or execution ; provides that no slave 
over forty years ohl attached to lands, shall be sold from the land, 
uidess for the debt of his purchase ; enjoins their parental treat- 
ment upon the masters, &c. The edict contains 55 articles, and 
may be found at large in Dillon's History of Indiaiui, i, 31. It 
was more just, and tempered with greater mercy, than most laws 
of that character. 

Thus was slavery originally established in Illinois. By the i^eace 
concluded at Paris, Feb. 10, 1703, this country, as a dependency of 
Canada, was ceded to Great Britain, and when General Gage took 
possession of Illinois, he promised in his proclamation of Dec. 30, 
1704, to the late subjects of France, "that those Avho choose to 
retain their lands and become subjects of his (Britannic) majesty, 
shall enjoy the same rights and privileges, the same securily for 
their persons and effects, and liberty of trade, as the old subjects 
of the king." At this j)eriod Engiaiul recognized slavery in all 
her American colonies, and the acquisition of Canada and its 
dependencies operated to extend her colonial laws and customs to 
these. 



coles' administration. 311 

Next, Virginia, 1778, tlirongh lier expedition nnder the command 
of George Kogers Clark, made the concjuest of Illinois, and as soon 
as tlie news \\as received, ber house of burgesses further declared as 
within her chartered limits the whole of the northwest territory, and 
proceeded by act to erect it into a county wliich was called Illbiois, 
and extended over this country her laws and jurisdiction. The 
preamble of the act recites, ''that the inhabitants had acknowledged 
themselves citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia, and had 
taken the oath of fidelity to the State," wherefore it was declared 
^'that they should enjoy their own religion, with all their civil rights 
and ])roperty.'-' Other States came forward with charter claims, 
but that of Virginia was as broad as these ; added to which was 
her title by concpiest, going back to the first principles by which 
£i\\ titles are originally deduced, and her actual occupation con- 
-Stituting the best of tenures; and while it was urged that the latter 
•could not operate against her confederate (ilaiuumt sister States, 
■engaged in a common war jointly with her, congress did not deny 
the right of her separate conquest. After some hesitation, Vir- 
ginia finally authorized her delegates in congress to convey all of 
the northwestern territory to the United States. The deed 
of cession was executed March 1st, 1784, the same day accepted 
^nd by congress ordered to be enrolled among the public archives. 
In the meantime, by the treaty of peace with Great Britain, iu 
1783, the whole of this country was ceded to the United States. 

The following stipvdation in the deed of cession has given rise 
to much controversy in the history of slavery in Illinois : " That 
.the French and Canadian inhabitants ami other settlers of the 
Kaskaskias, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have 
professed themselves citizens of the State of Virginia, shall have 
their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected iu 
the enjoyment of their rights and liberties." 

The first effort made by congress to organize the northwestern 
territory was as early as 1784. The bill contained the provision, 
^'that after the year 1800 there shall be neither slavery nor invol- 
imtary servitude in any of the said States " to be formed out of the 
territory. When the bill came up for action, the proviso, on a 
separate vote, failed, although 6 States voted for it to 3 against ; 
but under the articles of confederation the vote of 9 States was 
required to carry a measure. 

On the 13th of July, 1787, congress adojjted the ordinance for 
the government of the territories northwest of the river Ohio, the 
Cth article whereof reads as follows : "There shall be neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise 
than in punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been 
duly convicted." The ordinance was subsequently appro^■ed under 
the constitution, when the latter went into operation. The acts of 
congress dividing the territory, both in the case of Indiana and 
Illinois, extended to the inhabitants of each, all and singular the 
rights, privileges, and advantages granted by the ordinance 
originally, as we have seen. The census of 1800 gave the number 
of slaves in the Indiana territory, which then included Illinois, as 
133. In 1810 Illinois separately had 168 slaves; in 1820,917, which 
probably included indentured and registered servants, and in 1830, 
746. 



312 HISTORY OF ILTJNOIS. 

The 6tli article of the ordinance of 1787, i)rohibiting slavery^ 
became at an early period a subject of repeated complaints. In 
1796 four persons in Kaskaskia, doubtless i)icturing to themselves 
in golden colors the ease and affluence incident to slave labor^ 
petitioned congress to suspend the restriction of the ordinance, 
November 22, 1802, Gov. Harrison, in compliance with the wishes. 
of a number of inhabitants, but with what legal right it is difflcult 
to conceive, issued his proclamation directing the i)eople to hold 
an election in the several counties of the territory on the 11th of 
December and choose delegates, who were to meet in convention at 
Vincennes on the 20th instant, to deliberate on "territorial inter- 
ests." From Illinois, for the county of St. Clair, Shadrach Bond, 
John Moredock, and Jean F. Perry were returned, and for 
Randolph, Robert Morrison, Pierre Menard, and Robert Reynolds^ 
Gov. Harrison presided. The object was to obtain from congress 
a repeal or modification of the 6th article of the oiganic act,, 
prohibiting the introduction of slaves into this territory. 

A memorial was prepared and transmitted to congress, declaring 
the consent of the peojile to a susx)ension of the prohibitory 
clause; that such suspension would be highly advantageous to the 
territory and Avould meet the ai>i)robation of nine tenths of the 
good citizens thereof; that "inasmuch as the number of slaves 
in the United States would not be augmented by the measure,"' 
the abstract question of liberty and slavery was not involved;, 
that the introduction of slaves into the territory where labor was 
scarce, from the States where it was abundant, would jjrove equaUy 
advantageous to both sections; that slavery was i)r()liibited in th& 
territory by congress when "they were not rejiresented in that 
body — without their being consulted and without their knowledge 
or ai)probation ;" that the number of slaves could never bear such 
a ratio to the white population "as to endanger the internal peace 
or prosperity of the country; that slaves were tolerated in other 
territories; tliat among their snndl farmers they would be "better 
fed and clothed than where they were crowded on large plantations 
by hundreds," etc.* 

In March, 1803, Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, as chairman of the 
special committee, reported that "the rapidly increasing popula- 
tion of the State of Ohio sutticiently evinces, in the opinion of your 
committee, that the labor of slaves is not necessary to promote 
the growth and settlement of colonies in that region. That this 
labor, demonstrably the dearest of any, can only be employed ta 
advantage in the cultivation of products more valuable than any 
known to that quarter of the United States ; that the committe& 
deem it highly dangerous and inexpedient to imi^air a provision: 
wisely calculated to i)romote the happiness and prosi)erity of the- 
northwestern country, and to gi\e strength and security to that 
extensive frontier. In the salutary operation of this sagacious 
and benevolent restraint, it is believed that the inhabitants will, 
at no very distant day, find ample remuneration for a temporary 
jjrivation of labor and immigration." How prophetically true ! 
A resolution embodying these views was also reported. 

This report, made just before the close of the session, was not 
acted upon, and at the next session was referred to a new com- 
mittee, with Mr. Rodney, of Delaware, as chairman, who reportedi 

■"See Annals oi Congress, House, Nov. 1807. 



COLES' ADMINISTRATION. 313 



Feb. 4, 1804, favorably to the inemoriali.sts, suspending the 6th 
article for ten years, allowing the importation of slaves from States 
only, and that the male descendents should be free at 25 and the 
females at 21 ; but no action Avas had on the report. Again, at 
the legislative session of ISOo-O, additional memorials of similar 
import were prepared and submitted to congress, and in the House 
referred to a select committee, with Mr. Garnett, of Virginia, as 
chairman ; and again a favorable report to the prayer of the 
memorialists was made, Feb. 14, concluding with a resolution sub- 
stantiall}' like the one of Mr. Eodney. The report was made the 
special order for a certain day, but it was ne^er called up. With 
the opening of the next congress, more resolutions from the Indiana 
legislature transmitted by Gov. Harrison, were presented, urging 
in a long preamble a suspension of the 6th article of the ordinance. 
The subject was llnally referred to a special committee, this time 
with Mr. Parke, the territorial delegate, as chairman, and for the 
third time a favorable report was made, together with a resolution 
suspending the obnoxious article; but no action was had and the 
report slept with its predecessors. Simultaneously with these im- 
portunities ui)on the House, coi)ies of monorials and resolutions 
were also transmitted to the president and by him sent to the 
senate. 

But while those favorable to throwing open the territory to the 
influx of slaves were active, the opponents were not idle. In 
October, 1807, a large and enthusiastic meetingof the citizens was 
held in Clark county, Indiana, and a remonstrance drafted ex- 
pressive of the impropriety of the suspension, and soliciting con- 
gress to defer action until their population should entitle them to 
form a constitution, etc. They also charged that the slave party, by 
some "legerdemain," obtained the name of the president of the 
legislative council to the last resolutions sent to congress, whi(^h he 
denies signing. In the senate a committee consisting of Franklin, 
of, Xorth Carolina, Kitchell, of IS'ew Jersey, and Tiffin, of Ohio, 
was appointed, to which the whole subject was referred. After 
duly considering the matter, they reported adversely to the pray- 
er of the legislative memorialists. Thus ended the very per- 
sistent, but happily abortive, eftbrts to throw open the doors of 
this vast and fertile region to the blighting influences of slavery. 
Not the people at home, but congress sitting at Washington, saved 
us from this curse. 

Notwithstanding the words of the ordinance, "there shall be 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory," it Avas 
very early contended that the words in the deed of cession from 
Virginia — " shall haA^e their possessions and titles confirmed" — 
guaranteed to the holders of these slaA^es a right of property in 
them ; that this provision in the deed overrode the ordinance and 
secured tliem a vested right for all time in that species of prop- 
erty 5 that slavery in the territories was not abolished, but its further 
introduction simply prohibited ; that these slaves Avere the j)rop- 
erty of citizens of Virginia, or Avere then the descendants of such 
slaA^es, and remained slaves by the compact entered into between 
the State of Virginia and the general gOA^ernment. And although 
others contended that the Avords "titles," "possessions," "rights" 
and "liberty," in the deed of cession, " av ere never intended by 
Virginia to guarantee the possessions of slaA'es," still all that class 



314 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



of persous was lield as slaves, aud the rightfulness of their ten- 
ure was not brought before the proper tribunal in this State until 
the year 1845. 

The first decision sustaining the sixth article of the ordinance of 
1787, was made by the supreme court of Indiana. Next, by that 
of Missouri.* In the former, the mother of plaintiff had been a 
slave in Virginia, was taken to Illinois before the ordinance of 
1787, held in slavery there before and after its passage, and there 
tbe plaintiff was born after its passage. It was held that she was 
free. In the case of Menard vs. Aspasia,t the mother of Aspasia 
was born in Illinois before the ordinance, aud held as a slave from 
birth. Aspasia was born after the ordinance, at Kaskaskia, and 
held as a slave. The supreu)e court of Missouri held that she 
was entitled to her freedom, and upon a writ of error to the su- 
preme court of the United States, that court declined jurisdiction, 
which affirmed the judgment below. In 1845, for the first and 
only time, was the question brought squarely before the supreme 
court of this State, and it was decided that the descendants of 
the slaves of the old French settlers, born since the adoption 
of the ordinance of 1787, or before, or since the constitution, could 
not be held in slavery in Illinois.^ 

Indentured and Registered Skives. — Failing in their effort with 
congress to modify the restriction of the organic law with regard 
to shivery, the next step to compass the same result, was by the 
law-making powers of the territory, both of the 1st and 2d grades, 
and in defiance of the prohibition, a law was adopted entitled " an 
act concerning the introduction of negroes and mulattoes into this 
territory." The act bears date September 17, 1807, but this sim- 
ply means that it was reported among the revised laws by Jones 
and Johnson, the whole batch of which was re-adopted on that 
day at Vincennes. It was a law adoi)ted by the first grade of ter- 
ritorial government. The first general assembly met at Vincennes 
July 29, 1805, yet more than a year previous, A^nil 6, 1804, Gov- 
ernor Harrison, learning that certain persons were about to remove 
a number of indentured persons from the territory for the pur- 
l)0se of selling them as slaves, issued a proclamation forbidding 
their removal and calling upon the civil authorities to interi^ose. 
We quote fr-om the law of 1807 : 

"Section 1. It shall and may be lawful for any person, being the 
owner of any negroes or mulattoes of and above the age of 15 years, and 
owing service and labor as slaves in any of the States or territories of the 
United States, or for any citizen of the United States or territories, 
purchasing the same, to bring the said negroes or mulattoes into this 
territory." 

Section 2 provided, that within 30 days after bringing the slaves into 
the territory, the owneror mastershouldtakethem before the clerk of the 
court and have an indenture between the slave aud his owner entered 
upon record, si^ecifying the time which the slave was compelled to serve 
his master; [the term being generally fixed at 99 years, a period beyond 
the ordinary term of human life]. 

Section 3 guarded the property of the master against loss by allowing 
him, in the event of the slave refusing to enter into such agreement or 
indenture, to have the lawful right, within 60 days, to remove such slave 
to any State or territory where such property could be legally held. 

•John Murry vs. Tiffin and Menard, 1 Mo. R. 735. 

+5th Peters, 510. 

$See 2d Oilman, p. 1— .Tarrot vs. Jarrot. 



coles' administration. 315 

The 4tli section prescribed the maimer of correcting' the ser- 
vant for hiziness, misbehavior, or disorderly conduct, the piin- 
isliment being chastisement with " strii)es." 

"Sec. 5. Any person removing into this territory, and being the 
ovi^ner of any negro or mulatto under the age of 15 years, it shall and may 
be lawful tor such person, owner or possessor to hold the said negro or 
mulatto to service or labor, the males until they arrive at the age of 35 
and the females until they arrive at the age of 32 years. 

"Skc. 13. The children born in this territory of a parent of color, 
owing service of labor by indenture, according to the law, shall serve 
the master or mistress, the males until the age of 30, and females until 
the age of 28 years." 

The other sections of the act were all in harmony with the pur- 
pose to introduce, maintain and protect slavery in Illinois in defi- 
ance of the orclinance of 1787. Slavery was thus not only 
inti'oduced, but made hereditary, by imposing upon the children 
born under it the obligation to serve the owners of their paixmts 
until 28 and 30 years. It also pointed out the mode in which the 
master might sell his servants by an assignment of the indenture 
by which these people were made commerce, as completely as 
if in a condition of absolute slavery. 

After the organization of the Illinois territory in 1800, the governor 
and judges adopted the same act as the law of Illinois, and upon 
the assembling of the first legislature at Kaskaskia, it was, De- 
cember 13, 1812, re-aflopted. The law was, to all intents and pur- 
poses, void under the ordinance of 1787. In the case of Phabe 
vs. Jarrot,* of the supreme court. Lock wood, judge, decided that 
the act of September 17, 1807, respecting the introduction of ne- 
groes and mulattoes into the territory, w^as void, as being repug- 
nant to the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787. But it was 
further held that the contracts of indenture under that law were 
rendered valid by the third section of the sixth article of the State 
constitution : 

"Each and every person who has been bound to service by contract or 
indenture in virtue of the laws of Illinois territory heretofore existing, 
and in conformity to the provisions of the same, without fraud or collu- 
sion, shall be held to a specific performance of their contracts or inden- 
tures ; and such negroes and mulattoes as have registered in conformity 
with the aforesaid laws, shall serve out the time appointed by said laws ; 
provided, however, that the cbildren hereafter born of such persons, 
negroes or mulattoes, shall become free, the males at the age of 21 years, 
the females at the age of 18 years." 

The court say : A constitution can do what a legislative act can- 
not do, because it is the supreme, fixed and ])ermanent will of the 
people in their original, sovereign and unlimited capacity 5 that the 
act of accepting that constitution and admitting it into the Union 
b}^ congress, abrogated so much of the ordiiumce of 1787 as was 
repugnant to it. In Boone vs. Juliet, t the court held that "the 
children of negroes and mulattoes, registered under the laws of 
the territory of Indiana and Illinois, are unquestionably free — 
because of an absencje in the law of 1807 providing for the chil- 
dren of registered slaves, notwithstanding the constitution of 
Illinois says that the children born of such registered persons 
shall render service until 18 and 21 years old." 

The question of the validity of the indenture and registration 
act, under the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, it seems, was 

*Bret'se Iils."il. 208. [ -Hst Scum. 258. 



31G HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

not raised before the territorial courts, and indeed, not for some 
time afterwards. Tbe convention, therefore, which enacted tlie 
constitution, gave that law the ouly legal vitality it ever had, but 
it is presumable that they were under the impression that it 
was valid and had been all the time; and it was only in require- 
ment of the eiuibling act of congress that they enacted article VI, 
section I : "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall here- 
after be introduced into this State." 

At the session of the territorial legislature, in 1817, a bill was 
passed to repeal so much of " an act concerning the introduction 
of negroes and mulattoes into this territory," as authorized the 
bringing of negroes and mulattoes into the territory and inden- 
turing them as slaves. The preamble declares the law to " intend 
to introduce and tolerate slavery under the pretense of voluntary 
servitude in contravention of the permanent law of the land," 
and " contrary to the ordinance of 1787." But the veto power of 
the territorial governor was absolute, and his Excellency Gover- 
nor Edwards hesitated not to exercise it, assigning reasons at 
considerable length, as was his wont: "I conscientiously believe 
that the legislature was competent to pass the law— of which 
opinion were also the judges with whom I was associated" in the 
adoption of the law, " previous to the organization of our general 
assembly." He held that congress could not violate the stipula- 
tions in the deed of cession from Virginia, "there was and still is 
slaveiy in the territory, notwithstanding the article in the ordi- 
nance ;" but " waiving the question whether congress ever had any 
right to impose the sixth article of the ordinance, or any more 
restrain the people from purchasing additional slaves to clear and 
cultivate their lands, than horses to jilow them," he proceeded to 
argne the abstract right of "involuntary servitude." After fimilly 
stating that " such indentures would be and ought to be sui)ported 
uj)on principles of law as well as common honesty," and that 
he "can see no evil in allowing them to be made," he concluded: 
" I am no advocate for slavery ; and if it dei)ended upon my vote 
alone, it should never be admitted into any State or territory not 
already cursed with so great an evil ;" and that his objection to 
the repeal was, that there was no such law of Illinois as that of 
September 17, 1807, described in the bill. In this he was tech- 
nically right, because in 1807 Illinois was Indiana. This veto 
message was now- (1823-4) made use of by the convention party, 
seeking to graft slavery upon the constitution, as an electioneering 

docimient.t 

The convention which framed the first constitution of the State, 
evaded the full requirement of the ordinance of 1787. In article 
VI, section 1 of that instrument, the further introduction of slaves 
into the State was prohibited ; but it did not only not abolish slavery, 
or liberate those in the State, but in section 3 of the same article, 
provided that the "indentured servants" — slaves for 99 years in 
most cases— should be held for the whole term specified in their 
contracts of indenture, and even their children were to owe ser- 
vice, the males till 21 and the females till 18 years of age ; and 
this provision, as we have seen, the supreme court held as valid. 
Thus slavery in Illinois, while it was steadily decreasing, was not 

'Governor Edwards was himself the owner ot quite a number ot indentured shives. 



COLES' ADICTNISTRATION. 317 

wholly" abolished until the adoption of the constitution of 1848, 
which contained the following provision : " There shall be neither 
slavery' nor involuntary servitude in this State, except as a pun- 
ishment for crime," etc. 

The " Black Laics.'''' — After the adoption of the constitution of 
1818 and the admission of the State into the Union, the first gen- 
eral assemblj', notwithstanding the small number of negroes as 
compared with the white inhabitants, re-enacted, March 30, 1819, 
the old stringent, not to say barbarous law "respecting free ne- 
groes, mulattoes, servants and slaves," with only such slight revi- 
sion as became necessary by the transition from the territorial to 
the State government. Of course the territorial law which author- 
ized the introduction of slaves from slaveholding States and terri- 
tories was omitted, in obedience to article VI section 1 of the con- 
stitution. Perhaps no severer law was to be found in any slave 
State, even where the blacks outnumbered the whites. There was 
no adequate cause for this : it doubtless resulted from the early 
associations of our law makers, who at that time were men not only 
mostly born and bred in the midst of slaves, but who looked for- 
ward to the making of Illinois a slave State. 

No negro or mulatto, by himself or with his family, was permit- 
ted to reside or settle iu the State, until he had first i)roduced a cer- 
tificate of freedom under seal of a court of record, which, together 
with a descrij)tion of the person producing it, and his family, if 
any, was to be entered of record in the county he proposed settling 
in and so duly endorsed ; but the overseers of the poor were notwith- 
standing empowered to exi)el such family in their discretion. Any 
person coming to the State to emancipate his slaves, was required to 
execute to the county a bond in $1000 as guaranty that the eman- 
cipated i^erson should not become a public charge ; for neglect or 
refusal of which he was liable to a fine of $200 ; all resident 
negroes or mulattoes, except slaves, before the 1st of June ensuing, 
were to enter their names and every member of their families, 
with the circuit clerk, together with their evidences of freedom to 
be certified by the clerk, but which should not bar the owners to 
reclaim them. No person was to employ nwy negro or mulatto 
without such certificate, under a penalty of $1.50 for each day em- 
ployed, recoverable before a justice, one third going to the inform- 
er, the rest to the owner or the county. To harbor any slave or 
servant, or hinder the owner in retaking a slave, was declared a 
felony, punishable by restitution, or a fine of two-fold value and 
whipping not to exceed 30 stripes. Every black or mulatto not 
having a proper certificate was deemed a runaway slave, subject 
to arrest and commitment by a justice, then to be described and 
advertised for 6 weeks by the sheriff, when, if not reclaimed or his 
freedom established, he was to be sold for one year, at the end of 
which time he was entitled to a certificate, except as against his 
owner. No person was to sell to, buy of or trade witli any servant 
or slave, without the consent of his master, uiider penalty of for- 
feiting to the master 4 times in value the amount of such transac- 
tion. Any slave or servant found ten miles from home witljout 
permit was liable to arrest and 35 stripes on the orderof a justice ; 
or if he appeared at any dwelling or plantation without leave of 
his master, the owner of the place was entitled to administer, or 
have it done, 10 lashes on the bare back; for being lazy, disorderly 



318 HISTORY OF ILLIJJOIS. 

or misbebaviug to his master or family, on the order of a justice, 
he was to be corrected with strijies, and for every day he refused 
to work he was to serve two. 

Eiots, routs, unlawful assemblies, trespass, seditious speeches 
by slaves or servants, were punishable with stripes not exceeding 
3t> f persons suffering 3 or more slaves or servants to assemble on 
their premises for dancing, reveling, &c., were liable to a fine of 
$20, recoverable by qui tarn action. It was made the duty of all cor- 
oneis, sheriffs, judges, and justices of the peace, on view or knowl- 
edge of such assemblages, to have the offenders committed to jail, 
and upon judgment to order 39 stripes. In all cases where free 
persons were punishable by fine, slaves or servants were to be 
chastized by whipping, at the rate of 20 lashes for every $8 of 
fine, not to exceed 40 stripes at any one time. Thus was the free 
State of Illinois pro\aded with a complete slave code. 

In 1847, the convention which revised the constitution, in arti- 
cle XIV, required of the general assembly at its first session under 
the amended constitution, to pass such laws as would effectually 
prohibit free persons of color from immigrating to or settling in 
this State and prevent the owners of slaves from bringing them in- 
to the State for the purpose of setting them free. 

In pursuance of this provision, the legislature passed the act of 
Feb. 12, 1853, which provided that if any negro or mulatto, bond 
oi' free, came into this State and remained ten days, with the 
evident intention of residing therein, he should he deemed guil- 
ty of a high misdemeanor, and for the first offence should be fined 
$50, and if the fine was not forthwith paid he was to be committed 
to the custody of the sheriff', to be advertised ten days and then 
sold to any person who would pay the fine and costs for the short- 
est period, the purchaser being empowered to hold and work the 
culprit during the time. One case under this act was taken up to 
the sui^reme court from Hancock county, and decided in 1804* 
The court held the law to be valid ; that the i)unishment was not 
slavery, because the person Avas sold only fora limited period; it was 
only a species of apprenticeshiji ; and that the State might define 
offences and piescribe the punishment, and the exercise of such 
powers could not be inquired into by the court. 

Tlie "black laws," as they were for a long time known, were 
continued, with slight modification, in all the revisions of the laws 
fiom 1819 down to 1805, when by act of Feb. 7th, they were re- 
pealed. During that time, however, efforts were lei^eatedly made 
to abolish them. But they had ceased to be enforced for many 
years previously, and, except the act of 1853, were regarded as a 
dead letter. The obstinacy with which they were retained was 
owing in great part to the Abolition excitement of modern times, 
which in a manner constituted them tests of party fealty. 

Kidnapping. — But the most odious feature of the act of March 
30, 1819, "respecting free negroes, mulattoes, servants and 
slaves," was one of omission, or the inadequate j^rovision made for 
the punishment of the crime of kidnapping. It provided, "section 
9, and he it further enacted, that any person or persons, who 
shall forcibly take and carry out of this State any negro or mulatto 
(slaves excepted by their owners), OAving service or labor to any 
person in this State, or who shall forcibly take out of this State 

•See Nelson vs. The People, &c. 



coles' administration. 319 

any free negro or mulatto having gained a legal settlement in tliis 
State, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of $1000 
to the party injured, to be recovered in the name of the people of 
the State of Illinois, by action of debt in any court having cogni- 
zance of the same." By a proviso it was added, that this should not 
apply to the recapture of fugitive slaves. 

The tine, it will be observed, was for the party injured, who 
might have been successfully carried to so remote a section in the 
south and there sold into bondage, as to preclude the possibility of 
his return. Ko share of it was to go to a prosecutor. It in effect 
j>rovided a premium for the successful kidnapper who would steal 
the remedy with the person. The remedy was civil ; no provision 
occurs in the law for any other jiunishmeut if the culprit was 
worthless in visible worldly effects upon which to levy an execu- 
tion, and this doubtless was the condition of the kidnapping 
scoundrels in 99 cases out of every ]00. The law reads : who 
"shall forcibly take and carry out of this State" &c; but in the 
majority of cases the poor ignorant blacks, by fraud and deceit, 
were inveigled into atrip south on a flat boat, or other errand, and 
at some pre-arranged point on the river they would be turned 
over to confederates, forcibly and rajiidly taken to the interior and 
there sold into slavery, the original parties often leaving the 
impression upon their black dupes that they had no hand in the 
outrage. Against such enticements the law cited made no provi- 
sion, and they were perpetrated with imi^unity. Another mode was 
to seize a black and forcibly convey him to a rendezvous either on 
the Ohio or Mississippi, but not out of the State, where a confede- 
rate woidd appear and carry him beyond. Nor were the blacks 
allowed their oaths against whites, and hence it was generally 
impossible to convict. 

The crime of seizing free blacks, running them south and selling 
them into slavery from this State, for a long time was quite com- 
mon. The poor ignorant colored creatures, against whom was not 
only the law but apparently every man's hand, were hampered in 
the south by all the contrivances of ingenious slave codes to pre- 
vent their escape, while the weary years of unrequited toil 
rolled slowly around, ever embittered by heart longings to return 
to home and kindred. The same may be said of the affectionate 
ones left at home. No crime can be greater than this. Portions 
of southern Illinois for many years afforded a safe retreat to these 
kidnapping outlaws. We cannot cite the numerous cases of kid- 
napping. An early conviction for this crime was that of Jeptha 
Lambkins, at the term of the Madison county circuit court, Novem- 
ber, 1822. We have not the particulars. On the night of May 25, 
1823, a free colored man named Jackson Butler, his wife and 6 
children, residing in Illinois a few miles from Vincennes, were kid- 
napped by a band of villians from Lawrence county in this State. 
Butler had been purchased by Gov. Harrison in Kentucky, 
brought to Indiana, indentured, and had served out his term 
faithfully. His wife was born free, which rendered the children 
also free. They were taken down the Wabash to the Ohio, thence 
south. Harrison learning of the outrage, offered a reward of $300 
for the apprehension of the kidnappers. The name of Harrison 
gave it wide circulation, and in September following, news came 



320 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

that the Butler family liad been rescued at l^ew Orleans, just as 
tliey were about to be shipped to Cuba.* 

In his first message to the general assembly, December, 5, 
1822, Gov. Coles called special attention to the subject of kidnap- 
ping ; that crime, he was soriy to say, was too often committed in 
the State with impunity; urged that the duty of society as well as 
every benevolent feeling demanded better protection for the fi'ee 
blacks, while they remained in the State ; that the peculiar situa- 
tion of the State, bordering on three rivers communicating with 
the country where there was always a demand for slaves, afforded a 
great temptation and facility to the lawless and inhuman to engage 
in this crime, and that more eflicieut laws were required to prevent 
the kidnapping of free blacks. 

This part of the message, with the subject of slavery, was refer- 
red to a special committee consisting' of Messrs. Will, Emmit and 
Moore, who reported Dec. 12, 1822, as follows : "Your committee 
have carefully examined the laws upon the subject, and with deei^ 
regret annouuce their incapability of devising a more effectual plan 
than the one already prescribed by law for the suppression of such 
infamous crimes. It is believed that the benevolent views of the 
executive and the benign puiposes of the statutes can only be 
realized by the redoubled diligence of our grand juries and our 
magistrates, aided by the well directed support of all just and 
good men." 

The legislature was i)olitical]y opposed to the governor, and the 
language of the committee, "benign statute," was the baldest of 
irony. These gentlemen however Avere quite capable of devising 
a scheme how to introduce slavery into the State, which they 
reported at the same time, and to which we will now direct our 
inquiry. 

[Inl851 an attempted murder, growing- out of the business of kidnapping, was curious- 
ly developed . it shows also the modus operandi and the desperate characters connec 
ted with this crime. A Mrs. Prather, deceased, of Weakley county, Tennessee, had 
some years before emancipated her slaves, and they removed to Gallatin county, 
Illinois. Here they were followed by parties from their former home, who conspired 
to arrest them as fugitive slaves. The U. 8. district court, Judge Pope presiding, de- 
cided upon full proof that they had not a shadow of claim to them. With the con- 
spirators was connected a shrewd bad man by the name of Newton E. Wright, residing 
In Kentucky, back of Wolf Island, who had long been engaged in kidnapping While 
here attempting to reclaim the Prather negroes as slaves, he formed the acquaintance 
of a notorious kidnapper of Hamilton county, named Joe O'Neal, with whom was 
associated a disreputable character by the name of Abe Thomas. Subsequently 
O'Neal stole three likely children from an old negro named Scott, in Hamilton county, 
Illinois and ran them off and sold them partly on credit to Wright, who resold them at 
New Madrid to one Phillips. When O'Neal's note matured he sent Thomas to collect 
it, telling him further that Wright had business of a particular nature for him, for 
which he would be well paid. Thomas proceeded by steamer to Wright's. There he 
undertook for $150 to kill a Dr Swayne, at Hicco, Tennessee, who had sued Wright on a 
note of $8000. If the doctor could be killed, Wright, by means of nicely forged receipts, 
could successfully defend the suit. 

In May, 18.50, aman calling hia.self Stewart, rode up to the house of Dr. Swayne, de- 
siring him to visit his father, a little way off. alleged to have been ttiken suddenly ill 
on his return from Texas. The doctor invited the stranger to dinner, just ready ; 
that attended to, the two rode away to see the sick man After proceeding some dis- 
tance, Stewart, falling a little behind, drew a pistol and shot the do tor, the ball lodg- 
ing in his arm, fracturing itbadly. The cry of murder was raised, but Stewart made 
his escape. Pursuit was made, and every eifort to ferret out the assassin ; suspected 
parties were followed even to Q'exas ; much money was expended, but without avail. 
Dr Swayne recovered. 

But now unexpectedly a clue was gained. Two citizens of White county, Illinois. 
John Eubanks and son. Shannon, took n lot of horses to Tennessee for sale, and while 
in the neighborhood of Dr. Swayne's, heard him relate the particulars of the attempt 
to assassinate him, giving also a' minute description of his assailant, whoso nose was 
flat at the base, projecting forward like a hawk's bill. Shannon knew the description 
fitted Abe Thomas, and no other living man, who was then stopping at JoeO.Neal's, 
in Hamilton cou' ty, Illinois. Further description as too size, complexion, &c., tallied 
exactly. A short time after. Thomas was seized by some Tennesseeans, and carried 
to that State for trial. (Shawneetown Mercury 1851.] 

*I11. Intelligencer, 1833. 



coles' administration. 321 

The Convention question of 1824 — The Efort to make Illinois a 
Slave State. — It has doubtless been noted that the voice of the peo- 
ple of the territory, as it found expression from time to time, was 
strongly in favor of slavery. By canvassing the names of lead- 
ing convention advocates in 1823-4, and from other circumstances, 
it may be asserted with entire safety that the constitutional con- 
vention of 1818, left unrestrained by the ordinance of 1787, or the 
enabling act to form .a constitution, would have established 
slavery. As it was, that convention in a manner evaded the full 
requirement of the acts of congress by declaring (article VI. sec. 1.). 
"^Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter be intro- 
duced into this State ;" and by the 3d section of the same article 
they gave to indentured slavery the ouly validity it ever had. 
The feeling in favor of slavery was still strong after the admission 
of the State. The financial embarrassments of the x>eople, to 
which we have adverted in the preceding chapter, coupled with 
the golden pictures of prosperity which that institution would 
bring to the country, as they were wont to regard it, did not abate 
their longings. The subject was further kept astir by the frenzied 
agitation of the slavery question as connected with the admission 
of Missouri, which convulsed the entire nation and threatened 
a dissolution of the Union. 

It had also the effect to extensively advertise that new State, 
and stimulate emigration thither, as the crowds of immigrants 
from the southern States to Missouri, consisting in great part of 
the wealthiest and best educated classes, passed through southern 
Illiuois, where immigration had been for some time stagnant, and 
the want of which was seriously felt. "Many of our people who 
had laud and farms to sell, looked upon the good fortune of Mis- 
souri with envy ; whilst the lordly immigrant, as he passed along- 
with his monej' and droves of negroes, took a malicious jjleasure 
in increasing it, by pretending to regret the short-sighted i^olicy 
of Illinois, which excluded him from settling Avith his slaves 
among us, and from j)urchasing the lands of our peoi^le."* 

Into the election of August, 1822, as we have noted, the ques- 
tion of slavery entered to a large extent, and while it was not 
generally sharply defined, it was w^ell known that Coles was a 
zealous opponent of the institution of huiuan chattels ; so also was 
Gen. Moore ; and for these reasons the partisans of freedom rallied 
witli little division for Coles. His aggregate vote was 2810, that 
of I\Ioore 522, total 3332. The vote of PhiUips was 2760 and that 
of Brown 2543, total 5303 — being a majority, so far as this ex- 
pression was a criterion, of about 2000 in favor of the introduction 
of slavery. But personal considerations at that day entered more 
largely into election contests than principles. 

Edward Coles, the governor elect of Illinois, Avas born in Vir- 
ginia, Dec. 15, 1786, and was among the youngest of ten children. 
His father was a i^lanter, owning many slaves. During college 
life the question of property in man first presented itself to 
Edward's mind, and he returned home impressed with its moral 
wrongfulness and political impolicy, and the resolution that when 
he should become the owner of his portion of his father's slaves he 
would emancipate them. Apprehending that these sentiments 

•Ford's History. 

21 



322 niSTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

would meet with no countenance at home lie kept them sacred to 
himself. Upon the death of his father in 1808, he became entitled 
to 25 negroes and 1,000 acres of land. His father had taken no 
share in luiblic life, but his home had been the resort of nearly all 
the great statesmen of the day. Edward became the private 
secretary of President Madison. In person Coles was tall and 
graceful, with face of the Grecian style. To a benevolent dis- 
position he added a wide fund of information, social tact and 
conversational powers. By the judicious exercise of these he is 
said to have brought into new bonds of friendship Mr. Madison and 
Mr. Monroe, and Mr. Adams and Mr. Jelferson, who had respec- 
tively been somewhat estranged. In 1816 he was sent in the sloop 
of war "Prometheus" on a special mission to Russia, as the bearer 
of important dispatches to the American embassador at St. 
Petersburg. Before his return he made the tour of Euroj)e, 
After his arrival home he shortly determined to go west. He spent 
the summer of 1818 in Illinois, and witnessed the labors of the 
convention at Kaslvaskia to enact the lirst constitution. In the 
following spring, 1819, he removed with his slaves to Illinois. On 
the trip hither, made mostly on flat boats down the Ohio, the 
negroes, being ignorant of their destination, were one clear moon- 
light evening in June, while calmly floating down the placid 
stream, called together, and by their master addressed in a plain, 
short speech in which he pronounced them all free. Their grati- 
tude was so profound that they tendered him one year's service at 
their new home. But being much touched at this manifestation 
of their attachment, he refused their offer. He gave, besides, to 
each head of a family 100 acres of land in Illinois, in the neigh- 
borhood of Edwardsville, aided them with money, and for many 
years exercised paternal care over them.* 

In 1833, at the age of 47, he removed to Philadelphia, and was 
married to Miss Sallie Logan Roberts, by whom he had one 
daughter and two sons. He died July 7, 1808, in the 82d year of 
his age. On coming to Illinois, Coles received the appointment 
of register of the laud ofitice at Edwardsville, from Mr. Crawford, 
secretary of the treasury, who was an aspirant to the presidency. 
Coles, it was supposed, was sent out to counteract the influence of 
Gov. Edwards, who favored Calhoun. f 

The partisans of slaver^', although beaten for governor in 1822, 
by a schism in their own ranks, had carried both houses of the 
general assembly, and the lieutenant-governor, and throughout the 
first half of his term the governor experienced a want of accord 

*The law of 1819 respecting: free negroes required the emancipator to give bond that 
they should not become a county charge Having pi-ovided them amply with lands, 
Coles neglected to do this, whereby he incurred a liability to a line oi' $:.'00 for each 
negro, wiiich might be sued for by the county in which they were settled. During 
the heat of the convention struggle the county commissioners of Madison were insti- 
gated to bring suit against the Governor for tills penalty, resulting, in September, 18»'4, 
in a verdict of $2,000 lor setting at liberty negroes without giving bond Pending 
a motion lor a new trial, in January 1825, the legislature released all penalties incurred 
under the act, including tiiose of Coles. At the next term of court he plead this re- 
lease in bar of .judgment against him. But Judge McRoberts decided that the legisla- 
ture had no power to take from a municipal corporation its vested right in a line, any 
more than from an individual, and rendered judgment on the verdict. This decision, 
believed to have been influenced b.y the feelings growing out of the slavery contest the 
year before, caused no little popular excitement. The case was taken to the supreme 
court and reversed, the power of the legislature being hi?ld to be ample in the premises 
The opinion of the court, by Wilson, chief justice, says: "It is said the king cannot 
remit an informer's interest in a popular action after suit brought ; this is no doubt 
true, but it is equally true that the Parliamentcan. It is not pretended tliat the exe- 
cutive could remit the penalty in this case, but that the legislature may." 

fFord's History of Illinois. 



coles' administration. 323 

■vrith that body. Governor Coles directed attention to the subject 
of slayery, and in clear and forcible language urged the emanci- 
pation of the French slaves, recommended a revision of the black 
laws in accordance with the dictates of humanity, and the enact- 
ment of more adequate laws to repress the frequent crime of kid- 
Dapi)iug, as we have noticed. This was enough to immediately 
fan into tlame the smouldering embers of the slavery question. 
The purpose was now to make a strong effort to introduce slavery 
into Illinois, which (jould only be done by amending the (constitu- 
tion, which required a two-thirds vote in each house to pass the 
proposition submitting the question to a vote of the people. So 
much of the message as related to the abrogation of slavery, was 
referred to a select committee, consisting of Messrs. Beaird,Boou, 
Ladd, Kinney and White, who in a few days reported as follows : 
After giving a historical resume of the establishment of slavery 
in Illinois, demonstrating its legal existence and claiming that the 
provision in the deed of cession from Virginia, viz : that the inhabi- 
tants of the territory who professed themselves to have been citi- 
zens of Virginia previous to the cession, should "have their 
possessions and titles conlirmed to them, and be protected in the 
enjoyment of their rights and liberties," could not be overridden 
and set aside by the subsequent act of congress, which provided 
that " there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in 
the said territory ;" that the language in the deed T)f cession was 
too plain and forcible to be misunderstood or evaded; that the con- 
stitution, in obedience to the behests of congress, for the purpose 
of having the State admitted, was careful to avoid any interfer- 
ence with this species of property, and left it in the same state of 
security that the ordinance had placed it ; that thus the constitu- 
tion of Illinois was ratified, no doubt upon the ground that no 
condition of the ordinance had been violated, and that the consti- 
tution left the right to property acquired under the compact 
with Virginia, entire. 

They concluded their report by saying : " Your committee have 
now arrived at the period when Illinois was admitted into the 
Union upon an equal footing with the original States in all respects 
whatever; and whatever causes of regret were experienced by the 
restrictions imposed upon the tirst convention, your committee are 
clearly of the opinion that the people of Illinois have now the same 
right to alter their constitution as the people of the State of Vir- 
ginia, or any other of the original States, and may make any dis- 
position of negro slaves they choose, without any breach of faith 
, or violation of compact, ordinances or acts of congress ; and if 
the reasoning employed be correct, there is no other course left by 
which to accomplish the object of this portion of the governor's 
message, than to call a convention to alter the constitution." 

And they recommended the adoption of the following resolu- 
tion : "Resolved, That the general assembly of the State of Illi- 
nois (two-thirds thereof concurring therein), do recommend to the 
electors, at the next election for members to the general assembly, 
to vote for or against a convention, agreeably to the 7th article 
of the constitution." 

*SeeUl. Intelligencer, Dee. 14, 1822. 



324 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

On motion of Michael Jones, the report was concurred iu. A 
minorty report was made by Eisden Moore and John Emniett, 
strougly and ably urging the abolition of slavery, the amelioration 
of the black laws, and greater stringency regarding the i^unish- 
meut of kidnapi)ing. Mr. Will made a separate report, of a milk 
and water character. 

In the senate, it was speedily ascertained that the requisite two- 
thirds vote to pass the resolution for the call of a convention to 
aiuend the constitution, could be obtained, and to spare; but in 
the house the case stood otherwise — they needed one vote. At 
first it was strenuously argued that the two-thirds vote required by 
the constitution to pass the convention resolution, meant two- 
thirds of the two houses in joint session. But the opponents 
were too powerful in argument upon this i^oint. The majority M^as 
not to be foiled in their purj)ose, however. Another mode pre- 
sented itself — all that was required was courage to perpetrate a 
gross outrage upon a recalcitrant member. 

There had been a contested election case from Pike county, 
which then inckided all the country between the Illinois and Mis- 
sissippi rivers, north to the boundary of the State. The sitting 
member, decided by the house to be entitled to the seat, was 
Nicholas Hanson, and the contestant, John Shaw. Hanson's vote 
had been obtained for the re-election of Jesse B. Thomas, strongly 
pro-slavery, to the United States senate, but further than this he 
would not go. Shaw, who favored the convention project, was 
now discovered to be justly entitled to the seat! A motion was 
thereupon made to reconsider the adndssion of Hanson, which 
prevailed. It was next farther moved to strike out the name of 
Hanson and insert that of Shaw. During the pendency of the 
resolution, a tumultuous crowd assembled in the evening at the 
state house, and after the delivery of a number of incendiary 
speeches, inflaming the minds of the people against Hanson, they 
proceeded through the town with his eiiigy in a blaze, accomj^a- 
uied by the beating of drums, the sounds of bugles, and shouts 
of " Convention or death." 

The motion to expel Hanson and admit Shaw was adopted, and 
the latter rewarded the majority by voting for the convention res- 
olution, which thus barely x^assed by his aid on the night follow- 
ing. A number of the members of both houses entered their 
solemn protest against this glaring outrage of unseating Hanson, 
both as to the object intended and the manner of perpetrating it. 
Many reflecting men, earnest in their support of the convention 
question, condemned it ; and it proved a powerful lever before the 
people in the defeat of the slavery scheme. 

The passage of the convention resolution was regarded as tanta- 
mount to its carriage at the polls. The pro-slavery i)arty cele- 
brated their triumph by an illumination of the town and a 
procession, accompanied by all the horrid paraphernalia and dis- 
cordant music of a charivari, marched to the residence of Governor 
Coles, and the quarters of the chief opponents of the measure, 
where they performed their demoniac music to annoy and insult 
them. The procession is said to have been headed by such digni- 
taries as ex-judge and late gubernatorial candidate, Joseph Phil- 
lips ; the newly-chosen chief justice, Thomas Keynolds, afterwards 
governor of Missouri; associate supreme judge Smith; pros- 



coles' administration. 325 

pective lieutenant-goveruor Kinney, etc., followed by many of 
the honorable members of the legislature, the lobbyists — some of 
them strangers from adjoining slave States — the rabble, etc. The 
rejoicings of the convention party also found expression in pub- 
lic dinners, and of the toasts there given we subjoin a few: The 
convention : The means of introducing and spreading' the African 
family — three cheers. The enemies of the convention : May they 
ride a porcupine saddle on a hard trotting horse, a long journey 
without money or friends. Maj' those individuals who are opposed 
to our cause, before the next election abandon the State of Illi- 
nois. The State of Illinois : the ground is good — prairies in 
abundance ; give us plenty of negroes, a little industry and she 
will distribute her treasure. 

But these brutal proceedings, intended to intimidate, only 
recoiled upon the perpetrators. The anti-convention party was 
inspired with renewed courage and determination to defeat the 
call before the people. That iudeedwastheonlyhoiieforthe liberty 
of all men in Illinois. At this period, the apportionment of the 
State into representative and senatorial districts was peculiarly 
unequal, the strongholds of the convention advocates being in 
the counties near the Ohio and the old French settlements, while 
the rapid progress of population northward was numerically far 
in advance of its just ratio of representation. If the cdnvention 
should be ordered by the prople, it was demonstrated that by 
reason of this unequal representation, one-foiu-th of the voters 
could, in a certain contingency, (that of the delegates being- made 
to correspond to the number of reijresentatives), elect a majority 
of the members, who might fasten slavery upon the State. It be- 
came, therefore, the paramount object of the friends of freedom 
to defeat the convention call before the peoj^le. 

The canvass now opened and for nearly 18 months raged with 
unequaled violence throughout the State. Never was such canvass 
made in the State before. The young- and old, without regard to 
sex entered the arena of party strife ; families and neighborhoods 
became divided and siuTcndered themselves up to the bitter war- 
fare. Detraction and personal abuse reigned supreme, while 
combats were not infrequent. The whole country seemed on the 
verge of a resort to physical force to settle the angry question,* 
The press, both for and against, teemed with incendiary publica- 
tions on the subject. Both anti and pro-convention newspapers 
were established : of the former "TAe Spectator,'''' at Edwardsville, 
edited by Hooi3er Warren ; one at Shawneetown, edited by Henry 
Eddy ; the Illinois TntelUgeiicer, located at Vandalia, which, at first 
pro-convention, was subsequently purchased by David Blackwell. 
secretary of State, and then ably conducted in opj)osition to the 
convention scheme. To these papers there were also attached a 
number of able and steady contributors, principal among whom 
may be mentioned his excellency the governor ; Morris Birbeek, the 
able English colonist, in Edwards county ; Judge Lockwood, Thos. 
Lippincott, George Churchill, etc. Pamphlets were published and 
extensively circulated, containing statistics and observations re- 
garding the workings of slavery in other countries. Gov. Coles 
freely resigned the salary of his entire term, iij>4000, as a contribu- 
tion to the cause. Through the efforts mainly of the Eev. Dr. J. M. 

♦Reynold's "Own Times." 



326 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Peck, anti-slavery societies were organized by the "friends of 
fi*eedom," which ramified more or less tliroiighout the State, to the 
number of 14, with head(|uarters in St. Clair county, and which 
were active during the canvass. The ministers of the gospel were 
enlisted in the cause, and they met together in large numbers to 
devise ways to avert the impending evil. Denominational ques- 
tions, ordinarily much more bitter in those times than at the 
preseut, were laid aside for the time, and the pulpit now thunder- 
ed its anathemas against si)reading the great sin. All the means 
known to civilization to impart ideas of the enormity of slavery 
were made available. To the distribution of pamphlets and news- 
paper writings, were added tracts and handbills of a most 
incendiary tone. The Eev. Dr. Peck, who, in his vocation of dis- 
tributing bibles, had the opportunity to observe the management 
of the campaign on the part of the opposition, shaped his ends 
with the tact and skill of a general, to meet them at eveiy hand. 
Political meetings were called, and almost every stump resounded 
with the declamations of indignant orators, both pro and con. 
The rank and tile of the i)eople, no less excited, w^rangled and 
argued with each other wherever they met. Much time was con- 
sumed, and industry was at a sttmd. 

In the meantime, the pro-slavery party was not idle, and 
adopted the same meaus to reach the public mind. Elias Kent 
Kane ; Thomas Reynolds, the chief justice ; Judge Theophilus W. 
Smith, of the supreme court ; Judge Samuel McEoberts, Emanuel 
J. West, A. P. Field, Joseph A. Eaird, George Forquer and 
others, were their prominent writers; while among their chief 
orators, besides some of these, may be mentioned R M. Young, 
John McLean, Jesse B. Thomas, ex Gov. Bond, (running for con- 
gress against D. P. Cook, at this time). Judge Phillips, and many 
others. The members of the legislature in favor of the conven- 
tion, before they dispersed in the spring of 1823, levied a contri- 
bution uijon each other by which they raised about $1000 for 
their side of the cause. William Kinney, afterward lieutenant 
governor, to his vocation as a pro-slavery politician added that of 
a baptist preacher, mingling the two with much freedom, traveled 
constantly over the State, acting with zeal and energy in arousing 
the people to the blessings of the institution of slavery. Emissa- 
ries of both parties ranged the State in every direction during the 
canvass, with bitter partisan tracts, and all manner of inflamma- 
tory appeals, to arouse the passions of the people, and awaken 
them to the duty of the hour. The principal newspapers of the 
pro-slavery party were located at Kaskaskia and Edvvardsville. 

In looking over the array of iirominent names, it has been 
thought the most talented and influential public men were on the 
side of the convention party,* but in energy and zeal, which grew 
with the progress of the campaign, the opi)osition were better or- 
ganized. Their attacks were, besides, direct up<ni the subject in- 
volving the merits of slavery ; while the other side showed signs of 
avoiding the direct issue. The latter argued that the constitation 
needed amendment in many jjarticulars ; that the convention 
would not probably interfere in behalf of slavery, and if it did, it 
would establish it only for a limited period, or provide for inden- 
turing and gradual emancipation. But the opponents were not to 

♦Ford's History. 



COLES' ADMINISTRATION. 327 

be lioodwiuked in this maimer ; indeed as the people took a very 
absorbing interest in the subject, and as the canvass was exten- 
ded for a period of 18 mouths, they (;anie to thoroughly appre- 
ciate all there was iu it by the day of election. The contest was 
not devoid of extraneous pro-slavery influences from beyond the 
borders of the State, as might well be expected, but such imperti- 
nence was promptly met as it deserved. 

When the day of election finally arrived, the utmost exertions at 
the polls throughout the State were used by both sides to bring out 
a full vote. The aged, the crippled, the chronic invalids, all that 
could be conveyed with their bodily infirmities, were brought out 
and cast their votes, either for or against the call. The result was 
that the convention scheme was defeated by some 1800 majority. 
This was a wonderful victory to achieve, showing a gain for the 
anti-slavery cause, exceeding 3500 votes since the gubernatorial 
contest ,of two years before. The aggregate vote was 11,612 ; 
4,972 for, and 6,04:0 against. This was a large vote ; at the presi- 
dential election in ISTovember following, the aggregate vote of the 
State was 4,707. 

And thus ended the most important, excited, and angry election 
that took place at that early day in Illinois. All feeling, however, 
speedily subsided, and in 6 months after, is it said, a politician 
who favored the introduction of slavery was a rara avis. The 
victory was decisive of the question for all time. 



Chapter XXVIII. 
1824-6— MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 

Legislation — Re- organization of the Judiciary — Chief Justice Wil- 
son — Ruhbard as Governor ad interim — Population of 1825 — 
Visit of LaFayette. 



The conveutiou struggle over, other affairs claim our attention. 
And lirst as to the legislature, which was anti-convention in 
its political sentiments. The members chosen simultaneously with 
the defeat of the convention call, constituted in a sense the first 
ever elected in Illinois upon other than personal considerations. 
Permanent i)arty principles and organizations had been, as yet^ 
foreign to the virgin soil of Illinois. To laud one and defame the 
other candidate was, up to that time, the only recognized mode of 
conducting a political canvass, and the campaigns were usually 
short. Governor Coles, in his message, congratulated the people 
upon the result over the slavery question, and again recom- 
mended the abolition of the remnant of African slavery still exist- 
ing, as an anomaly in this free State. But the legislature, 
notwithstanding its anti-convention majority, was not abolition^ 
and it paid little heed to his recommendation. Two United States 
senators, four supreme judges, and five circuit judges, besides a 
crowd of other officials, were to be elected at this session ; but the 
majority proved itself of quite a forgiving disposition toward its 
recent bitter opponents, and the convention question was not 
made a test in the choice of the numerous officers during the ses- 
sion. John McLean, a leading pro-convention orator, was elected 
United States senator over Governor Edwards, who was not 
closely identified with the angry contest, being absent in Wash- 
ington. It was at this time that he became involved in his unfor- 
tunate quarrel with Mr. Crawford, secretary of the treasury, 
which caused him to give up the Mexican mission to which he 
had been appointed. One week later, Elias Kent Kane was also 
elected to the United States senate. Hedefeated for the position such 
prominent anti-convention men as Governor Coles and Samuel D. 
Lockwood. Kane was perhaps the ablest writer that the conven- 
tion party had during the contest, although a northern man by 
birth and education. Two leading pro-convention men were thus- 
honored by an anti-convention legislature with the two highest 
offices in its gift. 

By the constitution, the terms of office of supreme judges were 
to expire with the close of the year 1824. The legislature re-or- 
ganized the judiciary by creating both circuit and supreme courts. 
The State was divided into five judicial circuits, providing twa 
terms of court annually in each county. The salaries of the cir- 

328 



coles' administration. 329 



cuit judges AA^ere fixed at $600. The following circuit judges were 
chosen : John Y. Sawyer, Samuel McRoberts, Eicliard M. Young, 
James Hall and John O. Wattles, named in the order of their 
respective circuits. The sui)reme court Avas relieA^ed of circuit 
duties and made a court of appellate jnrisdiction. It Avas to be 
held twice a year at the seat of gOA^ernment, and as before, com- 
posed of four judges, but now commissioned during good behaA'ior. 
Their salaries were cut doAvn from $1000 to $800. December 30, 
1824, the two houses met in joint session to elect one chief jus- 
tice and three associate justices. On the first ballot, William 
Wilson receiA^ed 35 A'otes, Thomas Reynolds, chief justice up to 
that time, 19. Wilson haA^ng receiAxd a majority of the Avhole 
number of votes cast, Avas duly declared chief justice of the 
State of Illinois. ♦ 

For associate justices there Avere six candidates: Thomas C. 
Brown, Samuel D. Lockwood, Theophilus W. Smith, David 
Blackwell, Thomas Reynolds and John Reynolds. In the course 
of tiA'e ballotings, the first three named Avere chosen. James 
Turney was elected attorney-general. The tAvo Reynolds, Thomas 
and John, uncle and nephew, Avho were rejected, had been ou 
the supreme bench up to that ti^ne, and the former had been a 
conspicuous couA'^ention man. 

William Wilson, at the time of his eleA^ation to the high and 
honorable position of chief justice of Illinois, Avas but 29 years old, 
and had been already five years ou the supreme bench as associate 
justice. He was born in Loudon county, Virginia, in 1795* When 
quite young his father died, leaving his Avidow Avith tAvo sons and 
an embarrassed estate. At an early age, his mother obtained for 
him a situation in a store. But the young man discovered no apti- 
tude for the business of merchandizing, and young as he Avas, 
dcA'eloped an unusual greed for books, reading eA^ery one attaina- 
ble, to the almost total neglect of his duties in the store. At the 
age of 18 he was i>laced in a hiAv office under the tuition of the 
Hon. John Cook, who ranked high as alaAvyer at the bar of Vir- 
ginia, and who also served his country Avith liouor and distinction 
abroad as minister to the court of France. In 1817, young- 
Wilson came to Illinois to look for a home, and such Avas his 
personal bearing and prepossessing appearance, that one year 
later, at the inauguration of the State government, his name was 
brought before the legislature for associate supreme judge, and 
he came within 6 Azotes of an election. Within a year, as Ave have 
seen, he was chosen in the place of Foster. For five years he 
served the people so acceptably upon the bench as to be at this 
time chosen to the first position by a large majority over the 
former chief justice, Reynolds. This was the more a mark of 
approbation, because Judge Wilson Avas totally devoid of, and 
never in his life could wield, any of the arts of the politician or 
party schemer. As regards ])olitical intrigue, he Avas as inno- 
cent as achild. He Avas singularly pure in all his convictions of duty, 
and in his long public career of nearly 30 years as a supreme judge 
of Illinois, he commanded the full respect, confidence and 
esteem of the people for the probity of his official acts and 
his upright conduct as a citizen and a maTi. His education 
was such as he had acquired by diligent reading and self culture. 
As a writer his diction was pure, clear and elegant, as maj" be seen 



330 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

by reference to bis published opinions in the supreme court reports. 
With a mind of rare analytical power, his judgment as a lawyer 
was discriminating- and sound, and upon the bench his learning 
and impartiality commanded respect, while his own dignified 
deportment inspired decorum in others. By the members of the 
bar he was greatly esteemed ; no new beginner was ever without 
the i^rotection of almost a fatherly hand in his court, against the 
arts and powers of an older opponent. In politics, upon the form- 
ation of the Whig and Democratic parties, he associated himself 
with the former. He was an amiable and accomplished gentleman 
in private life, with manners most engaging and friendships strong. 
His hospitality was of the old Virginia style. Seldom did a sum- 
mer season pass at his pleasant country seat, about two miles 
from Carmi, on the banks of the Little Wabash, that troops of 
friends, relatives and distinguished official visitors did not sojourn 
with him. His official career was terminated with the going into 
effect of the new constitution, December 4, 1848, when he retired 
to private life. He died at his home, in the ripeness of age and 
the consciousness of a life well spent, April 29, 1857, in his 63d 
year. 

The legislature of 1824 was an important and able body. 
Throughout its session, harmony and cordiality obtained among 
the members. The men who were promoted or elevated to ofQce, 
and charged with important responsibilities, were generally well 
known to the people for their character, merit and ability, and 
failed not to give satisfaction. Seventy thousand dollars of the 
State bank currency was committed to the flames in the presence 
of tlie governor, supreme judges and directors of the principal 
bank, according to the requirements of the law. 

In the summer of 1825, immigration revived considerably. A 
great tide set in toward the central parts of the State. Through 
Vandalia alone, 250 wagons were counted in three weeks time, all 
going northward. Destined for Sangamon county alone, 80 
wagons and 400 people were counted in two weeks time. Sanga- 
mon county was, at that time, without doubt the most populous 
county in the State. All the northern counties were most disj^ro- 
portionately represented in the general assembly. While such 
counties as Randolph and White had each a senator and three 
representatives, Sangamon had one representative and one sena- 
toi- only. 

It happened at this time, that Governor Coles was temporarily 
absent on a visit to Virginia, and Lieutenant-governor Hubbard was 
the acting governer. His Excellency ad interim^ struck with the in- 
justice of this unequal representation, issued his proclamation for 
an extra session of the legislature, to convene at the seat of gov- 
ernment on the first Monday in January, 182G, for the purpose of 
apportioning the State, and for business generally. He was 
not loth to claim power. Governor Coles returned on the last 
day of October and resumed his office, but the acting governor 
was not inclined to yield it up, claiming he had superseded the 
former and to be governor de jure under section 18, article III 
of the constitution, which read : 

" In case of an impeachment of the governor, his removal from office, 
death, refusal to qualify, resignation or absence from the State, the 
lieutenant-governor shall exercise all the power and authority apper- 



coles' administration. 331 

taining to the office of governor, until the time pointed out by the con- 
stitution for the election of a governor shall arrive, unless the general 
assembly shall otherwise provide by law for the election of a governor 
to fill such vacancy. ' ' 

After the arrival of Coles, Hubbard, as a test, issued a commis- 
sion to W. L. D. Ewiiig- as paymaster general of the State militia, 
which was presented to the secretarj- of State, George Forquer, 
for his signature, who refused to sign and affix the official seal 
thereto. In December following, the supreme court being in ses- 
sion, Ewing applied for a rule on the secretary to show cause why 
a mandamus should not be awarded requiring him to countersign 
and affix the seal of tlie State to his commission issued and signed 
by Adolphus Frederick Hubbard, governor of Illinois. The rule 
being granted, the secretary answered, stating the facts, whereby 
the whole question was brought before the court and argued at 
length with much ability by talented counsel for both sides. The 
judges, aftermuch deliberation, delivered separate opinions of great 
learning and research, but all agreed in the judgment pronounced, 
that the rule must be discharged. Hubbard'was still irrepressible, 
and next memorialized the legislature in reference to his grievance. 
But the senate decided that the subject was a judicial one, inex- 
pedient to legislate ux)on, and the house laid his memorial upon the 
table. 

The census of 1825 returned a population of 72,817, being con- 
siderably less than the sanguine expectations of many led them 
to hope for. The State was duly apportioned anew at the special 
session in January, 1826, with reference to the distribution of popu- 
lation. The question was also mooted at this session of repealing 
the circuit court system, not that the court did not subserve a great 
public need, but that politicians in their disappointment in obtain- 
ing office the winter preceding, sought to redress their grievances 
Urst by depriving the circuit judges altogether of office, and next 
by loading the supreme judges with additional labor by remanding 
them to circuit duty. The latter, being life members, could not 
be otherwise reached as objects of their vengeance, wherefore they 
were charged with having too easy a life as a court of appeals 
for a State so embarrassed as Illinois. The house, however, 
struck out of the bill to repeal all after the enacting clause and 
as a piece of pleasantry, inserted a section to repeal the wolf-scalp 
law, in which the senate did not concur.* 

"the nation's guest." 

Visit of the Marquis de LaFayette to Illinois. — A pleasant episode 
in the spring of 1825, to vary the monotony of western life, and 
per adventure the pages of this book, was the visit to Illinois of 
General LaFayette, our able and opportune a\\j in the war of the 
Ilevolution, and now after the lapse of near a half century the 
honored guest of the nation. Having learned of his arrival in 
America, the general assembly of this State, early in its session 
of 1824-5, adopted an eloquent address of welcome to him, couched 
in terms of glowing admiration for his patriotic services, and 

*In March succeeding, within 5 miles of where the leaislature had sat, a five year old 
child of Daniel Hufman, which had wandered from home into the woods a mile or 
so, was attacked and killed by a wolf The animal was seen leaving its inang-led and 
partly consumed body by the neighbors in search of it on the following' day. 



332 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

earnestly iinitiiig liim to extend his western visit to Illinois. " On 
the 9th of December the address, with an affectionately written 
letter from Gov. Coles, who had formed his personal acquaintance 
in France in 1817, were transmitted to Gen. LaFayette. Under 
date of ^Vashington, Jan. 16, 1825, he expressed his gratification 
for the honor done him by Illinois, adding: ''It has ever been my 
eager desire, and it is now my earnest intention, to visit the western 
States and jiarticnlarly the State of Illinois. The feelings which 
your distant welcome could not fail to excite, have in- 
creased that iDatriotic eagerness to admire on that blessed 
spot, the hapi^y and rapid results of republican institu- 
tions, public and domestic virtues. I shall, after the celebration 
of the 22d of February anniversary day, leave this place for a 
journey to the southern, and from Kew Orleans to the western 
states, so as to return to Boston on the 14th of June, when the 
corner stone of the Bunker's Hill monument is to be laid; a cere- 
mony sacred to the whole Union, and in which 1 have been engaged 
to act a peculiar and honorable part." 

On the 28th of April, 1825, the steamboat Natchez, with General 
Lafayette and suite on board, anchored below St. Louis, at the old 
French village of Carondelet. On the following morning Gover- 
nors Clark, of Missouri, and Coles, of Illinois, Col. Benton, and 
others, repau-ed thither to escort the distinguished visitor up to the 
city. During the forenoon the boat with the entire party steamed 
up to St. Louis, where, upon the wharf, an immense concourse of 
people had assembled to greet and honor the patriot hero. He 
landed amidst the booming of cannon and the animated cheers of 
the vast multitude. He was accompanied by his son, named 
George Washington LaFayette, and his secretary. Col. LeVassear; 
by a deputation from Louisiana consisting of Col. Morse, aid to the 
governor, Mr. LeClair, his private secretary, and ]\Ir. Frier, re- 
corder of Kew Orleans, aiid Col. Ducros; by Col. Scott from the 
State of Mississippi, and by Maj. Gen. Gibbs, Maj. Eutledge, Mr. 
Bolcli and Mr. Stewart, of Tenn. Addresses of welcome and 
responses were made, when the entire concourse moved to the 
elegant mansion of Pierre Choteau, where a reception was held. 
Supper was had, followed by a number of toasts and appropriate 
speeches, and in the evening a splendid ball at Massie's hotel, 
attended by General LaFayette, his suite and all the dignitaries. 

In person LaFayette was about six feet tall, inclining to corpu- 
lency, and a tiorid complexion. Pie limped upon his left leg, the 
result of a wound. He spoke the English language fluently and 
had a ready command of approi)riate expression. 

On Saturday, April 30, 1825, Gen. LaFayette and suit, attended 
by a large delegation of prominent citizens of Missouri, made a 
visit by the steamer Natchez to the ancient town of Kaskaskia. No 
military parade was attempted, but a great multitude of i)atriotic 
citizens bade him welcome. A reception was held at the elegant 
residence of Mr. Edgar. Gov. Coles, on behalf of the people of 
Illinois, delivered a glowing address of welcome to the illustrious 
guest, to which LaFayette replied in a most feeling and hapjiy 
vein, expressive of his exquisite gratification for the honor done 
him upon that occasion. 

After this a general introduction of the citizens and hand-shaking 
followed, when a most touching scene was presented. A few old 



coles' administration. 333 

revolutionary soldiers collected around the General, who had 
fought under his eye at Brandywine and Yorhtown, and 
who all recollected liini and now greeted him most heartily. 
Although the general did not personally recollect them, the occa- 
sion was to him and all present most aftecting. This meeting in 
the winter of their lives seemed to awaken youthful feeling and 
carry back these old soldier j)atriots to the eventful period 
when they were associated in arms and fighting the battles of 
liberty. 

The entire company of distinguished guests, visitors, and citi- 
zens next proceeded to the tavern Ivcpt by Col. Sweet, where an 
ample dinner had been prepared. The patriotic ladies had deco- 
rated the dining hall with laurel wreaths in a most tasteful and 
appropriate manner, and over tlie table where the hero and honored 
guests were seated a beautiful rainbow of roses and flowers was 
spanned. 

We can only give a very few of the after dinner toasts that were 
drank: 

By LaFayette — Kaskaskia and Illinois ; may their joint pros- 
perity more and more evince the blessings of congenial industry 
and freedom. 

By Gov. 6'o?e.s —The inmates of LaGranges [LaFayette'shome]: 
let them not be anxious ; for though their father is 1,000 miles 
in the interior ot America, he is yet in the midst of his affectionate 
children. [Very good]. 

By O. W. LaFayette — The grateful confidence of my father's 
children and grand-children, in the kindness of his American family 
towards him. 

By Gov. Bond — General LaFayette; may he live to see that 
liberty established in his native countrj- which he helped to estab- 
lish in his adopted country. When this toast was given the 
general arose and observed that he would drink the latter part of 
the toast — the liberty of his adopted country — standing. 

After dinner the distinguished party repaired to the large 
and commodious house of Wm. Morrison, Sr., Esq., where a grand 
ball was given for their delectation. Here during the night quite 
an interesting interview took place between the renowned General 
and an Indian squaw whose father had served under him in the 
lie volution ary war. The squaw, learning that the great White 
Chief was to be at Kaskaskia on that night, had ridden all day from 
early dawn till some time in the night, from her distant home, to 
see the man whose name had been so often upon her father's tongue 
and with which she was so familiar. In identification of her 
claim to his distinguished acquaintance, she brought with her an 
old worn letter which the general had written to her father, and 
Avhich the Indian chief had preserved with great care, and finally 
bequeathed on his death bed to his daughter as the most precious 
legacy he had to leave her. 

By 12 o'clock at night, Gen. LaFayette returned to the steam- 
boat, and started on his route to Nashville, Gov. Coles accompany- 
ing him, the boat being chartered by the State. 

He returned from Nashville on the steamboat Mechanic. On 
the 14th of May, 1825, when the boat appeared in sight at Shaw- 
neetown, a deputation of the citizens waited on the general, and ap- 
prised him of the reception in waiting for him. As the boat 



334 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

approached tL ■^, laiidiug, a salute of 24 rounds was flred. The peo- 
ple of the cowu and surrouudiug country had turned out en masse 
to greet the loved hero. Two lines were formed, extending from 
Eawling's hotel to tlie river. iJown this passed the committees 
of reception, town ofiicials, and other dignitaries, and received the 
nation's guest, who with the distinguished party accompanying 
him, passed up the line, the citizens standing uncovered in per- 
fect silence, until his arrival at the door of the hotel, where a large 
number of ladies were assembled. Here an address of affectionate 
welcome was delivered by Judge James Hall. LaFayette replied 
without iJreparation, in a voice tremulous with emotion, thanking 
the people for this evideiice of their love and gratitude. A colla- 
tion was then j)artaken of, followed by a number of toasts suitable 
to the occasion. After spending a few hours in pleasant converse, 
the general was conducted back to the steamer, when he took a 
most affectionate leave. A salute was flred at the departure. 
The general appeared much worn with the fatigue of his trii). 
Governor Coles quitted him at Shawneetowu, and proceeded by 
land to Vandalia. 





^^^^-uz-t 



^d^J^J^ 



Chapter XXIX. 
1826-30— ADMIXISTEATION OF GOVERNOR EDWARDS. 

Campaign of 1826 — The Guhernatorial Candidates — Contest beticeen 
Daniel P. CooJc and Joseph Duncan for Congress — Character of 
Gov. Edwards' speeches — His charges against the State BanTc officers 
and result of the inquiry info their conduct — Repeal of the Circuit 
Court system — Gov. Edicards claims for the State title to all pub- 
lic lands within her limits. 



At the general election of August, 1826, there were three guber- 
natorial candidates in the field : Xiniau Edwards, Thomas C. Sloe, 
and Adolphus Frederick Hubbard. The latter was at the time 
lieutenant-governor. That he was ambitious to become governor, 
we have seen in his attempt to supersede Gov. Coles, failing in 
which he now sought that distinction, as was more becoming, 
directly from the hands of the people. "As a picture of the 
times," Gov. Coles gives the following morceau, from Hubbard's 
speeches to his constitutents : "Fellow citizens, I ofi'er myself as 
a candidate before you, for the office of governor. I do not pre- 
tend to be a man of extraordinary talents ; nor do I claim to be 
equal to JuUus Cfesar or Napoleon Bonaparte, nor yet to be as 
great a man as my opponent, Gov. Edwards. Xevertheless, I 
thiuk I can govern you pretty well. I do not think it will require 
a very extraordinary smart man to govern you; for to tell you 
the truth, fellow-citizens, I do not think you will be very hard to 
govern, no how." He was an oddity. 

The contest lay between Sloe and Edwards. Sloe was a gen- 
tleman of good sense and capacity, whose business was merchan- 
dising. He had been much in public life, and as a member of the 
legislature time and again had wielded a large influence as a 
practical worker in that body. In deportment, he was dignified 
and urbane, but had not cultivated the art of i^ublic speaking, 
in which Edwards, an Apollo Belvidere in form and Titan in 
intellect, had quite the advantage of him. 

" Edwards," says Gov. Ford, " was a large, well made man, with 
a noble, princely appearance," who " never condescended to the 
common low arts of electioneering. Whenever he went out among 
the people he arrayed himself in the style of a gentleman of the 
olden time, dressed in fine broadcloth, with short breeches, long 
stockings, and high, fair-topped boots ; was drawn in a fine car- 
riage driven by a negro; and for success he relied upon his 
speeches, which were delivered with great pomp and in a style 
of diffuse and florid eloquence. When he was inaugurated in 

335 



336 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

1826, he appeared before the general assembly wearing a golden 
laced cloak, and with great pomp he i^rohounced liis first mes- 
sage to the houses of the legislature." 

For tlie office of lieutenant-governor there were but two candi- 
dates — Hubbard being without an associate. They were William 
Kinney and Samuel H. Thompson, and what may api^ear a little 
singular at this day, both were ministers of the gospel, the former 
a l^aptist, the latter a JNIetliodist. Kinney was one of tlie old 
pioneers, having emigrated to Illiuois with his father in 1797. 

He possessed naturally a good mind, but had received no educa- 
tion, until after marriage, when his wife taught him its rudiments. 
He had been much in public life, and was an efficient and untir- 
ing canvasser. In the convention contest, lie had been unceas- 
ing in hi.s efforts to render it a success. He was wealthy, and in 
a 2)olitical canvass the duties of his holy calling were not a 
stumbling block in his way. The Eev. Mr. Thompson, his oppo- 
nent, while he was his superior in scholastic attainments, had not 
his knowledge of men, nor his political art. This was his virgin 
effort to attain honors which perish. His character was irre- 
proachable and forbade him to engage in any electioneering con- 
du(!t to sully it. His candulacy was distasteful to him. The re- 
sult of the secular contest between these two of the sacred cloth, 
was the reverse of that for governor. The Eev. Mr. Kinney, 
although running on the Sloe ticket, which failed, was elected by 
a small majority. 

There was however, a more important contest connected with 
the election of 1826, in a political point of view, than that for the 
office of governor. We allude to tlie race for congress between 
Daniel P. Cook and Joseph Duncan, which marked the begin- 
ning of party principles, instead of mere local, personal scram- 
bles for office. To help our understanding we must take a short 
view of national affairs. 

Out of the presidential contest of 1824, grew the parties known 
afterwards as the whig and democratic. The election had failed 
before the people,ancl the house of representatives, in disregard 
of the will of the people, chose the one who had received next to 
the highest number of electoral votes, Mr. Adams. Mr. Clay 
accepted the highest position in the cabinet, but Mr. Crawford 
refused office under the new administration. Some bitterness of 
feeling sprang up between Mr. Clay and Gen. .Jackson, the former 
having written a letter in which he deprecated the election of a 
"military chieftain" to the high office of president, which was 
thought to reflect upon the latter. A coalition of the Clay and 
Adams men followed, and as Jackson had received a plurality of 
electoral votes, more than double those of Crawford, and as he 
further, through the nomination of the legislature of Tennessee, 
directly became a candidate again for the same position, it became 
evident at an early day, that the next contest would lie between 
him and Mr. Adams. The friends of Mr. Crawford, therefore 
gave in their adhesion to the Jackson party, as by so doing, was 
there any hope of defeating Adams. Party principles did not as 
yet obtain; indeed Jackson had voted, while in the senate, with 
Adams and Clay, and supported affirmatively 8 different bills 
providing for internal improvements by the general government, 
and also the tariff of 1821, founded on the princij)le of iJrotection. 



EDWAKDS" ADMINISTRATION. 337 

Party divisions involved personal considerations only, which were 
very acrimonious, 

Daniel P. Cook, in the election of 1824, ran against Gov. Bond 
for congress, and was elected. During the campaign, the proba- 
bility of the presidential election going into the house was not 
unforeseen, and he had pledged himself in such contingency, "to 
vote, as a representative, in accordance with the clearly express- 
ed sense of a majority of those whose will he should be called ui^on 
to express." The total popular vote of Illinois, which voted by 
districts, was 4,707, of which 1541 were cast for the electors of 
Adams, 1273 for Jackson, 104(3 for Chiy, 218 for Crawford, and 
629 for James Turney, elector for Clay and Jackson joiutlj'. If half 
of these latter votes had been added to Jackson's, it would have 
given him a pluralitybut not a majority. The electoral college 
of Illinois, in December' following, dropping Clay and Crawford, 
gave to Jackson two votes, and to Adams one; but wlien the elec- 
tion of president came before the house of representatives in con- 
gress, Mr. Cook cast the vote of Illinois for Mr. Adams, as it was 
supposed by the people (wlio probably made no distinction between 
the highest popuhir vote and majority) in violation of his express- 
ed pledges ; and they believed that Gen. Jackson had been gross- 
ly cheated by their representative.* 

And now Mr. Cook was again a candidate for congress. Prior 
to liis voting for Adams, he was the most popular man in the 
State. This was attributable in great part to his social qualities, 
being gifted with a luitural charm of manner almost irresistible, 
and a ready adaptability to surrouiulings, which were to him a 
great aid in his electioneering intercourse with the people, and 
which enabled him to accommodate himself with acceptability to 
ever}' circumstance and condition of western life, t Thus, 
with nothing against him but his vote for Adams, did he 
start into the campaign of 1826. His former opponents, John 
McLean, Elias Kent Kane, and ex-Gov. Bond had been beaten so 
badly and not appreciating the public resentment, they even now 
feared to again essay the race, and Joseph Dmicau, afterward 
governor, then but little known in the State, had the temerity to 
come out against him. At that time Duncan was an original Jack- 

♦Reynold's Life and Times, page 254. 

[+Durin<r the convention campaign, in 1824, when -Mr. Cook running for cngress, was 
opposed liy ex-Gov. Bond, he had occusion to stop over night with a farmer in the 
southern part of the State. In conversation Cook inquired the news, to which the 
farmer replied "tliere was none, except the.y were afraid that that d— d little Yankee, 
Cook, would be re-elected to cong'ress." The conversation continued durins^ the 
evening' on various topics; in the morning- when Mr. Cook was about to take his 
departure, the farmer, pleased with his agreeable and intelligent guest, inquired his 
name. Mr. Cook replied, that he was ''that d — d little Yankee Cook," he had alluded 
to the evening previous! The farmer becume hi-j devoted supporter. (Edwards' life 
of Edwards.) in stature Mr. Cook was below the medium hight, slender and erect, 
weig-hing not exceeding 120 pounds; his voice was soft and melodious, and his speech 
ready and fluent. He was born in Scott county, Kentucky, and was a self made man, 
having few educational advantages in his youth. In otBcial life he exhibited an exten- 
sive and varied knowledge of public affairs. He settled in Ulinois in 1815, was the first 
attorney general of the State, and the second congressman, beating John McLean in 
1819, and was bi-ennially thereafter re elected up to 1826 In congress he stood high ; 
in 1825-6 he was transferred from the committee on public lands, to that of ways and 
means, and, owing to the absence of the chairman, acted in that laborious and responsi- 
ble capac'ity most of the time. During his last term in congress he procured the 
very important grant of near 300,000 acres of land in this State for the construction 
of the Illinois and Michigan canal. Mr. Cook's health having been feeble for some 
time, at the close of the session in the Spring of 1827, he made a visit to Cuba, but 
soon returned. He died of consumption, at the home of his nativity, October 16, 1827, 
at the early age of 34. He was the son-in-law of Gov. Edwards, and left one child. 
Gen. John Cook, now of Springfield. The county of Cook, was named appropriately 
In his honor.] 

22 



338 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

son mau, attached to his political fortune in admiration of the 
glory of his military achievements. He had been an ensign under 
the dauntless Croghan at Lower Sandusky and acquitted himself 
with credit. In the Illinois legislature he had served as a senator 
from Jackson county. His chances of success against Cook were 
regarded as hopeless; but he entered upon the campaign un- 
daunted; his speeches, devoid of ornament, though short, were full 
of good sense. He made a diligent canvass of the State, Mr. 
Cook being- much hindered hy the state of his health. The most 
that was exj^ected of Duncan, however, was that he would get a 
respectable vote — not the defeat of Cook. Both friends and foes 
were struck with surprise and amazement at the resnlt. The vio- 
lence of party feeling smouldering in the breasts of the people ou 
account of the defeat of Jackson, was not duly appreciated until 
the defeat of Cook and the election of Duiu;au bj^ a majority of 
641 — the vote standing 6,321 for Duncan to 5,680 for Cook. Aside 
from the convention struggle in 1824, none other than mere local and 
personal considerations had ever before controlled the result of an 
election in Illinois. 

In the gubernatorial contest the party lines were not so closely 
drawn. Sloe was the undoubted Jackson candidate, but Edwards, 
too, professed adherence to the political fortunes of the "military 
chieftain." But the burden of his speeches related to State affairs and 
particularly the wasteful administration of the State finances, and 
other abuses. He characterized in fitting terms the wretched legis- 
lation which had first saddled the State with the bank whose worth- 
less issues it was bound to redeem in gold and silver by 1831; whose 
notes it was bound to receive at par for taxes and other indebted- 
ness, and which were paid out again, or auditor's warrants as their 
equivalent, at $3 for $1 ; showed the loss from this policy must neces- 
sarily be $2 for $1 received; that a debt of $150,000 had been 
imposed upon the State yearly when the ordinary current expenses 
should have been but about $25,000; that these losses must event- 
ually be wrung out of the people by treble taxation; that no 
State, however great its energies or resources, could long withstand 
so enormous a draft upon them ; that it tended to check immigra- 
tion; emigrants as a class were "neither the most able nor the most 
willing to pay high taxes;" that while the annual State revenue 
amounted to between $40,000 and $50,000, being nearly double the 
current expenses of the government, these dejjlorable deficits and 
depreciation of currency were taking place, humiliating to our i)ride 
and disreputable to our character abroad. He inveighed against 
the unjust discrimination whereby residents were compelled to pay 
taxes yearly and non-residents biennially ; that as the State 
revenue Avas chiefly derived from the latter, hunum ingenuity 
could iiot have devised a more efi'ectual scheme to ])roduce an annual 
deficit in the State treasury. This it was that created the demand 
for new issues of floods of auditor's warrants which depreciated 
the currency and afforded the opportunity for speculators to riot on 
the necessities of the people; but for tliis unfair advantage the 
further emission of these warrants would cease. "But then," he 
exclaimed to his auditors, "this would have withered, if not anni- 
hilated, that speculation which has so long been luxuriating upon 
the resources of the State and the honest earnings of the sweat 
of your brows. Such impositions as these, upon a free, highminded 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 339 

and independent people, I boldly assert, have no parallel in the 
annals of free government, and they are only to be borne by that 
charity which hopeth all things, believeth all things, and eudvu-eth 
all things."* 

Edwards fought his campaign battles single-handed, and solely 
upon the grounds of fiscal reform as affecting the welfare of the 
State, irrespective of party affiliations. This brought him in array 
against nearly every public man of any prominence in the State, 
while many of his friends stood aloof, deeming it hazardous to be 
identified with him. But from his triumph it may well be deduced 
that his forcible and instructive addresses gained the ear of the 
people. The legislature was, however, largely against him. His 
campaign speeches having produced a good effect upon the people, 
as evinced by their sustaining him, and encouraged by his remark- 
able triumph, he now attempted to go further. In his inaugural 
message he alluded to the delinquencies of the Shawneetown 
branch of the State bank, as reported by the committee of investiga- 
tion, stating that "its concerns had been loosely and irregularly 
conducted;" that the deranged state of its accounts did not 
exhibit the amount of debts due, and that money had been loaned 
without security, contrary to the requirements of the law, sworn 
by all its oiffcers to execute faithfully the injunction, "I will 
not permit money to be loaned to any individual without security." 
From which he deduced not onlj^ fraud and imposition, but the 
clearest moral perjury, voluntarily and deliberately committed.t 

And now followed in short order several messages from him to 
the house, charging specific acts of corruption, particularly upon 
the officers of the Edwardsville branch of the State bank. A loan 
of $2,050 had been obtained by a mortgage upon real estate, which 
on execution was valued at $737.75 and which actually sold for 
only $491.83; another loan of $6,625 was effected upon realty 
valued at $3,140.71, when the sworn duty of the officers was to 
exact real estate security in double value of the loan, and to loan 
but $1,000 on such securitj' at one time to one man. Three days 
later, in another message, he charged that these loans were to 
Thos. J. McGuire, Emanuel J. West, and Theophilus W. Smith, 
to establish a press at Edwardsville, intended to promote the intro- 
duction of slavery into the State; that lieutenant-governor Kinney 
president of the bank, advanced the money to bu}^ the press, that 
McGuire was the printer who obtained the loan with West as 
security, and that Smith the cashier, became the editor; that no 
entries on the minute book showed when the loan was made, »S:c. 
These details were perhaps indiscreet, as they gave color to the 
charge that his excellency was actuated by something more than 
feelings purely of reform. 

Having obtained further information, the governor, on the 25th 
of Januar}', submitted to the house of representatives, as the 
grand inquest of the State, charges of grave and serious import 
against the officers and board of directors of the branch bank at 
Edwardsville, alleged to be predicated ujion the books, accounts, 
and papers, delivered by the late cashier, T. W. Smith, to his suc- 
cessor, Mr. Miller : 1st, for making loans of more than $1000 upon 
real estate security to various individuals ; 2d, making loans of 

♦Edward's Life, by his eon N. W. 

+See House Journal, session of 1826-7. 



340 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



more thau $100 upon personal security — that the president him- 
self had two several hiaiis of $1000 each ou personal security, 
made, too, out of the 10 per cent fund which was never to be put 
into circulation ; 3d, loaning- ou real estate not free from incum- 
brances; 4th, loaning on in sufficient secnrity; 5th, culpable neg- 
lect of duty in not protesting overdue pai)er and proceeding to 
the collection thereof; all in violation of the positive require- 
ments of the law; stating that among tlie batch of promissory- 
notes due and unreneM'ed, running back for tliree years, and 
handed over by T. W. Smith (late cashier) to his successor, there 
were eleven forgeries detected as early as 1822, yet no effort had 
been made to bring the offender to punishment; that in 1824, 
Thomas J. McGuire had obtained a loan of $1000 on a mortgage 
improperly executed and without relinquishing dower (he being 
married) on a piece of proi>erty not worth $300 ; the same to 
Emanuel J. West ou laiul valued on execution at $301 IS ; tlmt 
by the law, all loans, before made, were to be passed upon by two- 
thirds of the board, yet T. W. Smith had obtained a loan without 
being so sanctioned, because at the time tlie president was absent 
from the State, two of the four directors were attending the legis- 
lature as senators, and Smith himself, one of the supreme judges, 
was also tliere in attendance. The governor further adroitly de- 
chired that he fully appreciated the formidable combinations that 
had grown out of the banking interest in the State, but as the 
crisis had arrived he proposed meeting it, notwithstanding men- 
aces to intimidate him liad been made. He would shrink from no 
danger, but fearlessly discharge the high trust reposed in him by 
the i)eople. The message and accompanying documents were re- 
ferred to a select committee of seven, composed of Henry J. 
Mills, George Churchill, Thomas Eeyuolds, William Sim, W. 
Cavarly and Conrad Will, with power to send for persons and 
papers. 

Four days later, the governor, having embarked in the under- 
taking of ferreting out fiscal corruptions, boldly and circumstan- 
tiall}' brought forward nine distinctive charges against the cashier 
of the principal bank at Vandalia, J. M.Duncan, mostly relating to 
withholding the required information as to the condition of the 
bank, failing to make out descriptive lists of the burnt notes, and 
failing to lay before the legislature his half yearly report as to the 
condition of the branches, all of which the law required, and 
in all which particulars the law had been violated. This mes- 
sage, too, was referred to a committee. Still again he charged 
that Theophilus W. Smith did, when acting as cashier, misapply 
and appropriate to his own use a large amount of funds of the 
baidc, which he still withheld, and as he jjresided over the circuit, 
court in the county of his residence, he asked that pro^asion be 
made for instituting suit against him outside of his own circuit. 

And now there was intense excitement at the capital. The gov- 
ernor had, single handed, to deal with adroit and sagacious politi- 
cians of the dominant party, some high in ofdce, before a 
legislature with whom he was in a party minority. * The cry was 
raised that the charges " emanated from a base and malignant 
determination, on the part of the governor, to prostrate every in- 
dividual who had dared to oppose his election,"* Governor Ford 

*SeeJ. M. Duncan's letter, House Journal, Junuary 29,1827. 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 341 

says : " A powerful combination of iiiflueutial men was thus formed 
totliwart the investigation. The governor was openly andboklly 
charged with base motives; and that kind of stigma was attempted 
to be cast on hiin which is apt to lixitself upon acommon informer. 
His charges against Mr. Crawford \xeie remembered, and he was 
now charged with being iniluenced by hostility towards Judge 
Smith, who had been a fiiendtoMr. Crawford's election." 

The charges against J. M. Duncan were speedily disposed of. 
The committee, February 8th, reported, "exculpating the cashier 
of the principal bank from all censure," and that there was " not 
the least semblance of the violation of his duty," in any of the 
charges j)referred by his Excellency ; and as to the misai)j)lication 
of the bank funds by Judge Smith, while cashier, they reported 
that it was not the province of the general assembly to decide 
upon the validity of the claims between the bank and its officers ; 
the question was a judicial one; that a law already existed pro^■id- 
ing for a change of venue, where the judge of a court was inter- 
ested in a suit.* 

The committee of 7, which Governor Ford says was " packed" 
against the governor, gave the subject a long and apparently care- 
ful investigation, their proceedings being taken down in writing 
and fully rejiorted to the house.+ Many of the charges, apparently 
hastily made, were satisfactorily explained, yet much irregularity 
in the conduct and management of the bank also appeared, chief of 
which was in connection with the insufliciency of the real estate 
security required. But this was partly explained in that val- 
uations were made after the depreciation of the bank notes, in 
accordance with the real value of the money received, while the 
hard times incident to that period also caused a very great depre- 
ciation of i)roi)erty generally. The loans exceeding $1000, made to 
directors and officers, it appeared, Avere authorized by section 18 of 
the law, which allowed them to borrow $750 " in addition to the 
amount which as individuals they might be entitled to." The law 
was further construed that they were entitled to borrow on i)er- 
sonal security beyond the $100 allowed to individuals, which had 
been sanctioned by the governor himself in the case of Daniel 
Parkinson, a director from Sangamon, who had borrowed $850, 
August 9, 1821, on a note, with N. Edwards as personal security. 
It appeared further that this same Parkinson had presented and 
drawn the money on the eleven $100 notes alleged by the go\'er- 
nor to be forged. The notes purported to be from a number of 
parties, but " appeared to have been signed in the handwriting of" 
the director from Sangamon. On inquirj-, Parkinson said he was 
not personally acquainted with the nuikers of the notes, but he 
had heard that they were good, and lived down on Indian creek. 
T.W.Smith made affidavit that he had been informed by the 
sheriff and clerk of Sangamon county, who had made diligent 
search for them in order to serve them with process at the suit of 
the bank, that no such persons ever resided in the county to their 
knowledge and behef. The charge that money had been re-loaned 
out of the 10 per cent fund, the governor took occasion to retract.^ 
The house of representatives, in committee of the whole, after 

•See House Joumar 1826-7, 416-46& 

tibid, 504 to 595 

tSee House Journal, p. 454. 



342 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

considering the report of the special committee, reported for 
adoption: '•'' Resolved, That nothing- has been proved against the 
late president, directors and cashier of the branch bank at Ed- 
wardsville, to- wit: William Kinney, Joseph A. Beaird, Thomas 
Carlin, Abraham Prickett, Elijah lies and Theophihis W. Smith, 
which would justify the belief that they had acted corruptly and 
in bad faith in the management of the affairs of said bank;" 
which was adopted by the house. Thus did the attemi)t of the 
governor to impeach the managers of the old State Bank prove a 
complete faihire. 

As illustrative both of the cordiality existing between two of 
the co-ordinate branches of government and the relative dignity 
of the same, Ave give the following: Some joint resolutions, 
addressed to congress, were passed by the legislature in favor of 
amending the constitution according to Mr. Benton's idea, to allow 
the people to vote directly for president and vice president. Thegov- 
ernor was required to transmit a copy of the resolutions to the execu- 
tives of the several States, with the request that they be laid before 
the legislatures thereof, and also to our senators and representatives 
in congress. But he returned them to the house Avith an indignant 
letter, protesting against the " unprecedented language of the 
resolutions requiring him to transmit" them; that it implied an au- 
thority over a co-ordinate branch of the government, and was an 
assumptiou of power not granted to the two houses under the con- 
stitution ; that such " language was violative of their relative inde- 
pendence," and that he " declined obedience to a command so 
unwarranted;" he would, liowever, compl\' with a "requesf'to that 
effect.* The offensive word was changed ! 

One of the most exciting measures passed at this session, was 
the repeal of the circuit court system, established 2 years before. 
During that time demagogues, well knowing how to create polit- 
ical capital by inference in the absence of facts, charged extrava- 
gance and a prodigal waste of the people's money in sustaining a 
judiciary, and virtually pensioning the supreme court, which 
might well perform all the circuit duty. A good deal of opposi- 
tion had been stirred up among the people by the governor during 
his canvass, and he also urged the repeal in his inaugural message. 
Upon the other hand, all the nine judges, circuit and supreme, 
opposed it. But in this measure the goA^ernor was aided by some 
of his worst enemies, Avho had failed in their judicial aspirations two 
years before when the court was re-organized, and the bill pre- 
vailed. The State was diAdded into five circuits, assigning one of 
the supreme judges to each of four, to hold two terms of court in 
each county yearly. One of the circuit judges, the Hon. E. M. 
Young, was retained on a circuit in the military district. But one 
yearly term of the supreme court was provided. The salaries of 
the judges were increased from $800 to $1000. The salaries of the 
five circuit judges were $600 each. Thus Avas saved to the State 
treasury annually a total of $2400 from this source, at an incal- 
culable delay and vexation to suitors in both the supreme and cir- 
cuit courts. But the mere question of expense, and the petty re- 
venge of sore aspirants, were not the only things Avhich conspired 
to tills repeal. One of the circuit judges was to be punished for 
"proscription," it AAas said. The circuit judges had power to appoint 

•See House .Journal, p. 454. 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 343 

circuit clerks, but that from this as a corollary followed the power 
of removal, was not so clear. Judge McRoberts so viewed it, aud 
had exercised both powers, proscriptively, it was thought. He 
had removed from that oiSce, iu Madison county, Joseph Conway, 
a political opponent, aud appointed in his stead, Emanuel J. West, 
his friend. Conway, being Avell known and popular, was elected 
to the State senate, and after riding into office on his grievance 
before the people, in the legislature he brouglit it to bear against 
the entire system, and completed his revenge against McRoberts 
by repealing all the judges but one out of office. Judge McRob- 
erts, intellectually one of the first men of the State, was also un- 
popular on account of arbitrarily entering up judgment against 
■Governor Coles, after he had been released by an act of the legis- 
lature from fine iu emancipating his negroes without giving bond 
that they should not become a charge uj)on the county. 

The sui^reme judges appointed at the session of 1824-5 to revise 
the statutes, submitted the result of their labor so far as com- 
pleted. Appreciating the magnitude of such a work, fraught 
with such great interests, to the perfection of which great and 
uninterrupted re-search should be brought, they had not com- 
pleted many chapters. A joint committee trom both houses was 
appointed, which went earnestly to work to finish up the revision, 
employing as assistants the circuit judges in attendance at the 
seat of government. The revision embraced all the various laws 
relating to the right of property, contracts and civil actions, and 
the rights of persons and society, and the modes of redress. Jus- 
tices of the peace were at this session made elective by the peo- 
ple. 

1828-9 — Early in the session of 1826-7, the legislature had un- 
der consideration some resolutions memorializing congress to 
reduce the price of public lands, and for a grant to the State of 
all the public lands lying therein, upon such principles as might 
be deemed just and equitable. Mr. Black well offered an amend- 
ment — "on condition tliat the State at all times grant to actual 
settlers each not less than a quarter section, to be occupied and 
improved." In a communication to the house, the governor re- 
commended that our delegates in congress be instructed "to 
contract with the government for a surrender of the lu^blic lands 
within the State, on the following terms : the State to be at all 
the expenses of selling them at a inicenot exceeding 25 cents per 
acre ; to keep an ofiice constantly open for that purpose, and to 
pay to the general government annually 25 cents per acre for 
all that shall have been sold." Later, the committee to which 
the governor's communication had been referred, reported, and 
taking a step in advance, required from congress a surrender 
of the i)nblic lands "unconditionally, subject to such disposition 
as the people of the State,by their representatives, may deem 
most conducive to their prosi^erity and happiness." 

This i)roposition threw the governor's effectually in the shade, 
aud he was not heard from again during the session upon the sub- 
ject. But by the meeting of the legislature in 1828, he had had 
ample time to work this subject up to its largest proportions. He 
now eclipsed the bold demand of the committee, by broadly 
claiming in his message of extraordinary length, evincing unusu- 



344 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



al legal research and acumen, that the public lands within the 
limits of Illinois belonged already to the State. He showed that 
the articles of confederation not only affirmed tlie riglit of every 
State to all the lands within its limits, but expressly declared that 
"no State shall be deprived of territory for the benefit of the 
United States." He argued that the United States, by the terms 
of the constitution, could not acquire or hold any land in any 
original State, even with its own consent, except what may be 
necessary "for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock 
yards, and other needful buihlings ; " that as this State had been 
admitted on an equal footing Mith the original States, the United 
States could hold no more land tlian for these purposes within its 
limits, and for anything more the general government had to 
obtain "the consent of the legislature of the State ;" that till 
the admission of the State into the Union, it had no rights as a 
State under the constitution, and consequently no competency to 
act in that cliaracter ; it was lilie a minor, not within the age of 
consent ; that the State could not therefore be bound by the acts 
of the territory, in consenting for the United States to hold lands 
within her limits f that if the federal government enjoyed this 
privilege of dominion over the public lands during "its political 
minority, it ceased on the admission of the State into the Union, 
having tlience forward the same rights of sovereignty, freedom, 
and independence as the other States; that the sovereignty of a 
State includes the right to exercise supreme and exclusive control 
over all lands within it; that the freedom of a State is the right 
to do whatever hniy be done by any nation, and includes the 
right to dispose of all the public lauds within its limits, according 
to its own will and pk'asure; that the independence of a State 
includes an exem])tion from all control by any other State or 
nation over its will or action, within its own territory." The gov- 
ernor seems to have been deeply in earnest. 

Beyond this broad claim it was impossible for the legislature to 
go. They did, therefore, the next best thing, wliich was, to divide 
the credit and honors of the grand discovery with his excellency. 
The committee who had considered the subject, reported : That 
from a careful examination of the governor's argument, and aided 
by the best lights they could get, they believed the position assum- 
ed in the message to be correct. They closed, recommending 
the adoption of resolutions by the Senate and House of Represen- 
tatives of the State of Illinois ; that tltis State possesses the 
exclusive sovereignty over all lands within its limits; that the 
United States i)0ssesses no right of jurisdiction over anj' lands 
within the limits of Illinois; that the United States cannot hold 
any right of soil within the limits of the State but for the erection 
of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards and other needful build- 
ings, and that this State possesses the right of soil of all the ])ublic 
lauds within its limits. The resolutions were passed, and it was 
further provided, that they be signed by the sj^eakers of both 
houses and copies thereof sent to our senators and representa- 
tives in congress, with instructions to lay them before that body. 
Copies were also to be transmitted to the governors of the several 
States of the Union. "Having thus laid a broad foundation to 
enrich the State with the public lands, the members retm-ned to 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 345 



their constituents swelling with importance and high expectations 
of future favor. Bnt the people Avere not such big- fools as was 
thought, for many laughed at their representatives" in very scorn 
of their pretensions."* The splendid bantling fell still-born upon 
the public, and nothing- more was heard of it afterward. 



•Ford's History. 



Chapter XXX. 

1830— A EETROSPECT. 

Advance of the Settlements — Wote : Galena, its Early History; Origin 
of the term '■'■Suc'kerf'' Douglas'' Humorous Account of it — Trials 
and Troubles of Pioneers in New Counties — European Colonies — 
Financial Condition of the State — Trade and Commerce — Early 
Mail Routes, I>fewspapers, and Literati — FoUtics of the Feople — 
Militia System. 



The population of the State iii 1830 was 157,447, having nearly- 
trebled itself during' the preceding decade. There were at this 
time 56 counties organized, but those in the northern portion of the 
State were mere skeletons and unwieldy in size. A third of the 
State, or more, lying between Galena and Chicago, extending south-' 
ward to the Kaskaskia, the headwaters of the Vermilion, along 
the Rock Eiver aud far down into the military tract, constituting 
at present the most densely settled and best improved portions, 
was a trackless prairie waste, overrun by the Sac and Fox, Winne- 
bago, and Potawattomie Indians. Much of the interior of the 
south part, and the country bordering the Embarrass, the Sang- 
amon and their tributaries, had ceased to be a wilderness. Into 
the couutry of the Sangamon immigration had for some time 
througed. Along the Illinois to Chicago, then just beginning to 
attract attention, there were scattered a few settlements long dis- 
tances apart. For some years after, the settlers, either in clusters 
or separately, continued to hug the outskirts of the timber border- 
ing the rivers and creeks, or the edge of groves, scarcely any 
venturing out on the open prairies. Along the Mississippi, 
settlements were scattered at distant intervals, culminating at the 
lead mines on Fever river, where had gathered a heterogenous 
population from many x)arts of the world, numbering about 1,000 
souls, nine-tenths being men engaged in mining.* 

*In 1804, Governor Harrison bought from the Sac and Fox tribes a tract of land at 
the mouth of the Fever river (Mecapiasipo) 15 miles square. Lead had been mined for 
many j'ears on the Iowa side and was known to exist on the Illinois side , The first 
white settler at the mines on Fever river, was a Frenchman named Boutilier, in 1819. 
Shortly after, Jesse Sliull, a trader, occupied an island there in the river, and oeing 
Informed that the Indians had discovered lead near where Galena now stands, moved 
thither. This proved to be the noted " buck load.'' A.. P. Van Metre soon joined, and 
"all took to themselves wives of the daughters of the land, and were traders for their 
brethren." Later. Dr Samuel Mure also married to a squaw, and was associate of the 
well known Indian trader, Davenport, of Rock Island, located there. He gave to Ga- 
lena its name (from the Greek, Galanas, a species of lead ore) . In 18:30, Colonel J. John- 
son, authorized by the war department, arrived and assumed almost exclusive control 
of the mining. He was followed by a tew others the same year, and more in 1823-4. 
Float or gravel mineral was extensively sown, some prospects sold, and thus by fraud, 
parties went further out, and some splendid "leads" were discovered. 

In 1835, the 15 mile boundary was overleaped, and the country of the Winnebagos 
first trenched upon. The " Shullsbuig," " East Fork" and "New Diggings" were found 

340 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 347 

As there was doubtless much sameness in the early settlement 
of new counties, i)articularl\- in the central and northern portions 
of the State, the details of which would probably prove both dull 
and unprofitable to the general reader ; and as such eai-ly data 
have, except in a few cases, generally been so unconspicnous as to 
cause them not to be preserved, and are now either lost or become 
traditional, we subjoin the following account by Nathan Dillon, 
picturing the condition of two counties after their iirst organization, 
which gives perhajjs the fair average experience of many an old 
settler,and conveys to us their trials, privations and difiQculties : 

"As early as 1821, a few log cabins were already built iu Baugamon 
county, which at that date embraced all the northern part of the State. 

and developed, and the number of miners had increased to 1600. In 1836, acne horse 
mail was established from Vundalia to Galena, once every 3 weeks. 

In 1837, the onovernment first surveyed the town, permitting- parties to occupy and 
improve lots, on condition that they vacate them on 30 days notice. This was all the ti- 
tle any occupant had up to 1838. The next neighbors of the Galenlans, south, were 
the Peorians ; and between the two places lay a vast wilderness of uninhabited terri- 
tory. In 1835, Mr. Kellog started his "trail" from Peoria to Galena, rossing: Rock 
river a few miles above the present Dixon, thence by the West Grove to Galena. The 
Winiiebagos assisted in ferrying- Rock river. Two canoes placed side by side formed 
the ferry boat, the wheels of one side of a wagon in one, and those of the opposite 
in the other canoe. The horse swam. The next year, -'Bolles Trail" was established. 
The river was ferried at Dixon, where the Illinois Central railroad bridge now crosses. 
This was more direct, and became shortly the main route of travel to the lead mines. 
In the spring of 1837, the travel was so great that in a very few days 300 teams passed 
at this point. There were also other "trails" farther to the west. The "Lewiston 
trail" crossed Rock river a little above Prophetstown, Whiteside county. (From the 
History of Ogle county.) 

The low cognomen of 'sucker," as applied to Illinoisans, is said to have had its origin 
at the lead mines. Says George BrunK, of Sangamon: Late in the fall of 1836, 1 was 
Stan .ingonthe levee of what is now Galena, watching a number of our Illinois hoys go 
on board of a steamboat bound down the river, when a man from Missouri stepped up 
and asked — "Boys, where are you going?" The answer was, "home. ' "Well," he re- 
plied, "you put me in mind of suckers; up in the spring, spawn, and all return in the 
fall." The appellation stuck to the Illinoisans ; and when Judge Sawyer came up to 
the mines on his circuit duty, he was styled "King of the Suckers " These who stayed 
over winter, mostly from Wisconsin, were called Badgers. The following spring tbeMissou- 
riaus poured into the mining region in such numbers that the State was said to have taken a 
puke, and the offensive appellation of " Pukes" was thenceforward applied to all Missourians 
But the following is a more tasteful origin of the appellation of "Sucker" : 

On occasion of a pleasant entertainment at Petersburg, Virginia, Judge Douglas gave the 
following humorous account of the origin of the term "Suckers" as applied to Illinoisans; the 
account is valuable further, and confers a proud distinction upon Illinois, in that it clears up 
all doubt regarding the discovery of that important and inspiring beverage called "mint 
julep," a momentous question heretofore covered with obscurity and oeset with many doubts, 
but now in the light oi these facts, happily placed at rest. It is not improbable that a glass 
of the animating beverage served to quicken the memory of the honorable senator on" the 
occasion. 

': About the year 1777, George Rogers Clark applied to the governor of Virginia, and sug- 
gested to him that as peace might be declared at any time between Great Britain and the col- 
onies, it would be well for us to be in possession of the northwest territory, so that when the 
commis.sioners came to negotiate a treaty, we might act on the well known principle of uti 
potisicletis, each party holding all they had iu pos.session. He suggested to the governor to per- 
mit him to go out to the northwest, conquer the country, and hold it until the treaty of 
peace, when we would become possessed of it. The governor consented and sent him across 
the mountains to Pittsburgh. From there he and his companions tioated down the Ohio on 
rafts to the falls, where Louisville now is. After remaining there a shoil time, tliey again 
took to their rafts and tioated down to the salines, pist below the present Shawneetown in Illi- 
nois. Here they took up their maich across the country to Kaskaskia, where the French had 
an old settlement, and by the aid of a guide they reached the Oquaw river, and encamped 
near Peter Menard's house, some little distance fi-om the town. You see. I am well acquainted 
with the locality. [Laughter.] Next morning, Clark got his little army of raganiuthns together 
(for they had no army -Nvagons with supplies, no sutler, and no stores, and by this time looked 
ragged enough), and took up his line of m.arch for the little French towni "of Kaska.skia. It 
was summer and a very hot day, and as he entered the town he .saw the Frenchmen sitting 
quietly on their little verandahs, in front of their houses, sucking their juleps through straws. 
He rushed upon them, crying, "surrender, you suckers, you !" [Great laughter.] The 
Frenchmen surrendered, and from that day to this, Hlinoisans have been kno-wn as " Suckers." 
[Applause.] 

■ Ihat was the origin of our cognomen, and when George Rogers Clarke returned to Vir- 
ginia he introduced the juleps here. [Ljiughter.] Now, I want to give Virginians fair notice, 
that when they claim the honor of a Jefferson, of a Madison, of a Marshall, and of as many 
other distinguished sages and piitriots as the world ever saw, we yield ; when you claim the 
glory you achieved on the field of Iwttlo, we yield ; when you claim credit for the cession of the 
northwestern territory, that out of it sovereign States might be created, we yield ; when you 
claim the glory of never having polled a vote against the Democratic party, we yield ; but 
when you claim the glory of the mint I'ulep, hands otf ; Illinois wants that. [Shouts of laughter 
and applause.]— 111. lieg. Sept. 19, 18U'o. 



348 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The cabins were filled to overflowing with the families, the pioneers of 
the county, my family being among the number. I was present at the 
election, August 1822, held at Springfield (the election precinct extending 
m.any miles east and west, and north to the State line), and saw all the 
voters who could come to vote in that wide scope of uninhabited 
country. Most of the voters residing in the precinct attended the 
election, though many of them had miles of wild country to travel in 
oi'der to do so. 

The voters were mostly immigrants from the east and south, though a 
large portion of the men present wore Indians and darkies, they of 
course not being allowed the right of suffrage. The voting portion of 
the community were then called the Yankees and white men. Three 
men named Kinney, Parkinson, and Edwards, had along bench ranged 
along side of the court house, on which they set their liquors. The 
polls were held in the interior. We all got plenty to drink. The white 
men sang songs, the Indians and darkeys danced, and a general frolic 
occurred ; but what has surprised me as I have reflected upon these 
early days, we had no fighting. The great evil was, that every candidate 
had to till his portmanteau with whiskey, and go around and see and 
treat every voter and his wife and family with the poisonous stuff", or 
stand a chance of being defeated. John Reynolds was our circuit 
judge. He held his court at Springfield, in a cabin built of round logs, 
the walls of which were only 6 feet high ; it was also destitute of a floor ; 
yet we continued to get along very well. The jury had to retire to the 
jail, another such building as I have described. Such is the outline of 
those happy days. 

In the winter of 1823, I emigrated to what is now called Dillon settle- 
ment, in this county, 10 miles from Pekin, and 17 from Peoria, where I 
spent the season in quietude ; my nearest neighbors living in Peoria, 
except one by the name of Avery, who had raised his cabin at Funk's 
hill. But things did not remain in this condition long ; for during the 
same winter the legislature made a new county, with Peoria for the 
county seat, embracing all the country north of Sangamon county. 
Phelps, Stephen French and myself were appointed justices of the 
peace for the new county, which extended east as far as Bloomington, 
and north and west to the State line. We sent our summonses to Chica- 
go and Galena, and they were promptly returned by our constable. 

March, 1824, we held an election at Avery's. Wm. Holland, Joseph 
Smith and myself were elected county commissioners. The whole 
county was embraced in one election district. The number of votes 
polled was 20 ; had some whiskey on the occasion, but it was well tem- 
pered, having been imported a long way by water; and we did not suc- 
ceed in getting on as great a spree as we did at Springfield. 

In those days when we could not get the store room of Hamlin or 
Allen, or the dwelling house of John l)ixon, we held our courts on the 
river bank ; not being as wealthy or strong handed as in Sangamon, we 
had to do without a court house ; Judge Sawyer was our circuit judge, 
and it was some time before we could scare up a jury. At that date 
there was not a cabin on the site of the city of Pekin, and perogues were 
the only craft we had to freight our whiskey, salt, and iron from the 
State to Peoria. 

Now let me tell you how we got along about mills. There were 3 or 4 
horse mills in Sangamon, at 40 or 45 miles distance. Sometimes we went 
to them ; sometimes to Southwick's, situated at a distance ol' 60 
miles ; we did not mind the journey much, unless the streams were 
swollen with rains, in which case the task of going to mill was severe, 
as there were no bridges and ferries in those days. By and by, to remedy 
our wants, Samuel Tutter erected a small horse mill in the neighbor- 
hood of Peoria; and a few years after, William Eds put up one at Elm 
Grove; a public improvement which made us leel quite rich. In those 
early times, we only took corn to mill, paying one-sixth and one bit per 
bushel, for grinding. The meal obtained was of an inferior quality 
when compared with what we now have. Our millers were good, hon- 
est fellows, and the somewhat heavy tarilfs they laid on their customers 
not at all wrong, for their income was small. 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 349 

Times arechauged. The reader who now looks at the fertile prairies 
of Illinois, what does he behold. Large cities and tiourisliing towns ! 
Behold the prairies, tliea wild and untrodden, now covered with fine 
farms and dwellings, behold the travel of our railroads and rivers, visit 
our county fairs and become acquainted with our intelligent farmers, 
and tlie vast and valuable amount of products derived from the soil they 
till ; behold on every hand our numerous churches and school houses, 
our court houses and seats of justice, spread all over the wide territory 
which French, Phelps and myself early governed as humble justices ; 
and tell me, has not the changed improvement been great and remark- 
able."* 

European Colonists. — It has been stated that the early settlers 
were mostly from the soutberu states. There Avere also s'ome 
foreign colonists located in Illiuois at au early date. The first 
were a few Irish families, under the leadershi^j of Samuel O'Mel- 
vauy, a popular pioneer, who located on the Ohio river about 
1805. 

Shortly after the war of 1812, Morris Birbeck, au Englishman 
imbued with republican principles, visited Illiuois with a view to 
locating a colony of his (iouutrymeu. Being a mau of fine 
scholarly attainments, he wrote home for publicatiou a number of 
letters faithfully representing the advantages of this country, which 
received a wide circulation and proved of great benefit to Illinois 
abroad. In a short time after, he and George Flower, both men 
of wealth brought out from England a large colony cousistiug 
of several himdred families, represeutiug almost every industrial 
pursuit. They located in Edwards county. The town of Albion, 
the present count}' seat, was started by Mr. Flower, and about a 
mile west of it another by Mr. Birbeck, called Wannock, which 
prt)ved a failure. There was some rivalry. There was much 
wealth and refinement in the colony, aside from that in the i)osses- 
sion of the founders. A few of the first settlers are still living, 
and their descendants are quite numerous in and about Albion. t 

About 1815, two German families, by the name of Marlcee and 
Germain, first settled in a gorge of the Mississippi bkilf in St. 
Clair county, known from that circumstance as Dutch Hollow. 
These families became the nucleus of the present large German 
population of St. Clair and adjacent counties. Another English 
colony, Koman Catholic in belief, composed of 15 or 20 families 
from Lancashire, settled on Prairie du Long creek, Monroe county, 
in 1817. Thomas Winstanly, Bamber, THVelfall and Newsham 
were the founders. They became a thrifty settlement. Numerous 
English immigrants also settled in Greene county in 1820. 

In 1819 Ferdinand Ernst, a gentlemen of wealth, education and 
literary taste, from the kingdom of Hanover, cam* to Vandalia, 
then just selected as the seat of government, and located a German 
colony consisting of 25 or 30 families. In 1822 Bernard Steiner 
settled a small Swiss colony of 8 or 10 families in the southeastern 
part of St. Clair county. Their location was on a beautiful and 



*See Minois State Jonmal June 30 1854. 

+Mr. Fiower lost his fortune by the breaking of the United States bank, an<l afterwards re- 
moved to Mt. Vernon. Indiana, but some of his descendents still live in the Boltenhoiise 
prairie. Mr. Birbeck was secretary of State under Gov. Coles. In th« convention contest of 
1824, he contributed more by his writings than perhaps any one else to defeat the schemes of 
the cohorts of slavery. He was unfortunately drowned in a bayou of the great Wabash, called 
Fox river, swollen by heavy rains. He, accompanied by his son was on his way home from 
New Harmony, Indiana, then in charge of the Kobert Owen communists, whither they had 
made a visit. In attempting to cross tlio stream, the rapid current swept their horses out of 
their course, and Mr. Birbeck and both horses perished. His son barely escaped the same fate. 
His untimely death was a great loss to the State. 



350 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



commanding eminence called Dutch Hill. It was added to by sub- 
sequent immigrants until it formed a large settlement.* 

Financial Condition of the State. — When the State government 
went into operation, in 1818, the total revenue reported in the 
treasury, and to become due on the 1st of December, was 
$7,310.40; it now amounted for the years 1829-30 to $78,938, 
of which $70,237 was derived solely from taxes on uon -residents' 
lands, $2,787 from the Ohio salines, $2,860 from the sale of Van- 
dalia lots, and $3,084 collected by sheriffs. The biennial 
State expenses were estimated by the treasurer, for salaries and 
to support the contingent fund, at $25000, and for a session of the 
general assembly at $15,000, total $40,000, or $20,000 annually, 
leaving at the lowest estimate a surplus revenue of $30,000 every 
two years. That was a good healthy condition of the State's fiscal 
affairs. Gov, Edwards was greatly instrumental in bringing about 
this highly creditable condition of the State treasury, which he 
found 4 years before empty, and auditor's warrants at a discount 
of 50 i3er cent. At the present writing we have a population 16 
times as large, to- wit, 2,553,000; we have no public debt of conse- 
quence, and our gain of property is proportionately larger than 
our ratio of increase in i^opulation, yet our State expenses are 
50 times greater, as every tax payer yearly feels. 

During the period over which we are now casting a retrospect, 
the treasuries of the State and counties, and suitors at law in- 
dividually, were subjected to serious losses by defaulting sheriffs, 
for taxes collected and moneys received on execution. If the sheriff" 
was an aspirant for re-election, the State or county would not 
suffer much the first term, because he could not be commissioned 
for a second term without a certificate of settlement for all public 
funds placed in his hands; but to exhibit such a clearance, the 
money collected on executions and belonging to individuals would 
be used; while with the people generally, who felt little concern 
in these private affairs, and among whom his ofHcial duties con- 
stantly called him, he was in the condition to contradict rumors, 
and in the face of his dereliction enabled to make friends and 
secure a renewed lease of power.t No ofiicial who handles large 
sums of the people's money, or is so closely identified with all our 
property rights, either corporate or individual, as a sheriff' or 
treasurer, ought by law to be allowed to become his own successor 
in ofiice. We can but regard this as a bad feature in the constitu- 
tion of 1870. 

Trade and Commerce. — Internal improvements to facilitate trade 
and commercial intercourse, consisted, up to that time, mostly in 
acts of the legislature declaring certain streams navigable. In 
thesedeclarations that honorable body was not the least parsimo- 
nious, but dealt them out to almost every rivulet with a prodigal 
hand; and a stranger, in looking over the old statutes, ante-dating, 
say, 1840, would inevitably conclude that the State of Illinois was 
intersected by navigable streams in every direction as abundantly 
as could possibly be desired by the most commercial people. To 
the Illinois and Michigan canal there was as yet nothing done 

*Rej'nold"s Lite and Times 
tFord's History. 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION 351 

except some very imperfect surveys, tliougii it had beeu tlie tlieme 
of recommendation by every governor, and its grant of land was 
procured from congress. 

Tlie progress of commerce from 1818 to 1830 was jostled but 
little from its beaten track by the improved facilities of quick con- 
veyance oft'ered by the introduction of steam. Steamboats upon 
the Ohio and Mississippi had become frequent, but the older 
settlers were not stirred from their drowsy condition of making 
simply enough to live on by the new life, and the recent settlers, 
if they desired, were not in a condition to raise anything beyond 
their present needs — the condition of all newcomers. The Illinois 
river was not visited by the newly propelled craft, except small 
ones which ascended to Beardstown and occasionally to Peoria 
and above, as required. Gen. Joseph Street, writing from Peoria 
under date of March 30, 1827, says : "There is nothing doing on 
land and less on water. * * The harbor and town site are the 
best, I presume, in all the western country; but not one sail 
enlivens the monotonous prospect or one oar dips in the dark 
blue waves of the fairy lake from one years' end to another — if 
you will except the ferry boat, with now and then the canoe of a 
few miserable savages in quest of a dram." Keel-boat transporta- 
tion had been superseded, it is true, but the scanty commerce and 
feeble trade made no demands for more extensive carrying facili- 
ties than we have mentioned. In development and wealth the 
State was in its merest infancy. 

Merchandizing during this period consisted in the bare retailing 
of a few dry goods and groceries. None of the products of the 
country were taken in exchange, except peltries, beeswax* and 
tallow. The people's chief supply of money came from immigrants 
who bought of their grain, stock or produce, and often employed 
their labor besides. The money went out again into the hands 
of the merchants who sent it abroad in payment for goods, and 
thus the country was kept drained of anything like a sufficient 
currency. When credit was obtained at the stores, in default of 
payment and to gain time, mortgages would often be given, these 
foreclosed, the merchant would in time find himself the possessor 
of perhaps a number of farms, retire from business on a compe- 
tency and dream away his life in village idleness, without ever 
benefiting the country in the least, but ruining perhaps a number 
of its citizens. For a long time there was no class of merchants 
who did a barter business. They were unwilhng to exchange 
goods for produce and incur the responsibility of ownership until 
shipments to distant markets and sales could be effected. There 
was the risk of a fluctuating inarket in the interim 5 their capital 
as a rule was small, and a loss on produce might render them 

••'Fifty years ago, or in the summer of 1821," writes Chas. Robertson of Arnzville, 
underdateof Feb. 8, 1872, to the Chicago Journal, 'there was not abushelof corn to be 
had in Central Illinois. My father settled iu that year 23 miles west of Springfield. 
We had to live for a time on venison, blackberries and milk, while the men were gone 
to Egypt to harvest and procure breadstulIS. The land we improved was surve.ved 
that summer, and afterward bought of the government by sending beeswax down "the 
Illinois river to St. Louis in an Indian canoe. Dressed deer skins and tanned hides 
were then in use, and we made one piece of cloth out of nettles instead of flax. 
Cotton matured well lor a decade, until the deep snow," in 1830. 

The southe'.-n part of the State, known as Egypt, received this appellation, as here 
ludicateii, because being older, better settled and cultivated, it "gathered corn as the 
sand of the sea," ana the immigrants of the central part of the State, after the manner 
of the children of Israel, in their wauts went "thither to buy and bring from thence 
that they might live and not die. 



352 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

insolvent; no business connections with commission houses had 
been establislied; added to these was often a limited capacity. A 
few years later, it seems, merchants were forced into barter by the 
refusal of the IJidted States bank atkSt. Louis to extend accommo- 
dations to them, in meeting their matured contracts for goods 
bought in the east. Then the grain, beef, aud pork of the country 
were i^urcbased and shipped forward in payment thereof, and not 
unfrequently, it was found, a double profit was realized, one on 
the goods sold at retail and another on the produce forwarded.* 

It was no uncommon jjractice in early times for farmers to be- 
come their own carriers and merchants ; the practice obtained to 
within quite a recent period in many i)arts of southern Illinois. 
A flat-boat would be built oh the banks of a suitable stream, 
launclied, loaded with the produce of the year — the flour, bacon, 
coru, etc., of perhaps a neighborhood — manned, and wdththe first 
rise of the waters, cut loose and floated down to New Orleans. 
After a tedious and often hazardous voyage, on arrival at the 
distant market a total stranger, it was not unfrequently the case 
that the farmer-merchant would fall into the clutches of sharpers 
who took advantage of his want of acquaintance witli commercial 
transactions and fleeced him of his cargo. But these ventures 
proved at times exceedingly profitable. Before the day of steaui 
the journey home was long, toilsome and wearj^, either on foot 
through the country inhabited by savages, or by keel-boats, labo- 
riously pushed with poles, or cordellcd — towed with long ropes — 
against the strong currents of the rivers. An entire season would 
thus often be wasted, a crop lost, and the farm abandoned to neg- 
lect, on account of the long absence of the proprietor.t 

Early Mail Facilities. — The first mail route crossing the Alle- 
ghany mountains, was opened from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in 
1788, and, at intervals of six years, was extended, in 1794, to 
Louisville, and in 1800 to Vincennes. From the latter place, routes 
were extended, in 1805, to Cahokia, and in 1806, to Shawneetown. 
In 1810, mail routes were established by act of congress from Vin- 
cennes to St. Louis, via Kaskaskia, Prairie du Eocher and Cahokia, 
and from the former place to Cape Girardeau, via St. Genevieve, 
and also from Louisville to Shawneetown ; in 1814, to Johnson 
Court-house (Johnson county, Illinois), and in 1818, to Belleville. 
In 1822, Edwardsville, Springfield and Peoria were connected by 
a mail route; and in 1823, Carrollton, Boss Settlement and New 
Atlas, in Pike county. In 1824, there was a direct mail route 
from Vandalia to Springfield. The first route froni the central 
part of the State to Chicago, was established in 1832, from Shel- 
byville, via Decatur and Fox river; and in the same year, a route 
from Chicago to Danville, and to Green Bay. Direct routes from 
Chicago to Galena, and to Springfield, were opened in 1826. In 
1827-8, four-horse coaches were put on the line from Vincennes to 
St. Louis. The difliculties and dangers encountered by the early 
mail carriers, in time of Indian troubles, were very serious. The 
bravery and ingenious devices of Harry V\'ilton (subsequently 
United States marshal), who, when a boy, in 1812, conveyed the 

*Ford'a History- 
tFord's History, 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 353 



mail on a wild French pony, over swollen streams, and through 
the " enemy's country," from Shawneetown to St. Louis, are men- 
tioned with special commendation. Stacy McDonald, of Ean- 
dolph county, an old pioneer, who was at St. Clair's Defeat, and 
under Wayne in 1794, was the government mailcontractor on that 
line. So infrequent and irregular were the communications by 
mail a great jjart of the time, that to-day, the remotest j)art of the 
United States is unable to appreciate it by example.* 

Early Xeicspapers. — The first newspaper published north of 
the Ohio, and Avest of Cincinnati, was the Vinceunes Sun^ in 1803, 
edited by Eliliu Stout. The next in the west was the Missouri 
Gazette^ established at St. Louis, in 1808, by Joseph Charless, and 
continued ever since, but subsequently merged in the Republican. 
The next in the west, and the first within the limits of the State, 
was the Illinois Herald, established at Kaslcaskia, by Matthew 
Duncan, brother of the subsequent governor. There is some 
variance as to the exact time of its establishment. Wm. H. 
Brown, afterward editor of tlie same paper at Vandalia, under the 
name of Intelligencer, and in after years president of the Chicago 
historical society, says, "at or before 1814." Gov. Reynolds says, 
1809. Hooper Warren explains the latter statement by saying, 
"the press brought by Mr. Duncan was for years only used for the 
public printing." Matthew Duncan sold out to Robert Blackwell 
and Daniel P. Cook in 1815. The former succeeded Mr. Duncan, 
as j)ublic printer, and was, moreover, the territorial auditor of 
public accounts. In the latter ofitice he was succeeded, in the fall 
of 1817, by Elijah C. Berry, who also succeeded to the same office 
under the State government in 1818, and who became a co-editor 
of the Herald. In the hands of Blackwell and Berry the name of 
the paper was changed to Illinois Intellif/encer, and upon the 
removal of the seat of government to Vandalia in 1820, the 
Intelligencer establishment followed it. Mr. Berry relinquished 
his interest in the concern, and his place was taken by a brother 
and Wm. H. Brown. In the convention contest of 1824, differing 
with his associates, Mr. Brown withdrew. The Intelligencer was 
long an ably conducted paper, Mr. Blackwell, a weU known law- 
yer, being for many years its editor. 

The Illinois Emigrant, the second newspaper printed in Illinois, 
was established at Shawaieetown by Henry Eddy and Singleton 
H. Kimmel, in the fall of 1818, when the State was admitted to 
the Union. James Hall succeeded Mr. Knnmel. Through this 
paper Mr. Eddy, a clear and vigorous writer, in the convention 
struggle of 1824, dealt herculean blows in opi)Ositiou to slavery. 
The name had been changed to Illinois Gazette. 

The third newspai)er established in Illinois, was founded by 
Hooper Warren, at Edwardsville, in 1819, called the Spectator. 
The first year he had the assistance of the afterward Hon. 
George Churchill, a practical printer and experienced writer, 
whom he met at St. Louis. Mr. C'hurchill retired at the end of a 
year to his farm near Edwardsville, where he lived until quite 
recently. Hooper Warren was a bold, able, and vigorous writer, 
and did much to defeat the slavery schemes in 1824. In 1825, he 

•Paper read before the Chicago Hist. Society, by VV. H. Brown in 1860 

23 



354 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



sold out to the Rev. Thomas Lippiiicott aiul Jerremiah Abbot. 
Mr. Warren afterward started newspapers in various places in 
the State, but never with the success that his ability promised. 

In September, 182L*, the "iSYflr of the WestP was started by a 
Mr. Miller and sons, also at Bdwartlsville. They had just come 
from Pennsylvania with a i)ress and material, seeking a location. 
At Edwardsville, wljile stoi)ping- over night, they were persuaded 
by the opponents of Mr, Warren, to unload and set up their press. 
He remarks, "we had a lively rime for a few months, when the 
"^Yrtr" went down." They sold in Ai)ril, 1823, to Thomas J. Mc- 
Guire & Co., wlio changed the name to Illinois BcpuhUcan. Judge 
Theophilus W. Smith and Emanuel J. West were the leading 
editors during the convention contest, in counteracting the influ- 
ence of the Spectator. It was discontinued with the close of that 
campaign, the last number being issued Saturday preceding the 
election in August, 1824 

In January, 1823, R. K. Fleming commenced to publish the 
Bejnihlican Advocate, at Kaskaskia, which was the organ of the 
pro-convention party during the contest. 

In 1820, at Galena, on the 4th of July, was issued the first num- 
ber of the Miner.'P Journal^ by James Jones. In 1832, he sold to 
Dr. Phillio, when its name was chiingedto Galenian. 

In the winter of 182(J-7, Hooi>er Warren established the San- 
gamo Spectator at Springfield. Mr. Warren says (letter to the old 
settlers' meeting of Sangamon county, October, 1859), "it was but 
a small aft'air, a medium sheet, worked by myself alone most of 
the time." It was transferred to S, C. Merredith in 1828. In the 
latter year was started at Edwardsville, the Illinois Corrector, and 
at Kaskaskia, the BepuhUcan. In 1821) was established the Galena 
Advertiser, by Newhall, Phillio & Co. The Alton Spectator was 
established about 1830, by Edward Breath. The Telegraph was 
established by Parks and Treadway, the latter transferring his 
interest in a short tijiie to Mr. Bailhache, Avho was its princii)al 
editor for many years. In 1831, Simeon Francis established at 
Springfield the Sangamo Journal, which he continued to edit 
until 1855, Avhen he sold to Bailhache and Baker. In Chicago, on 
the 26th of November, 1833, was issued the first number of the 
Democrat, published hj John Calhoun, which was the first news- 
paper there. 

Literature and Literati. — The literature of Illinois, prior to 1830, 
aside from mere political articles in the newspapers, often well 
and forcibly written, was confined to few hands. We will here 
mention the prominent earlj' liteiati of Illinois. Morris Birbeclc, 
an Englishman, whom ^xe have noted as settling a colony in Ed- 
wards county, in 1815, wrote home sketches of considerable merit 
regarding the advantages of Illinois, which received a wide pub- 
lication and were afterwards collected in book form. He acquired 
considerable celebrity as an author. I)r. Leicis C. Beck wrote the 
valuable and well known Gazetteer of Missouri and Illinois, which 
in 1823, was published in book form. Judge James Hall was a 
Philadelphiivn, born 1793. He settled in Illinois about 1818. He 
had been a soldier in the war of 1812, having participated under 
Scott in the battles of Chipi)ewa, Niagara and Fort Erie, and been 
with Commodore Decatur to Algiers. At Pittsburgh, in 1817, he 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 355 



completed liis law studies, resigned his commission in the regular 
army, floated dowai the Ohio and settled at Shawn eetown. He 
had already devoted much time to literary composition. Here he 
became a co-editor with Heury Eddy on the Gazette. He also 
soon attained otfice at the hands of the legislature, being succes- 
sively" prosecuting attorney, circuit judge and. State treasurer. In 
the lirst named position he became well acquainted with the 
operations of the gangs of villains, counterfeiters and freebooters, 
which then infested the shores of the Ohio aud Mississippi, in 
southern Illinois, and which doubtless furnished him many an 
incident out of which to weave his "Border Tales." At Vandalia 
he started the Illinois Magazine. He also at that time edited the 
Western Souvenir, i)ublished at Cincinnati, whither he removed in 
1833, and became connected with banking, but he pursued his 
literary labors until his death in 186S. Throughout life his pen 
was constantly active. He wrote with great facility, aiid his 
voluminous works evince a high degree of literary merit. He 
early became distinguished as a scholar and author throughout 
the United States. As a x>oet, too, he was rarely gifted. Among 
his works best known are jierhaps, "Legends of the West." 
"Harpe's Head," "Border Tales," "Life of Gen. Harrison," "Tales 
of the Wigwam and War path," &c. He has also left an elabo- 
rate " History of the ]!^orth American ludiaus." 

Bev. John M. Peck, D. D. This distinguished Baptist divine, 
pioneer and historian of Illinois, resided for near 40 years on his 
farm at Belleville, known as "Eock Spring." He came to Illiuois 
about 1820. There was no man in all the west who traveled, lec- 
tured or wrote so much as he, during his long life, throughout 
which he was also a constant, faithful and able preacher of the 
gospel. He was the founder in 1827, of the "Eock Spring theo- 
logical seminar}' and high school," and became its professor of 
christian theology. John Messinger was professor of mathematics 
and natural i^hilosophy, and Eev. Joshua Bradly principal. It 
opened with 100 students. In 1831 it was transferred to Alton, 
and became the foundation for Shurtleff college. Dr. Peck 
wielded a prolific i:)en. Among his voluminous works we mention, 
■without order, The Emigrant's Guide, Illinois Gazetteer, maps 
«&c.. Life of Eev. John Clark, The Indian Captive, Life of Eev. 
John Tanner, Moral Progress of the Mississippi Valley, Life of 
Eev. Jeremiah Vordeman, &c. ; but the work which will transmit 
his name to po-sterity the longest is his revision and enlargement 
of the "Annals of the West," by Jas. H. Perkins. It evinces 
much research and contains a very accurate history of the north- 
west. We are considerably indebted to it in the preparation of 
this work. 

John Eussell, a native of Vermont, after marrying in 1819^ 
removed west, and a few years later settled in Greene county, at 
Bluff Dale, a beautiful and romantic site not far from the Illinois 
river. Much of his life was spent as a professor in various 
colleges in the west. He was a professor at an early day in 
Shurtleff college, a profound scholar and chaste and elegant 
writer, but his productions were not voluminous. Like many 
authors before him, he was unobtrusive with his talents. He led 
a quiet aud retired life in his western home, but was ever an inde- 



35(> HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



fati^able student. His literary morceaus were often set afloat 
witliout tlie author's name. 

Dr. Peck sold a manuscript for him in the east, a magazine 
article called "The Legend of the Piasa," rei^resenting' a terrible 
bird of prey, which feasted on the Indians, under an injunction 
not to disclose the writer's name. It attracted considerable atten- 
tion, and was afterwards translated into French, as original. Dr. 
Peck exposed the plagiarism, to the great mortitication of the 
Frenchman, who resided in America. One of Prof. Enssel's 
fugitive pieces, called the "Venomous Worm," gained a wide cele- 
brity, being translated into many languages. It conveys a deep 
moral lesson in allegory on intemperance, and became a standard 
piece in our earlier school books.* 

[Note] -To anticipiitea few years, we find Pegasus also bestrode upon the level plains 
of Illinois, several regions having their local poets. Kane county had one apparently 
enamored of the solid ad vantag-es which the State of his adoption afforded. He sang 
as follows : 

'The timber here is very good — 

The forest dense of sturdy wood : 

The maple tree its sweets affords 

And walnut it is sawn to boards; 

The giant oak the axman hails 

Its massive trunk is torn to rails. 

And game is plenty in the State, 

Which makes the hunter's chances great— 

The prairie wolf infests the land, 

And the wild cats all bristling stand.' 

To show the comparative excellence of our rivers, he sang further : 
" I've gazed upon the wild Scioto, 
And wondered where its waters go to;' 

But the Illinois, 

"Rattling onward in its course. 
Doth seek the Mississippi's source" — 

afforded him no such misgivings, for it will be perceived that by a poetic license, per- 
haps, but in defiance of natural law, he runs its waters up the Mississippi. 

Politics of the People — Manner of conducting Campaigns — In- 
trigues of Politicians. — Kegardiug the political sentiments of the 
people, it is not flattering to our republican pride to read from an 
accurate observer of the period: " Up to 'the year 1840, I can say 
with perfect truth, that considerations of mere party, men's con- 
descensions, agreeable carriage and professions of friendship, had 
more influence with the great body of the people, than the most 
important public services."! But it is more humiliating to confess 
that these considerations play to-day no less a part than they did 
40 and 50 years ago; and they probably always will be formidable 
agencies in politics, however we may boast the intelligence of the 
masses. 

The masses did not expect that, nor did the public servants 
think or study how, government might be made conducive to the 
elevation of the people. To advance the civil condition and hap- 
]3iness of society was an object foreign to the purposes of legisla- 
tion. Government was tolerated, and its forms and requirements 
acquiesced in, by the masses, from a feeling of habit, so long as its 
administration did not clash with or encroach upon their inter- 
ests, enjoyments, or personal freedom too much.| 

♦Keynolds Life and Times. +Ford's Hist 

$An anecdote, related by Robert S. Blackwell Esq., at a New England supper on 
Pilgrim's day in Chicago, December 21,185;}, may serve to illustrate this characteris- 
tic of the old pioneers: '' They were great bee-hunters and had a custom of appropri- 
ating to the finder all bee trees, on whose land soever they happened to be growing. 
When they discovered a bee tree, without leave or license they entered upon the 
land and cut it down, and made themselves masters of the hcney. The owner seldom 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTKATION. 357 



Among the pioneers were also many adventurers ; and nearly 
all immigrants sought the new country for an easier life or the 
accumulation of property. Upon governmental affairs but little 
thought was bestowed. When aroused to the exercise of the great 
privilege of the citizen— the elective franchise — by hiterested dem- 
agogues, no other consideration entered into the act than to either 
favor a friend or i^unish an enemy. This indifference, so unworthy 
of the citizen, redounded to the advantage of the active and dili- 
gent place hunters, in that it permitted them, without molestation 
or exposure, to perfect their " pipe laying" for the partition of 
governmental patronage. There were no great political questions 
to divide the people prior to 1832-3. Politics were personal, and 
suffrage was bestowed, not with regard to public welfare, but as a 
matter of personal favor. In such elections, the ballot system, 
which in denser populations affords the greatest independence to 
the voter in eliciting his true intent, was here prostituted to 
double-dealing and dissimulation. Out of it grew what was known 
as the "keep dark Boon" system, in which were sacrificed on the 
IDart of both office seekers and, to a certain extent, the people, all 
principles of honor and sincerity, by mutual deceptions of every 
grade and character, from which the most adroit intriguer emerged 
with the greatest success. Promises of support would be vio- 
lated as freely as they were made. To cure the evil, the legislature 
repealed the mode of voting by ballot at the session of 1828-9 

The use of ardent spirits was almost a universal custom with 
the people, and "treating," as it was called, during a political can- 
vass, was a sine qua non to success. Not unfrequently candidates 
for office would give orders to liquor saloons to treat freely whoso- 
ever would drink at their expense, on certain days, usually every 
Saturday and other days of public occasion, for weeks before the 
day of election. At such places the voters would congregate from 
all i)arts of the surrouiuling neighborhoods on "treating days" 
during the campaign, riding in to gather the news, and not unfre- 
quently get drunk and engage in rough and tumble fights. The 
candidates, too, would often make it a point to be there on tbese 
days, either themselves or by jjroxy, and harangue the " sover- 
eigns" upon the issues of the campaign, in a convenient shady 
grove, the auditoi'S, not unfrequently interspersed with ladies, 
seated about on the green sward. The orators would thunder 
forth their claims to office, mounted on convenient wagons, logs, 
or stumps of trees, hence the phrase of " stump speech." The 
" vital questions of the day," discussed at these meetings, were 
not measures but men, and consisted in bitter personal arraign- 
ments of opponents, often of little general concern. Toward 
evening the crowd would disperse, mounted on their diminutive 

ventured to complain, and when he did, the juries were sure to punish his presump- 
tion with ilie costs ot the suit. 

"Well, one of the old settlers, to whom I allude, came to my oflSce one day, stnted 
that he had felled a bee tree upon his neighbor's land, alluded to the old custom of 
conferring title bj' discovery, and thai a suit was threatened, and requesiod my ad- 
vice in the premises. I replied that he had committed a trespass and aavised him to 
compromise the affair. He left the office in high dudgeon, saying' as he was departing, 
" this country is getting too d — d civilized for me: I'll make traclfs for Oregon, or some 
Other country, where the old pioneer can get justice." Mr. Blaclcwell was, with other 
works, the author of " Blackwell on Tax Titles," an excellent standard treatise, held 
in high esteem throughout the United States. He was a native Illinoisan and si'lf- 
made man, endowed with line intellectual powers. He died at Chicasfo, in 18t>i, at tl e 
early age of 38 years. His early life was an example to the young a' daspirmg~his 
middle age a monument to self made glory, and his early death a warning to all, —Chi- 
cago JourrMl.] 



358 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

horses, galloping tli rough the town, perhaps reeling from the in- 
fluence of liquor, hnzzaliing and yelling for their favorite candi- 
dates, and groaning, cursing and berating tlie oi»position.* 

The pioneers in all parts of the State exercised a great influ- 
ence at tlie elections. Tliey were here first, claimed superior i)riv- 
ilege on that account, which was mostly accorded to them, and 
knew well every subsequent comer. They were unfortunately iii 
some instances not oidy extremely ignorant, but governed besides' 
by ])assionate prejudices, and opposed every public policy which 
looked to the elevation of society; and their descendants in many 
cases at an early day, were no improvement on their prototypes. 
They were, as a rule, brave in personal combats and brawds, and had 
apropensity to indulge in them. Theyarrayed themselves in buck- 
skin breeches, leather moccasins, raccoon caps and red hunting 
shirts belted at the waist, in which they carried a large knife, 
whence they were denominated "Butcher Boys." When proclaim- 
ing their bravery, a proceeding of which they were not chary, 
they would swear that they were " half horse and half alligator," 
meaning that it was impossible to overcome them in combat. The 
influence of this class was much courted by candidates, and with 
these and their peculiar characteristics thrown in the scale, success 
was no doubtful residt.f 

" Like people, like priest" — public servants under any form of 
government ultimately reflect the character of the people, for they 
are of the people. In the legislature, while the general interests 
of the people received but little attention, all manner of com- 
binations for the parceling out and creation of offices were 
formed. Fat jobs were engineered for the benefit of friends ; to 
" ringlegislation," so rife in modern times, they were not stran- 
gers; the "good things" were apportioned by disreputable bar- 
gains made in advance — indeed, it was very much as it is at 
present — " the cohesive power of public plunder" was most i^otentj 
and the possessor of the greatest capacity for tact, blandishments, 
and intrigue gen erallj' carried ofl" the lion's share. Governor Ford 
relates of Samuel Crozier, senator from Kandolph, " a remarkable 
example of pure, kind and single-hearted honesty, after serving- 
two sessions, and after he had been bought and sold a hundred 
times without knowing it, said he 'really did believe that some in- 
trigue had been going on.' So little are honest men aware of the 
necessity of keeping their eyes open, in sleepless watchfulness, or 
otherwise, a fcAv will monopolize all the advantages of govern- 
ment, and it will be done in the most unfair and corrupt manner. " 
Good laws badly administered with the tacit acquiescence of the 
people, cannot reform any government. The virtue of the people 
should both demand and enforce them. 

Militia. — The militia system was an important feature of the 
early times in Illinois, both during its territorial and State organi- 
zations. Militia duties, viewed from a modern stand point, doubt- 
less apisear droll, if not uninteresting, yet at the time when the 
system was fully in vogue, they were important and onerous. 
During the long peace which the country enjoyed between the 
war of 1812 and that with Mexico in 1846, it is not to be won- 

♦Forrt's Hist. 
tFord'sHist. 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 359 



dered, as the system also became the common target of much wit- 
ticism and ridicule, that it fell under reproach and ultimately into 
disuse. Yet it is not unreasonable to assert, that if a vigorous 
militia system had all the time been maintained up to the break- 
ing out of the late rebellion, i)erhaps many of the headlong fiascos 
of the Union forces in the earlj" part of that war would have been 
avoided, and probably a year of tlie war — expended in i)erfectiug 
and drilling the soldiery — saved besides. Tlie military system of 
Prussia, wliich in the late war with France has brought that 
country forward as the very first military power of the world, is 
notliing but the militia system in its perfection. While the sys- 
tem of that country has demonstrated it to be the best, it is also 
by far the cheapest mode of maintaining a standing- ami}", for 
which it becomes to a great extent a substitute. ]>ut notwith- 
standing its perfection in that country', Americans could never be 
brought fully to submit to its dependent and onerous duties, 
iiud it will, iserhaps, never obtain any considerable foothold where 
the government is not strongly centralized. 

Diu-ing- the territorial existence of Illinois the militia proved a 
valuable auxiliary to the defence of the country, in repelling hos- 
tile savages and aflbrding protection to the frontier settlements. 
The law was substantially the same as that of 1811), from which 
we subjoin a synopsis. It contained equitable provisions for draft- 
ing or conscription — a drafted militia-man was known as a "forced 
volunteer." From the nulitia sprung, it may be said, the mounted 
rangers of that period. An earl}^ law passed at Vincennes, im- 
ported for Illinois by the governor and judges, and subsequently 
iidopted by the territorial legislature, prohibited all commissioned 
officers, except justices of the peace and militia officers, from 
serving in either house of the legislature. This placed the road 
to political preferment in a manner in the hands of the militia, ren- 
dering it very obnoxious to other office-holding aspirants. 

All free white inhabitants resident in the State, of the age of 
18 years and under 45, except as hereinafter excepted, shall be 
<iurolled in the militia by the commanding officer of the comj^any 
within whose bounds such person shall reside, within ten days 
next after he shall be informed of such residence ; and at all times 
thereafter in like manner, shall be enrolled those who may from 
time to time arrive at the age of 18, or come to reside in the dis- 
trict, being of that age and under 45. Such enrolled person was 
to be notified of his eni'ollment by an officer of the company, and 
within six months thereafter he was to provide himself with a good 
musket and bayonet, fusee or rifie, knapsack, blanket, canteen, 
two spare flints, cartridge-box to contain not less than 24 car- 
tridges with powder and ball suited to the bore of his musket or 
fusee, or pouch and powder-horn with 1-4 lb. powder, and 24 balls 
suited to the bore of his rifle ; and every enrolled person when 
dialled on shall so appear armed, accoutred and provided, except 
when called to exercise by companies, battalion or regiment, when 
lie may appear without knapsack or blanket. Field and staff 
officers, ranking as commissioned officers, shall be armed with 
Jsword or hanger and a pair of pistols. Company officers with 
«uffi(!ient sword or hanger. Officers were to furnish their respec- 
tive commands as follows: The colonel to each battalion a stand 
of colors, with the number of the battalion, regiment, brigade and 



360 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



divisiou inscribed thereou. The captain was to furnish his com- 
pany with drnm and life; regimental drum and fife-majors 
to furnish themselves with instruments of music. The 
officers were to be re-imbursed for these articles out of 
the regimental fund (hues and penalties) upon the order of 
the regimental board — a slender chance. The entire militia 
of the State was apportioned into di\isions, brigades, regi- 
ments, battalions and companies ; all to take rank when in the 
field, agreeably to the date of the commissions of the officers in 
command. Each ddvision was entitled to its major-general, with 
division inspector and aids ; each brigade to a brigadier-general,^ 
major, and aid-de-camp who was also judge advocate and quarter- 
master; each regiment to a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, sur- 
geon, surgeon's mate, adjutant (ex-officio clerk), quartermaster, ser- 
geant, drum-major and life-major. The superior officers appointed 
their subordinates, and theii- ranks were delined according to the 
U. S. army regulations. The companies elected their captains and 
lieutenants, and these appointed their subalterns. 

The officers must be citizens of the U. S. and this State, and 
take an oath to support the constitutions of both. The regiments^ 
battalions and companies elected their respective superior offit-ers, 
who were commissioned by the governor. The governor, by virtue 
of his office, was commander-in-chief. Provision was made for 
one company of artillery and one of cavalry or troop of horse to 
each regiment, by voluntary enrollment. In tlie same manner a 
company of ritiemen, grenadiers or light infantry, might be raised 
in the battalions; all of which were to equip and uniform them- 
selves in manner fully pointed out. They were to appoint their 
officers in a manner similar to the first-mentioned. Companies 
were required to muster four times yearly, on the first Saturdays 
of April, June, August and October ; and also the first battalions 
of each first regiment, on the first Mondays in April ; the 2d ou 
the succeeding Wednesdays; the 1st battalion of the 2d regiments 
on the succeedhig Fiidays ; and the 2d battalion of the 2d regi- 
ments on the succeeding Mondays in each and every year. Regi- 
mental nuisters were provided for similarly to the above, in Sei)tem- 
ber of each year. Tlie evolutions and exercises were to be con- 
ducted agreeably to the unlitary discij)line of the armies of the 
U. S, In addition to these times the commanders of regiments, 
battalions or companies, were empowered to call their respective 
commands out to muster, as " in their opinions the exigency of 
the case may require." The brigadier-generals were required to 
call t(jgether for drill or exercise all the commissioned officers in 
Ai)ril and September of each year. 

These rei^eated musters, it will be perceived, were no light duties. 
Every officer and soldier must appear at the places of muster, 
armed and equipped as the law directed, at the proper time. The 
roll was to be called and delinquents, either as to absence or im- 
proper equipments, were to be duly noted, for which fines and for- 
feitures were to be assessed by courts-martial, ranging as follows: 
jjrivates from 50 cents to $1 50; commanders of divisions for neg- 
lect of any duties enjoined, from $20 to $200 ; commanders of brig- 
ades, for disobedience of orders or any duties enjoined by law, 
from $15 to $150; of regiments from $10 to $100; of battalions 
from $8 to $80 ; of companies from $5 to $50. Fathers WQia liable 



EDWARDS' ADMINISTRATION. 301. 

for the flues of tlieir minor sons, guardians for their wards, and 
masters for their apprentices. Execution was to issue upon the 
findinji's of the courts-martial, directed to the hands of constables 
to be levied as in other cases. 

The lieutenant-governor, judges of the supreme and circuit 
courts, attoruey-general, licensed ministers of the Gospel, and 
jailors, were, in addition to those by the laws of the U. S. ex- 
empted from militia duty. From time to time acts were also 
passed for the relief of Dunkards, Quakers, and other religious 
l^ersons conscientiously scrui)ulous against bearing arms. By act 
of Jan. 21, 1821, such [tersons were relieved by paying $3 each to the 
sheriff, and the entrj- of their names with a statement of their 
scruples, with the assessor of the county. But when detachments 
of militia for actual service were required, they like others, were 
not exempt from the tours of duty, but might respond by substi- 
tute like others. 

The militia was liable to be called into actual service at any time 
for the space of three months on the reqtiisition of the Executive 
of the U. S. in actual or threatened invasion of this or neighbor- 
ing States or territories; for which purpose the number required 
were to be distributed among the classes (into which comi»anies 
were to be formed), one man to be fiunislied by volunteering or 
draft out of each class ; classes might furnish substitutes. The 
governor could exempt the militia from a call into actual service, 
in su^ih frontier settlements as in liis opinion their safety required de- 
fence, and make such further provision as the emei-gency demanded. 
AVhile in actual service the militia was to be siibject to the same 
rules and regulations as the armies of the U. S., and to recei^'e 
the same pay, rations and forage 5 but their transgressions were 
to be tried and determined by a court-martial of militia officers 
only. 

This is but a very brief outline of some of the main features of 
the militia system of Illinois. The law contains many sections 
and is a very long one. 

While the requirements of the militia system in times of i)rofound 
peace, without the stimulant of a common danger to aid iii the dis- 
charge of its onerous duties, were perhaps dull and irksome, it 
nevertheless afforded to many a budding ambition for the "bub- 
ble reputation at the cannon's mouth," "that swelling of the 
heart you ne'er can feel again, while with fearless hearts though 
tired limbs, [they] fought the mimic fray." The military titles 
of general, colonel, «&c., of nuiiiy of our public men of the period, 
from 1812 to 1846, were mostly of militia origin, and had little 
other signiflcance. 

The militia system was much the same in all the States ; and to 
come down to a later period the i>eoi>le abhorred it. But legisla- 
tures were unwilling to disturb the time honored law, which in 
many instances had been the means to originally bring them i^er- 
haps into prominence. But the shafts of wit and ridicule were 
hurled at it with such effect as to make it eventually succumb. 
The memorable attack of Tom Corwin in the Ohio legislature, by 
liis celebrated " water melon speech," is familiar to every school- 
boy. How it fell into disuse all over Illinois Ave do not pretend 
to recount, but we glean the following account of the means used 



362 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

to bring it into contempt in one place, from a speech of Mr. Lin- 
coln : 

" A number of years ago the militia laws of this state required 
that the militia should train at stated intervals. These trainings 
became a great bore to the i)eople, and every person nearly was 
for imtting them down; but the law required them to train and 
they could not get it repealed. So they tried anotlier way, and 
that was to burlesque them. And hence they elected old Tim 
Langwell, the greatest drunkard and blackguard, for colonel over 
the best men of the country. But this did not succeed altogether. 
So they raised a company and elected Goi'dou Abrams comman- 
der. He was dressed in peculiar style, one j)art of bis pants were 
of one color and material, and the other different. He wore a 
pasteboard cap about 6 feet long, resembling an inverted ox-yoke. 
The shanks of his spurs were about 8 inches long, with rowels 
about the circumference of common saucers. He carried a sword 
made of pine wood, 9 feet long. They also bad 'rules and regu- 
lations,' one of which wafe, ' That no officer should wear more than 
20 lbs, of codfish for epaulets, nor more than 30 yards of Bologna 
sausage for a sash ; and on the banner was born aloft these words : 
' We'll fight till we run and run till we die.' This succeeded to a 
demonstration. They were the last company that trained in 
Springfield." 



Chapter XXXI. 

1830-4— ADMIXISTEATION OF GOVEEXOR EEYNOLDS. 

The Gubernatorial Candidates^ their Lives and Characters — The Cam- 
paign — The Wiggins Loan — Impeachment of Supreme Judge 
Smith — W. L. D. Ewing Governor for 15 days. 



In August, 1830, auother gubernatorial election was to take place. 
The candidates were William Kinnej', then lieutenant governor, 
and .Tolin Eeynolds, formerly one of the associate justices of the 
supreme court, both of the dominant party. Since 1826, the 
Jackson party had been regnant in both houses of the general 
assembly. The opposition, or anti-Jackson men, brought forward 
no candidate for governor at this election; they were in a hope- 
less minority. In Illinois party principles had not taken deep 
root, nor were they as yet well defined anywhere by the position 
of president Jackson. Those who were ardently and uncompro- 
misingly attached to the fortunes of Gen. Jackson, were denomina- 
ted, in the political slang of the period, "whole hog men." Mr. 
Kinney was a strong example of the thorough-going Jackson 
men. Of those who nominally espoused the cause of Jackson, 
not unmixed with j)olicy perhaps, as that party was so largely in 
the majority, while at the same time the suj)i)ort of the anti- 
Jackson men was not unacceptable, was Mr. Eeynolds, who, it 
should be added, however, had always consistently acted with the 
Jackson party. The opposition, influenced not so much b}" any 
clearly defined party principles, as a dislike to the strong, arbi- 
trary and personal characteristics of Gen. Jackson, came to the 
support of Eejaiolds, not on account of love for the latter, but of 
their hatred toward the former. Kinney had been to Washington 
and witnessed the inauguration of j^resident Jackson, and was 
thought to have much agency in directing removals from federal 
offices in Illinois. It was reported he said, in his peculiar graphic 
manner, that the whigs ought to be whipped out of office "like 
dogs out of a meat house."* 

Mr. Kinney was born 1781, in Kentucky, and emigrated to 
Illinois, in 1793. As has before been stated, he acquired his edu- 
cation after marriage, being taught its rudiments by his wife. By 
unwearied application he became reniarkable for intelligence and 
business capacity. Shortly after his early marriage, contracted 
with a most estimable lady, he removed to a farm a short distance 
northeast of Belleville, and before long Mr. VonPhul, of St. Louis, 
induced him to engage in merchandizing. He brought his first 

•Reynolds' Life and Times. 

363 



S64 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

stock of goods from St. Louis, at one load on horse-back. He pros- 
pered as a merchant, became an extensive trader, and accumula- 
ted a fortune. Firmly impressed with religious convictions, he 
early became a member of the baptist church, and afterward 
forcibly preached the faith of that denomination of christians. 
He frequently had the honor of a seat in the legislatnre where he 
was noted for close attention to business. He was of a social dis- 
position, and had gathered a wonderful store of pitby anecdotes, 
Avhich served him a good purpose in electioneering. He was 
regarded as one of the best political canvassers in the State, pos- 
sessing' unbounded energy and great ambition. With his strong 
partisan bias he associated a rare jovial and witty pleasantry, 
Avhich made him very acceptable in his ijitercourse with the peo- 
ple. Notwithstanding his clerical calling, which he did not lay 
aside while in quest of office, he availed himself fully of the 
Avorldly practice of those days in elections, by "treating" with 
intoxicating liquors, as did all other candidates. It was wittily 
remarked of him that he was invincible, because he went forth to 
the contest "armed with the sword of tlie Lord and the spirit." 
Yet with all these favorable traits, he was not suhiciently guarded 
during the canvass in his sarcastic utterances, which were caught 
up and distorted by his enemies, to his disadvantage. His strong 
denominational prejudices and clerical calling, induced him oc- 
casionally to berate other churches, which he discovered from the 
drift of tilings to be arrayed against him, often from no other than 
sectarian motives. He also arrayed himself in opi)Osition to the 
canal, then much before the public, not on account of its intrinsic 
or ])ublic \ahie, but because that great improvement would send 
a tide of "Yankee" emigrants to the State, Avhich he and his ultra 
partisans affected to despise ever since the defeat of the pro])osi- 
tiou to introduce slavery into the State six years before. These 
sentiments, inconsiderately expressed, did him much injury in the 
campaign. 

His opponent, John Reynolds, "vvas born in Pennsylvania, in 
1788, of Irish parents, who removed to Tennessee while he was an 
inftmt, and to Illinois in 1800. In early manhood young Reynolds 
returned to Tennessee, where he receixed a "classical education," 
as he asserts in his "Life and Times," but for this assertion no 
one would ever have suspected it, either from his conversation, 
public addresses, or writings. He was reared among a frontier 
people, ami imbibed their characteristics of numners, customs, 
and si)eech — disliked polish, contemned fashion, and was addicted 
to inordinate profanity, all of wdnch attached to him through life, 
of none of which he took any pains to divest himself, and much 
of which is said to have been affected, which we doubt. These, 
garnished by his varied reading, a ntiti\e shrewdness, and a won- 
derful faculty of garrulity, make him, considering the high offices 
to w^hich he attained, one of the public oddities in the annals of 
Illinois. His imagination was fertile, but his ideas were poured 
forth regardless of logical sequence, evidencing his Milesian 
blood. He had an extraordinary, disconnected sort of memory, 
and possessed a large fund of deta(;lied facts relative to- the early 
settlement of St. Clair and Randolph counties, which are embod- 
ied bj" him in a work entitled the ''Pioneer History of Illinois," 



REYNOLDS' ADMINISTRATION. 365 

and are in the main correct and valuable, tliougli badly arranged.* 
He was tall of stature; his face long, bony and deeply furrowed, 
and under liis high, narrow forehead rolled his eyes, large and 
liquid, expressive of volubility. His nose projected well down- 
ward to his ample mouth. He was kindly by nature, treasured 
few resentments, and was ever ready to do a favor. His 
thoroughly democratic manners, social disposition and talkative 
habit caused him to mingle readily with the people and enjoy 
their confidence. He was much in public life. We have noted 
him as a judge; he served three terms in congress, was afterward 
commissioned (most unwisely) one of the State financial agents 
to negotiate large loans to carry on the State internal improve- 
ments, visiting Europe in this capacitj'^ ; still again we find him in 
the legislature. He always claimed the staunchest adhesion to 
the democratic party. In 1858, however, he refused to follow the 
lead of Douglas, but sided with President Buchanan in his effort 
to fasten slavery upon Kansas by the Lecompton constitution, aiid 
his hatred of Douglas was such that he preferred Mr. Lincoln for 
the senate. In 1860, old and infirm, he attended the Charleston 
convention as an anti-Douglas delegate. Owing to his age, his 
extreme pro-slavery views and loquaciousness, no man from the 
north received more attention from the southern delegates than 
he. He supported Breckinridge for the presidency. After the 
elections of October, in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, had 
foreshadowed the success of Mr. Lincoln, he however published 
an address urging democrats to rally to the support of Douglas, 
that the election might be thrown into congress, where Breck- 
inridge would succeed. Immediately preceding, and during the 
war of the rebellion, his correspondence with extra-Billy Smith 
of Virginia, and his letter to his brother-in-law, J. L. Wilson of 
Alabama, which was widely circulated, evinced a clear sympa- 
thy for the treason of the south. About the 1st of March, 1861, 
he urged upon Buchanan officials the seizure of the treasure 
and arms in the custom-house and arsenal at St. Louis. He died 
at Belle\alle, May, 1865. He left no will, and his fine property- 
descended to his wife, who survived him but a few months. He 
had no children by either of his wives. 

During the political campaign, Reynolds professed great admi- 
ration for the character of Jackson, though he was not accounted 
ultra enough by the real Jackson men who denounced him as an 
"outsider." He and his competitor made a thorough canvass of 
the State, and party excitement ran exceedingly high. Much 
personality entered into it, and bitter reproaches were indulged by 
the partisans of the respective candidates. The press was loaded 
with abusive articles on both sides, and hand-bills were scattered 
broadcast, containing distorted reports of the sjieeches of the can- 
didates, and all sorts of scandalous charges. After a wearisome 
campaign of near 18 months, Reynolds was elected governor. 

But with regard to the election for lieutenant governor, the 
same result did not obtain ; it was the same as four years before. 
Rigdon B. Slocumb was on the ticket with Reynolds, and Zadock 
Casey \^ith Mr. Kinney. Both candidates for lieutenant governor 

•He writes : "In the year 1794, the Morrison family emig-rated to Illinois. They 
were tiilented, industrious, and heoame very wealthy. In the same year the horse 
flies were very bad, and of these the green headed fly was the worst." 



366 ^ HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



were geutlemeu of steiiiug wortli, character aurt abilitj". Slocumb 
was nuused to the not iiiicoiiiiuoii acconiplisliment of the Ameri- 
can politician, i)ublic speaking; nor did lie electioneer much, it is 
said, in any other maimer. Not so liowever with Casey ; he was 
gifted with the power of charming oratory. Although lacking in 
thorough earlj' education, by comprehensive reading he had stor- 
ed his mind, naturally strong, with v^aried knowledge. He had 
frequently been a member of the legislature, and his fine personal 
appearance and large public experience gave him distinction 
throughout the State. Like his colleague, he, too, occupied the 
pulpit occasionally. The clerical ticket was somewhat injured by 
the fact that the people could not brook the worldly aspirations of 
men engaged in a calling so militant to honors that perish ; but 
this objection did not extend to both gentlemen, for Casey was 
elected. Governor (Jasey possessed in an eminent degree the com- 
manding tact of presiding over a deliberative body. 

In his message, Governor Reynolds invited attention to the sub- 
ject of education, internal improvement and the canal; urged 
that congress be memorialized to improve Chicago harbor; recom- 
mended three public highways, commencing respectively at 
Cairo, Shawneetown, and on the lower Wabash, all to terminate at 
the lead mines; the completion of the penitentiary; winding up of 
the old State bank; and, inoculated with his predecessor's theory, 
stated he was "satisfied that this Stale, in right of its sovereignty 
and independence, [was] the rightful owner of the soil within its 
limits." But His Excellency advocated no hobby, and his admin- 
istration was not strongly personal. 

The governor was not in i^olitical accord with a majority of the 
senate, and the usual conflicts between that body and the executive 
obtained. The senate desired the removal of A. P. Field, secretary 
of State, and with that view passed a resolution requesting his 
renomination — that they might reject hiin.* But the governor 
refused compliance, and would neither remove nor renominate him. 
He renominated Henry Eddy, Sidney' Breese, Thomas Ford, and 
Alfred Cowles, who had been eflticient and acceptable prosecuting 
attorneys, but as they had opposed the election of Kinney, the 
senate rejected them and turned all out of ofhce, except Thomas 
Ford. They were again nominated and again rejected; but after 
the adjournment of the legislature, the governor reiipi)ointetl 
them. He succeeded in having his choice of treasurer, John De- 
ment, confirmed by the senate. Dement was an ultra Jackson 
man, but had supported Reynolds. The incumbent Judge James 
Hall, desired to be retained in the office; and although an anti- 
Jackson man, he had, as editor of the lUinois Intelligencer^ with 
much power, supported Kinney; but this failed to avail him. That 
curious political posture would indii-ate both aspirants to the treas- 
urership to have been governed in their course more by the hope 
of office than by party principles. But that is a weakness not 
peculiar to those days alone.+ 

Among the measures passed at the first legislative session of 
Reynolds' administration may be noted the adaptation of the crim- 
inal code to the penitentiary system. But the most notable measure 
of this session was the passage of the act providing for the 

•Reynolds' Life and Times. 

+Hall, as Treasurer, was In arrears with the State. 



REYNOLDS' ADMINISTRATION. 367 

redemptiou of the notes of the old State bank, which would 
mature during the current year. The notorious "Wiggins loan" 
of $100,000 was authorized, and if that proved insuflicieut to 
redeem the out-standing notes, the residue was to be refunded by 
issuing State stocks bearing 6 per centum annual interest. This 
speedily raised the credit of the State and advanced its currency 
to par. But while the financial standing of the State was thus 
preserved, the honorable members who actively authorized it, it is 
said, sunk beneath the waves of popular indignation, never to rise 
again as politicians. The value of a financial character for the 
yonng State, or the disgrace of repudiation, was not duly appre- 
ciated by the people. Demagogues availed themselves of this and 
proclaimed to the people that their representatives had corru])tly 
betrayed their interests, and sold out them and the State to Wig- 
gins for generations to come. The members quailed before the first 
onset of public indignation as if stricken with the enormity of their 
wrong. Truth was crushed to earth never to rise again, in the 
case of these politicians. A blight swept over the State and laid 
low many promising buds of incipient statesmen. It is left for us 
at this day, who look back with swelling pride to the fact that our 
Stat« has emerged from every impending financial crisis with her 
garments unsullied, to appreciate the merits of their act, only 
regretting that they did not boldly defend their coiu'se and hold 
i\]) to public scorn the unprincipled demagogues who inflamed the 
people to the contrary.* 

The United States censns returns of 1830 showed a population 
for Illinois of 157,445, and in accordance therewith the State was 
apportione<l into three congressional districts. Up to this time the 
State had had but one representative in the lower bouse of congress. 
A special election for one congressman was ordered for August 1831, 
at which Joseph Duncan was elected; but for the general election of 
August 1832, and every two years thereafter — it being provided 
that congressmen should be elected one year and over prior to taking 
their seats — three members were to be elected. Joseph Duncan, 
Zado(;k Casey (the lieutenant governor,) and Charles Slade were 
elected. 

In his message to the session of the general assembly of 1832-3, 
governor Reynolds stated the ordinary receijjts into the treasury 
for the two years ending November 30th, 1832, to be in round 
numbers, $102,000 ; the current expenses of the State government 
for the same period, were, in round numbers, $90,000. This indi- 
cated a healthy condition of the State finances, when it is 
considered that the Black Hawk war occurred during this period. 
The expenses of that war amounting to some two million dollars,! 
were however assumed by the general government. At this 
session the first earnest efforts were made to build railroads ; 
several charters were granted incorporating railroad companies, 
but no stock, it is said, was ever subscribed to any of them. It 
was proposed to build a railroad from Lake Michigan to the Illinois 
river in place of the canal ; surveys for the Northern Cross road 
(now the W., St. L. & P.,) and for the Central, from Peru to 
Cairo, were also proposed. 

♦Ford's History. 
tBrown's Illinois, 355. 



3r>8 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



But tlie most absorbing topic of this session was tlie impeacb- 
ment trial of Theopbilus W. Smith, one of the associate Judges 
of the supreme court. Petitions numerously signed were received 
by the house cliurgiug him with misdemeanors in office. The 
house voted seven articles of impeachment, which were trans- 
mitted to the senate for trial. The first three related to the corrupt 
sales of circuit clerkships; he had authorized his son, a minor, to 
bargain off the office in Madison county, by hiring one George 
Kelly at $25 ])er month, reserving the fees and emoluments to 
himself; he did the same — reserving the fees and emoluments — 
till his son became of age; and to subject said office to his will, he 
had made appointments three several times without reipiiring 
bonds from the appointees. He was also charged with being a 
co-plaintiff in several vexatious suits for an alleged trespass, cotu- 
menced by affidavit in a court where he himself presided, holding 
the defendants illegally to excessive bail upon a trifling pretext, 
to o])press and injure them, and continuing the suits from term to 
term to harass and persecute them. The 5th article charged him 
with arbitrarily suspending John S. Greathouse, a lawyer, from 
practice for advising his client to apply for a change of venue to a 
circuit where his honor did not preside; Cth, for tyranically com- 
mitting to jail, in Montgomery county, a Quaker who entertained 
conscientious scruples against removing his hat in open court; 7th, 
for deciding an agreed case between the sheriff* and treasurer of 
Madison county without process or pleading, to the jirejudiceof the 
county, rendering appeal to the supreme court necessary. The 
senate resolved itself into a high court of impeachment and a 
solemn trial was had, which lasted from January 9th to February 
7th, 1833. The prosecution was conducted by a committee of man- 
agers from the house, consisting of Benjamin Mills, Murray 
McConnel, John T. Stuart, James Semple, and John Dougherty. 
The defendant was represented by Sidney Breese, E. M. Young, 
and Thomas Ford, subsequently governor. The array of talent on 
both sides, the exalted position of the accused, and the excitement 
thereby caused in political circles, gave to the trial unusual public 
attraction throughout the State, and during its protracted pendency 
little else was transacted by the legislature. 

The trial was conducted throughout by marked ability and learn- 
ing. A great number of witnesses were examined and much 
documentary evidence introduced. The arguments of counsel 
were of the highest order; and in the final summing up for the 
prosecution, the chairnian of the house committee, Mr. Mills, one 
of the most brilliant orators of the time, spoke for three days in a 
strain of unsurpassed eloquence. Pending the trial, the defendant, 
after each adjournment, had the desks of senators carefully 
searched for scraps of paper containing scribbling concerning their 
status upon the respective charges. Being thus advised, his 
counsel enjoyed peculiar advantages in the management of the 
defence. The constitution required that "no person shall be con- 
victed without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the senators 
present." When the vote was finally taken upon each article 
separately, 22 senators were present, 4 absent or excused. It 
required 15 to convict, 12 voted "guilty" on some of the charges, 
10 were in favor of acquittal, and 15 "voted him guilty of one or 
other of the specifications, but as 12 was the highest vote on any 





Pu-t^^t-^^..^ 



REYNOLDS' ADMINISTRATION. 3G9 

one of them, lie was acquitted."* Thereupon the liouse of repre- 
sentatives, well convinced of his guilt, immediately passed a 
resolution by a two-thirds vote undei' the constitution to remove 
him from office by address; but this, too, when reported to the 
senate, failed in that body, and Judge Smith retained his seat 
upon the supreme bench of Illinois until he died about ten years 
afterward.! 

When Lieutenant Governor Zadock Casey was elected to con- 
gress in 1832 he resigned his office and Gen. W. Lee D. Ewing, a 
senator, was chosen to preside over the senate. At the August 
election of 1834, governor Eeynolds was also elected to congress, 
more than a year ahead, as was then the law, to succeed Mr. Slade; 
but shortly after, the incumbent died, when Eeynolds was also 
chosen to serve out his unexpired term. Accordingly he set out 
for Washington in IS'ovember of that year to take his seat in con- 
gress, and Gen. Ewing, by virtue of his office as president of the 
senate, became governor of this State for just 15 days, when, upon 
the meeting of the legislature, to which he sent his message as 
acting governor, he was relieved of his exalted station by the 
governor elect, Duncan, being sworn into office. This is the only 
time that such a conjuncture has happened in the history of the 
State. 

*Ford's History- 

+See Senate Journals 1833, appendix, for full proceedings of this trial. 



24 



Chapter XXXII. 
1827-1831— BLACK HAWK WAE. 

1. Winnebago Hostilities — Indians unable to Resist the JEncroach- 
ments of the Miners — Coalition tcith the Sioux — Attaclc on a 
Steamboat — Compelled to sue for Peace. 

2. Sacs and Foxes — Black Hatvl'—KeoJciik — Sac Villages — Inva- 
sion of the State — Militia and. Regulars brought into Requisition 
— March to the Scene of Danger — Black Hawk compelled to en- 
ter into a Treaty of Peace, 



The most frequeut cause of the difficulties which from time to 
time liave disturbed the peaceful relations of the white and red. 
meu, has resulted from a desire of the former to possess the hiiut- 
iug grounds of the latter. Intrusions upon Indian territory, led 
to the war with Poiitiac and that of King Phillip, 11 years after- 
ward, and at a later date, and farther westward, to the san- 
guinary contest with Tecumseh. The original emigrants from 
Europe and their descendants, requiring laiuls for cultivation, 
IJurchased large tracts from the Indians. As fast as these became 
populated others were required, till the savages, seeing their for- 
ests and hunting grounds rapidly disappearing, endeavored to 
re-possess them. The Europeans jnet them in arms, and as the 
result, they have been driven from river to river and from forest 
to forest tiil scarcely an abiding place is left them. The last effort 
to resist encroachments of this kind, was made by the Winneba- 
goes and the Sacs and Foxes, within the limits of Illinois. 

Winnebago War. — During the latter part of Governor Edwards' 
administration, the Indians on the northwestern frontier manifested 
symptoms of discontent. The dissatisfaction increased, and in the 
summer of 1827, culminated in what the writers of the time style 
the Winnebago Mar, an affray of no great magnitude but the 
precursor of the hostilities under Black Hawk, which filled the na- 
tion with alarm. This sudden ebullition of savage animosity, was 
the unjust occupation of their lands by the miners of Galena. At 
this period large numbersof adventurers from different States, 
were hastening to the lead mines, and in passing through the coun- 
try of the Winnebagoes, purposeh' exasi)erated them with the in- 
tention of provoking hostilities and securing their lands by way of 
reprisal. The right of this tribe to the lands in question, was, how- 
ever, involved in doubt. Bv the treatv of 180-4, the Sacs and Foxes 

370 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 371 



ceded to tlie Uuited States all the land between the mouths of 
the llliuois and Wisconsin rivers. In 1810, that portion of the 
territory lying north of a line drawn west from the southern ex- 
tremity of Lake Michi<ian,wasretrocededby the government to the 
Ottawas, Chippewas and Potawattomies, the Winnebagoes not 
being included in the grant. Subsequently, however, a war broke 
out among these tribes in regard to their respective boundaries, 
and in 1825 the commissioners of the United States interposed as 
mediators to readjust them aud termiuate hostilities. In the new 
arrangement, the right of the Winnebagoes to the laud in the vi- 
cinity of the lead mines seems to have been admitted, although 
they were not recognized in the preceding treaty. 

But waiving the question of title, they had been in possession 
of the country for years, aud believing it belonged to them, re- 
garded the intrusion of the whites with the same iutense jealonsj^' 
aud ill-will manifested by civilized men on similar occasions. liich 
deposits of lead ore had been found in their territory, aud Mr. 
Thomas, the agent at Galena, gave jjermissiou to the miners to 
procure large quantities of mineral, despite the remonstrances of 
the Winnebagoes. The savages at length, finding their complaints 
unheeded, attemi)ted to eject tlie trespassers by force, but were 
themselves repelled and greatly exasperated at being uuable to 
protect their property. Assistance from others was now their 
only alternative, and for this purpose they sent a delegation to ask 
the advice of their principal chiefs north of Prairie du Cliien. An- 
other object of their visit was to secure the co-operation of the 
Sioux, who had also become offended at the Americans aud only 
waited an ox^portunity to wreak their vengeance upon the objects of 
their ill-will. Some of their countrymen had not long before surpris- 
ed and murdered a number of the Chippewas in the vicinity of Fort 
Siielliug, and the commandant immediately caused their arrest 
and had them delivered up to the injured tribe for merited punish- 
ment. The interposition of the American officer was prompted 
only by a sense of justice, yet EedBird, the chief of the tribe, be- 
came greatly offended and secretly resolved to form a coalition with 
the Winnebagoes. Both tribes, therefore, had grievances to redress^ 
and each found the other ready to strike a united blow against 
the common enemy. 

Accordingly, while the Winnebagoes were in consultation with 
their chiefs, they were visited by a messenger of the Sioux, Avho 
after detailing the wrongs of his owu tribe, resorted to falsehood 
to further exasperate his auditors against the Americans. He 
informed them that two Winnebago prisoners confined at 
Fort Snelling, had recently been cruelly murdered by the whites, 
under circumstauces which demanded immediate and bloody 
retaliation. Notwithstanding the utter mendacity of this state- 
ment, the Winnebagoes, smarting under their treatment at the 
hands of the miners, were easily persuaded it was true, and 
resolved upon revenge, while the visitor assured them that as 
soon as they struck the first blow, his own tribe would assist 
them. They accordingly killed 2 white men, and a more justifi- 
able pretext was not long wanting for them to strike another blow. 
On the 30th of July 1827, 2 keel boats, laden with supplies for Fort 
Snelling, landed at a large Winnebago encampment a short dis- 
tance above Prairie du Chien. While here the Indians collected 



372 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

about the boats, doubtless for tlie purpose of plunder but were 
foiled in their designs. In the absence of other weapons the 
whites made them drunk, and taking advantage of their helpless 
condition, captured several squaws, and took them aboard for a 
purpose too base to mention. Before their intoxicated husbands 
became aware of the injury they had sustained, the boats and 
their squaws were too far up the river for pursuit, yet several 
hundred infuriate warriors now assembled with the determination 
of meting out to the aggressors the most severe i)unishment 
when they returned. In due time, the boats were seen descend- 
ing the river, but the crews aware that their misdeeds deserved 
castigation, had made preparation for defence. One of the boats 
passed by unobserved during the night, but the other, less fortu- 
nate, was assailed by an overwhelming force of savages, who 
fought with a determination only equalled by their passion for 
veugeance. The boat became grounded, and for a time the men 
on board seemed doomed. Directly in the face of a galling fire, 
the savages succeeded in lashing some of their canoes to the 
unmanageable craft, but when they attempted to board her, they 
were beaten back into the river, and finally retired from the con- 
test. During the engagement the squaws escaped, and no doubt 
with the hearty consent of the boatmen, provided it might be the 
means of drawing after them their infuriate lords. Two of the 
Americans were killed, and so many others wounded, it was with 
difficulty that Captain Lindsey, who had charge of the boat, ran 
down to Galena, and made known the hostile attack. Dire alarm 
at the reception of the news spread among the miners, and in a 
short time not less than 3000 men, women and children fled to 
Galena for protection. Exaggerated reports spi'ead rapidly over 
the country, and most of the settlements in the northern part of 
the State partook of the fear and excitement incident to an 
actual invasion. At Galena a committee of safety was formed, 
temporary defenses were erected, and in pursuance of an order 
from Gov. Edwards, the miners were formed into companies and 
equipped for action. A regiment was also raised in Sangamon 
and Morgan counties, and under the command of T. M. Neale, 
marched to the scene of danger. On his arrival, however, he 
found the war virtually at an end. Gen. Atkinson with 600 regu- 
lars and the Galena militia, under Gen. Dodge, had penetrated the 
enemy's country, as far as the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin, 
and compelled the hostile savages to sue for peace. The army 
returned from Prairie du Chien, with 7 of their principal men, 
among whom were Red Bird the chief of the Sioux, and Black 
Hawk who shortly afterwai'd became the instigator of other and 
greater disturbances. They were all thrown into prison as 
abettors of the murderous attack on the boat, and suffered a long 
confinement before they were tried. As the result of the tardy 
trial, some were acquitted, and others convicted, and more than a 
year after their incarceration executed on the gallows. 

In the meantime, Bed Bird whose proud spirit could not endure 
the humiliation of confinement, sickened and died in j)rison. 
There was associated with the latter days of his life a romantic 
and melancholy interest, different from the usual phases of Indian 
character. He had always been the favorite of his own people 
and up to this illicit connection with the Winnebagoes the 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 373 



ardent and nnalternble friend of the whites. Unlike other savage 
leaders, when liis allies were pressed with a victorious force, lie 
refused to desert them, and voluntarily gave himself up to suffer 
not only for his own misdeeds, but for the common oifense of the 
tribe. Clad in a robe of shins, and bearing a white flag, he rode 
into camp, and with dauntless coui-age and an unclouded brow, 
l)laced himself in the hands of his enemy. Not even the 
restraints of prison life, although they impaired his health, could 
obscure the native vigor of his mind, and when called on by white 
men all the nobility of a great savage lit up his manly features. 
Incensed at the Ameri(;ans because they had delivered his coun- 
trymen into the hands of their enemy, he was doubtless the secret 
instigator and ruling spirit of the war, although the Winnebagoes 
committed the overt acts. This tribe now completely humbled, in a 
subsequent talk with the federal authorities abandoned all their 
lands south of the Wisconsin river, to the insatiate grasp of the 
conquerors. 

Hardly had the disturbances of the vanquished tribe ceased be- 
fore the frontier inhabitants became embroiled in difficulties Avith 
the Sacs and Foxes. The first recognition of these Indians by 
the United States, was in a treaty concluded at Fort Harmer, in 
1787, by Gov. St. Clair, wherein the government guaranteed them 
its protection. In 1804, Gov. W. H. Harrison was instructed by 
president Jefferson to institute negotiations with them for the 
purchase of lands, and shortly' afterward a treaty was ratified 
with them, by which their beautiful country on Rock river was 
divested of the Indian title. Again in 1830, a thiixl treaty was 
entered into, by the terms of which the}' were to remove from the 
lands which they had sold to the United States, east of the Mis- 
sissippi, and peaceably retire across the river. 

At this time, Keokuk and Black Hawk were the two princii)al 
chiefs of the nation. The latter was born at the principal 
village of his tribe, on Rock river, ui 1767. Possessing no here- 
ditary rank, his chieftainship Avas due to the native vigor of his 
character, and great success in war. In earl}- youth he distin- 
guished himself as a brave ; and in the man}' fierce conflicts of his 
subsequent life with the Osages and Cherokees, he never lost a 
battle. When the war of 1812 broke out between the United 
States and England, he oliered his services to the Americans, 
which from motives of humanity they declined. He however, 
soon found patrons among the British, who regardless of the bru- 
tal atrocities of savage warfare, furnished his men with arms. 
At the instance of their mercenary agents, he succeeded in collect- 
ing 200 braves, and repaired to Green Bay, where he met Col. 
Dixon and a large body of Indians assembled from the avljacent 
tiibes. Of the interview which followed between him and the 
British officer, he says : "He received me with a hearty shake of 
the hand, and presented me to the other officers who shook my 
hand cordially, and seemed much pleased Avith my men. After I 
was seated. Col. Dixon said: 'Gen. Black HaAvk, I sent for you to 
explain what Ave are going to do, and the reasons that ha\'e 
brought us here. Your English father has found out that the 
Americans want to take your country from yon, and has sent me 
and his braves to drive them back. He has likewise sent a large 
quantity of arms and ammunition, and we want your warriors to 



374 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

join us.' He then placed a medal around my neck, and gave me a 
paper and a silk flag', saying, 'You are to command all the braves 
wliicli are to leave here day after tomorrow, to join our braves 
at Detroit.' Black Hawk fought in 2 engagements with his new 
allies, and annually received pa3'ment for his services up to the 
time of his own war against the Americans. From this circum- 
stance his force was designated the British band. 

Keokuk, his rival, unlike him, remained the friend of the Amer- 
icans. Notwithstanding- the insatiate passion of the Sacs and 
Foxes for war, and the belief that they had been injured by the 
people of the United States, he drew after liim a majority of the 
nation, and thus weakened the efforts of Black Hawk. In diplo- 
macy and judgment he was more than a match for his brother 
chieftain, and as we shall see, through the influence of the United 
States whose cause he had espoused, he becauie the sole chief of 
liis people. 

In accordance with the treaty stipulations, Keokuk and his fol- 
lowers remained on the west side of the river. Black Hawk, how- 
ever, actuated no doubt partly by patriotism, but mostly by the 
ill will he entertained toward the Americans declared all the 
previous treaties void, and in the Spring- of 1831 recrossed the Mis- 
sissippi with his women and children and 300 warriors. Every 
argnment had been used by his most prudent advisers to deter 
him from embarking- in this hazardous enterprise, and even the 
authorities of Canada, with whom he had consulted, counseled 
him t^) leave his village if he had sold it. The government of the 
United States, desirous of preventing- bloodshed, bore with him a 
long' time, hoping after due reflection he would abandon his rash 
design. This, however, being- construed as weakness, he was 
induced to believe that the government either could not or would 
not attempt his removal. He also affected to believe it was an act 
of cowardice to abandon his village, and thus leave the graves of 
his fathers, to be ruthlessly plowed up by strangers, whose rights 
to the soil was of doubtful authority. 

This celebrated Indian town was romantically situated on a prom- 
ontory formed by the junction of the Mississippi and Eockrivers, and 
the great beauty and feitility of the adjacent country made it the 
centre of attraction for emigrants from all parts of the country. 
The village was capable of sheltering- six or seven thousand 
inhabitants. The houses consisted of poles wrought into frames 
and co\'ered with bark, jireviously prepared by drying to adapt it 
to the walls of these structuies. Seven hundred such lodges of 
various dimensions, the largest of which did not perhaps exceed 
100 feet in length and 50 in breadth, constituted the dwellings of 
the villagers. About 700 acres of the adjacent prairie was sur- 
rounded by a fence, and the enclosed soil cultivated by the Indian 
women in corn, beans, peas and squashes. The place was said to 
be 150 years old, and had for 00 or 70 years been the principal vil- 
lage of the Sac Nation. On the one hand flashed the broad wa- 
ters of the Mississii)pi in the rays of the evening sun, on the other 
the rippling stream of Eock rive*r struggled between the dark 
forest-clad islands which obstructed its channel. Hardly an in- 
dividual could be found who did not have friends and relations 
whose ashes were reposing in the adjacent grave yards. Hither, 
in accordance with an immemorial custom of the nation, bereaved 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 375 



mothers, wives and sisters performed annual pilgrimages to pay 
£b tribute of respects to their departed relatives. On these melan- 
choly occasions they carefully removed the gTowiug vegetation 
from the mounds and addressed words of endearment to the dea<l, 
inquiriug how they fared in the land of spirits and who performed 
the kindly office of mother, sister or wife. The depositing of food 
on the grave concluded these time-honored religious services. 

As is usually the case with rival factions brought in contact, the 
conduct of both whites and Indians admitted of censure. Tlie 
7th article of the treaty of 1804 provided that as long as the lands 
Avhich are now ceded to the TJ. S. shall remain their property the 
said Indians shall enjoy the privilege of living and hunting on 
them. These lands were not brought into market till the year 
1829, and consequently all who had previously settled on them 
-were tresjiassers, having- violated the laws of congress and the pre- 
existing treaties. The jnost advanced settlements at that time did 
not approach nearer than 50 or GO miles of Rock river, and the 
lands for even a greater distance had not been ottered for sale, 
yet the government disjjosed of a few quarter sections at the mouth 
of this stream, embracing- the site of the village and fields cultiva- 
ted by the inhabitants. The manifest object of this advanced 
movement upon the Indian settlements was to evade the provis- 
ions of the treaty, by having the governmental title to the lands 
pass into the hands of individuals and thus obtain a pretext for 
removing its owners west of the Mississippi. The white inhabi- 
tants thus introduced, commenced depredations by destroying the 
corn of the Indians, killing their domestic animals, and in some 
instances whipi^ing their women and children. They carried with 
them as articles of trafltic intoxicating liquors, and by frequently 
.selling them in violation of law, introduced scenes of drunkenness 
iind disorder. Some of the chiefs remonstrated against these out- 
rages and even visited the house of a white settler and emi)tied 
the contents of his whiskey barrels on the ground, to prevent their 
people from becoming intoxicated and murdering the Avhite inhab- 
itants. The Americans, on the other hand, preferred grave 
charges against the Indians, many of which were true. ]Srotwith- 
standing-, in 1816 Black Hawk had recognized the treaty of 1804, 
and to use his own expression, he touched the goose quill to this 
pai)er in its confirmation, he endeavored to deceive his tribe with 
statements that their lands were inalienable and that the i)revious 
cessions and treaties were fraudulent and void. Again, when the 
^government surveyed and sold the site of their village, although 
the object wdiich induced the i)urchasers to pass over such large 
scope of unoccupied territory was hardly justifiable, yet, when the 
title of the government became vested in individuals the right of 
the Indians ceased and they should have peaceably retired. Fur- 
thermore, Black Hawk and his baml, when they crossed the river, 
notified the whites that they must depart from the village, and the 
latter refusing to comply with their demand, their proi)erty was 
destroyed and they suffered in person various indignities at the 
hands of the savages. A petition signed by 40 persons, was sent 
on the 30th of April, 1831, to the executive of Illinois, represent- 
ing that the previous fall the Black Hawk band of Indians de- 
stroyed most of the crops and made several attem])ts upon the 
Jives of the owners when they endeavored to jjrevent the depre- 



376 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



dations ; that uow they act in a more outrageous aud menacing- 
manner and their number, which amounts to 600 or 700, 
is to be further augmented if necessary, by the Potawatto- 
mies and Winnebagoes. A few days after another petition was 
sent, wliich after detailing similar outrages committed by the sav- 
ages, states that if relief does not arrive the inhabitants will be 
compelled to leave their crops and homes. Several depositions 
were also presented to the governor, corroborating the above evi- 
dence. B. F. Pike stated under oath that the number of warriors 
was about 300 ; that they had in various instances done much 
damage to the white inhabitants by throwing down their fences, 
destroying their fall grain, pulling off the roofs of their houses- 
and positively asserting that if the Americans did not leave they 
would kill them. 

Governor Reynolds, thus informed in regard to the state of affairs 
at the mouth of Eock Eiver, and believing that Black Hawk and 
his band were determined to retain j)ossession of the country by 
force, resolved to effect their expulsion. A call was accordingly 
made for volunteers, and when it became known the whole north- 
western i)'^i't of the State resounded with the clamor of war. 
Many of the old citizens, who- 20 years before had fought these 
Indians in the war with Great Britain, still survived and urged 
their sons to apj)ear on the tented field against the same enemy.. 
The exigencies of the situation demanded that troops should 
reach the scene of action in the shortest time practicable, and 
therefore the 10th of June was appointed as the time, and Beards- 
town as the place for the assembling of the forces. No county 
south of St. Clair and east of Sangamon was included in the call,, 
it being impossible for troops from the remote parts of the State 
to meet, organize and reach the place of rendezvous in the brief 
interval of 14 or 15 days, the allotted time. The governor circu- 
lated documents among the people and made speeches showing: 
that the defence of the northwestern frontier i-equired prompt aud 
energetic action. ]S[otwithstanding it was the most busy season 
of the year, hundreds abandoned their plows and corntields, and 
more than twice the number called for volunteered. It was easier 
to obtain men than provide means of sustenance. Cols. Enoch C. 
March and Samuel C. Christy were appointed quartermasters, who^ 
being extensive merchants, possessed superior facilities for obtain- 
ing supplies. These gentlemen were successful in the discharge 
of their duties and provisions were in readiness at the aj)pointed 
time for the expedition to march. 

The governor, aware that General Clark, the superintendent of 
Indian affairs stationed at St. Louis, had great influence with the 
Sac and Fox tribes, on the 27th of May, 1831, the day on which he 
made the call for volunteers, addressed a letter to him requesting" 
his co-operation. In this letter he states: "I have called out 
about 700 militia to protect the citizens near Rock Island from 
Indian depredations. I consider it due the general government to 
state that in about 15 days, a sufficient force will appear before the 
hostile Indians to remove them dead or alive west of the Missis- 
sii^pi, but i)erhaps a request from you would induce them to leave 
without the necessity of resorting to arms." On the 28th another 
letter was sent to General Gaines at Jefferson Barracks, in which. 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 377 



he also stated: "I have received undoubted information that the 
section of the State near Eock Island is actually invaded bj' hostile 
bands of Indians headed by Black Hawk, and in order to repel 
the invasion and protect the citizens of the State, I have, under the 
provisions of the constitution of the United States and the laws 
of this State, called out the militia to the number of 700 men, who 
will be mounted and ready for service in a very short time. I con- 
sider it my duty to lay before you the above infornuition that you 
]nay adopt sucli measures as you deem just and proper." Both 
<^euerals Gaines and Clark considered tlie i^reeaution of raising 
troops pursued by governor Reynolds unnecessary, believing that 
the forces of the regular army were sufficient to i)rotect the frontier 
settlements. On the 2d of June, general Gaines replied to His 
Excellency that he had ordered 10 companies to Eock Island, 6 
from Jefferson Barracks and 4 from Prairie du Chien, which he 
deemed sufficient for the i)rotection of the frontiers, that if the 
entire Sac and Fox nation and other ti^ibes united with the band 
of Black Hawk, he would call on him for additional forces to 
repel the invasion, but did not regard it necessary at that time. 

Accompaiiied by six companies from the barracks, Gen. Gaines 
passed up the river in a steamboat to Fort Armstrong, situated on 
Eock Island, and on the 7th of June a council was held with the 
Indians. Black Hawk, Keokuk, Wapello, and a number of other 
chiefs and braves were present. Gen. Gaines stated in council 
that the President was displeased because the Sacs on Eock river 
refused to depart, that their great father only required that which 
was reasonable when he insisted that they should remove west of 
the river. Black Hawk replied by asserting that they had never sold 
their lands and they were determined never to abandon them. Gen. 
Gaines thereupon inquired, ''Who is Black Hawk? is he a chief, 
and why does he sit in council?" Black Hawk then arose from his 
seat, and gathering his blanket around him stalked out of the room 
without deigning a reply. When the council reconvened on the 
following morning Black Hawk was again present and said: "My 
father, you inquired yesterday who is Black Hawk, and why does 
he sit among the chiefs. I will tell you who I am. I am a Sac. My 
father was a Sac. I am a warrior and so Avas my father. Ask those 
young braves who have followed me to battle and they will tell you 
who Black Hawk is. Provoke our people to war and you will learn 
who Black Hawk is." 

The result of the conference was that Black Hawk refused to 
leave, and Gen. Gaines informed him that if he and his band were 
not on the west side of the Mississippi in a short time he would be 
compelled to remove him by force. Tlie American comnumder 
also wrote to governor Eeynolds requesting the assistance of the 
volunteers and intimating that it juight be necessary to call for 
more troops as Black Ha\vk was endeavoring to secure the co- 
operation of the neighboring tribes. It was hoped that by this 
augmentation of the forces the Indians might be intimidated, and 
thus prevent the effusion of blood, and in case of actual conflict 
the army Avould be enabled to act with greater efficiency. 

Great enthusiasm was exhibited by the people in responding to 
the call for troops, and instead of 700, 1000 men offered their ser- 
vices. All were eager to enlist, having made arrangements on 
leaving home to remain and rake a part in the expedition. The 



378 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

entire number could be provisioned andequi^jped, and it was deemed 
folly to appear on the lield without a force sufficiently large when 
one more imposing and adequate could be secured. Among the 
volunteers were many of the best and most energetic citizens of the 
State, a number of whom afterward attained celebrity and still live 
to enjoy the respect of their countrymen. The whole force consisted 
of one brigade, subdivided into two regiments, and a spy and odd 
battalion. The governor, who accompanied the expedition, apx)oiuted 
Joseph Duncan, then a member of congress, brigadier general to 
command the entire brigade, and Samuel Whitesides a major to 
command the spy battalion. The other officers, not being regarded 
so essential to the success of the campaign, were elected by the 
volunteers. 

Col. James D. Henry was chosen to command the first regiment, 
Col. Daniel Lieb the second, and major iSTathaniel Buckmaster the 
odd battalion. Thus organized and furuislu'd with the necessary 
supplies, the brigade left their encampment near Kushville on the 
15th of June for the seat of the Indian disturbances. Although 
not highly disciplined, it was the largest military force that had 
ever assembled in the State, ami nnidea very imposing appearance 
in its march over the then broad expanse of prairie wilderness. 
Eager for a fray with the Indians the utmost vigilance was re- 
quired on the part of the officers to keep the men from indiscrimi- 
uatelj^ killing every straggling savage they encountered in their 
pleasant journey of four days to the Mississippi. A halt was made 
on its banks eight miles below the old Sac village, where they were 
met by a steamboat containing provisions, in charge of general 
Gaines, who received them into the service of the United States. 
A beautiful site was selected for an encampment, and as a battle 
was considered imminent, the greatest watchfulness was exercised 
during the night to guard against surprise, but no disturbance 
occurred. Here generals Duncan and Gaines concerted measures 
of attack; the latter officer having been in the vicinity of the 
Indian town for some time, thus became acquainted with the topo- 
graphy of the place. Previous to the arrival of the volunteers he 
had possessed and fortitied with cannon a coinmanding blufi" in 
range of the village, and in another direction had posted a strong 
force of regulars to aid if necessary in the conflict. In accord- 
ance Avith the plan adopted, on the following morning General 
Gaines with a force of regulars and cannon steamed up the river 
in the boat, while the volunteers marched across the country, both 
forming a junction at Woodruff's Islands in the channel of the 
river opposite the Sac village. The boat having come within 
range of the island, tired seveial rounds of grape and canister into 
the dense growth of timber and thickets to test the presence of the 
Indians, who it was feared might be concealed among them, to 
intercept the passage of the volunteers across the stream. The 
spy battalion, followed by the main body of the forces in three 
columns, passed over a slough to the island, when it was discovered 
that the rapid elevation of the land from the water had prevented 
the shot taking effect more than 100 yards from the shore. Owing 
to this circumstance the Indians miglit have been concealed in full 
force without being discovered. Fortunately no enemy was found, 
for the volunteers became so completely bewildered in the tangled 
thickets as to discjualifv them for effective resistance, and iu case 



BLACK HAWK WAR, 379 



of an attack the artillery looking down from the bluffs on what 
would have been the battle field, was too far away to distinguish 
friend.s from foes. On arriving at the river between the island and 
town, it proved to be a deep, bold stream at that point unfordable, 
and hence the progress of the troops was delayed till scows could 
be procured to ferry them over. Wlien the town was finally entered 
it was found deserted, the inhabitants liaAing the .previous night 
crossed to the west side of the Mississii»pi. It was sux)posed that 
Generals Duncan and Gaines, before leaving camp, believed that 
the Indians would abandon their village, and now that such was 
the case, it served to explain the a})parent neglect in ascertaining 
the presence of Indians and the seemingly unfavorable disposition 
of tlie forces. General Gaines appears to have been an efficient 
officer, anxious to settle the difficulties without the effusion of 
blood, and gTcat credit was undoubtedly due Governor Keynolds 
and General Duncan for the promptness with which the troops 
were called out, organized and marched to the seat of war. 

The number of warriors who tied across the Mississippi could 
ncA'er be definitely ascertained. Many of the straggling and 
disaffected Winnebagoes, and Potawattomies, doubtless united 
with the band of Black Hawk, and perhaps the number amounted 
to from 400 to 600. The Indians having escaped without injury, 
the volunteers took vengeance on the village by burning it to the 
ground, although the dwellings would have sheltered them from 
the incessant rains which prevailed during the day. '' Thus 
perislied this ancient village which ha<l been the delightful home 
of (iOOO or 7000 Indians, where generation after generation had 
been born, had died and been buried, where the old men had 
taught wisdom to the youth, whence the Indian youth had often 
gone out in parties to hunt or to war, and returned in triumph to 
dance around the spoils of the forest or the scalps of the enemy, 
and where the dark-eyed Indian maidens, by their presence and 
cbarins, had made it a scene of delightful enchantment to many 
an admning warrior."* * 

Black Hawk and his warriors having departed the night preceding 
the destruction of their village, encamped on the west bank of the 
Mississippi, while the Americans took a position 12 miles above 
where Rock Island now stands. Gen. Gaines sent an order to 
Black Hawk, requiring him and his band to return and enter into 
a treaty of peace, or he would move on them with all the troops 
under bis command. Several days afterward some of the chiefs 
made their appearance, but Black Hawk and the majority of them 
refusing to come, a more peremptory denmnd was made, which 
had the desired effect. He and about 30 chiefs of the British 
band of the Sacs now came and in full council with Gen. Gaines, 
and Gov. Reynolds, on the 30th of June, 1831, signed an agree- 
ment of which the following is the first article : 

"The British band of the Sac Indians are required peaceably to 
submit to the authority of the friendly chiefs and braves of the 
united Sac and Fox nations, and at all times hereafter to reside 
and hunt with them upon their own lands, west of the Mississippi 
river, and to be obedient to their laws and treaties, and no one or 
more shall ever be permitted to recross said river to the usual 
place of residence, nor any part of their old hunting grounds east 



•Ford's History. 



380 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of the Mississippi, without permissiou of the president of the 
Uuited States or governor of the State of Illiuois." 

The truism that the brave are merciful, was well illustrated by 
the treatuieut extended by Gen. Gaines and Gov. Reynolds to the 
vanquished and unfortunate Indians, after the conclusion of the 
treaty. The larger part of the invading force had been deluded 
by listening to the bad counsel of Black Hawk and other leaders, 
and as a consequence, their helpless women and children were then 
destitute of food and clothing. Gov. Reynolds in a conversation 
on the subject remarked, "I presume this is the last time the gov- 
ernment will have any trouble with these Indians; the women and 
children are not so much to blame, and a sujjport for them one 
summer will be nothing to the United States. The government 
has possessed their fine country, and I (lannot rest satisfied to 
leave them in a starving condition." Provisions were accordingly 
distributed among them at stated periods, exceeding in amount 
the quantity they would have raised. The volunteers seeing this 
exhibition of charity, ridiculed the adjustment of the Indian dif- 
ficulties by calling it a corn treaty, and saying, "we give them 
bread, when we ought to give them lead." 

The enemy being apparently humbled and quiet restored, the 
army was disbanded and returned home in the best of spirits, not 
a single person, by disease, accident or otherwise, having lost his 
life. 



Chapter XXXIII. 
1832— SECOE^D CAMPAIGN OF THE WAE. 

Black Hawk induced hy White Cloud to recross the Mississippi — 
Refuses to obey the order of Gen. Atkinson to return — State Forces 
re-organized — March to Hock River and unite with the Regulars — 
Army proceeds up the river in pursuit of the enemy — Battle of 
Stillman's Run — Gall for fresh troops — The old forces disbanded. 



Prior to the expiilsiou of the Indians from their village, Kaopope, 
a chief of the British band and second in command to Black 
Hawk, had started on a visit to Maiden to consult his English 
father concerning the right of the Indians to retake possession of 
their lands on Eock river. According to his statement, he was 
advised by the authorities at Maiden that the Americans, without 
a previous purchase, could not take possession of their lands. On 
his return he also visited Wa-bo-kies-shiek or White Cloud, the 
prophet of the Winnebagoes. His home was a village bearing the 
name of Prophetstown, situated on Rock river, 35 miles from its 
mouth. Like the prophet of the Wabash, he had great influence 
with his countrymen. He was a stout, shrewd looking Indian, 
about 40 years of age and claimed that one of his parents was a 
Sac and the other a Winnebago. A full and flowing suit of long- 
hair graced his head, which was surmounted by a white head-dress 
several inches in height, resembling a turban and emblematic of 
his profession. Sagacity and cunning were prominent traits of 
his character and essential to the prophetic pretensions by which 
he imposed on the credulity of his ignorant followers. 

White Cloud informed his visitor that not oidy the British but 
the Ottawas, Chippewas, Potawattomies and Winnebagoes would 
assist his tribe in regaining their village and the lands around it. 
When Naopope in the summer succeeding the treaty, returned to 
his friends he communicated this information to Black Hawk who 
affected to believe it, and immediately commenced recruiting to 
increase the number of his braves. He also sent a messenger to 
Keokuk apprising him of the good news and requesting 
his co-operation. The latter, however, was a chief of too much sa- 
gacity to be misled by these promises of British and Indian as- 
sistance, and wisely admonished Black Hawk that he was deceived 
and should therefore abstain from hostile demonstrations. The 
latter, however, willing to credit any report that even faintly 
promised an opportunity to wreak vengeance on his old adversa- 
ries the Americans, rejected this good counsel and persistently 

381 



382 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

pursued his owu plans. Having resolved to bid detiauce to tlic 
whites, ill the winter of 1831-32 great efforts were made to ol)taiu 
recruits, and the number of his warriors embracing the chivalry 
of the nation, was augmented to 500. His headquarters were at 
the site of old Fort Madison on the west side of the Mississippi, 
whence he moved up the river, his warriors proceeding on horses 
and his women and cliildreu and baggage ascending in canoes. A 
halt was made opposite the site now occupied by Oquawka, where 
they were met by White Cloud the prophet. His mission was to 
further strengthen Black Hawk's determination to recross the 
Mississii>pi, by assuring him that he might depend on the assist- 
ance of other tribes. Naturally i)rone to mischief and enter- 
taining a strong prejudice against the whites, he was at all times 
ready to stir up strife without caring for the evils that might be 
inflicted on those who listened to his advice. In a speech to the 
warriors and braves, he told them that by following his advice they 
had nothing to fear and nuich to gain ; that the American war 
chief would not interfere with them if they refrained from hos- 
tilities, and that strengthened by reinforcements the time would 
come when they Avould be able to pursue a different course. 
Pleased with this advice, on the 0th of Ai)ril, 1832, they proceeded 
to the mouth of Eock river and the whole party crossed the Mis- 
sissippi and commenced ascending the former stream, for the 
avowed object of entering the territory of the Winnebagoes and 
raising a crop with them, when the real object was to secure them 
as allies. After they had proceeded some distance they were 
overtaken by an order from General Atkinson, then in command 
of the regulars at Fort Armstrong, requiring them to recross 
the Mississippi, which they refused to do, alleging that the general 
had no right to make such a demand, as they were peaceably jour- 
neying to the village of their friends for the purpose of raising 
corn. Before the;\ had reached their destination another courier 
was sent in pursuit, who this time informed them unless they re- 
turned force would be used to effec^t their expulsion. The Indians 
replied that they Avould not be driven back, but did not intend to 
make the first attack upon the whites. Black Hawk on arriving 
among the Potawattomies and Winnebagoes, readily obtained i)er- 
mission to cultivate corn with them, but they refused to unite in 
any acts of hostility against the United States, and denied havuig 
given the prophet any assurances of co-operation. 

The refusal of Black Hawk and his warriors to comx)ly Avith the 
demand of General Atkinson, and the imposing character of his 
military operations, created a general panic along tlie whole north- 
ern frontier from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. Most of the 
settlers abandoned their homes and moved into the interior, while 
messengers were at the same time sent to inform Gov. Keynolds 
of the hostile attitude assumed by the Indians. The governor 
understanding the belligerent character of the settlers and In- 
dians, and knowing that the slightest indiscretion committed by 
either party might involve the whole frontier in a bloody war, de- 
termined, on the 16th of April, to call out a large body of volun- 
teers as the best means of averting such a calamity or meeting it 
in case of its actual occuirence. Gen. Atkinson in com- 
mand of the regular forces near the scene of the threatened hos- 
tilities, at the same time made a requisition for troops, stating 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 383 



the frontier was in great danger and that the force nnder his com- 
mand was insufficient for its defence. Danger l)eing imminent the 
22d was nnide the time for meeting, which gave only G days for 
the troops to meet at Beardstown, again selected as the place of 
rendezvous. The governor, with great promptness, sent iuHueu- 
tial messengers to the northwestern counties of the State, iu which 
levies were to be made and addressed the following letter to the 
citizens : " Fellow-citizens : Your country re(piires your service. 
The Indians have assumed a hostile attitude and invaded the 
State, iu violation of the treaty of last summer. The British band 
of Sacs and other hostile Indians are in possession of tiie country 
on Kock river, to the great terror of the frontier inhabitants, and 
I c(»nsider the settlers in iiuminent danger. Under these circum- 
stanices I have not hesitated what course I should pursue. No 
citizen ought to remain inactive when his country is invaded and 
the helpless part of the community is in danger. I have called 
out a strong detachment of militia to rendezvous at Beardstown 
on the 'l'2d hist. Provisions for the men and food for the horses 
will be furnished iu abundance. I hope my countrymen will 
realize my expectations, and offer their services, as heretofore, 
with promptitude and cheerfulness, in defence of their country." 

Daily accounts respecting the operations of the Indiaijs were 
received. Judge Young, Col. Strode and Benjamin Mills wrote 
to the governor urging the speedy protection of the frontiers, as 
the Potawatamies and Winnebagoes had joined Black Hawk, and 
the inhabitants were in great danger. On the receipt of this in- 
telligence 200 men under the command of Major Stillman were 
ordered to guard the frontier near the Mississippi, and 200 
under Major Bailey the frontier between the Mississippi and the 
settlements on the Illinois. Such was the threatening aspect of 
affairs, the call of troops was now extended to every portion of the 
State, for the purpose of raising a reserve force of 5,000 men to be 
ready in case of emergency. Various causes operated to retard 
the progress of the campaign, and this precaution proved highly 
advantageous in the closing stages of the war. As in the prece- 
ding year, many of the most conspicuous men of the State volun- 
teered, their prominence in public life giving them eligibility for 
positions in the organization of the forces. 

Eighteen hundred men met at the place of rendezvous, and were 
divided into four regiments, an odd and a spy battalion. An elec- 
tion being held for field officers, Col. DeWitt was chosen com- 
mander of the first regiment; Col. Fry of the 2d ; Col. Thomas of 
the 3d, Col. Thompson of the 4th, and Major James of the odd bat- 
talion. The governor, who participated in the campaign, placed 
Gen. VVhitesides in command of the brigade, .and Col. James D. 
Henry in command of the spy battalion. He also appointed 
Colonels Enoch C. March and Samuel C. Christy to procure 
supplies 5 as brigade quartermaster, William Thomas; as staff 
otticers, James B. Stapp and Joseph M. Chadwick ; as pay- 
master, James Turney : as adjutant general, Vital Jarrot, and 
as ordnance officer, Cjrus Edwards. Oji the 27th of xipril 
the army started from their encampment, a few miles north 
of Eushville, for Oquawka on the Mississippi river, with only 
a few days' rations, while Col. March Avas dispatched to St. Louis 
for additional supplies which were to be sent up the river to the 



384 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



same place. After the arrangement had been made, a letter came 
by express from Gen. Atkinson, informing the governor that 
the hostile Indians had gone up Eock river, but the intelligence 
came too late. Had it been received one day earlier the pro^ is- 
ions might have been ordered to Peoria in greater proximity to 
the enemy, and had the army marclied to the same point it might 
have ended the coutest without giving the Indians an opportunity 
to escape. Eains liad recently prevailed and the progress 
of the troops was retarded hy the muddy prairies and swollen 
streams. On arriving at Oquawka they hoped to find Colonel 
March and the sujDplies from St. Louis, but they had not made 
tbeir appearance. The evening of the same day (Jai)tain Warren 
and two companies from Shelby county also arrived and were 
greeted with loud cheers for the energy which they exhibited in 
swimming streams and overcoming other formidable obstacles en- 
countered in their route. Great anxiety was now felt for the 
safety of the supplies. A considerable advance had been made 
into the wilderness and any accident which i^revented or prolonged 
the coming of the boat might necessitate the disbanding of the 
arm}'. On the 5th dsij the provisions were exhausted, and mur- 
muring being heard among the men, the Governor engaged three 
trusty persons to deliver a message to Gen. Atkinson informing 
him of the destitute condition of the army, and requesting relief. 
Although Rock Island was 50 miles distant, and it was necessary 
to swim several streams in traversing the intervening country, the 
journey was successfully accomi^lished and a boat load of jjrovis- 
ions arrived the next day. The succeeding morning the steam- 
boat William Wallace from St. Louis, also came in and the army, 
Avhich a short time before was in a suffering condition, had now a 
two-fold supply. 

lunuediately on the receipt of provisions rations were issued to 
the men and liaggage wagons were loaded preparatory to moving 
to Dixon, where, according to the latest intelligence, the enemy 
was posted. Spies had previously been sent to obtain informa- 
tion of the Indians, but instead of returning with proper dispatch 
they loitered with the oflicers of Fort Armstrong and finally re- 
turned on theboat which brought the supplies. When the army was 
ready to march, a letter was brought from Gen. Atkinson informing 
the governor that Black Hawk and his band had descended Eock 
river, and requesting him to march immediately with the troops to 
Fort Armstrong. Disappointment was felt at the reception of 
this news, and perhaps the request would have been disregarded, 
but according to the statement, the Indians had descended the 
river, and it was folly to move uj) it to find them. Instead, how- 
ever, of going to the fort, the force was marched to the mouth of 
Rock river Avhere they were received into the service of the United 
States, and General Atkinson assumed command. It was ]iow as- 
certained that the information in regard to the Indians was incor- 
rect and the commanding general steamed up the river with an 
armament of cannon and 400 regulars accompanied by the brig- 
ade, which rode through the swamps in the vicinit}' of the stream. 

As the expedition advanced, dogs immolated to appease the 
Great Spirit were frequently found at the various Indian encami)- 
ments. This relic of barbarism and superstition common among 
the oriental nations of antiquity, was employed by these Indians 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 385 



Avlieii tlie nation was threatened with great calamity. The body 
of the animal, in these instances having the vitals removed, was 
fastened to a tree over a small lire with its head in the direction 
the Indians were traveling. Instead of rendering any assistance 
it only served to point out their trail to the pursuing foe. 

On the lOtli of May some spies sent in advance captured near 
Prophetstown, an Indian, from whom information was obtained 
that Black Hawk and his warriors were on Rock river above the 
town of Dixon. In accordance with this information the volun- 
teers moved u[) to the town, where it was ascertained from scouts 
who had scoured the country, that the Indians had dispersed, and 
it was determined to abandon the pursuit and await the arrival 
of Gen. Atkinson with the steamboat and provisions. It was con- 
jectured that Black Hawk and his band contemplated residing on 
the lands of the Potawatamies, and as a means of preventing the 
consummation of such a design, an embassy of five persons was 
sent to confer with the chiefs of that nation upon the subject. In 
consequence of cloudy weather the party became bewildered, and 
losing their way fell in- with some of Black Hawk's band, who very 
adroitly endeavored to decoy them into the i^ower of the principal 
Indian force. After much skillful maneuvering on horseback the 
.savages retired and the Americans returned to Dixon greatly ex- 
hausted, having been without food or rest for two days. 

Miijors Stillman and Bailey, who had previously been ordered to 
protect the frontier were at Dixon when the army arrived at that 
place, and having done but little service, they besought the 
privilege of reconnoi.teriug the country, and reporting the situation 
of the enemy. It was rumored that a small party of Black Hawk's 
force was encamped at the head of Old Man's creek, 12 miles 
above Dixon, and in accordance with their request the governor 
issued the following order : " Major Stillman : You will cause the 
troops under your immediate command, and the battalion under 
Major Bailey, to proceed without delay to the head of Old Man's 
creek, where it is supposed there are some hostile Indians, and 
coerce them into submission," 

On the following morning, the Major with 275 men started on 
his mission, hoping to give a good account of himself when he 
returned. The expedition, after reaching Old Man's creek, 
although unauthorized to pass beyond it, continued their march 
15 miles higher up the stream to Sycamore creek, where they dis- 
mounted for the purpose of spending the night. 

Here they were within a few miles of the main lodgment of Black 
Hawk and a part of his braves, and while engaged in camp duties 
3 unarmed Indians bearing a white flag made their appearance. 
The Indians giving themselves up, were taken into custody. 
Shortly 5 other Indians Avere descried on horseback upon rising 
ground about a mile distant. A party of Major Stillman's men 
immediately started in pursuit, and others followed as fast as they 
could mount; in a short time three-fourths of the whole detach- 
ment were scattered pell mell over the intervening prairie. In this 
irregular running fight, the troops at the cami> knowing that blood 
had been shed, killed 1 of the 3 Indians who had been sent ?s 
envoys under the white flag, but the other 2 in the confusion escap- 
ed. The Americans having the fastest horses, overtook and 
killed 2 of the other party, and pursued the survivors to the edge 



386 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of the forest. At this juncture, Black Hawk and about 40 braves 
rose up from tbeir ambush, and with a territic yell, rushed on the 
assailants. Those who had just exhibited so much bravery in 
pursuit of the fleeing foe, now retreated with a coiresponding 
swiftness. The frightful din attending the fugitives, who reached 
camp about dark, caused the remainder of the force to think that 
Black Hawk and his whole band were about to burst upon them 
like an avalanche. A panic ensued, and some with only a saddle 
or bridle, and others without either, mounted their horses and 
joined their comrades in the inglorious flight, leaving their wagons, 
ammunition and other property to the victors. Major Stillman 
ordered his men to retreat over the creek and rally on more 
elevated ground, but such was the consternation that no elevated 
ground was found till they reached the forces at Dixon. 

The principal resistance offered to the pursuing Indians, was at 
Old Man's creek, a small stream rising in Ogle county and falling 
into Kock river at the town of Bloomingville. It has since been 
called Stillman's Run, in commemoration of the battle, a result 
incident to the delay caused in crossing its muddy banks. After 
passing the stream. Major Perkins, Captain Adams and about 15 
other daring men made a stand, and by their heroic conduct 
partially checked the career of the Indians and saved the lives oi 
others, who must otherwise have fallen victims of savage ven- 
geance. Captain Adams, however, in saviugthe lives of his friends^ 
sacrificed his own, his body being found the next day, near the 
two Indians whom in a personal encounter he had slain. None of 
the parties lived to tell the story of the terrific struggle, but from 
the evidence left behind it must have been of the most determined 
character. Their guns weie broken into fragments, and the 
ghastly wounds inflicted by rifle balls, spears, butcher knives and 
tomahawks were frightful proofs of the eflbrts that had been made. 
The Americans greatly lamented the death of Captain Adams, 
and even the Indians, as a mark of respect for his bravery, neither 
scalped nor otherwise mutilated his body. Near by was dismounted 
Major Hackleton, who had a severe encounter with an Indian, in 
which he killed his tawny antagonist, and afterward made his es- 
cape to the camp at Dixon. Some others, in the confused and 
precipitate flight, occasionally fired on the pursuing savages, and 
as the result of the conflict, about 11 whites and 7 Indians lost their 
lives. The fugitives commenced arriving at Dixon about 12 o'clock 
at night, and from that time till morning they continued to come 
in small squads of 4 to 5 each, telling the most tragic stories of 
the disaster. Every one seemed to be impressed with the idea that 
his own party was all that escaped, and while telling the death of 
a comrade he would arrive and contradict the account. 

During the night of the battle, which fully inaugurated the war. 
Gov. Keynolds made out a requisition for 2000 men to be in readi- 
ness for future operations, and orders were also x^repared requir- 
ing Col. March to forward supplies for the men, and Major Adams 
to procure provisions for the horses. Letters were also written to 
Gens. Atkinson and Dodge, apprising the former, who had not 
yet arrived, that the army was without provisions, and the latter, 
that Stillman was defeated, and the frontiers of Wisconsin were 
in danger. When the news of the defeat reached the camp, the 
officers were sunnnoned to meet at the tent of Gen. Whitesides, 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 387 



and it was determined to march the next morning to the fatal 
field of the evening's disaster. Quartermaster Thomas anticii^a- 
ting the result of the council, obtained from John Dixon, then the 
only inhabitant in that part of the country, 8 or 10 oxen, as a 
temporary supply for the expedition. The animals were slaught- 
ered and distributed among the men, who partaking of their flesh 
without bread or salt, started for the battle field. Arriving 
thither, the bodies of their fallen comrades were found frightfully 
mutilated, presenting a scene appalling to troops who had never 
before witnessed such a spectacle. Soine were beheaded, some 
had their hands and feet cut off, while their hearts and other 
internal organs were torn out and scattered over the prairie. The 
mangled fragments were gathered together, and buried in a com- 
mon grave, over which a rude slab hewn from the trunk of a tree, 
was erected to mark the place. The trooi)s encamped on the 
ground, and heavy guns being heard during the night, they were 
supi)osed to be signals for collecting the scattered warriors of 
Black Hawk. The men rested in their saddles, expecting every 
moment an attack, but the morning dawned without the enemy 
being seen. Major Henry and his battalion were then ordered to 
scour the surrounding country', but no traces of the foe being 
detected the whole detachment fell back to Dixon. 

Perhaps no better material for an army could be found than 
Major Stillman and his men, and their defeat was not the lack of 
bravery, but the want of experience and discipline. No body of 
men under similar circumstances, would have acted more 
efficiently, yet for years afterward they were made the subjects of 
thoughtless merriment and ridicule, as undeserving as their expe- 
dition was disastrous.* Stillnian's defeat spread consternation 
throughout the State and nation. The number of Indian war- 
riors was greatly exaggerated, and the name of Black Hawk 

Note. — "It is said that a big-, tall Kentuckian, with a very loud voice, who was 
colonel of the militia, but private under Stillman, upon his arrival in camp g-avo to 
Gen. Whitesides and the wondering multitude the following glowing- and bombastic ac- 
countot the battle: 'Sirs ' said he, 'ourdetachment wasencampedamongsomescattering- 
timheron the north side of Old Man's creek, with the prairie on the north gently sloping 
down to our encampinent. It was just after twilight, in the gloaming of the evening, 
when we discovered Black Hawk's army coming down upon vis in solid column; they 
deployed in the form of a crescent upon the brow of the prairie, and such accuracy and 
precision of movements were never witnessed by man ; they were equal to the best 
troops of Wellington, in Spuin. I have said that the Indians came down in solid column, 
and deployed in the form of a crescent ; and what was most wonderful, there were 
large squares of cavalry resting upon the points of the curve, which squares were sup- 
ported again by other columns 15 deep, extending back through the woods and over a 
swamp three-quarters of a mile, which again rested upon the main body of Black Hawk's 
army bivouacKeil upon the banks of the Kiswakee. It was a terrible and glorious 
sighr, to see the tawny warriors as they rode along our flanks attempting to outflank us, 
with the glittering moonbeams glistening from their polished blades and burnished 
spears. It was a sight well calculated to strike consternation into the stoutest heart, 
anil accordingly our men soon began to break in small squads, for tall timber. In a verj- 
little time the rout became general; the Indians were upon our flanks and threatened 
the destruction of the entire detachment. About this time Major Stillman, Colonel 
btephenson. Major Perkins, Capt, Adams, Mr. Hackleton, and myself with some others, 
threw ourselves into the rear to rally the fugitives and protect the retreat. But in a 
short time all my companions fell, bravely fighting hand to hand with the savage 
enemy, and [ alone was left up m the field of battle. About this time I discovered 
not far to the left a corps of horsemen which seemed to be in tolerable order I im- 
mediately deployed to the left, when leaningdown and placing my body in a recumbent 
posture upon the mane of mj- horse, so as to bring the heads of the horsemen between 
my eye and the horizon, I discovered bj' the light of the moon that they were gentle- 
men who did not wear hats, by which token I knew they were no frinds of mine. I 
tiierefore made a retrograde movement and recovered my former position, where I re- 
mained some time meditating what further I could do in the service of my country, 
when a random ball came whistling by my ear and plainly whispered to me, 'Stranger, 
you have no further business here.' Upon hearing this. I followed the example of my 
companions inarms, and broke for tall timber, and the way 1 ran was not a little."* 

♦Ford's History. 



388 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



carried with it associations of great military talent, savage 
cnnning and cruelty. Gen. Scott, with 1000 United States troops, 
was sent to the northwest to superintend the future operations of 
the campaign. 

The new levies under the proclamation of Gov. Rejniolds, were 
to meet, some on the 3d of June, again at Beardstown, and others 
on the 10th of the same month at Hennepin, and efficient messen- 
gers were sent to convey intelligence of the requisition to dift'erent 
parts of the State. The greatest dispatch was required to enable 
forces in the most distant counties to assemble and march more 
than a hundred miles to the places of rendezvous in so short a 
period of time. The previous organization of the volunteers, 
however, greatly facilitated the labor of bringing the present call 
into the held. 

The men in the service now asked to be discharged, urging that 
they had enlisted at a moment's warning, for the protection of the 
frontier, without providing clothes for themselves or food 
for their families at home, and both must suffer if the cam- 
paign was protracted. The term of enlistment being undefined, 
they had a right to return home, but the governor appealing to 
their patriotism, they agreed to remain 12 or 15 days longer. In 
the meantime, Gen. Atkinson arrived at Dixon with provisions, 
encamped on the northwest side of the river, and threw up 
embankments for the protection of his stores. The companies of 
Capts. Bailey and Stillman were organized asabrigade under the 
command of Col. Johnson, and received into the service of the 
United States, and one part ordered to Ottawa for the defence of 
that i)lace, while the other remained at Dixon to guard the stores. 
On the 19th of May, the whole army consisting of volunteers 
and regulars, under the command of Gen. Atkinson, marched up 
the river in pursuit of the enemy. Toward evening news was 
received that several white families had been murdered bj^ the 
savages, on Indian creek, not far from Ottawa. The story of the 
massacre is but a repetition of the bloody tragedies which always 
characterize savage warfare. About 70 warriors made a descent 
on the settlement, and in broad daylight stealthilj' entered a 
house in which 3 families had assembled, and murdered 15 of the 
inmates.* 

On the receipt of the news. Gen. Atkinson ordered Gen. White- 
sides and Col. Taylor, afterwards president of the United States, 
to continue the i)ursuit of the Indians with the volunteers, while 
he with the regulars fell back to Dixon. After several days 
march, the trail of Black Hawk led the army to a village of the 
Potawatamies on Sycamore creek, where were discovered several 
relics of the tragedy on Indian creek, and the battle of Stillman's 
Ban. The inhabitants had fled, and the trail separating, led in 
different directions, a precaution doubtless taken to elude the pur- 
suing force. It was the supposition that Black Hawk had visited 
the town to secure the co-operation of the Potawatamies, who were, 
perhaps deterred from rendering assistance by the overwhelming 

♦The fiends who perpetrated the butchery afterward related, with infernal g-lee, that 
the women squawked lilie geese, as they were pierced with spears.or felt the keen edge 
of the tomahawk entering- their heads The bodies of the victims were scalped and 
otherwise mutilateii, the children were chopped to pieces with axes, and the women 
suspended by their feet to the walls of the houses, their clothes falling over their 
heads, leavingtheir persons exposed to the public gaze. 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 389 



nninbor of the whites. While the army lay at the village, a re- 
connoi't'iiiig party was sent out to search for lost hordes, and 
returning in the night, they discovered a large Indian foree steal- 
ing away in the dark, evidently to avoid the whites, and to join 
their comrades, a large bod^' of whom it was inferred was in the 
vicinity. The trail of the Indians led north, while the homeward 
route of the volunteers now about to return led south, and it there- 
fore became necessary to determine whether to continue the i)ur- 
suit or return home. Col. Taylor and Major Harney, of the 
regular army, and Grov. Reynolds, urged them to remain in the 
service till the Indians could be overtaken and chastised. The 
volunteers, however, expressed great reluctance to a continuance 
of the ijursuit. The private soldiers also were not only displeas- 
ed with the commanding general, but they had left their business 
in such conditiou as to require their presence at home. Gen. 
Whiteside, upon Avliom the principal command devolved in the 
absence of Gen Atkinson, although opposed to following the 
enemy, agreed to be governed by a nuijority of the officers, and the 
question being submitted to a vote, one-half were for pursuing 
the Indians and the other half for returning home. Gov. Rey- 
nolds seeing the demoralizing condition, caused them to be march- 
ed to Ottawa, and on the 27th and 28th of May they were 
discharged and the cami)aign thus ended without effecting any 
important results. 



Chapter XXXIV. 

1832— THIED CAMPAIGN OF THE WAE. 

Requisition for Additional Troops — Attack on Apple Creelc Fort — 
Captain Stephens'' Encounter with the Indians — Organization of 
the New Levies — Battle of Kellog's Grove — Battle of the Wis- 
consin. 



Gen. Atkinson called upon the governor at the time these troops 
were mustered out, and at his suggestion a call was made for 1000 
additional men to co-operate with the previous requisition and 1000 
more to guard the frontiers. The danger of exposed settlements 
being very imminent, an appeal was made to the disbanded troops, 
and a regiment raised to serve till the new levies conld be made 
available. After the election of Jacob Fry as colonel and James 
D. Henry as lieutenant colonel, the different companies of which 
it was comi)osed were immediately dispatched to the most exposed 
localities. The regiment, after bravely guarding the imperiled 
frontier, was finally mustered out of service at Dixon, on the 19th 
of June, by Col. Taylor. One of the companies under Captain 
Snyder, had some severe skmnishing with a body of some seventy 
Indians in the vicinity of Kellog's grove, in which 4 of the savages 
and 2 or 3 of his own men were killed. The new levies arrived, 
but before they could be organized or brought into the field, the 
Indians committed a number of murders in different parts of the 
country. 

On the 6th of June Black Hawk and about 150 warriors made 
an attack on Apjile Eiver Fort, situated a quarter of a mile north 
of the present village of Elizabeth and withhi 12 miles of Galena. 
The fort was a stockade having strong block houses at the corners, 
and had been erected for the benefit of a small village of miners, 
who resided in their homes during the day and retired to the fort 
for protection at night. Three messengers chanced to be on their 
way from Galena to Dixon, and when within half a mile of the 
village, were fired uj)on by ludians lurking in ambush. One of them 
was wounded, but by the assistance of his two companions he 
reached the fort without further iujury. The inhabitants, as usual 
during the day, were scattered abroad attending to business,, when 
the report of guns apprised them of danger and they fled to the fort 
in advance of the enemy. The Indians came within firing distance, 
when the battle commenced and was continued with great fury 
for 15 hours, during which several attempts were made to burn 
and storm the fortifications. The assailants took possession of the 
dwellings in the village, and while some knocked holes in the 

390 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 391 

"walls tlirougli which in safety they fired upou the fort, others de- 
stroyed provisions, broke crockery, and witli devilish glee ripped 
•oi)eu beds and bestrewed the houses and yards with feathers. 
There were only 25 men in the fort, but they fought with the im- 
petuosity of desperation, deeming it better if they could not 
repulse their adversaiies to die in defence of their families, than 
suffer capitulation and butchery afterward. The mothers and 
children partook of the same inspiration, and by moulding bullets 
and charging guns greatly assisted in warding off the assaults of 
the enemy. The Indians at length, finding they could not prevail 
against the garrison, raised the siege and departed, taking with 
them horses, cattle, flour and other provisions. The Americans 
:sustained a loss of one nmn, that of the India-ns could never be 
ascertained as their killed and wounded were carried away in the 
retreat. A messenger in the meantime had hurried to Galena for 
assistance, and Col. Strode of the militia marched to' afford them 
assistance, but the enemy had left before he arrived. 

On the 24th of June two men were killed near Fort Hamilton, 
situated among the lead mines 4 or 5 miles east of Galena. Gen. 
Dodge, of Wisconsin, who by chance visited the fort shortly after 
the tragedy was committed, immediately followed the trail of the 
ravages to the Pecatonica, where they took refuge under a high 
bank of the river. The brave commander and his equally brave 
men immediately rushed on the sheltered foe and killed the entire 
number, having three of their own men mortally wounded in the 
assault. This action although small, exhibited the greatest daring 
on tlie part of those engaged in it. 

About the same time Oapt. Steiihenson of Galena, and a portion 
■of his company fell in with a party of Indians between Apple 
Eiver Fort and Kellog's Grove, and pursued them till they took 
refuge in a small grove in the midst of the prairie. The Ameri- 
<3ans commenced a random fire into the timber but after the loss 
•of a few men retired. ISTotwithstanding this loss neither ofticers 
nor men were yet willing to abandon the contest, and the party in 
a short time returned and charged into the grove, receiving the 
galling fire of the savages, who were so effectually protected by 
the trees it was impossible to dislodge them. The charge was 
renewed a second and a third time, and not until 3 additional men 
w^ere killed and the captain supposed to be mortally wounded did 
the fighting cease. The Indians had greatly the advantage, and 
the rashness of making an attack under the circumstances is 
perhaps as much an object of censure as the heroic deeds per- 
formed are feats of adujiration. 

As previously arranged in the call for troops, the new levies met 
at Beardstown and Hennepin, but were afterward ordered to Fort 
Wilburn where a x>«?iii'anent organization was effected.* A pro- 
miscuous multitude of several thousand persons had assembled at 
this ])lace, and the greatest patience and judgment was required 
to form them into an army. As many of the most prominent men 
in the State were present and vt^anted positions, there was great 
danger in the bestowal of offices that dissatisfaction might 
arise and thus seriously impair the efficiency of the army. It was 

'This w:is a smaii fortification on tlie south bank of the Illinois, about a mile above 
Peru, and had been erected by Lieut. Wilburn, for the protection of the supplies 
■entrusted to his care by Col. Mai-ch. 



392 HISTOllY OF ILLINOIS. 

bowever agreed in a consultation between the governor and 
captains of the various companies who had already been (ihosen^ 
that the x>rincipal officers should be elected by the troops over 
whom thej' were to act. Three brigades were organized, and on 
the 16th of June Alexander Posey was elected general of the 
first, Milton K. Alexander general of the second, and on the 18thy 
James D. Henry general of the third. Gen. Atkinson received 
them into the service of the United States and acted as com- 
mander-in-chief of the force thus organized, wliich amounted to 
3192 men. The governor appointed on his staff Benjamin F^ 
Hickman and Alex, F. Grant as aids, James Turney as adjutant 
general, E. 0. March as quartermaster general. Besides the main 
army 4 battalions were organized for special purposes, and com- 
manded severally by jMujors Bogart and Baily, and Colonels Buck- 
master and Dement. 

In view of the disasters which threatened the northern frontier 
of the State, the governor ordered a chain of forts to be erected 
and garrisoned from the Mississipi)i to Chicago. Indian war 
parties lurked in every defile, beset every solitary road, hovered 
about every settlement, and woe to the traveler or unprotected 
party of wlute men who attemi)ted to pass through the country. 
Despite their vigilance their supremacy in the field was soon to 
end; beaten, humbled and bleeding tney were to be driven before 
the conquerors, and their hunting grounds were to know them no 
more. 

On the 17th of June, Col. Dement and his force were ordered to 
report themselves to Col. Taylor at Dixon, Avhile the nuiin army 
was to follow. Here Col. Dement was ordered to take a position 
in Kellog's Grove, where on the 25th of June he was visited by Mr. 
Funk of McLean county, Avho came during the night from the lead 
mines and informed him that the trail of about 300 Indians lead- 
ing southward, had been seen the j^revious day, and that thero 
was perhaps a large body of them in the neighborhood. A coun- 
cil of war was held the same night, which decided that Col. 
Dement and 50 picked men should reconnoitre the surrounding- 
country the next day, while the reuminder were to remain in the 
fort near the grove prepared for any emergency that might hap- 
pen. This rude block house was an oblong building constructed 
of logs, contained 3 rooms, and was furnished with doors of strong- 
material. At daylight on the following morning the party sallied 
forth, but the more advanced portion of it had not proceeded 
more than 300 yards, when several Indian spies were discovered 
on the adjacent prairies. Col. Dement and Lieut. Gov. Zadock 
Casey were mounting their horses preparatory to leaving the 
fort, when a messenger returned to make knoAvn the discovery. 
The news Avas soon communicated to the whole battalion ; a 
frenzy to fight the redskins took possession of the men, and 
contrary to orders they mounted their horses and started after 
them. At their approach the Indians fled, but Col. Dement sus- 
pecting that their intent was to decoy the whites into an ambus- 
cade, galloped after them to induce them to return and thus 
prevent the occurrence of such a catastrophe. The excited volun- 
teers, however, mistook his intentions, supposing he also was pursu- 
ing the Indians to kill them, and the chase was continued till tliey 
came near a bushy ravine in which Black Hawk and his men were 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 393 



coucealed. The object couteiu])! sited by tlie hidden foe w;i.s now 
coijsunniuited, and no generalship of civilized warfare coidd have 
been better planned or more successfnlly executed than this strategy 
of the bookless men of the forest. Suddenly a war-whoop proceed- 
ing from the throats of 300 naked savages, who had i)revi()usl3' 
prepared for battle by divesting themselves of their clothes, star- 
tled the Americans. Determined to profit by the surprise and the 
ailvantage of numerical strength, they ruslied with the fury of 
demons upon their adversaries. Col. Dement and several other 
officers made several atteuipts to rally their panic-stricken men, 
but the danger of being out-tianked by superior numbers rendered 
their efforts futile. All subordination ceased, aiid each fugitive, 
prompted by the instinct of self preservation, shaped his course 
toward the fort with a speed equal to that with which a short time 
before he had left it. In the hurried and confused retreat which 
followed, o Americans who were without horses were killed, while 
the remainder reached the fort and dismounting entered it, closely 
l^ursued by the enemy. The fort was vigorously attacked for near- 
ly an hour, but the force within returned the fire of the assailants 
with such rapidity and precision that they retired, leaving nine of 
their comrades dead on the field, and carrying others away with 
them. No one in the fort was killed but several were wounded 
by bullets which occasionally entered through crevices in the 
walls. Three balls passed through the apparel of Col. Dement, 
all of them touching- his person, but none causing a wound. 
About 50 horses were killed, and suddenly swelling afterward it 
was supposed they had been pierced with j^oisoned arrows. 

With the retreat of the Indians, sentinels were sent out to watch 
their movements, and work was commenced on the fort to get it 
in readiness for a night attack. The heavy timber of which it 
was built would withstand the eft'ect of bullets better than that 
of fire, and lest an attempt should be made to burn it, barrels of 
water were provided, and a large number of wet blankets were 
hung on the walls. 

At 8 o'clock in the morning, when the battle had partially sub- 
sided, Col. Dement sent five messengers to Dixon, a distance of 50 
miles, for assistance, and toward sundown Gen. Posey and his 
brigade made their ai)pearance. Shortly after his arrival some 
Indian spies were seen to emerge from the adjacent thicket, where 
they had been watching to see if any additional troops came to 
the relief of the fort. Retiring to the main body of the enemy, a 
consultation was held, and doubtless further attempts upon the 
fort were abandoned, in consequence of the timely arrival of Gen. 
Posey. 

Early the next morning an excavation was made with knives 
and tomahawks near the grove, and in this lonely grave were 
buried the mutilated remains of the five Americans killed the 
preceding day. When the melancholy task was ended Gen. Posey 
started after the Indians, but soon discovering by the trail that 
they had scattered, the pursuit was discontinued. Thus termin- 
ated this expedition. Nature had endowed in the highest degree 
with soldiery qualities those engaged in it, and the onl}- reason 
their efforts were not more successful was the want of discipline, 
a desideratum which the immediate demand for their services 
had not permitted them to acquire. 



394 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

After the battle of Kellog's Grove, the forces of Geu. Posey and 
Col. Dement returned to Dixon, where the regulars and most of 
the volunteers were concentrated under the command of Gen. 
Atkinson. To prevent the escape of the Indians if they attempt- 
ed to recross the Mississippi, Gen. Alexander was ordered to the 
country south of Galena, and Gen. Posey to Fort Hamilton on the 
Pecatonica. While the army was at Dixon, 3 Potawatamie chiefs, 
Wapello, Billy Caldwell and Wanbansee, came to Gen. Atkinson, 
asking some protection against Black Hawk. The ire of the old 
Sac warrior was aroused because the tribes of these chiefs pro- 
posed an alliance with the Americans, who deemed it better to 
secure their co-operation than have them fight on the opposite side. 
Col. Fry and bis regiment were accordingly sent in advanca of 
the main army to Sycamore creek to afford protection, and to re- 
ceive into the service 100 Potawatamie warriors, who had signi- 
fied their willingness to unite with the whites. Much was expected 
from this accession to the army, but they soon retai-ned home, 
and little was realized, although commanded by Waubansee, a 
veteran chief of the tribe. Gen. Atkinson having heard that 
Black Hawk had fortiiied a position on the four lakes in southern 
Wisconsin, started thither for the purpose of bringing on a 
general engagement and thus terminating the war. Passing Syc- 
amore creek he was joined by the Winnebago warriors, and on 
the 30th of June, encamped near Turtle village, a considerable 
town of the Winnebagoes, then deserted by its inhabitants. The 
night following was one of continual alarms, the whole command 
was frequently paraded in order of battle, but no enemy was seen 
except a few prowling Indians. The next morning the march 
M'as resumed, and on the 4th of July the army reached Lake 
Kush-ka-nong,an expansion of Eock river, where they formed a 
junction with the forces of (Jol. Fry and Gen. Alexander. These 
haxing scoured the whole of the adjacent country and not finding 
the enemy, the march of the mounted men was continued up the 
east side of the Eock river to Burnt village, another town of the 
Winnebagoes situated on Whitewater, a tributarj^ of the first 
mentioned stream. Here they were joined by Gen. Posey and a 
battalion of 100 men under Major Dodge of Wisconsin. The 
evening of their arrival at that place, a company of scouts came 
in and reported the main trail of the Indians 3 miles higher up 
the stream. Preparations were immediately made to follow it, 
and at an early hour next day a detachment proceeded up the 
river a distance of 15 miles, but no trace of the enemy being de- 
tected the detachment fell back to Burnt vilhige.* 

Eight weeks had now been spent in marching and counter- 
marching to find the enemy, and the attainment of the object did 
not seem any nearer at hand than when the campaign was com- 

[NoTE — * "In this expedition the force came upon the trembling lands, which are 
immense flats of turf from 6 to 13 inches thick, extending for miles in every direc- 
tion and resting on beds of water and quicksand. A troop or even a sing-le horseman 
riding- over them produced an undulating- motion of the land from which it gets its 
name. Althoug-h the surface is quite dry yet there is no difficulty in procuring plenty 
of water by cutting an opening through the stratum of turf. The horses would 
sometimes force a foot through or fall to the shoulders, yet so great was the tenacity 
of the surface in no instance was there any trouble in getting then: out. In some 
plRces the weight of the earth forced a stream of water upward, which carrying with 
it and depositing large quantities of sand formed mounds. The mounds as they en- 
larged increased the pressure on the water below, presenting the novel sight of a foun- 
tain on the prairie, throwing its stream down the sides of the hillock then to be ab- 
sorbed by the sand and returned to the waters beneath."']— Ford's Hist. 111. 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 395 



meiiced. The progress of the army was necessarily slow, the 
country was comparatively an unexplored wilderness of 
prairie and forest, none of the command had been through 
it, and it was therefore impossible to obtain reliable guides. 
A number of Wiuuebagoes followed who from necessity 
were frequently consulted, but their fidelity was of a doubtful 
character, and the infornuition they communicated generally de- 
lusive. The result was short marches, fi-equent delays, fruitless 
explorations, giving the enemy every opportunity to ascertain the 
intentions and movements of the pursuing force and tlius elude it. 
The efforts of the commanding general were further retarded by 
the distance from the base of supj)lies, and the great difficulty of 
transportation, in consequence of which the troops were frequently 
witliout provisions and rarely had sufficient for protracted oper- 
ations. Owing to this difficulty, it now became necessary to dis- 
perse the army to obtain food. Accordingly Major Dodge and 
G-enerals Henry and Alexander were sent to Fort Winnebago, 
situate on the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, for 
this purpose, while Gen. Posey marched to Fort Hamilton for the 
protection of the adjacent frontier, the governor returned to his 
home at Belleville and Gen. Atkinson fell back to lake Kush-ka- 
nong. Here he erected a fort, which was called after the name of 
the lake, in which he expected to remain till the volunteer generals 
returned with supplies. 

Fort Winnebago, a distance of 80 miles from the encamj)ment 
on the Stillwater, was reached in three days, but the march thither 
over the intervening* swampy country so crippled some of the 
horses as to render them useless in the succeeding part of the 
campaign. Another calamity also befell the horses short!}' after- 
ward, which was worse than an ordinary battle. About 1,000 
were peaceably grazing on the prairie when a stampede occurred, 
caused, as was supposed, by Indians attempting to steal some of 
them. The soldiers at the time were sound asleep in their tents, 
which were closely pitched together and the frightened animals 
in their mad flight rushed directly over the encamx^ment, knock- 
ing the tents down on the faces of the men and trampling their 
weapons and camp equipage into the ground. Then coursing- 
northward with great rapidity, the sound of their feet produced 
an appalling noise resembling the roll of distant thunder. The 



[* '' A view of the country from camp at Fort Winnebag-o presented the most strik- 
ing contrariety of features. Loolsing toward the fort, which was a neat structure 
among' the green hills, two streams are seen, the Fox and Wisconsin, with sources sev- 
eral hundred miles apart, the former in the'east and the latter in the north, gliding as 
if to mingle their waters, until within three miles of each other, when they sweep the 
one to the northeast, and the other to the southwest, as if they had met to bid each 
other a gallant adieu before parting, the Fox to mingle its sweet and limped waters in 
the Gulf of St Lawrence, and the Wisconsin to contribute its stained and bitter floods 
to the Gulf of Mexico. The course of the Fox is short, crooked, narrow and deep, and 
aboundsin the finest variety of fish, whilst the Wisconsin is large, wide and compara- 
tively straight, and is said to have no fish, owing perhaps to its passage through cy- 
press swamps which renders it imwholesome for the finny tribes, and also causes the 
discoloration of its waters. Besides the rivers the face of the country is no less re- 
markable. The strip of land between the two rivers is low and marshj', with no other 
growth except a coarse variety of rush, and at high waters so completely inundated 
as to convert all that part of the United States east of the Mississippi into a vast island. 
A wisp of straw beingthrown into the flood where the twociirrents meet will separate 
and one portion float into the northern and the other i!)to the southern sea. East of 
the Fox river the land is generall.v undulating, presenting an equal distribution of 
prairie of the richest mould and timlier of the finest growth. West of the Wisconsin 
commences those frownint; steppes of rugged barren rocks covered with black and brist- 
ling pine and hemlock which toward the Mississippi terminate in a region mountain- 
ous, dreary, terrific and truly Alpine in all its features." — Ford's History.] 



396 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



l)icket guards and sentinels fled to the camp, supposing- an attack 
liad been made by the Indians, the bugles sounded to arms, but 
many of the sohliers were temi)orarily injured and in the confusion 
which prexailed couhl not find their brolcen and scattered 
weapons. The Wisconsin river changed the direction of the stam- 
pede but did not stop its fury, for the frightened animals turned 
about and again ran into the midst of the camp,andthe soldiers now 
aware of the situation, endeavored to arrest their headlong coui-se 
but without success. It was sui)posed that most of them ran a 
distance of 30 miles before the alarm subsided. Some were fol- 
lowed a distance of 50 miles before they were found, and about 
100 were permanently disabled in the surrounding swamps. 

Two days were spent at the fort in regaining the horses, recruit- 
ing the men and procuring necessary supplies, during which some 
Winnebago chiefs said that Black Uawk and his force were 
encamped on Eock river, 35 miles above lake Kush-ka-nong, the 
headquarters of Gen. Atkinson. It was now evident that if the 
army attempted to return to Gen. Atkinson the Indians would 
perhaps escape to the west of the JMississippi, and the only oppor- 
tunity of closing the war with i)rotit to the country and honor to 
the service would be lost. A council of war was convened an<l it 
was the unanimous opinion of all the officers present that the 
exigency of the case demanded that they should disregard the 
orders of Gen. Atkinson, by marching directly ui)on the enemy 
with the intention of taking him by surprise or preventing his 
retreat further northward. The 15th of July was accordingly 
appointed as the time of starting, and Gen. Henry at once com- 
menced reorganizing his brigade, and disencumbering it of the 
sick and dismounted men, who would retard the celerity of his 
march. Before, however, the day of departure came around, 
Gen. Alexander announced that his men becoming dissatistied 
had determined not to accompany the expedition, and Major 
Dodge reported that so many of his horses were disabled that he 
could not mount a force sufficiently large to reiuler any valuable 
assistance. At this juncture Capt. Craig arrived with a fine com- 
pany of mounted men from Galena and vicinity, which uniting 
with the battalion of Major Dodge increased it to 120 effective 
men. Gen. Henry's brigade was reduced to GOO men, and even 
these associating with Alexander's malcontents, became so demor- 
alized as to be at the point of open nuitiny. A protest was handed 
to the former, signed by all his sid)ordinate officers exce])t the 
colonel who presented it, remonstrating against the enterprise as 
a violation of Gen. Atkinson's orders. 

This was the turning point on which hinged the fate of the cam- 
paign, and but for the prudence and determiiuition of Gen. Henry 
all would have been lost. He was perhaps the only man in the 
army who possessed the rare faculty of successfully commanding 
the militia by inspiring them with order and the honorable im- 
pulses of his own noble nature. He could command with sternness 
and not give offence, and while he excited the fear he silways 
won the love of the most obdurate soldier. In this emergency he 
knew he was right and promptly ordered all the officers signing 
the protest to be arrested and marched to Gen. Atkinson, who he 
knew would ap])rove his course Avhen he became acquainted with 
the circumstances. This decided connnand from a general w hom 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 397 



they knew liad the courage to execute it, caus(Ml the officers to 
reieut. The cokniel who presented tlie shainetul paper denied 
knowing- its contents, and all jn'oinised with the greatest contrition 
that they would never again be guilty of insubordination. Gen. 
Henrj-, who uiiderstood human nature and knew how to profit by 
it, spoke to them with dignity and kindness, wisely forgiving the 
offence and thus securing their faithful co-operation during the 
remainder of the campaign. 

At the appointed time Gen. Henry and Major Dodge, with two 
Winnebagoes for guides, started in pursuit of the Indians, and 
Gen. Alexander with jnovisions returned to Gen. Atkinson. The 
former while on their v^ny to the infested region, were 
frequently thrown from a direct course by intervening swamps of 
several miles in extent, yet after three days hard marching they 
again encamped on Rock river. Here information was received 
that Black Hawk was entrenched on Cranberry lake, higher up the 
river, and relying on this information Henry determined to make a 
foiced march to that place the following day. Adjutants E. H. 
Merryman and W. W. Woodbridge, accom])anied by Little 
Thunder, a Winnebago chief, as guide, were sent to Gen. Atkinson 
to ai)i)rise him that they had discovered the situation of the enemy 
and were making prei:)a rations to move against him. The mes- 
sengers started about d.ark and after proceeding about 8 miles 
southwest they struck the fresh trail of Black Hawk, who was 
making toward the Wisconsin river, evidently to elude his pur- 
suers by crossing it. Little Thunder, panic stricken at the sight 
of the trail, without permission returned to the camp and revealed 
the discovery to the two Indian guides, who attempted to make 
their escape, but before their o))ject was fully accomplished they 
were arrested and brought to the tent of Gen. Henry. Confessing 
that their motive for acting as guides was to give false informa- 
tion and thus favor the escape of Black Hawk, they now 
disclosed all they knew of his movements, with the hope of 
escaping the punishment which, their pertidy deserved. General 
Henry humanely spared their lives, and to prevent his men who 
would have wreaked summary vengeance on them for their 
treachery, prudently kept it a secret. The messengers, when they 
found themselves deserted by Little Thunder, also returned to the 
camp, but just before reaching it one of them came near being 
killed by the tire of a sentinel. Early the next morning the same 
messengers and guide were again dispatched to Gen. Atkinson, 
and the army started in pursuit of the enemy, leaving all the heavy 
baggage behind in the wilderness. Those who had previously lost 
their horses, abandoned their blankets and all their clothing 
excejjt what they wore, and carrying their guns, ammunition and 
provisions on their backs through thickets, swamps and prairie, 
kept jiace with their comrades on horseback. The riders on reach- 
ing a slough through which their horses were unable to carry them, 
dismounted and waded across, driving their animals before them. 
The large fresli trail being strewn with various articles belonging 
to the Indians, gave animation to the pursuing force; there were 
no more complaints among the men, and even the horses seemed 
to partake of the enthusiasm which prevailed. Towards evening- 
there arose one of those terrific thunder storms common to the 
prairies, frightfully dark andaccomi)anied by torrents of rain and 



398 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



peals of thunder. The men, however, dashed on regardless of the 
raging elements, throngh floods, marshes, and ahnost impenetrable 
clumps of timber, the horsemen frequently dismounting and 
marching afoot that the footmen might be relieved by riding their 
horses. The storm continued most of the night, and the exhausted 
men threw themselves on the muddy earth to obtain a little rest, 
having partaken of no supper except a little raw meat and some 
dough, the result of the drenching rain on the flour they carried in 
their sacks. A similar repast serving them for breakfast, by early 
daylight they were again in motion and after a march as hard as 
that of the previous day, they encamped on one of the four lakes, 
near where Black Hawk had rested the previous night. The men 
now eagerly embraced the opportunity which was oflered to build 
fires and cook their suppers, having marched 100 miles Avithout 
eating anything except raw food. As soon as their hunger was 
appeased, they again lay down to rest with nothing under them 
but the naked earth, and nothing over them but the starry canopy, 
and slept sweetly till aroused and called to arms. A sentinel who 
during the night discovered an Indian stealthily gliding toward 
the shore in a canoe, tired his gun which caused an alarm, but 
nothing further occurred to indicate the presence of an enemy. 
Early the following day the march was resumed with great vigor, 
all being elated with the hope of soon overtaking the Indians and 
terminating the war in a general battle. Crossing the river be- 
tween two of the lakes, the army ascended an eminence, whence 
could be seen a panorama of wondrous beauty. Three of these 
lovely sheets of water environed by wooded hills and rolling 
prairies were in full view. The hand of civilization had not 
marred their primeval beauty and everything was wild and still, 
save the distant roar of the surging waters lashed by almost con- 
stant winds. 

The Indians, however, were only afewmiles distantendeavoring 
to escape, and the hurried march to overtake them gave but little 
time to contemplate the surrounding scenery. The path of the 
fugitives was strewn with all kinds of baggage highly valued by 
the owners, which they were compelled to throw away to accelerate 
their flight. Some of the horses were found dead, the result of 
exhaustion, and others were occasionally killed to aflbrd their 
hungry riders the means of sustenance. About 12 o'clock on the 
21st of July, 3 Indian spies were overtaken and killed, and short- 
ly afterward the rear guard began to make faint stands as if 
desirous of bringing on a battle. It was, however, soon apparent 
that their object was to gain time, for after firing a few rounds 
they would dash ahead while the pursuing force was forudng for 
battle. In this manner by 4 o'clock they gained the blufls of 
the Wisconsin, and as the vanguard of the Americans, consisting 
of two battalions commanded by Majors Dodge and Ewing, came 
up they "were fired upon by the Indians concealed in the timber 
which skirts the bluff of the stream. Gen. Henry soon arrived, 
and the entire force was formed in order of battle. Major Dodge's 
battalion constituted the extreme right of the line; Col. Jones' 
regiment the center, and Col. Collins' the left, while Major Ewing's 
battalion was placed in front, and Col. Fry's regiment in the 
rear as a reserve. A charge being ordered, Ewing's battalion and 
the regiments of Cols. Jones and Collins made a gallant onset up- 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 399 



ou tlie enemy, causing liini to retire obliquely to the right and 
concentrate in front of the battalion of Mujor Dodge, \A^ho was 
then ordered to advance upon the foe, but considering his force 
inadequate and requestijig assistance, Col. Fry's regiment was sent 
to his aid, when a vigorous charge was made from one end of the 
line to the other. Fry's regiment and Dodge's battalion entered 
the timber and tall grass, exposed to the tierce fire of the Indians, 
who maintained their ground till their adversaries could reach 
them with their baj^onets, when they tied and took a new position 
in the head of a ravine farther westward, and leading to the low- 
lands of the river. Here they made a more stubborn resistance, 
but a handsome charge by Collins' and Jones' regiments and 
Ewing's battalion, forced some of them down the hollow, and 
others farther westward along the bluffs, whence they escaped to 
the bottom bordering on the stream. This was about a mile wide 
and next to the river, covered with heavy timber, while near the 
bluff it was swampy and overgrown with grass so tall as to be 
above the heads of the men on horseback. It was now near sun 
down, and Gen. Henry concluded it would be too hazardous to dis- 
lodge the enemy during the night, and accordingly remained on 
the battle ground. 

The battle of the Wisconsin was the first important victory 
obtained over the enemy during the war. The Indians had with 
them their women and children, and fully alive to the disastrous 
consequences which would attend defeat, fought with great deter- 
mination. During the engagement Naopope, their commander, 
posted himself on an elevation near liis warriors and gave his 
orders in a voice of thunder, which could be distinctly heard above 
the din of battle. It was said that of all men he had the loudest 
voice, but it ceased to be heard when his braves were driven from 
their position. Great praise was due the entire army, the officers 
having discharged their duties with great efficiency and the pri- 
vates exhibited unusual bravery in the different charges made 
upon the enemy. Gen. Henry was young and inexj)erienced, yet 
in his coolness and the judgment displayed in the disposition of 
his forces acted the part of a veteran commander. He now con- 
cluded that if the Indians intended to continue the contest they 
would make an attack during the night, and as a precaution he 
increased the strength of the guard and caused fires to be built in 
front of the camp and kept buridng till morning. Orders were 
given that the men should sleep on their arms, and they had not 
long been wrapt in slumber when they were aroused by the tramp- 
ing of horses. It was supposed that the latter had been fright- 
ened by the approaching enemy, and the men Avere ordered to hold 
themselves during the remainder of the night in readiness for an 
attack. About 3 o'clock in the morning Naopope took a stand on 
the same elevation he had occupied during the battle, and spoke 
"with a loud voice, in the Winnebago tongue, which in the calm of 
the night reverberated from hill to hill. It was ascertained when 
the war was over that he was suing for peace. He stated that his 
countrymen were in a starving condition and unable to fight the 
Americans, and that if they were permitted to peaceably return 
west of the Mississippi with their families the}' w^ould do no fur- 
ther mischief. As the Indian guides had fled at the commence- 
ment of the battle there was no x>ersou in the camp who under- 



400 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

stood his language, and it was supposed he was giving commands 
to his warriors. The Americans expecting every moment to be 
attaclvcd, Gen. Henry made a spirited speech in which lie told 
them they were about to meet the savages who had bnt(;hered in 
cold blood so many of their helpless and unott'ending- citizens, re- 
minded them of the obstacles which they had encountered and 
overcome during- the campaign, and urgeil them not to tarnish the 
reputation they had gained in the battle of the preceding day. 
Every man then took his position and remained in it till early 
dawn, when Ewing's battalion proceeded to the top of the hill 
whence the voice proceeded, but only found the foot-i)rints of a 
few horsemen. The army then marched to the river and discov- 
ered that the Indians had crossed and made their escape among 
the mountains between it and the Mississippi. One hundred and 
sixty-eight of their fallen comrades were found dead on the field 
of battle, and the number of the wounded was perhaps propor- 
tionately large, as 25 of them were subsequently found dea<l along 
the track of their departing trail. Gen. Henry had one man 
killed and 8 w^ounded. The great disparity in the loss of the 
Americans and that of the enemy was accounted for on the sup- 
position that the Indians had been taught to fire at men on horse- 
back and consequently aimed too high to hit their adversaries, who 
dismounted before entering battle. 



Chapter XXXV. 

1832— CLOSE OF THE WAE. 

Pursuit of the Indians — Battle of Bad-Axe — Arrival of Gen. 
Scott — Treaties icith the Indians — Eastern Tour of the Prisoners — 
Death of Black Mawlc. 



It will be remembered that Adjutants Woodbridge and Merry- 
man, piloted by Little Thunder, were sent the second time to Gen. 
Atkinson's headquarters. They arrived safely, aud after conferr- 
ing with him, they were ordered to return with instructions 
authorizing Gen. Henry to pursue the trail of Black Hawk, and if 
possible overtake aud capture his force, and that when his ])rovis- 
ions were exhausted he should goto the Blue Mounds for supplies, 
where he and his army would meet him. The messengers reached 
Gen. Henry during the recent battle, and the next day, as the 
army was without food and the means of rendering the wounded 
comfortable, it was determined to visit the Mounds for this pur- 
pose and replenish their stores. No one in the brigade, however, 
understood the topography of the country sufficiently well to act 
as guide. They had now penetrated 100 miles into an unexplored 
wilderness, and the Winnebagoes who had accompanied the 
expedition fled at the commencement of the battle and had not 
returned. A council was called to consider the means of over- 
coming the difficulty, and while in session a white flag was seen 
approaching, borne by a number of friendly Winnebagoes, Avho 
agreed to act as guides. Litters were constructed for the wound- 
ed, and on the 23d of July the army was again in motion, and 
after encountering a number of muddy creeks and a large extent 
of rough roads, they reached the Blue Mounds in safety. Here, 
as they had been advised, they found Gen. Atkinson, with the 
regular and volunteer forces under his immediate command, and a 
number of inhabitants, whose kind treatment made the wounded 
forget the hardships they had suffered in the journey thither. 

It was now evident that Gen. Atkinson and other officers of the 
regular army were greatly mortified at the success ot Gen. Henry, 
as the.y did not intend that the militia should acquire any renown 
in the war. Gen. Atkinson relying mostly on the regulars, had 
always ke])t them in front, but unexpectedly while they were 
snugly ensconced at Lake Knshkanong, Gen. Henry discovered 
and vanquished the enemy as effectually as if the veterans had 
participated in the engagement. This unmanly jealousy was 
further intensified by the fact that the victory had been obtained 
in opi)osition to the council aud orders of those who arrogated to 
20 401 



402 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

themselves superior courage aucl knowledge iu the i)ractice and 
art of war. 

All the generals were now together, but not all the men. Gen. 
Posey's brigade contained only 200 eifective men ; Gen. Alexan- 
der's 350, and Gen. Henry's being also greatly reduced, the 
three brigades combined were not much stronger than one at 
the commencement of the campaign. In addition to the volun- 
teer force, there were now 400 regulars under the command of 
Gen. Brady and his subordinate ofticers, Col. Taylor and Majors 
Eiley and Morgan. After spending 2 days at the Mounds, on the 
25th of July the whole army, under direction of Gen. Atkinson, 
again started after the Indians. The regulars marched in front, 
Posey's and Alexander's brigades and Dodge's battalion came 
next, and lastly Henry's brigade in charge of the baggage brought 
u]) the rear. The position assigned Gen. Henry, the hero of the 
battle of Wisconsin, showed too plainly the ungenerous feeling that 
rankled in the breast of the commanding general. The whole 
army noticed the insult, and the brave men who were thus 
degraded knew they deserved better treatment, and justly claim- 
ed the post of honor and of danger. It was now evident that if 
other laurels were to be won they w^ould decorate other brows. 
Gen. Henry and his men were too true to their duties as soldiers to 
suffer this injustice to interfere with the success of the expedition, 
and therefore quietly trudged along in the rear, doing the drudg- 
ery of the army and taking charge of the baggage. On the 26th 
they arrived at Helena, with a view to crossing the Wisconsin at 
that place. 

This village, formerly a promising town, was now abandoned by 
its inhabitants, and the houses were pulled down and converted 
into rafts on which to cross the river. During the construction of 
the rafts, scouts were sent up the river to the battle ground to 
ascertain if the Indians had returned thither as the course they 
had taken iu their flight after the battle. A day was spent in 
making explorations, but no trace of the enemy being discovered 
the party returned. On tlie 2Sth the whole army had gained the 
opi)osite bank of the ri\'er, and after marching a distance of 5 
miles fell in with the trail of the retreating fugitives. Before the 
discovery, the army was greatly disheartened, the distance to the 
Mississippi was supposed to be SO miles, and it was seriously 
feared that ere the enemy could again be o\ertaken they would 
make their escape west of this stream. The men had become 
weary in hunting trails, but now it was found, the hope of again 
falling in with the Indians was revived and all murmurs ceased. The 
trail at first followed the course of the river, but soon turned 
northward among huge mountains, which never before had echoed 
with the tread of civilized men. Three weary days were consumed 
in scaling these precipitous elevations and crossing the interven- 
ing gorges, the one being covered with heavy timber and a dense 
undergrowth of briers and vines, and the other filled with swamps 
of deep black mud. The men were well supplied with provisions, 
ami bore their labors with cheerfulness, but it was difficult for the 
horses to find grass, and many of them becoming debilitated by 
hunger were left to perish in these pastureless solitudes. The con- 
dition of the Indians was extremely deplorable. They were com- 
pelled to subsist on roots, bark and the flesh of horses, and their 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 403 

trail could be readily traced by blankets, kettles and other articles 
abandoned to hasten their liight. Death, too, had marked their 
course with the bodies of those who had been wounded, most of 
whom had died more for the want of proper medical treatment 
than from the fatal nature of their injuries. 

At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 2d of August, the army 
reached the bluflts of the Mississippi, which at this point were 
some distance from the stream. The Indians having reached the 
margin of the river some time before the arrival of the Americans, 
were busily engaged in preparations to cross. Some had already 
reached the opposite shore, and some of the women had been put 
in canoes and started down to Prairie du Chi en, but i)art of the 
latter were drowned, and those who reached the town were found 
in a starving condition. While thus employed they were attacked 
by the steamboat Warrior, which had been chartered for the pur- 
pose of conveying supplies to the army. On the 1st of Angust 
she was sent up the river to notify some friendly Indians that the 
Sacs were approaching, and to take them down to Prairie du 
Chien. On his way, CaiJtain Throckmorton heard that Black 
Hawk was already encamped on the banks of the river, and he 
immediately made i^reparations for an attack. As the steamboat 
ueared the camp of the Indians, they raised a white flag, which 
the captain aflectingto believe was onlj used as a mask to cover 
their real designs, ordered them to send a canoe alongside his 
boat. The order being declined, they were allowed 15 minutes to 
remove their women and children, when a six-pounder, loaded 
with canister, was discharged into their midst, followed by a 
severe fire of musketrj^ The battle continued about an hour, 
during Avhich the enemy had 23 men killed and a proportionate 
number wounded. The fuel of the steamer now began to fail, 
and night coming on, she fell down the river to Prairie du Chien,, 
intending to return the next day. 

The captain of the Warrior, even if his surmises wete correct 
respecting the perfidy of the Indians, was still liable to censure 
for the precipitancy with which he brought on the engagement. 
He and his men were beyond the reach of harm, and consequently 
both humanity ami the rules of war required that he should have 
taken more than 15 minutes to discover the real motive of the In- 
dians in hoisting the symbol of peace. Black Hawk himself asserted 
that he directed his braves not to fire on the Warrior, as he intended 
going onboard in order to save his women and children, and that he 
raised a white flag and called to the captain of the boat for the 
purpose of efl'ecting this object. His condition was now hopeless, 
his warriors, reduced in numbers, were exhausted by fatigue and 
hunger, while an overwhelming force ready to move against him, 
was just in his rear. It is therefore highly probable that he was 
sincere and anxious to end the contest, in which so many of his 
people had been slaughtered ; and had the captain of the War- 
rior properly respected the flag of truce, which all civilized war- 
fare holds sacred, the campaign would have terminated without 
the further effusion of blood. 

Before the Warrior could return to the Indian encampment, 
which was on the Mississippi below the mouth of the Bad Axe, 
Gen. Atkinson arrived and commenced a general battle. Black 
Hawk, aware that the American force was in close proximity, to 



404 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

gain time for crossing, with 20 warriors went back to meet them, 
his object being to make an attack and then retreat up the river 
to decoy the Americans from the principal force. Accordingly, 
when the army reached the bkitt's of the Mississippi, it was tired 
upon from behind trees by the Indians, tlie tall grass growing 
among the timber greatly favoring their design. The order of 
battle being the same as at first: Major Dodge's battalion was in 
fj on t, next the regulars, then the brigades of Alexander and Posey 
and lastly the command of Henry. At the first indications of op- 
position. Gen. Atkinson rode to the scene of action and in person 
directed the charge against the Indians, who of course fell back, 
and were pursued up the river by the whole army except the force 
under the immediate command of Gen. Henry and Major Ewing. 
In the hurried pursuit he was called on for one regiment to cover 
the rear of the i^ursuing forces, and the rest were left without or- 
ders. It now seemed that fortune was determined to distinguish 
her favorite son, despite the intention to disgrace him. He who 
dining the whole march had been kept in the rear, now by the 
strategy of a few untutored savages who had triumphed over the 
science of the veteran general, was suddenly placed in front. 

While Gen. Atkinson was ascending the river, the main trail 
leading directly to it was discovered by Major E wing's meu, who 
were in front. Henry being notified of the fact, follo\A'ed to the foot 
of the bluffs bordering the valley, where he left his horses and ar- 
ranged his men for an attack. Eight men were sent forward as a 
forlorn hope to draw the fire of the enemy, and thus disclose their 
situation in the drift wood and brush through which the trail led. 
The men moved boldly forward till they came in sight of the river, 
when they were fired upon by about 50 Indians, who were in ad- 
vance of the main foice. Five of the eight instantly fell, either 
killed or Avounde<l, while the other three, protected by timber, re- 
mained in their position till the army came to their rescue. Henry 
immediq;tely ordered a charge, before which the Indians retreated 
to the main body, amounting to 300 warriors and fully equal to 
the force contending against them. Tlie whole force of the enemy 
becoming involved, fought with great bravery and determination, 
yet they had evidently been surprised and there was little concert 
of action. Closely pressed they fell back from position to i>osi- 
tion, Tintil the bank of the river was reached, where retreat being 
impossible a frightful carnage ensued. The bloody bayonet in the 
hands of an excited soldiery, drove them into the water, when 
some of the survivors endeavored to swim the river and others 
sought refuge in a willow island 150 yards from the shore. 

About this time Gen. Atkinson and that portion of the army 
which had been decoyed up the river, made their appearance at 
the scene of conflict. Henrj' had previously sent messengers to 
inform him that he had discovered the main force of the enemy, 
but the roar of battle apprised him of the situation before mes- 
sengers had time to reach him. He came but found the battle 
substantially over, the dead and dying strewn upon the fatal field, 
disclosing the stern work which had been done in his absence. 
Seeing the position of the enemy, he immediately ordered a descent 
upon the island. A force consisting of the regulars, Ewing's and 
Dodge's battalions and Fry's regiment, charged through the water 
up to their arms, to dislodge them from their last refuge. When 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 405 



the island was gained most of the enemj^ who had fled thither 
were killed or cai)tured, those attempting to swim to the op])osite 
shore being either shot in the water or drowned. Large nnmbers 
of women and cliildren lost their lives, owing to the fact that they 
were dressed so nuieh like the men it was imi)ossil)]e to distiiignish 
them in tlie high grass and weeds which obstrncted the view. 
Some of them plunged into the Mississippi and were shot escaping 
hi the promiscuous crowd which was buffeting the waves in the 
attempt to reach the opposite shore.* 

It is supposed that the entire Indian loss amounted to loO killed 
and as many lost by drowning in the attempt to swim the river. 
About 50, consisting mostly of women and children, were taken 
prisoners. The American loss amounted to 17 killed. 

Soon after the battle was over, the captain of the Warrior 
steamed up the river and commenced raking the island, thinking 
that the Indians were still on it. The land forces hearing his 
guns, supposed he was firing a salute in honor of the victory, and 
fired a volley in acknowledgment, and it was not till she came to 
land that intelligence was for the first time interchanged in regard 
to the battles which had i^reviousl^- been fought by the respective 
forces. 

Gen. Atkinson considering the war virtually ended, on the 4th 
of August, with the regulars, prisoners and wounded on board 
the Warrior, fell down the river to Prairie du Chien, and the 
mounted men marched to the same place by land. The news of 
the battle had i)receded the advent of the army, and when it 
arrived the Menomonee Iiulians were expressing their joy at the 
defeat of the Sacs and Foxes by music and dancing. Having 
obtained several scalps from the squaws of the enemy, they pre- 
sented them to their own women, whose relatives .had been 
mmxiered the preceding year at Fort Crawford by the same tribes. 
These trophies, held aloft on poles, constituted a prominent feature 
of the dance, which was conducted in the following manner: the 
men and women stood in two lines facing each other, while the 
squaws holding the scalps were situated between. The party was 
furnished with a rudely constructed drum, and each one who 
participated in the dance held in his hand a gourd partially filled 
with pebbles, which were rattled to keep time with the drum. 
Thus arranged and equipped at the sound of the drum the exercise 
commenced, each dancer moving around the central grou]> sup- 
porting the scalps, ami uttering aloud monotonous refrain, kept 
time by stamping with his feet and shakhig his gourd. As the 
exercise was protracted thechantbecame louder and more animated, 
the jumj^ing correspondingly higher and more boisterous, and the 
scalps were twirled in the air with increased vehemence. During 

[Note.— Many painful scenes of adventure and horror wei-e crowded into the 3 hours' 
continuance of the battle. A Sac woman, the sister of a warrior of some notoriety, 
found herself in the thickest of thefls'ht, but at lensrth succeeded in reacliino-the river, 
when keepintr her infant cliild safe in its blankets by means ol her teeth, she plunsecJ into 
the water, seized the tail of a horse with her hands whose rider was swimmino; the 
stream and wasdrawnsafelj' across. A youny squaw during the battle was standing' in tlie 
frrass asliort <iisiance from the American line, holding her child, a little g'irl of 4 years, 
in her arms. In this position a hall struck the right arm of the child and shattering the 
bone, passed into the breast of the voung mother and instantly killed her. She fell 
upon the child snd confined it to the ground till the Indians were driven from this part 
of the field. Gen. Anderson of the United States army, hearing its cries went to the 
spot and taking it from under the dead body, carried it to the surgeons to ha\e its 
wound dressed The arm was amputated and during the operation the half starved 
child did not cry, but sat quietly eating a hard piece of biscuit. It was sent to Prairie 
du Chien and entirely recovered. 



406 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tlie entire performance the bodies of the dancers were bent forward 
bringing- their noses so close together as frequent! 3^ to touch, and 
"when finally they became exhausted the exercise ended. 

The 2d day after their arrival, Gen. Atkinson having every 
reason to believe that the Winnebago chiefs had been treacherous, 
summoned them for the purpose of having a talk. He accused 
them of deception and rendering assistance to the Sacs, and 
Winnesheik, one of their number, having commanded the Indians 
in the recent battle, and his sons who were subsequently brought 
in wounded, were put in prison. Gen Street, the Indian agent, 
who was present at the conference, then told the chiefs that if they 
would bring in Black Hawk and the prophet, it would be well with 
them, and the government would hold them in future as friends. 
At this declai'ation, Decori, Cheaters, and two other chiefs, at the 
head of a small party of Sioux and Winnebagoes, started after 
the two fugitives, who with 20 men, during the battle of the Bad 
Axe fled up the river. The Sioux and the Sacs had been at war 
for years, and the former eagerly embraced the opportunity now 
offered to avenge tlieir wrongs by bringing them to inmishment. 
The Winnebagoes, although first symi)athizing with the hostile 
band, like civilized man in the hour of adversity, when friendship 
is mostl}' needed, proved unfaithful. As soon as war had demon- 
strated the comparative strength of the two belligeients, their 
cringing and crafty nature commenced pandering to the power 
of the conquerors. 

On the 7th of August, Gen. Scott who with 9 companies of 
infantry had been sent from the eastern sea-board, arrived and 
assumed command. He started from Fortress Monroe, and in 18 
days 4 of the companies reached Chicago, distant 1800 miles, which 
before the existence of the present railroad facilities was an 
unparelelled feat of celerity. The whole force was destined for 
Chicago, but the virus of a disease more fatal than the sword 
l)reyed upon their vitals, and prevented the accomplishment of 
the object contemplated. The expedition, filled with patriotic 
ardor, arrived safe at Detroit, and while moored at its wharves 
two cases of a strange disease made their appearance and created 
unusual alarm. The army surgeons and local physicians were 
immediately summoned, but despite all their efforts two soldiers 
attacked were no more. The Asiatic Cholera, then a new disease 
on the continent of America was raging in the Atlantic cities, 
and had now broken out in the army, causing terror and gloom 
forest on every countenance. The expedition passed on to Fort 
Gratiot, distant 40 miles, where 5 companies, numbering 280 men, 
who, either unwilling or unable to j)roceed further, Avere landed. 
Some of them died in the hospitals, and others fleeing to avoid 
the pestilence, wandered hopelessly over the country, shunned by 
the inhabitants, not through inhumanity, but the fear of contag- 
ion, till nature becoming exhausted they laid down in the fields 
and expired. The entire nund)er with the exception of 9 perished, 
without a friendly hand to offer them assistance, or console them 
in the last moments of existence. Of the other 4 companies 30 
died on the way to Chicago, and as a substitute for burial, were 
lieaved into the waters of the lake. Arriving at Chicago on the 
8th of July, Fort Dearborn was converted into a hospital, and 
the families which had taken temporary refuge within its walls 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 407 



from the attacks of the Indiaua, were turued roofless ou the 
})rairie. In 30 days 90 inmates of the hospital became victims of 
the destroyer, and life was hardly extinct before they were cast, 
iiinvept and uncofldued, into pits, to prevent the spread of the 
epidemic* 

After the disease had abated, tbe march was resumed, and finally 
the remnant of the force which had started with such bright 
anticipations of glory, reached Fort Armstrong on the Mississippi, 
the latter part of August. Here not oidy many of the survivors 
perished, but the Indians were also attacked, and large numbers 
■of them swept away. Gen. Scott arrived only in time to partici- 
pate in the negotiations which followed the war, but in his 
humane exertions in behalf of the soldiers, he won laurels far 
transcending the glory of the most brilliant campaign against the 
■enemy. 

The further pursuit of the Indians being considered unnecessary, 
on the arrival of Gen. Scott the volunteers started for Dixon 
to be mustered out of service. Arriving thither on the 17th, they 
were discharged, and each soldier now released from military life 
returned to his home, kindred and friends, pleased with the con- 
gratulations which were ever extended, and feeling honored in 
having been instrumental in freeing the country from the ravages 
of the merciless foe. 

Many of the noted men of the State had been engaged in the 
war, and many, at that time unknown to fame, afterward attained 
the highest honors in the gift of the country which they risked 
their lives to defend. Of the former class were Reynolds and 
Scott, men of State and national reputations. Of the latter, S. H. 
Anderson became lieutenant governor. James Turney, attorney gen- 
eral ; W. L. D. Ewing, auditor of public accounts ; Sidney Breese, 
•chief justice of the State; John Thomas and John Dement, State 
treasurers ; Thomas Ford and Joseph Duncan, governors of the 
State; Henry Dodge governor of Wisconsin, and General Taylor 
and Abraham Lincoln presidents of the United States. Jefferson 
Davis, the rival of the latter, also participated in the war, but his 
future career as the chief of the great rebellion, gave him a fame 
in striking contrast with that which was won by the martyr of 
liberty and the savior of his country. 

Among the many who distinguished themselves in the war, 
there was no one more efficient as an officer, or more highly 
resi^ected by the people of Illinois, than Gen. James D. Henry. 
His great sagacity and determination at Fort Winnebago gave a 
new direction to the campaign and enabled the army to overtake 
the Indians. He was the chief commander in the battle of the 
Wisconsin, which followed the first decisive victory of the war, 
and the battle of the Bad axe which closed it, was the result of 
his generalship and not of the superior officers who endeavored to 
prevent his sharing in its dangers and honors. 

•'•The burial of the dead was entrusted to a sergeant, who executed his duty with 
military precision, as soon as life was extinct. On one occasion several were removed 
from the hospital to be buried at once. The jrrave had already been dutr, and the 
bodies wrapped in blankets were laid by its side, the last military honors had been paid, 
and nothing- more remained to complete the service but to tumble them one after 
another in, when a corpse appeared to move. A brother soldier resorting thither, his 
old messmate opened his eyes and asked bim for some water The ser^-eant said they 
might take him back, as he was not yet ready for burial. The order was obeyed and 
the soldier lived many years thereafter." Brown's History of Illinois. 



408 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

He was a native of Pennsylvania, and in the year 1822 emigra- 
ted to Illinois and located at Edwardsville. Born in i)Overty and 
obscurity, his earlier years were entirely devoted to manual toil,, 
and wlien be attained the age of manbood be was bardly able to- 
read or write. For souie time after bis arrival at Edwardsville be 
worked as a mecbanic during tbe day, and at nigbt attended 
scbool for tbe purpose of improviug bis education. After leaving^ 
scbool, and engaging for a sbort time in tbe mercantile business^ 
be removed in 1826 to Springfield, and was elected sberiff of San- 
gamon county. Tlie integrity and sound judgment exhibited in 
discbarging tbe duties of tbis oflice, attracted tbe attention of 
Gov. Reynolds, wbo at tbe breaking out of tbe war made bim one- 
of bis aids. He was exceedingly modest and retiring till bis pas- 
sions were fully aroused, and tben be sbowed an intensity of 
feeling and an iron will, wbicb was irresistible so far as be bad 
power to act. The fear of nothing except his maker ever entered 
his breast, and be knew and cared as little for danger and death 
as a marble statue. His extreme sensibility and diffidence never 
permitted him to appear in tbe society of ladies. At tbe close of 
tbe Black Hawk war, the citizens of Springfield gave him a. 
splendid reception in honor of his services, but he never entered 
the apartments where tbe ladies presided. At the close of the 
war he was the most popular man in Illinois, and bad he lived 
be could have been elected to any office in the gift of the people. 
His health and constitution were originally good, but the hardships 
of the war induced consumi)tion, which caused his death, on the 
4tb of March, 1834, at New Orleans, whither be had gone for the 
benefit of the climate and medical treatment. Such was his sin- 
gular modesty, that during his sickness in the city, he never 
mentioned bis connection with the Black Hawk war, and no one 
knew be was Gen. Henry until after his death. 

While Henry was duly appreciated at home, he never received 
abroad the honors to which he was entitled. The news of the war 
first made its appearance in The Gcdenian, a newspaper printed 
at Galena, and the only sheet issued north of Springfield. Dr^ 
Pbillio, the editor belonged to Dodge's battalion, and when from 
time to time be chronicled the events of the war and sent them, 
home for publication, be gave his own command a ])rominence in 
tlie war to which it was not entitled. By a wilful i)erversion of 
facts, he never mentioned Henry except as a sid)ordinate ofiicer^^ 
while Major Dodge was spoken of as a general, thus creating the 
impression that the former commanded a brigade, and the latter 
a battalion, when tbe reverse was true. His letters were copied 
in the news]>apers throughout the U. S., as authentic news, and in 
a number of cities it was asserted that Dodge was the principal 
commander of tbe war, and tbe names of Henry, Atkinson and 
Taylor, if mentioned at all, were only in connection with subordi- 
nate positions. This delusion was afterward of immense advan- 
tage to Major Dodge, but independent of the prestige thus 
acquired, be was a n)an of great popularity and influence. 

On tbe 27th of August, Decori and Cheaters, after an absence 
of 20 days, returned with Black Hawk, the prophet, and a number 
of other prisoners. On banding them over to Gen. Street, Decori 
said : "Father, we deliver these men into your custody. We do 
not entrust them even to your brother, the chief of the warriors^ 



* BLACK HAWK WAR. 409 

but to you, because we kuow you, and we believe you are our 
friend. We waut you to keej) them safe ; if tliey are to suffer we 
do not want to see it. Wait until we are gone before it is done. 
Father, many little birds have been flying about our ears of late, 
and we thought they whispered to us that there was evil intended 
for us, and we now hope they will let us alone." Gen. Street 
replied : "My children, you have done well. I told you to bring 
these men to me, and you have done so. I assured Gen. Atkin- 
son that if these men were in your country, you would tind them 
and bring them to me, and now I can say much for your good. I 
Avill go down to Rock Island with the prisoners, and I wish you as 
you have brought them, especially to go with me, with such other 
chiefs and warriors as you nuiy select." 

In i)ursuance of the treaty to be entered into, on the 10th of 
September Black Hawk, his two sons, Wishick, Naopope, the 
prophet, and a number of W^innebago chiefs, were sent down to 
Rock Island, where Keokuk and his warriors were to meet them. 
Likewise the remnant of Black Hawk's band also followed him 
to the same place. Such was their utter destitution that they 
excited the compassion of all who saw them, and Gen. Scott, who 
was as sympathetic as brav(^, kindly bestowed on them everythiug 
that could sui)ply their wants or relieve their suffering. On the 
IStli a treaty was made with the Winnebagoes, whereby they sold 
to the United States all their lands east of the Mississippi and 
west of Green bay. As a consideration, the government agreed 
to give them a large region of country west of the river, to pay 
them $70,000 in ten annual installments, to maintain schools for 
the education of their children for a period of 20 years, and to in- 
struct them in agriculture and furnish them with cattle and 
im])lements for its practical introduction among them. 

To escape from the cholera, which was still raging at Rock Is- 
land among the Indians and eastern troops, Gen. Scott and Gov. 
Reynolds, with the princi[)al chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes, fell 
down the river to Jefferson Barracks, where they entered into a 
treaty with them also. They ceded to the government the tract 
of land embraced in the present limits of Iowa and a part of Wis- 
consin, and received in return, besides some minor considerations, 
an annuity of $20,000 for a period of 30 years. As a reward to 
Keokuk and his friendly band, a reservation of 40 miles square 
was nuide to them in Iowa, including their i)rincipal vilhige. It 
was also proposed to Keokuk to establish schools for the benefit 
of his tribe, but he rejected the inx)j)osition, alleging that it might 
do well enough for the whites, but he had observed that it nuule 
Indians worse to educate them. By these treaties the United 
States obtained 30,000,000 acres of land, at a cost truly insignifi- 
cant compared with its real value. Such, however, is the meas- 
ure usually meted by the stronger to the weaker power, and 
such is the fate of savage races when brought in contact Avith the 
dii)]omacy of civilized men. Viewed in the light of a commercial 
transaction, such a disparity of values seems monstrous: but when 
we consider the Earth is the common heritage of the hunniu 
family, and that an advanced state of the arts and sciences is 
essential to its development, we become reconciled to it as anecessity 
in the onward march of civilization. 

The Indian prisoners who were to be retained during the pleasure 
of the President, were confined in the barracks till the following 



410 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

spring. Of the liuudrecls who visited them during the winter, one 
of them writes : 

" We were immediately struck with admiration at the gigantic and 
symmetrical figures of most of the warriors, who seemed as they re- 
clined in their native ease and gracefulness, with their half naked bodies 
exposed to view, rather like statues from some master hand than beings 
of a race whom we had heard characterized as degenerate and debased." 

Keokuk visited them the following spring, and made great ex- 
ertions for their release, offering to become responsible for their 
future conduct, but a message was received by Gen. Atkinson 
from the Secretary of War, ordering them to be sent to the 
national capital. Under the escort of an officer of the army on 
the 22d of April, 1833, they reached Washington, and had an 
interview with the President. Black Hawk closed his speech, 
delivered on this occasion, in the following words: "We did not 
expect to conquer the whites — they have too many houses, too 
many men. I took up the hatchet for my part, to revenge injuries 
which my people could no longer endure. Had I borne them 
longer without striking, my j^eople would have said Black Hawk 
is a woman ; he is too old to be a chief; he is no Sac. These reflec- 
tions caused me to raise the war-whoop. I say no more, it is 
known to you. Keokuk once was here ; you took him by the 
hand, and when he wished to return to his home, you were willing. 
Black Hawk expects, like Keokuk, we shall be permitted to return, 
too." The president informed them that they must go to Fortress 
Monroe and remain there till the conduct of their people satisfied 
him that they intended to comply with the stipulations of the 
treaty. He also assured them that their women and children, 
for whom they expressed solicitude, should be protected from their 
enemies. On the 26th of April, they set off for the Fortress, 
where they remained until the 4th of July following, when an order 
was received from the president directing their release and return 
home. The kind treatment of Colonel Eustice, in command of the 
prison, had so won the friendship of the captives, that when about 
to leave Black Hawk waited on the colonel and said: "The 
memory of your friendship will remain till the Great Spirit says 
it is time for Black Hawk to sing his death song." Presenting 
him with a hunting shirt and some eagle's feathers, he added : 
"Accept these, my brother; I have given some like them to the 
White Beaver; accept them as a memoi'ial of Black Hawk. When 
he is far away they will serve to remind you of him." 

From Fortress Monroe they were taken to Baltimore, where they 
had another interview with the President, who informed them that 
Gen. Atkinson and Keokuk their principal chief were anxious for 
their return home, and that he had ordered Major Garland, who 
would accompany them thither, first to conduct them through 
some of the principal cities, that they might witness the power ot 
the United States and learn their own inability to cope with them 
in war. " Go back," said he, " and listen to the counsel of Keo- 
kuk and other chiefs; bury the tomahawk and live in peace with 
the frontiers, and I pray the Great Spirit to give a smooth path 
and a fair sky for your return." 

Leaving Baltimore they reached Philadelphia on the 10th of 
June, and remained long enough to see the principal objects of in- 
terest in the citv and exhibited themselves to the curious thou- 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 411 

sands who flocked to see tliem. Black Hawk in referring- to bis 
conduct with the United States, said to the multitude about him : 
" My heart grew bitter against the whites and my hands strong. 
I dug up the tomahawk and led my warriors on to battle. I 
fought hard and much blood was shed, but the white men were 
mighty; they were man 3' and my people failed." On the morning 
of the 14th they started for IS^ew York and jirrived at the Batter}^, 
in the midst of a vast assemblage of people who had been drawn 
together to witness the ascent of a balloon. This novel spec- 
tacle greatly astonished the Indians, and one of theiu asked 
the prophet if the terouaut was going to the Great Spirit. On 
landing, the press of the multitude which crowded to see them was 
so great that thej could not reach the hotel till they were placed 
in carriages and conjmitted to the care of the police. While in 
the city they were treated with marked civility, being conducted 
with ceremony to theatres, public gardens, and other places of in- 
terest, and receiving many handsome presents. 

Major Garland had been directed to conduct the prisoners as 
far north as Boston, but while in New York he was ordered to as- 
cend the Hudson and proceed with them directly to their home in 
the West. In pursuance of the arrangements, on the 22d of June 
the party started westward, to the great disappointment of the 
Bostonians, who wanted an opportunity to see and lionize the sav- 
age disturbers of the ISTorthwest. At Albany, Buffalo, Detroit, 
and other places along the route, the attentions paid them ren- 
dered their progress through the country a triumphal procession, 
instead of the custody of prisoners in the hands of an officer. In 
passing the site of the old Sac village at the mouth of Eock river, 
Black Hawk became melancholy and exi^ressed many regrets at 
the causes which compelled him as an exile to leave it. The host 
of warriors whom he delighted to lead to battle were now no more; 
his village Avas reduced to ashes, his family was dispersed among 
strangers, and he a suppliant for a home in a foreign country. 
Finally, about the 1st of August, the party reached Bock Island, 
which had been selected by Major Garland as a suitable place for 
the liberation of the capti\'es. The river at this place is a beau- 
tiful sheet of clear, swift lunning water, a mile wide and divided 
near the centre by Eock Island, which rises to a considerable 
height above the siu'face and stretches several miles up and down 
the river. It originally produced nuts and a variety of other wild 
fruits, and being in the rapids, it was a favorite resort for Indian 
fishermen who caught large quantities of excellent fish in the 
swift, pure waters that wash its rocky base. There was an Indian 
tradition that the island was inhabited by a good spirit which 
dwelt in a cave among the rocks. It had a plumage white as 
snow, wings much larger than those of the. swan, and its voice in 
the Sac language was the sweetest music. The good spirit had 
sent it to teach the Sacs and Foxes wisdom and goodness and as 
a guardian divinity to preside over the destinies of the nation. In 
former times it had frequently been seen, but alarmed at the 
building of Fort Armstrong and the wickedness of the white men, 
it spread its snowy pinions and was seen no more. 

The white-washed walls of the fort loomed uyt from the high 
bluffs at the lower extremity of the island, giving to the fortress 
the appearance of an enchanted castle when seen from a distance 



412 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



in the beauty of the surroiiuding- scenery. From its towers could 
be seen tlie blue hills, which rising by a gentle acclivity from tlie 
river follow its meandering course and bound the valley through 
which it flows. The valley is several miles in width, and at that 
time was interspersed with groves of timber, wlii<;li ga'se it a ver- 
nal sweetness and beauty rarely equalled. Rock river could be 
seen in the distance, forcing its pure waters over a rocky rapid 
into the floods of the Mississippi. On the north bank of the for- 
mer was the site of the Sac village, and directly opposite, on the 
west bank of the latter, that of the Foxes, which time had con- 
secrated as the Jerusalem of these tribes. Ko other locality could 
have awakened in the mind of Black Hawk so nuiny painful 
memories. Here he had gamboled away his youth in its wooded 
haunts ; for half a century it had witnessed his power and influ- 
ence, and now it was to become the scene of his submission to a 
hated rival. 

Immediately after his arrival. Major Garland sent out runners 
to summon the neighboring Indians to meet him in council. Keo- 
kuk and his braves had been out on a buffalo hunt, and were about 
20 miles below on their way to the fort in anticipation of meeting 
the captives. He informed the messengers that he would be at 
Eock Island at noon the following day, and according!}- at the 
appointed time his fleet was seen ascending the river, the wild 
songs and shouts of his men echoing from shore to shore. A large 
craft, covered with a sj^acious camipy and bearing the American 
flag, moved in the van, carrying Keokuk and his three wives. 
About 20 more canoes in the rear, each containing several war- 
riors, completed the imposing pageant which gallantly moved 
over the still waters. After ascending the stream some distance 
above the fort and returning, a landing was effected on the east- 
ern bank oi)posite the encampment of Black Hawk, where the 
warriors spent several hours in painting their faces ard equipping 
themselves with implements of Avar. These lueparations being- 
completed, the party passed directly across the river, and Keokuk 
landing hrst turned to his warriors and said: '-The Great Spirit 
has sent our brother back to us, let us shake hands with him in 
friendship. Then fully armed he slowly approached and saluted 
Black Hawk, who Avas leaning on his staff in front of his lodge. 
His followers, in like manner, having taken the old man by the 
hand, thepix^e was introduced, and after an hour of pleasant civ- 
ilties, Keokuk and his braves arose and took leaA'C of the captives, 
promising to see them again at the council. The fort in the mean- 
time had been fitted up for this i)urpose. A grand convocation of 
Indians assembled the next day to Avitness the liberation of the 
prisoners. At ten o'clock in the morning Keokuk and 100 Avar- 
riors i^roceeded to the fort and Avere sliown seats in the coun- 
cil rooms. Not long after the captives made their appearance, and 
as they entered the room the chiefs who had preceded them gave 
them a cordial greeting. Black HaAvk and his son, who had pre- 
Aiously objected to the council as unnecessary and ])ainful to their 
feelings, seemed much dejected. In the midst of the profound 
silence, Avhicli for a time prevailed in the hall, Major Garland arose 
and said to the assembled chiefs that he 'Asas much pleased at the 
fraternal feeling Avhich they had extended to the prisoners since 
their arrival, and he trusted that this Avould continue, and there 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 413 



after they would dwell toj^eclier in harmouy and peace. He then 
caused a letter from the President to be read, admonishing the 
captives to cultivate the friendship of their neighbors, to hunt and 
support their families, and threatening the severest penalties if 
they again distuibed the frontiers. Keokuk replied : " We re- 
ceive our brothers in fiiendship. Our hearts are good towards 
them. They have listened to bad counsel; now their ears are 
closed. I give my hand to them ; when they shake it they shake 
the hands of all. 1 will shake hands with them and then I am 
done." 

Major Garland, to be more explicit, again arose and stated that 
it must be distinctly understood that the two bands of the Sacs 
and Foxes must now be merged into one; that Black Hawk must 
listen to the council of Keokuk, and that the President would 
hereafter recognize the latter as the i)rincipal chief of the nation. 
When Black Plawk understood that he was required to conform to 
tlie advice of his rival, he became deeply agitated and his excited 
passions burst forth with uncontrollable violence. With intense in- 
dignation of countenance and the vehemence which characterizes 
the savage when roused to action, as soon as he could control his 
feelings sufficient to articulate, he exclaimed : " 1 am a man; I will 
not conform to the counsel of any one. I will act for myself; no 
one shall govern me. I am old ; my hair is gray. I once gave 
counsel to my young men; am I now to conform to others *? 1 will 
soon go the Great Spirit where I shall be at rest. What I said to 
our great father in Washington I say again. I will always listen 
to him. I am done." Keokuk apologized for his indiscretion, say- 
ing: "Our brother who has couie to us has spoken, but he did it 
in wrath ; his tongue was double and his words were not like a 
Sac. He knew they were bad. He trembled like the oak whose 
roots have been wasted by many rains. He is old ; what he said 
let us forget. He says he did n(5t mean it ; he wishes it forgot- 
ten. I have spoken for him. What I have said are his own words." 

Major Garland now informed the humbled chieftain that he was 
satisfied that his coiuluct in the future would be acceptable to the 
people of the United States, and that he and his fellow prisoners 
might now consider themselves at liberty. The council then ad- 
journed, and early the next morning the Indians crossed the Mis- 
sissippi and dispersed to their respective homes in the forest. 

A violent war having subsequentlj' broken out between the 
Sacs and Foxes and Sioux, in the autumn of 1837 Black Hawk 
again visited Washington with a deputation of chiefs who had 
been invited thither by the President, for the purpose of adjusting 
their difficulties. After their return he settled in what is now Lee 
county, Iowa, where he spent the winter. In the spring of 1838 
he moved his family to the Des Moines, and built him a dwelling 
near the village of his tribe, 20 miles above the mouth of the river. 
He furnished his new wigwam after the manner of the whites, cul- 
tivated a few acres in corn, melons and other vegetables, and 
Avhen visited by the Americans entertained them with true Indian 
hospitality. The following autumn he visited an Indian trader, 
near Burlington, and as the result of exposure, on his return he 
contracted a disease which terminated his life. His countrymen 
with the reverential respect which they had for the dead, assem- 



414 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 



bled to bury the mortal remains of their departed chief. The 
body dressed iu a uuiform which had been jiresented to him in one 
of his eastern tours by the Secretary of War, was borne to its last 
resting place by four of his warriors. The grave Avas an excavation 
6 feet deep, and into this the body was deposited in an upright pos- 
ture, with the right hand resting on a cane which had been pre- 
sented to him by Henry Clay. A mound several feet high was 
thrown up over the grave, at tlie head of which was planted a 
staff bearing the flag of the United States, and at the foot a post 
on which was carved in Indian characters, tlie age of the deceased. 
Those in attendance at the funeral expressed their sorrow after 
the usual manner of the tribe, by shaking hands and uttering 
prayers that the spirit of the chief might have a safe entrance 
into the land prepared for the reception of souls. 

Thus, after an adventurous and shifting life of 72 years. Black 
Hawk was gathered to his fathers. The banner of war fell nerve- 
less from his grasp ; his voice at the council fire was heard no 
inore, and his restless ambition was stilled in the sleep of death. 
While the rustling October leaves, moved by the sighing winds, 
chanted a requiem over his ashes, the liberated shade sped to 
the happy hunting grounds beyond the setting sun, which, ac- 
cording to Indian theology, only the good and the brave are per- 
mitted to enter. 

Perhaps no one of his race excelled Black Hawk in humanity 
and love of country. He always repelled with indignation the 
charge that he murdered women and children, or mistreated his 
prisoners. His patriotism is seen in the last speech he ever made 
iuthe presence of the Americans, who had driven him from the 
ancestral seat of his tribe: "Rock river was a beautiful country. 
I like my towns, my cornfields, and the home of my i^eople. I 
fought for it; it is now yours; it will produce you good crops.'' 
These sentiments were not onty creditable to the heart of the 
speaker, but essential iu forming a just estimate of his motives 
in contesting the removal of his people from their native land. 
In his domestic relations he was kind andaftectionate, and unlike 
other chiefs, never had but one W'ife.* After his campaign in the 
British army, his first act was to visit his family. "I have 
started," says he, "to visit my wife and children. I found them 
well, and my boys growing finely. It is not customary for us to 
say much about our women, as they generally perform their part 
cheerfully, and never interfere Avith the business belonging to the 
men. This is the only wife I ever had, or ever Avill have; she is a 
good woman, and teaches my boys to be brave." In his private 
relations his integrity w^as not questioned, and when in a public 
capacity he disregarded treaties, he was actuated rather by 

*It is said, however, upon g:ooci authority, that on a certain occasion his vow of 
exclusive devotion to one wife had well nig'h been broken. While visiting- a respec- 
table frontier settler, many yeai's since, he became pleased with the comely daughter 
of his host, and having- seriously contemplated the matter, decided in favor of the 
expediency of adding- the pale-faced beauty to the domestic circle of his wig-wam. He 
accordingly expressed his wishes to the father of the young lady, and proffered to 
g-ive him a horse in exchange for his daughter, but to his surprise, the offer was declin- 
ed. Some days afterward, he returned and tendered two fine horses, but still the 
father refused to make the arrangement. The old chief's love for the young lady, 
growing stronger in proportion to the difficulty of gaining- her father's consent, sub- 
sequently he offered six horses for her, but even this muniiieent price was rejecteil fiy 
the mercenary father. Black Hawk now gave up the negotiation, not a little 
surprised at the high value which the white men placed upon their daughters 



BLACK HAWK WAR. 415 



wrongs which he had suffered, tliau want of respect for his obliga- 
tions, A dispassionate view of the war and its causes, will show 
that he had grievances, and when it was impossible to redress 
them in a peaiceable manner, appealed to arms as the only arbi- 
trament. 



Chapter XXXVI. 
1834-1838— ADMimSTEATION OF GOVEEXOR DUNCAK. 

The Campaign — Life and Character of Duncan — More State Banlis 
and tvhat became of them — Slavery Agitation by Lovejoy — His 
Death, 



At tlie general election of Auoust 1834, Joseph Duncan was 
elected governor of the State. His principal opponent was ex- 
Lieut. Gov. Kinney, who was again an aspirant for gubernatorial 
lionors. Duncan was elected by a handsome majority: 17,330 votes 
to Kinney's 10,224 ; Robert McLaughlin received 4,320 and James 
Adams 887 votes for the same oflice. The candidates for lieutenant- 
governor were Alexander M. Jenkins, who received 13,795 votes; 
James Evans, 8,609 ; William B. Archer, 8,573, and Samuel Web- 
ster, 69. 

Gov. Duncan was born at Paris, Kentucky, February 23d, 1794. 
We have already noted his services in the war of 1812, under Col. 
Oroghan at Fort Stephenson, wlien he was yet quite young. In 
Illinois he first appeared in a public capacity as major-general of 
the militia, a position Avhich his military fame procured him. Sub- 
sequently he became a State senator from Jackson county, and is 
honorably mentioned for introducing the first bill providing for a 
free school system. In 1826, as we have seen, he gained great 
eclat by beating Daniel P. Cook for Congress, when in previous 
contests with the latter, such men as John McLean, Elias K. 
Kane, and Gov. Bond had met with disaster. From that time 
down to his election as governor, Duncan retained his seat in Con- 
gress. The first and bloodless year of the Black Hawk war he 
was appointed by Gov. Reynolds brigadier-general of the volun- 
teers, and conducted his brigade to Rock Island. Duncan was 
a man of limited education, but with naturally tine abilities he 
profited greatly by his various public services, and gathered a store 
of knowledge regarding public affairs which served him a ready 
purpose. He possessed a clear judgment, decision, confidence in 
himself and moral courage to carry out his convictions of right. 
In his dejiortment he was well adapted to gain the admiration of 
the people. His intercourse with them was affable, courteous and 
dignified. He insj)ired confidence and attached to himself un- 
swerving friends.* 

During the gubernatorial camijaign Duncan was absent in Wash- 
ington attending congress, and did not personally participate in 

'His portrait at the Governor's mansion presents him wltli swarthy complexion, high 
cheek bones, broad foreliead, piercing black eyes and straight black hair. 

416 



'>ii^^- 





4^^-. 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 417 

it, but addressed circulars to bis coustituents. His electiou was 
attributed to the circumstance of his absence, because his estrange- 
ment from Jackson — ^erst his political idol — and the Democracy, 
largely in ascendency in the State, was really complete ; but while 
bis defection was well known to his Whig friends, and also to 
the leading Jackson men of this State, the latter were unable to 
carry conviction of the fact to the masses. The dissemination of 
public events was not then facilitated by means of the telegraph 
and press, as now. President Jackson had crushed the U. S. Bank 
"with an arbitrary if not tyrannical hand ; he had vetoed bills con- 
taining appropriations for improving the channel of the great 
Wabash river and for the harbor at Chicago. These were W^est- 
evn nieasiu-es which Duncan had greatly at heart, and hence he 
refused to longer follow the dictatorial course of the " Military 
Ohieftain." His personal admiration of the old hero was changed 
to hatred of his acts. This course, so far as Jiis political for- 
tune was concerned, was a-n error; but no one could say that 
the step thus taken was not sincere. He had preferment to gain 
b}' remaining attached to the dominant i)arty, and nothing but 
disapi)ointment to look forward to in breaking with it. He com- 
mitted the mipardonable sin in politics, and was charged with in- 
consistency and betrayal of his former supporters.* 

These will ever be the fossilized views of men regarding party 
"ties or affiliations. Under such circumstances no concession is 
made by old party associates for the changed condition of the 
times — for the death of former issues or the obtrusion of live ones, 
nnencountered in past strifes. No leniency for new public ques-' 
tions is extended between violent partisans ; every man is gauged 
by a i)arty standard, irrespective of the princii^les he advocates. 
Duncan stood bravely to his new colors and never regretted, it is 
«aid, his cliange, made upon careful and candid examination of the 
Jackson measures. 

In his inaugural message, which was largely devoted to the dis- 
cussion of national jjolitics, Duncan threw off the mask and took 
a bold stand against the course of the President. Notwithstand- 
ing his defection, and the fact of a large majority in the legisla- 
ture being opposed to him, his recommendations relating to State 
afl'airs were most fully seconded and carried out. The laying out 
of public highways while the State was unsettled and they could 
be made straight between most of the imi)ortant points with little 
expense or difficulty, as urged by him, was responded to by the 
enactment of laws not only giving authority to county commis- 
sioners for these puri)oses, but by granting 42 State roads be- 
sides, and at the special session of the year following 40 more 
were added. Equally liberal were they with reference to the canal 
and charters for railroads. 

To the subject of banking he called attention as follows: 
"Banks may be made exceedingly useful in society, not only by 
affording an opportunity^ to the widow, the orphan and aged, who 
possess capital without the capacity of employing it in ordinary 

• It is related that an old constituent rebuked him as follows: "Now Gov. Duncan, 
we Jackson men took you up when you was poor and friendless ; we put you in high 
office and enableij you to make a fortune, and for ail this you have deserted us and 
gone to the Adams men. You was like a poor colt ; we caught you up out of a thicket, 
fed you on the best, combed the burrs out of your mane and tail, and made a fine horse 
of you ; and now you have strayed away from your owners." — Ford's History. 

27 



418 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



business, to invest it in such stocks ; but by its use the young and 
enterprising mechanic, merchant and tradesman may be enabled 
more successfully to carry on his business and improve the coun- 
try." 

To this the willing Legislature, taking no lesson of the disas- 
trous past, also responded by chartering a new State bank with a> 
capital of $1,500,000, and the privilege to increase its stock 
$1,000,000 more. Six branches were authorized ; and the old ter- 
ritorial Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, which had suspended 
business for ui)wards of 12 years, was revi\ed with a capital of 
$300,000. In lieu of aU taxes whatsoever, the State bank was 
to pay ^ of 1 per cent, on capital actually paid in. 

The legislature was not elected witli reference to the creation of 
a new bank. It was not dreamed of by the jjeople, who with much 
unanimity were averse to local banks, since the signal failure of 
the bank of 1821, the winding up of which, at a heavy loss to the 
State, had but four years before been provided for by the unpopu- 
lar Wiggins' loan. The chartering of these banks was the open- 
ing of a Pandora's box out of which rushed that multitude of 
evil legislation which followed with a promjjt step in the next few 
years, and which overwhelmed the State with debt and almost 
financial ruin. President Jackson had vetoed the bill to re-char- 
ter the U. S. Bank, which he regarded as " a permanent election- 
eering machine." Its old charter was about to expire and an in- 
adequate supply of currency was dreaded ; to meet which the 
Secretary of the Treasury " had encouraged the State and local 
banks liberally." This afforded to Democrats the pretext that Presi- 
dent Jackson, while he opposed a concern of such magnitude and 
" electioneering influence" as the U. S. bank, was really in favor of 
multiplying local banks. But the baidi; party was not without 
other arts and plots to pass this measure. Every string of the 
human lieart was played upon. A bitter feeling existed among 
the people in some portions of the State toward non-resident land 
owners, who held their lands at exorbitant prices, while every 
improvement made in the vicinity added to their value. 

The desire was to burden these lands with taxes and force them 
into the market at ijurchasable j)rices. The vote of an honorable 
senator, violently opposed to banks from principle, was obtained 
in consideration of the passage of a law to levy a tax for road 
purposes in the military tract, where the great body of non-resi- 
dent lauds was located.* In the house, where the bank bill 
passed by a bare majority — 27 yeas to 20 nays — a vote is said to 
have been obtained from a mend)er opposed, in consideration of 
his election to the office of State's attorney.-i-- Thus, says Gov. 
Ford, the making of a State's attorney made a State bank, and it 

•[Note —The feeliiifr of hostility toward non-residents found vent also, it is said, in 
trespasses upon their lands for timber, which was taken as it common property. The 
agents of the owners (the most unpopular men of the country) found no redress in the 
law. bec-iuse with witnesse'^, jurors, aud the s.vmpathy of the court all on the same side, 
the blind-folded soddess of justice, in these cases blinded with prejudice, was ef course 
with them. In this strait the distant land owners adopted the missionary plan, and 
soug-ht to eradicate the sin of timber thieving', and to conciliate the favor of the peo- 
ple, through the frentle ministrations of the pospel, for which purpose preachers were 
sent out, the cauntry divided into circuits and duly assifined But the inhabitants were 
incorrijj'ible. their feelinss obdurate, and if the.y did not reject the gospel, they never- 
theless continued to take the timber. To the land owners the g-ospel proved as ineffec- 
tual a protection as the law. — Fovd's Hist.] 

tThe Journal shows that our late lieutenant governor, John Dougherty, was chosen 
to that office on the following day. 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 419 

may be added, the bank was the incipient measure which led 
to others, and brought unnumbered woes upon the people of the 
State. The banks were not originally party measures. 

One million four hundred thousand dollars of the capital stock 
of the State bank was to be subscribed by individuals, and $100,- 
000 was reserved for the State to take in such amounts as the 
legislature should at any time deem i3roi:)er. Shares were $100 
each. The bank had the usual iiower to receive deposits, deal in 
bills, gold, and silver, etc., but was prohibited from dealing in real 
estate or personal property, other than to dispose of such as it 
might be compelled to buy or bid in at sales upon judgments. 
But it had power to borrow a million dollars to loan out on real 
estate mortgages for five years. This provision was to conciliate 
farmers, and extend to them long time accommodations. The 
principal bank was focated at Springfield, with a branch at Van- 
dalia; other branches might be established and discontinued as 
the officers should determine. Business was not to be commenced 
until $600,000 was paid in in specie. Commissioners to open sub- 
scription books for the capital stock, were appointed all over the 
State. Mne directors, one of whom was to be chosen president, 
were to manage the affairs of the corporation. The circulation 
was not to exceed two and a half times the j^aid up capital stock. 
Xo bills were to be issued of a less denomination than $5. If the 
bank refused to redeem for ten days after demand, it was to be 
closed and wound up. Such were some of the provisions of its 
charter, ^hich, rightly carried out, were not so bad. 

The stock was eagerly taken, the subscriptions greatly exceed- 
ing the limits of the charter. Shortly after the passage of the 
bank act, Thomas Mather, of Kaskaskia, John Tillson, of Hillsboro, 
Samuel Wiggins, of Cincinnati, T. W. Smith, associate judge of Uxe 
supreme court, and Godfrey, Gilman & Co., of Alton, negotiated 
for large sums of money in the east to invest in the stock. The 
charter provided for the opening of the books in this State for 20 
days before elsewhere, and to guard against undue influence from 
large stockholders, as their number of shares increased it propor- 
tionately lessened their votes for directors. To preserve the full 
vote of the stocks, therefore, it became desirable to obtain small 
subscriptions by citizens of this State, while they had the exclusive 
opportunity. With the view to engross enough stock to direct the 
bank, these parties procured, through numberless agents scattered 
over the State, powers of attornej', from any person disposed to 
make them, empowering them respectively to subscribe bank 
stock for them and to absolutely manage it subsequently. Thus 
there were many thousands of such subscriptions made by ])ersons 
whom it never cost a cent to own bank stock, and who remained, 
perhaps, ignorant of the fact they ever were bankers. The stock 
ran up to a premium of 13 per centum above par value.* 

When the commissioners convened to award the stock, it was 
moved that subscriptions made for residents should have prece- 
dence over those of non-residents, and that holders of proxies be 
required to make oath as to the actual residence of the principals. 
This proposition was supported by Judge T. W. Smith, between 
whom upon the one hand, and the rest of the parties named upon 
the other, the contest for the control of the institution obtained. 

•Duncan's Message, 1836 



420 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

It is said tbat he, of impeachment fame, was prepared to take 
such oath, and that he liad in good faith paid for all his proxies 
out of his own money 5 but the others could not thus swear. The 
resolution therefore did uot prevail; and Mather, Tills<ni, Godfrey, 
Gilman & (Jo., aud Wiggins united against Smith, controlled the 
bank, and elected a directory in their interest, with Mather as the 
president. The bank was in Whig control — just enough demo- 
crats were chosen as directors to give a semblance of fairness to 
the proceedings. 

At that time nearly the entire trade of the Upper Mississippi, 
includiug that of the lead mines of Illinois, was controlled by St. 
Louis. The ambition i^revailed to build up Alton, within our 
own State, as the commercial rival of St. Louis. Alton, in 1834, 
had been selected as the seat of government after the 20 years 
limitation at Vandalia should expire; but this honor she now 
readily yielded in consideration of becoming the great emi^orium 
of the valley of the Mississippi. The Alton interest in the new 
bank w^as so large that, without a combination of all the residue 
of the stock, it possessed a controlling influence. The bank 
therefore loaned its aid to the building up of Alton, and to the 
diversion of the trade of the west to it. Godfrey, Gilman & Co., 
merchants, were accommodated to the amount of $800,000 to con- 
trol and divert to Alton the immense lead trade of the mines on 
Fever river. The price of that commodity advanced directly 50 
to 75 per cent., by reason of local competition alone. To exclude 
further competition several hundred thousand dollars w^re prodi- 
gally invested in mines and smelting establishments. The agent 
of the firm did not stop with this, but as if furnished with the 
purse of Fortunatus, recklessly extended his investments to Galena 
lots, which under the enchantment advanced in a short time, it is 
said, 2000 per cent. But this lavish enterprise to secure the lead 
trade for Alton failed to have a corresponding effect upon eastern 
markets. After holding the lead a long time in store in the east 
for an advance, sale had finally to be made under accumulated 
charges at a ruinous sacrifice. To Stone, Manning & Co., of 
Alton, several hundred thousand dollars were advanced to operate 
in produce; and Sloo &.Co. received accommodations for like pur- 
l)oses, all proving equally disastrous. It was estimated that the 
bank lost by the Alton operations $1,000,000 ; but these reverses 
were not generally known. 

The legislature was convened in extraordinary session, Dec. 7, 
1835, and sat till Jan. 18th, following. In his message, among 
other measures, Gov. Duncan called attention to the subject of 
the banks, and recommended the subscription, by the State, of one 
million dollars provided for in the second section of the bank act, 
for which no steps had as yet been taken by the president and 
<lirectors, and no vested right had yet accrued to any one. His 
Excellency, in his sangnine expectations, stated that by so doing 
the State treasury wonld realize $300,000 in premiums on the 
$1,000,000; that the stock of the bank was then at a premium of 
13 per centum and that it would speedily rise to 30. The legisla- 
ture did not fully fall in with his extraordinary expectations, but 
by act of Jan. 16, 1836, the $100,000 of the capital stock reserved 
for the State was authorized to be sold; additional branches 
of discount and deposit, not more than three, were also authorized; 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 421 

and 50 days in addition to tlie 10 were allowed for the redemption 
of notes. These provisions were not to take effect until the bank 
first contracted with the governor to redeem the Wiggins' loan. 
By another act of the same date, the bank paper was authorized to 
be received in payment of the revenue of the State, college, school 
and seminary debts. 

But the following year the legislature did not hesitate. At this 
session were authorized all those extravagant measures of internal 
improvement which in a few years entailed ui)on tlie young Stare a 
debt so vast as nearly to bankrupt it. But of this farther along. 
By act of March 4, 1837, the cai)ital stock of the State bank was in- 
creased $2,000,000, the whole to be subscribed for the State by 
the fund commissioners, an executive body of the internal im- 
provement S3'stem. The capital stock of the Bank of Illinois, 
located at Shawneetown, was in like manner autliorized to be 
increased $1,400,000, $1,000,000 being reserved for the State, and 
$400,000 for private subscription. The consent of the banks 
was first to be obtained, but either might accept the State 
subscription, to the amount authorized. In subscribing, the State 
was to advance the same per centum — $5 a share — as originally 
paid by x^rivate stockholders. The fund connnissioners were 
authorized to sell the State's certificate of stock, and to use the 
surplus reveiuies of the United States from the sale of lands, as 
money miglit be needed from time to time for subscriptions. Five 
additional directors for the State bank were also provided, on be- 
half of the State, to be elected by the leg:islature, which still left 
a majority to private stockholders, although the State owned a 
majority of the stock by exceeding 20 per centum. The same 
was true of the Shawneetown bank, which was to have nine 
directors. This bank was also authorized to establish three 
branches, one at Jacksonville, at Alton and at Lawrenceville, 
with each such amount of capital as the mother bank could safely 
sup[)ly. The banks were designated as the places of deposit of 
all the public revenues, and the moneys borrowed by the fund 
commissioners to carry on the internal improvements of the State. 
The}' were to render quarterly statements of their financial condi- 
tion to the commissioners, and the legislature might institute such 
examinations into their affairs, from time to time, as might be 
deemed requisite, ^o charges for disburseuients were to be made 
by the State banks. The dividends accruing upon the State's 
stock were first to be applied in i)ayment of the interest upon 
loans ; and the premium from State bonds, fondly exjjected to be 
at least 10 per centum, was to constitute a fund to be held inviola- 
ble for the payment of interest on loans effected to carry on the 
internal improvements. Many were the ingenious arguments, 
deduced from the fact tliat the first $1,500,000 had with great 
avidity been taken in the spring of 1835 — the i)remiuni rising to 
13 per centum — that the present stock would readily command ten 
per centum, and that the State's bank stock would yield a suffi- 
cient dividend to ijay all interest on the bank bonds and leave a 
margin besides. When the State bonds were exposed in market 
by the commissioners, it was found that they would not only not 
bring a premium, but could not be negotiated even at par. In this 
strait the banks themselves came to the rescue, and, rather than the 
scheme should fail, took the bonds at par, amounting to $2,065,000. 



422 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The Shawneetown bank effected a sale of its share (|900,000), but 
the balance ($1,765,000) taken by the State bank, was not dis- 
posed of ; it however served the purpose of a capital for the bank, 
and its business was amplitied correspondingly. 

The banks, tliroiiybout their career, met with persistent opposi- 
tion from inMuential party inauagers. Tliis was greatly augmen- 
ted by the fact that their officers, the president, cashiers, and a 
large majority of the directors, were whigs, which aroused the 
jealousy of democrats, causing them to charge that the banks 
were political concerns, operated for the ad^■ancement of party 
affairs. Jackson's expression respecting the United States bank 
— that it was a "gigantic electioneering machine" — was not forgot- 
ton. Judge T. W. Smith, who had drafted the charter of the State 
bank, and worked earnestly with democrats for its passage in the 
legislature, had ever since his defeat for its control, animated by 
that sijirit which if it cannot rule is bent upon ruin, made war up- 
on it, and now hesitated not to pronounce its charter unconstitu- 
tional. He was joined by many other sore party leaders. 

By an act of congress, passed at the i)receding session, it was 
provided that the surplus revenue of the United States, arising 
from the sale of public lands, &c., might be deposited with the 
different States. The bank accordingly solicited the treasury 
departmeut at Washington to become the dej)ository of the pub- 
lic moneys, but the credit of the State had been stabbed in the 
back, by its own disappointed citizens furnishing statements so 
derogatory, that the secretary declined the request. Among the 
more influential opponents of the banks was Judge McEoberts, 
then receiver of the public moneys at Danville. Party malice 
and private resentments outweighed the public good. The hills 
fell below par and from that time steadily depreciated. The notes 
of the bank were gathered up and presented for specie to enter 
laud. Had the specie been re-deposited by the government, the 
relief from this annoyance would have been very great. But 
this, through the vengeful machinations of disappointed parti- 
sans, was not to be. The bank, to retard the constant ebb of 
specie from its vaults, had recourse to the plan of exchanging 
issues between the respective branches, and thus throwing the cir- 
culation as far from the place of redemption as possible. 

Hardly were the banks in operation, with their enormously 
augmented capital stocks, when the disastrous tinancial revulsion 
of 1837 occurred. In May the banks of Illinois suspended specie 
payments. They were solvent, but the drain of specie at that 
time could not be borne. The charters provided that if redemp- 
tion in specie was refused for 60 days together, they were to be- 
come forfeited and the banks should go into liquidation. They 
were the depositories of the moneys raised by the sale of State 
bonds; of the State revenue; in a word the fiscal agents of the 
State, and their suspension would involve the State and all its 
splendid scheme of internal imju-ovements in common ruin. In 
this dilemma, the governor was urged by the canal commissioners 
to convene the legislature to legalize an indefinite suspension of 
specie jiayments by the banks. A special session was called 
July 10th, 1837, and the bank suspensions were legalized. But to 
his excellency's urgent appeal to repeal the pernicious system of 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 423 

internal improvenieuts by the State, and remit the same to iirivate 
enterprise duly encouraged, the legishiture turned a deaf ear. 

Parties in Illinois became almost divided upon the subject of 
the banks, j^early all the leading democrats opposed them and 
the acts legalizing their suspensions, although they were author- 
ized and their cai)ital stocks were increased irrespective of party. 
The whigs were called bank-vassals and rag-ocracy, and charged 
to be bonght and owned by British gold. The bank oflHcers were 
sarcastically denominated rag-barons; and the money was called 
rags and printed lies. The Avhigs retorted that the democrats 
were disloyal, and destructive of their own government ; that the 
Ijanks were the institution of the State, and to make war upon the 
currency Avas to oppose its connnerce and impede its growth and 
<ievelopment. Although parties were in a measure divided upon 
the banks, with the democrats largely in the majority, this was 
not without benefit to those institutions. It gave them unswerv- 
ing friends. Besides, the merchants and business men of that 
day were, with rare exceptions, whigs, who gave currency or not to 
the money as they pleased. Partisan zeal led them to profess 
that the banks were not only solvent, but that they were unduly 
pursued, and that the opposition to them was nothing but absui-d 
party cry. 

When the suspensions of the banks was legalized again in 
1839, it was to extend until the end of the next general or special 
session of the general assembly. The legislature for 184:0-41 was 
convened two weeks before the commencement of the regular ses- 
sion to provide means to paj^ the interest on the public debt, due 
•on the first of January following. Tlie influence and power of the 
banks over members were very considerable. The democrats now, 
however, thought that their time of triumph had arrived. It was 
by them contended, that that portion of the session preceding the 
time fixed for the regular session to begin, constituted a special 
session, and if the suspension was not further extended, the banks 
would be compelled to resume specie payment on the day the 
regular session should begin or forfeit their charters and stop 
business. Upon the other hand, it was contended that the whole 
constituted but one session. Much party animosity was, besides, 
manifested at this session. The fate of the banks seemed to hang 
upon the motion pending to adjourn the first part of the session 
Mne die. It was perceived that the motion wouhl prevail. To 
defeat it in the House, the Avhigs now essayed to break the 
•quorum. But the doors were closed, a call of the House ordered, 
and the sergeant at arms sent in quest of the absentees. The 
whigs, being thus cut off from the usual aveiuies of retreat, 
bounded pell mell out of the windows, but without avail — enough 
were held in durance to make a quorum, and the sine die adjourn- 
ment was carried. Among the members of the House we find 
the names of some of the most notable men in the annals of Illin- 
■ois : John «T. Hardin, Abraham Lincoln, Josiah Francis, &c., but 
whether these whigs participated in the window escapade is not 
definitely known. The session was the first in Springfield, and 
the House occupied the old ^nd Presbyteriau church, which stood 
north of the new edifice occupied by the legislature in 1871. 

The banks were now thought to be dead, and that nothing 
remained to be done but to wind up their affairs. But their ene- 



424 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

mies reckoned without tlieir host. The splendid triumph of the 
democrats proved a barren victory. The regular session began 
on the 1st Monday in December, with the same members, and 
before the close of the month the banks obtained not only a 
further lease of life, and license to susi)end specie payment, but 
were authorized to issue one, two, and three dollar bills besides, to 
effect change — silver having been driven out of circulation by the 
depreciated jiaper. The debtors of the bank were again allowed 
to give new notes by j)iiying ten per cent, interest on their indebt- 
edness. By what potency these additional privileges were pro- 
cured must be left to conjecture. The State baidv was the 
custodian of the public moneys and revenues of the State, as it 
were, a substitute for the treasury. Auditor's warrants, at a dis- 
count of 50 per cent, were drawn upon the bank and i^aid in its- 
currency, worth a good deal more than the warrants, both in and 
outside of the State. All the State officers, hichidiug the mem- 
bers of the assembly, were for their pay in the power of the bank,, 
and if these would do nothing to uphold the credit of that insti- 
tution — their own creature — the honorable gentlemen might 
return to their constituents without other in their pockets than 
auditor's warrants ! This, together with such judicious and timely 
accommodations to impecunious party leaders as the exigency 
dictated, enabled the bank to render the glorious democratie 
victory barren of results. 

But the new lease of power did not last long. There were other 
influences arising from the inevitable laws of tinance, more potent 
in their effects than acts of the legislature. When money is- 
abundant credit is extended without stint. Witli the vast system 
of internal improvements and the large circulation of tlie banks, 
this was the condition of Illinois. The people were largely in debt 
on account of speculations which proved delusions, and also to 
the merchants ; the latter in turn had received either accommoda- 
tions at the banks or owed for goods abroad; contracts matured 
but nobody paid. The State revenues being inadequate to meet^ 
its expenditures — the people averse to higher taxation, and the 
legislators, with a tender regard to personal consequences, disin- 
clined to impose them — the bank, to gain the favor of the legisla- 
ture, taxed its resources to redeem the outstanding auditor'^ 
warrants, amounting to near $300,000. Its bills had gradually 
declined to 12 and 15 per cent, discount. Now came the bank 
directors themselves, as contractors to build the Northern Cross^ 
railroad, and added the last feather to the camel's back. For the 
building of the railroad they were to receive in payment canal 
bonds, which were at that juncture not negotiable. To obtain 
accommodations from the banks, these directors defeated a pro- 
posed order against expansion during the suspension.* Receiv- 
ing loans for themselves to carry forward the public works on 
their contracts, they, to be consistent, voted like favors to others. 
The credit of the bank was put to its utmost tension. Its volume 
of money, further swollen, sank to a lower discount. And in 
February, 1842, the monster institution, with a circulation ex- 
ceeding 13,000,000, snapped its thread of life and passed into 
dissolution, spreading devastation upon every hand, far and wide.. 

*Soe Gov. Ford's mistake as to this in his History of Illinois. 223-4. 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 425 

Tlie Bank of Illinois, at Sliawiieetown, was similarl}' involved. 
It loaned to the State, in the first place, $80,000 to coiui)lete the 
new State House at S[)rlngfield ; early in the autumn of 1839, upon 
the earnest solicitation of Gov. Carlin and his engagement to de- 
posit as a pledge $500,000 in internal inii)rovement bonds, the 
bank advanced the Commissioners of Public Works $200,000. 
The collateral deposit was, however, never made nor the sum bor- 
rowed ever repaid. In June following, with a circulation of some 
$1,700,000, it also collapsed. The people were left destitute of au 
adequate circidating medium, and Avere not supjilied until tlie or- 
dinary processes of their limited commerce brought in gold and 
silver, and the bills of solvent banks from neighboring States, 
which was tardy enough, there being but little emigration to Illi- 
nois at that time. The banks and the State had been partners 
in speculation and they were now partners in embarrassment. 
The revenues were payable i)i the notes of these broken banks ; 
the State paid no interest on her bonds, of which the banks held 
a large amount, and they were worth in market but 14 cents on the 
dollar. 

But the old firm of Banks and State was to be speedily dissolved. 
By act of January 24, 1843,* to " diminish the State debt and put 
the State Bank into liquidation," the bank was given 4 years to 
wind up its business, but it was required to go into immediate 
liquidation and pay out all its si^ecie pro rata to its bill holderwS 
and depositors, and issue to theui certificates of indebtedness for 
the unpaid balances; $15,000 in specie being- however first re- 
served to the bank to pay the expenses of winding up its 
affairs. The new certificates were to be registered by the com- 
missioner and made receivable in payment of any debt due the 
bank, or for the redemption of lands purchased by the bank under 
execution. The debtors of the bank ui)on paying instalments of 
1-5 principal and interest, were authorized to execute new notes 
from time to time for their indebtedness. The bank was to deliver 
within five days to the Governor, State bonds, scrip and other evi- 
dences of debt equal to $2,050,000, he to surrender to the bank a 
like amount of State Bank stock, $50,000 being reserved for the 
final winding up of tlie affairs of the bank. All its banking 
privileges, other than those necessary to wind up its business, were 
to innnediately cease ; no property of the bank was to be sold on 
execution or otherwise, except for two-thirds of its api)raised 
value. The bank might reserve from its sale such real estate as 
it deemed proper. Three days were allowed to file its acceptance 
with the Secretary of State. It was a very favorable act for the 
bank and an administration measure strongly seconded by a few 
leading Democrats, which caused it to i)revail, as we shall see. 

A somewhat similar bill, under the high souiuling title of " An 
act to reduce the public debt one million dollars and put the Bank 
of Illinois into liquidation," passed at the same session, in relation 
to the Shawneetown bank. It was to surrender State stocks orother 
liabilities of the Stitte equal on their face to $1,000,000, half in five 
days and half in 12 months, when the governor was to assign 
to it an equivalent of State Bank stock. The charter of the Caii'O 
bank Avas repealed. By these acts the immediate extinguishment 
of $2,206,000 was provided. But these acts were not passed with- 

* See House Reports, 1843-3, 203-4-5. " 



420 niSTORY or illikois. 

out considerable opposition. The disposition on the part of many 
was to crush the banks, to which all the woe of the struggling 
country was ascribed, with one fell blow by a direct repeiil of their 
charter, which they had frequently forfeited, however it might in- 
volve the best interests of the State in their disaster. 

Prior to this, and in anticipation of this compromise legislation 
and the surrender by the State of her bank stock in exchange for 
her bonds, after the failure of the Bank of Illinois in 1842, the 
whole concern was purchased as a speculation by a company of 
sharpers, who elected themselves its otticers. Some of the direc- 
tors then secretly borrowed from the bank $100,000 in si>ecie, 
which was transmitted to New York and purchased State scrip 
and $333,000 of the $804,000 of interest bonds hypothecated Avith 
Macallister and Stebbins in 1841 by Fund Commissioner White- 
sides, for $201,500, contrary to law. Under the law these bonds 
were to be sold for what they would bring, but could not be hy- 
pothecated, as the recipients well knew. The favored directors, 
by connivance of the board, first paid the specie borrowed from 
the bank with $100,000 of these bonds, which cost them 30 cents 
on the dollar. Their unpaid stock notes were similarly discharged. 
A member of the legislature, fierce in his denunciation of bank 
corruption, availed himself of these bonds and paid a $10,000 
note to the baidc. After the bonds and scrij) had ])assed into the 
control of the bank, they were, in 1844, tendered to Governor Ford 
in payment of the half million dollars of the State's bank stock, 
which was to be surrendered in 12 months after the i)assage of the 
Bank Liquidation law of 1843. The governor refused at first to 
receive these bonds ; a law had been passed to settle with Macal- 
lister and Stebbins by paying interest on the sum actually ad- 
vanced by them, and their surrender of the hypothecated bonds, 
making about 28 cents on the dollar ; to have received a large 
share of these bonds at their face value would have defeated the 
law for this adjustment. Later it became patent, however, that 
Macallister and Stebbins had parted with many more of the bonds 
than the Bank of Illinois had received, and that they were unable 
to comply with the law if they had the will, and as the condition 
of the bank became constantly uiore hopeless and the president 
intended to return these bonds to New York, the governor, in the 
fall of 1844, received them conditionally, subject to the approval 
of the legislature. That body, unwilling to countenance the kna- 
very of the bank officers, at first refused to ratify the contract of 
the governor, but at the succeeding session, 1840-'47, compro- 
mised by receiving the bonds at 48 cents on the dollar.* 

Subsequently the State Bank of Missouri, jointly with several 
other creditors, brought a chancery suit in the United States 
court for the district of Illinois against the Bank of Illinois, its 
officers and agents. By the decree in the cause, three receivers were 
appointed to take charge of the bank's assets, make sale and apply 
the proceeds in payment of the debts, the redemption of its issues, 
and to settle its atiairs generally. By agreement but one of these 
trustees, Albert G. Calwell, qualified. Upon his death, soon after, 
Judge W. Thomas of Jacksonville, was appointed in his place, 
who acted in that capacity some 20 years. Earlj- in the fall of 
1871 he remitted to W. H. Bradly, clerk of the U. S. district court 

• This chapter has in great part been gathered from Ford's History. 



Duncan's administration. 427 



at Chicago, tlie special auditor, a batch of notes and certificates of 
$700 for cancelhition. This it was supposed would be about the 
last to be presented for redemption, and that the trust would be 
fiuallj' closed shortly after. 

SLAVERY AGITATION — DEATH OF LOVEJOY. 

The year 1837 is memorable for the death of Illinois' first martyr 
to liberty, Elijah P. Lovejoy. He was born at Albion, Kennebec 
county, Maine, Nov. 9, 1S02. At the age of 21 he entered Water- 
ville college, and after graduating with the first honors of his 
class, removed to St. Louis and commenced teaching. A year or 
two afterward he exchanged the occupation of a teacher for that 
of the journalist, became the editor of the St. Louis Times, and 
advocated the election of Henry Clay as president of the United 
States. Not long after he had entered this new held of labor, he 
united with the Presbyterian church, and determined to abandon 
journalism for the clerical profession. Accordingly at thp age of 30 
he repaired to the theological school at Princetown, I>r. J., entered 
with great ardor upon his studies, and in ]833 was licensed to 
preach by the Presbytery of Philadelphia. The following summer 
was spent in preaching in Newijort, Ehode Island, and at Spring 
Church, N". Y., after which he returned to St. Louis. Here he 
again assumed the editorial chair and issued the first number of the 
St. Louis Observer; a religious newspaper, Nov. 22d, 1833. Soon 
after he incurred the ill-will of the Catholic Church, by character- 
izing the proceedings in laying the cornerstone of a cathedral 
on the Sabbath as a desecration of the day, and charging that 
the use of the United States artillery and cavalry, which were 
brought in requisition to give prestige to the occasion, was a pros- 
titution of the purposes for which they were intended. From the 
clerical rancor excited by this out-spoken expression of opinion, 
he thought proceeded ♦he persecutions which he subsequently 
encountered, though masked in the guise of abolition. The ques- 
tion of slavery even at that early day was one of absorbing 
interest, and it was impossible for a person Avith Lovejoy's vigorous 
intellect and fearless manner of speaking, not to become involved 
in its discussion and not incur the hatred of its advocates. The 
subject having arrested his attention he wrote an editorial on it, 
and left the city to attend a Presbyterian synod. During his 
absence it made its appearance in the columns of the Observer^ 
and such was the commotion it excited, that the owners of the 
press were compelled to publish a card to allay the excitement and 
prevent a mob from destroying their property. On his return a 
paper was presented him by a number of leading citizens and the 
minister who received him intoithe church, in which they expressed 
the opinion that slavery is sanctioned by the bible, and asked him 
to desist from its further discussion. Though the authors of this 
request represented the intelligence and morality of St. Louis, if 
honest, how little they understood the personal rights of mankind, 
and how little they supposed this question was destined in less 
than half a century to shake the continent with civil commotion. 
This paper was inserted in the Observer and also a reply from Mr. 
Lovejoy, in which he claimed the right to publish his honest con- 
victions. In answer to the biblical view given of slavery, he 



428 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



reminded his censors of the goklen rule — make not slaves of others 
if you do not wish to be made slaves of yourselves. His state- 
ments, although couched in the most inofiensive language, again 
excited the ire of the citizens, and the proprietors of the press 
took possession of it to prevent a recurrence of the disturbance. 
A friend, however, interposed and agreed to restore the press to 
him, provided he would remove it to Alton, where he might use it 
safely. The offer was accepted, but after he had gone thither to 
make arrangements for publishing the paper, he was invited to 
return to St. Louis. On going back he resumed his editorial labors 
and continued them until the summer of 1835, when he again be- 
came involved in difficulties. 

On the 23d of April, the police arrested a negro by the name of 
Mcintosh, who, while on the way to prison, drew his knife and 
killed one and badly wounded anotlier of the officers having him 
in charge. In consequence of the murderous assault, a large 
crowd surrounded the jail in which he was imprisoned, and taking 
him thence they bound him to a stake and burnt him to death. 
The community being largely in sympathy with the perpetrators 
of this unlawful and fiendish act, it was a long time befoie they 
were brought to trial. When at length the matter was presented 
to a grand jury, the judge, by the most gross perversion of facts, 
informed them that the Observer had caused the negro to nnirder 
the policeman, and that there was no law for punishing them who 
burnt him at the stake. A succeeding number of this sheet 
repelled the flagrant charge made by the judge, alluded to the 
fact that he was a Catholic, and intimated tlnit his vieAvs respect- 
ing the enforcement of the law coxdd only result from Jesuitical 
teaching. The editor, aware that the statement would be followed 
by another outburst of indignation and an attempt to destroy the 
press, immediately caused it to be shipped to Alton, whither it 
arrived July 21st, 183G. The day being the Sabbath, Mr. Lovejoy 
Ijroposed to let it remain on the wharf till Monday, but the 
ensuing night it was secretly visited by a number of persons, who 
broke it into pieces and threw it into the river. When this 
dastardly act became known the next day, the people became 
excited and the ensuing evening a large meeting assembled in the 
Presbyterian church, to listen to addresses by Mr. Lovejoy and 
other speakers. The former stated that he had come to Alton to 
establish a religious new^spaper, that he was pleased with the town, 
and as most of his subscribers resided in Illinois, it would be best 
for him to make it his future home; that he regretted his presence 
had caused so much excitement, and the people must have a 
w^rong api)reciatiou of his object; that he was not an abolitionist, 
and had been frequently denounced by Garrison and others as 
being" pro-slavery because he was jiot in favor of their measures ; 
that he was opposed to slavery, ever had been and hoped he 
always Avould be. This statement corresponds with his previous 
declarations and position in regard to slavery. He always mani- 
fested a strong sympathy for the oppressed, and in common with 
a large and intelligent class of persons at that time, in both the 
north and south, regarded colonization as the best means of free- 
ing the country from the curse of slavery. With the progress of 
events, this scheme, though it had enlisted the regard of statesmen 
and philanthropists, was abandoned for more practical views. Mr. 



DUNCAN'S ADlVnNISTRATION. 429 

Lovejoy, who never permitted himself to fall behind the march of 
ideas, also took a more advanced position. In the same meeting 
he also said that "lie was now removed from slavery and could 
publish a newspaper without discussing it, and that it looked like 
cowardice to flee from the place where the evil existed and come 
to a place where it did not exist to oppose it." With these decla- 
rations, extorted to a great extent by the tyrannical censorship of 
the slave power, he no doubt after his arrival at Alton intended 
to comply. Indeed he might justly have concluded that it was 
useless to waste his time and energy in endeavoring to benefit a 
community which was endeavoring to exercise over him a bondage 
worse than that which fettered the body of a slave. Yet, as the 
contest between freedom and slaverj^ grew warmer and earnest 
champions were needed to contend for the right, Mr. Lovejoy 
concluded that duty required him to again enter the arena of 
discussion. 

As the result of the meeting, funds were raised, another press 
was sent for, and the tirst number of the Alton Observer was issued 
Sept. 8, 1836. Its editor, gifted with more than ordinary ability, 
soon extended its circulation, its discussions at first being mostly 
confined to subjects of a moral and literary character. By and 
by the question of slavery was also broached. Mr. Lovejoy, no 
doubt smarting under the unjust surveillance to which he was 
subjected at the starting of his paper, seemed now determined to 
exercise his constitutional rights to free speech, being willing 
that the laws of his country, not the dictation of ruffians, should 
decide as to whether he abused this privilege. 

In the issue of June 29, 1837, at the instance of the American 
Anti-slavery Society, he favored the circulation of a petition for the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the suc- 
ceeding number he speaks of the importance of organizing an anti- 
slavery society for the State of Illinois. In the same paper he also 
indulged the following reflections, suggested by the 4th of July: 
" This day reproaches us for our sloth and inactivity. It is the 
day of our nation's birth. Even as we write crowds are hurrying 
past our window in eager anticipation to the appointed bower, to 
listen to the declaration that 'All men are created equal;' to hear 
the eloquent orator denounce, in strains of manly indignation, the 
attempt of England to lay a yoke on the shoulders of our fathers 
which neither they nor their children could bear. Alas what bit- 
ter mockery is this. We assemble to thank God for our own free- 
dom, and to eat with joy and gladness of heart while our feet are 
on the necks of nearly 3,000,000 of our fellow-men. Not all our 
shouts of self- congratulation can drown their groans; even that 
very flag which waves over our head is formed from material cul- 
tivated by slaves, on a soil moistened by their blood, drawn from 
them by the whip of a republican task -master." As soon aathis 
was read, the pro-slavery men assembled in the market house and 
passed a number of resolutions, in which, with strange incongruity, 
they claim the right of free speech for themselves, while they 
plot to deprive another of the same privilege. A committee was 
appointed to inform Mr. Lovejoy that he must cease agitating the 
question of slavery, and they accordingly dropped a letter in the 
post-office, containing a dema.nd to that effect. The editor rei^lied 
to the communication, by denying their right to dictate to him 



430 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



what it was proper to discuss, and at tlie same time tendered tliem 
the use of Lis paper to refute bis opinions if they were wrong. 
They, however, chose a more summary manner for ending- the con- 
troversy. On the night of the 25th of August a mob made an as- 
sault on the ofdce of the Observer, with stones and brickbats, and 
after driving out tlie employes entered and completely demolished 
the press. Mr. Lovejoy himself was afterward surrounded in the 
street by a number of ruffians, it was believed, for the i)urpose of 
offering him violence. These outrages were boldly committed, 
without any attempt being made by the city oflicials to bring the 
rioters to justice. The anti-slavery party of the towu, of course, 
were justly incensed at this wanton outrage and willful disregard 
of individual rights, but being largely in the minority, all they 
coidd do was to quietly submit and send for a new press. This, 
however, the proscribed editor was never to see. Leaving Alton 
shortly after to attend a presbytery, the press arrived Septem- 
ber 21st, and in his absence it was demolished and, like its prede- 
cessor, thrown into the Mississii)pi. These uidawful proceedings 
ha<l now been perpetrated so often in St. Louis and Alton with 
impunity, that not only these localities but other places were rap- 
idly becoming demoralized. Not long after the destruction of the 
third press Mr. Lovejoy visited his mother-in-law at St. Charles, 
Mo. Here he was violently assailed by a crowd of ruffians, with 
the avowed object of taking his life, and it was only at the inter- 
position of his heroic and devoted wife that he escaped their mur- 
derous intent. 

In the meantime the friends of Mr. Lovejoy sent for a fourth 
press, and it was in connection with this that the tragedy' occurred 
which cost him his life. In anticipation of its arrival a series of 
meetings were held in which both the friends of freedom and sla- 
very were represented. The object of the latter was to effect a 
compromise, but it was one in which liberty was to make conces- 
sions to oppression ; in which the proprietors of the Observer were 
to forego the legitimate use of their property to appease an igno- 
rant mob, and in which right and modern progress were required to 
submit to injustice and the exploded ideas of the past. Mr. Hogan, 
the Metiiodist minister, endeavored to prove from the Bible the 
inexpediency of the course pursued by Mr. Lovejoy and his friends, 
in which he remarked: " The great apostle had said all things 
are lawful for him, but all things are not expedient; if Paul yielded 
to the law of exj)ediency would it be wrong for Mr. Lovejoy to fol- 
low his example 'i The spirit of God did not pursue Paul to his 
destruction for thus acting, but on the contrary commended his 
course ; Paul had never taken u]> arms to propagate the re- 
ligion of his master, nor to defend himself from the attacks of his 
enemies ; the people of Damascus were opposed to Paul, but did 
he argue with the populace the question of his legal right ; did he 
say. I am a minister of Christ and must not leave the work of my 
master to flee before the face of a mob." 

This was strange advice to come from the abettor of a faction, 
first to inangurate violence, and at that very time conspiring 
against the life of one who was legally void of offense. The rev- 
erend gentleman seemed to think the aggrieved should exercise 
forbearance, while the mob might insult and destroy with 
impunity. Mr. Beecher, president of Illinois College, was 



DUNCAN'S ADjNUNISTRATION. 431 

present aud delivered addresses, iu which he took a positi(^)H 
ahnost as objectionable as that of Mr. Hogan. He belie^'ed that 
slavery was morally wrong, and should not be tolerated for a 
moment. He contended, that if the constitution tjanctioued 
iniquity', it was also wrong, and could not be binding upon the 
people, that for his part he did not acknowledge obedience to the 
constitution, and as long as it tolerated slavery, he could not. 
But when he came to urge the rights of his friends to freedom of 
speech and the peaceable use of their pro])erty, he invoked all 
the guaranties of the constitution and government to protect 
them in the enjoyment of these privileges. He would now have 
others to submit to the law, while he was unwilling to do it him- 
self. Mr. Lovejoy, who was more consistent than either of these 
gentlemen, contended only for his undoubted rights, and express- 
ed in a conciliatory manner his unalterable determination to main- 
tain them. "Mr. Chairman," said he, ''what have I to compromise? 
If freely to forgive those who have so greatly injured me ; if to 
pray for their temporal and eternal happiness ; if still to wish for 
the jjrosperity of your city and State, notwithstanding the 
indignities I have suffered in them ; if this be the compromise 
intended, then do I willingly make it. I do not admit that it is 
the business of any body of men to say whether I shall or 
shall not publish a paper in this city. That right was given to 
me by my Creator, and is solemnly guaranteed by the constitutions 
of the United States and this State. But if by compromise is meant 
that I shall cease from that which duty requires of me, I cannot 
make it, and the reason is, that I fear God more than man. It is 
also a very different question whether I shall voluntarily, or at 
the request of my friends, yield up my position, or whether I shall 
forsake it at the demand of a mob. The former I am ready at aU 
times to do when the circumstances require it, as I will never put 
my personal wishes or interests in competition with the cause of 
that master whose minister I am. But the latter, be assured I 
never will do. You have, as the lawyers say, made a false issue. 
There are no two parties between whom there can be a comprom- 
ise. I plant myself down on my unquestionable rights, and the 
question to be decided is, whether I shall be protected in those 
rights — that is the question. You may hang me, as the mob hung 
the individuals at Vicksburg. You may burn me at the Stake, as 
they did old Mcintosh at St. Louis, or you may tar and feather 
me, or throw me into the Mississippi, as you have threatened to 
do, but you cannot disgrace me. I, and I alone, can disgrace my- 
self, and the deei)est of all disgrace would be at a time like this 
to deny ni}" Maker by forsaking his cause. He died for me, and I 
were most unworthy to bear his name should I refuse, if need be, 
to die for him. 

The boat having the obnoxious press on board arrived early in 
the morning, Nov. 7th, 1837, and the latter was immediately 
removed to the stone warehouse of Godfrey, Gilmau & Co. The 
proprietors and their friends now assembled with arms to defend 
it. No violence was offered till the ensuing night, when a mob of 
about 30 persons came from the drinking saloons and demanded 
the press. This insolent and unjust demand was of course 
refused, when the assailants, with stones, brickbats and guns, 
commenced an attack on the building. Those within, among 



432 HTSTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 

wliom was Mr. Lovejoy, returned the fire, by which one of 
the mob was killed and several others wounded. This warm 
reception caused them to retire, some to bear away the dying 
man, t)tliers to summon reinforcements, but the most of them 
visited the adjacent grog-shops for the purpose of reviving their 
courage. Soon after, the bells of the city were rung, horns were 
blown, and an excited multitude came rushing to the warehouse, 
some urging on the drunken and imbruted mob, and others per- 
suading them to desist. Ladders were placed against the side of 
the building without windows, where there was no danger from 
within, and several persons ascended to fire the roof. Mr. Lovejoy 
and some others on learning their danger, rushed out and firing 
upon the incendiaries drove them away. After returning to the 
inside and reloading their pieces, Mr. Lovejoy, with two or three 
companions, not seeing any foe on the south side, again stei>ped 
out to look after the roof Concealed assassins were watching, 
and simultaneously tiring, five bullets entered his body, when he 
exclaimed, "My God! I am shot," and expired. With the fall of 
the master spirit, the defenders of the press surrendered it to the 
mob, who broke it into fragments and threw them into the river. 

The following day a grave was dug on a high bluff, in the 
southern part of the city, and the body, without ceremony, was 
thrown into it and covered up. Some years afterward, the same 
elevation was chosen as the site of a cemetery, and in laying out 
the grounds, the main avenue chanced to pass over the grave of 
Lovejoy. To obviate the difficulty, his ashes were interred in a 
new locality, and within a few years past a simple monument was 
erected over the spot, bearing the inscrii)tion : Hicjacet Lovejoy; 
jam parce sepulto. 

Of those who participated in this infamous crime, it may be 
mentioned that the leader of the outlaws finally became a prisoner 
in the Ohio iJenitentiary ; the person most instrumental in com- 
mitting the murder was killed in a brawl in New Orleans, while 
many others, it is said, ended their lives in violence and dis- 
grace. 

The aggressive life and tragic death of Mr. Lovejoy furnishes a 
subject for profitable reflection. In common with all true 
reformers, he possessed a grasp of intellect which enabled him to 
see and act in advance of his time, and hence was unappreciated 
by his less gifted cotemi:)oraries. The world has often murdered 
the authors of its progress, and it is not stiange that he lost his 
life. Every considerable advance in theology has had its jjersecu- 
tions and martyrs. The magna chartaof English liberty was wrung 
from the grasp of tyranny by the death of i)atriots. France has 
battled and bled for republican government, yet her object is only 
half attained. The cause for which Lovejoy died finally 
triumphed, yet it cost one of the most bloody civil wars known to 
history. Such has been in general the past history of reform. 



Chapter XXXVII. 
STATE INTERXAL IMPEO.VEMEXT SYSTEM. 



In his message to the legislature at the special session begun 
December 7, 1835, Gov. Duncan said: "When we look abroad 
and see the extensive lines of inter-communication penetrating 
almost every section of our sister States — when we see the canal- 
boat and the locomotive bearing, with seeming triumph, the rich 
productions of the interior to the rivers, lakes aud ocean, almost 
annihilating time, burthen and space, what patriot bosom does not 
beat high with a laudable ambition to give to Illinois her full 
share of those advantages which are adorning her sister States, 
and which a munificent Providence seems to invite by the won- 
derful adaptation of our wliole country to such improvements." 
Pennsylvania and other States were at the time engaged m exten- 
sive works of internal improvement. The legislature responded 
to the ardent words of the governor in a liberal mani.er, by char- 
tering a great number of railroads, almost checkering the map of 
the State, and pledging its faith for $500,000 of the canal loan; 
but further than this they did not go,- the supreme foUj^ of the 
period being left for their successors to enact. After the adjourn- 
ment, when the people contemplated the project of a vast system 
of internal improvements, as i)ortrayed by His Excellency, they 
were fired with an inordinate desire to have it speedily in successful 
operation. 

They were already inoculated with the fever of speculation, 
then rife throughout the west. Chicago, a mere trading post in 1830, 
had in a few years grown into a city of several thousand inhabi- 
tants. This remarkable city had now started upon her wonderful 
career of improvement, unsurpassed by individual effort in the 
annals of the world, steadily maintained to this day; and at 
present, after her terrible visitation by the fire fiend, also unsur- 
i:)assed in the annals of the world for the magnitude of its 
destructiveness since the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, she bids 
fair to eclipse all her former rai)idity of growth. The story of 
speedy fortunes made in Chicago, which excited wonder and adven- 
ture 50 years ago, is still fraught with marvels. Early reports 
of the rapid advance of property in Chicago, spread to the east. 
Every vessel came crowded with immigrants, bringing their 
money, enterprise and industry to the enchanted spot of sudden 
opulence. They have not been disappointed. The rapid develop- 
ment of the town inspired emulation. Throughout the State, 
towns and additions were platted with the hope of profiting by 
the influx of emigrants. In some cases maps of splendidly situated 
towns would be taken to Chicago, to attract the attention of tlie 
28 433 



434 HISTOllY OF ILLINOIS. 

emigrant, and auction sales of lots would be made far from tlie 
i)lace of location. Others were sent east. It Avas said at tlie 
time that the stai)le articles of Illinois export were town plats, and 
that there was danger of crowding- the State with towns to the 
exclusion of land for agriculture.* During the year 1830, hinds 
to the amount of $."'),0(>0,(KH) were entered in Illinois. From this 
it was not unrea.sonably dednced that an extraordinary tide of 
emigration would speedily set into this State. Even the sober 
judgment of careful business men aiul staid farmers tlucturitcd, 
and they became tired with the idea of leaping into sudden fortiuie. 
The geiuus of speculation oversi)read the State with her golden 
wings, casting dazzling beams of bright promise across the paths 
of our x)eople, beyoml which it was difficult to see. Tliey invested 
to the utmost of their credit, which at that time of bank expan- 
sion, was almost unlimited. To prevent their extensive purchases 
from becoming a drug upon their hands, and to further invite 
immigration and place the i)rosperity of the State upon a firm 
basis, by developing its resources — bringing its interior within the 
range of markets; settling it up ; building up its towns and cities; 
having the muscle to wring from its vigorous soil the products of 
wealth, and enhance the price of property, was a great a grand 
desideratum. All this conld be accomplished, it was ingeniously 
argued, and doubtless demonstrated to many, by a general system 
of internal imjtroN'einents, based on the faith and credit of the 
State. A new legislature was to be elected in August of that 
year, 1836. The dazzling scheme was now vigorously agitated. 
The press espoused the project. Public meetings were held all 
over the State, and resolutions, as the expressions of the people 
iu favor of the scheme, were adojrted. The subject was kei)t 
alive. The great natural surface advantages of the State for the 
building of railroads were dilated upon ; the State which already 
possessed every element of greatness — extent of territory, rich- 
ness of soil, variety of climate, almost bounded by navigable 
waters — lacked oidy these improvements to reach and develop its 
vast and inaccessible interior. Its broad and fertile jjrairies lay 
ready prepared, awaiting only i)o})ulation and the hand of industry 
to respond with abundant products, to freight these avenues of 
commerce connecting them with the markets of the world. That 
these views were in the main correct has by this tinu', with our 
7000 miles of completed railroads, been demonstrated; but that 
the State shoidd carry forward the herculean project was most 
visionary, and proved most disastrous. 

Tlie legislature elected August 183G, was supplemented by an 
internal improvement convention, composed of many of the ablest 
men of the State, which was to meet at the seat of government 
simultaneously with the legislature. It is probable that the more 
zealous advocates of the project entertained doubts regarding the 
stamnia of the honorable members of the legislature, when the 
vast project should be fully brought forward for action. The con- 
vention devised a general system of internal imx)rovements, the 
leading characteristic of which was "that it should be commen- 
surate with the wants of the people." It was an irresponsible 
body, determined to succeed in its one object, regardless of con- 
sequences. The wildest reasoning was indulged. Every theory 

♦Ford's History. 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 435 

that the teeming brain of man coukl suggest was brought into 
requisition to further tlu' success of the scheme. Possibilities 
were argued into i)robabilities, and tlie hitter into infalibilities. 
Doubts regarding the advantages of the system were scouted ; 
the resources of the State magnified a hundred fohl, and the ulti- 
mate ability of the works to meet all their liabilities without det- 
riment to tlie State, predicted with a positiveness as if inspired 
by the gift of prophecy. Governor Duncan in his message reiter- 
ated his recommendation to establish a general and uniform sys- 
tem of internal improvements, in which the State might take a 
third or half interest to hasten the works to completion, which 
would secure to her a lasting and abundant revenue, to be ap- 
plied upon the principles of the plan proposed, "until the whole 
country shall be intersected by canals and railroads, and our 
beautiful prairies enlivened by thousands of steam engines, draw- 
ing after them lengthened trains, freighted with the abundant 
productions of our fertile soil." The production of the conven- 
tion was confided to the hands of Edward Smith, of Wabash, chair- 
man of the committee on internal improvements in the legislature, 
who, after the introduction of a set of resolutions covering the same 
ground, on the 9th of January, 1837, made a report on the memo- 
rial and the governor's message relating to the same subject, 
which it may safely be asserted is one of the most assuring, ex- 
pectant, and hopeful papers to be found among the archives of 
Illinois. It occupies some 12 pages, and is replete with specious 
reasoning. The committee argued that public expectation, both 
at home and abroad, would be greatly disappointed if some system 
of internal improvement was not adopted at the present ses- 
sion ; that the internal trade of a country was the greatest 
lever of its prosperity ; that it was the legislator's duty, by his ex- 
ample, to calm the apprehension ot the timorous and meet the 
attacks of calculating opposers of measures which would multi- 
ply the X)opulation and wealth of the State; that the surface of 
the State was j)eculiarly adapted to the construction of railroads, 
and that the practicability of removing obstructions to the navi- 
gation of our rivers couhl not be doubted ; that a general system 
of internal im})rovemeuts was then within the policy and means 
of the State, demanded by the people as exju-essed by their highly 
talented delegates, lately assembled in convention, and also looked 
forward to by the people abroad who had purchased lands here 
with a view to settlement, and whose expectations ought not to be 
disappointed by over cautious legislation, which would divert emi- 
gration to other States; that the cost of building railroads, from 
the uniformity of the country, and by analogy with similar works 
in other States, could be calculated with the utmost precision 
without previous surveys, (|S,()00 per mile being the estimate); 
that an internal improvement fund shoTild be constituted of all 
moneys arising from loans, sale of stocks, tolls, rents of land and 
hydraulic powers, interest on stocks, sale of State lands entered for 
the works, a portion of the deposits received from the national 
treasury, and portions of the annual land tax; that with the ex- 
piration of the government exemption in five years time, there 
would be 12,000,000 acres of land to tax; that by the disbursements 
of large sums of money, means would si)eedily be placed in the 
hands of the j)eople to enable them to purchase their homes ; 



436 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



til at tlie railroads as fast as completed both ways from the cross- 
ings of rivers and imjiortant towns, woukl jield the interests on 
their costs ; that in the advance of the routes of improvements the 
State should enter lands to re-sell at an enhanced price; that a 
board of fund commissioners should be elected, to consist of such 
emhient financiers as to reflect great credit upon the State, and 
thus add to its financial resources ; and that with these active 
resources at command no great financial skill was required of fu- 
ture legislatures to i^rovide the waj^s and means to carry to com- 
pletion the public works without burthening the people with taxa- 
tion. The works recommended, together with the estimated costs, 
were as follows : 

1st, Improvement-of the Great Wabash river - - $100,000 

2d. " " Illinois river - - - 100,000 

3d. " " Rock river - - - 100,000 

4th. " " Kaskaskia river - - 50,000 

5th. " " Little Wabash river - - 50,000 

6th. " " Great Western Mail Route - 100,000 

7th, " ' " Central Railroad from mouth of the 

Ohio to Galena - - 3,500,000 

8th, " " Southern Cross railroad - 1,600,000 

9th. " " Northern Cross railroad - 1,850,000 



$7,450,000 

A bill covering these provisions was submitted by the commit- 
tee, who concluded : 

"The maxim is well understood by political economists, that the 
wealth of a country does not consist so much in the abundance of its 
coffers as in the number and general prosperity of its citizens. In the 
present situation of the country, the products of the interior by reason 
of their remoteness from market, are left upon the hands of the produ- 
cer, or sold barely at the price of the labor necessary to raise and prepare 
them for sale. But if the contemplated system should be carried into 
effect, these fertile and healthy districts which now languish for the 
want of ready markets for their productions, would find a demand at 
home for thetn during the progress of the works, and after their comple- 
tion would have the advantage of a cheap transit to a choice of markets 
on the various navigable streams. These would inevitably tend to build 
towns and cities along the routes and at the terminal points of the re- 
spective railroads." 

The legislature, in adoi^tiug "An act to establish and maintain 
a general system of internal improvement," approved February 
27, 1837, not only came fully up to the requirements of the con- 
vention, as reported by the committee, but went over two million 
and a quarter beyond — $10,230,000, as follows: Toward the im- 
provement of the Great Wabash, $100,000; the Illinois river, 
$100,000; Eock river, $100,000; Kaskaskia, $50,000; Little Wa- 
bash, $50,000 ; Great Western Mail Eoute from Vincenues to St. 
Louis, $250,000, as follows: on the Purgatory swamp, opposite 
Vincennes, $30,000, Little Wabash river bottoms, $15,000, on the 
American bottom opposite St. Louis, $3,000, the balance on 
bridges and repairs ; for the Central railroad fron Cairo to the 
Illinois and Michigan canal, and railroads from Alton to Mt. Car- 
mel (Southern Cross road) and Alton to Shawneetown, $1,600,000 ; 
Northern Cross railroad from Quincy to Indiana State line (present 
W., St. L. & P.,) $1,800,000 ; a branch of the Central from Hillsboro 
via Shelbyville and Charleston to Terre Haute, $650,000; from 
Peoria via Macomb and Carthage to Warsaw, $700,000; from 



DUNCAN'S ADMINISTRATION. 407 

Alton to Hillsboro, and the Central railroad, $600,000; from 
Belleville via Lebanon, to intersect the Southern Cross railroad, 
$150,000; from Bloomington to Mackinaw, in Tazewell county, 
thence a branch to Pekin, $350,000; and finally, of the first 
moneys obtained, $200,000 was to be distributed among those 
counties through which no roads or improvements were projected, 
A boartl ot fund commissioners was provided to consist of three 
members, who should " be practical aud experienced financiers," 
" who were to contract for ami negotiate all loans authorized by 
the legislature on the faith aud credit of the State for objects of 
internal im[)rovements, on tbe best aud most favorable terms," 
sign and execute bonds or certificates of stocks, receive, manage, 
deposit aud appl}- all moneys arisingfrom said loans; make quar- 
terly reports, &c., and keep a comx)lete record of all their fiscal 
transactions. The commissioners chosen at this session by joiut 
vote of both houses, were : Chailes Oakley, M. M. Eawlings, aud 
Thomas Mather. Their trust was euormous, and while they han- 
dled millious of the people's money, a bond was exacted of only 
$50,000. They were allowed a secretary aud a per diem compen- 
sation of $5. For the purpose of promoting and uniting the va- 
rious branches of improvement, a board of " Commissioners of 
Public Works" was created, con^iisting of seveu members, one 
from each judicial district, to be elected bieimially by joint vote of 
the General Assembly, and to continue in office for two years. 
An oath of office and a bond of twenty thousand dollars were re- 
quired of each ; no commissioner was permitted to retain in his 
hands more than $20,000 at any one time. Both commis- 
sioners and engineers were required to take an oath to keep 
secret, for the benefit of the State, all information they might re- 
ceive relating to lands or choice town sites, that other persons 
might not enter or imrchase them to the detriment of the State. 
A violation of this provision was to be deemed a misdemeanor, 
punishable by fine not exceeding $5,000 and incapacity of hold- 
ing office. The commissioners were authorized to locate, su- 
perintend, and construct all the public works for the State, except 
thecaual. They were to organize aud meet semi-annually at the 
seat of government, at which times the general outlines of the 
operations were to be determined; examine aud audit the ex- 
penditures of moneys on the works; make estimates of probable 
costs; serve authenticated copies on the fund commissioners, and 
make out a repo^-t of their proceedings for the governor to lay be- 
fore the legislature. Certain duties or divisions of the work might 
be assigned among themselves ; they were to cause examinations 
and surveys of rivers to be made, aud generally to let the works to 
the lowest bidders, for which due notice was to be published aud 
sealed proi)osals received; contracts were to provide for forfeiture 
in case of non-compliance, abandonment, &c., by contractors ; no 
sub-letting was i)ermitted. 

Any vacant lands lying within 5 miles of any probable routes of 
the works were t<j be entered for the State. The railroads were to 
be built on the most direct and eligible routes between their speci- 
fied termini. Individuals or i)rivate comj)auies might connect 
any railroads or branches with the State works. Finally the 
board of public works were empowered to adopt and enforce all 



438 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

such rules and regulations as tliey uiiglit deeui necessary and 
exi)edient, to carry into full eti'ect rlie objects of the act. 

The Northern Cross railroad, from Jacksonville to Springfield, 
was to be immediately constructed ; but with regard to the other 
railroads, it was provided in section 25 of the act, that the work 
should be commenced sinudtaneously at each end, at important 
trading towns, and at their intersections with navigable streams, 
to be thence buil'i in both directions. This provision, which has 
been called the crowning folly of the entire system, was the result 
of those jealous conibiiuitions, enmiuiting from the fear that 
advantages might ac-crne to one section over another in the com- 
mencement and completion of the works, which evince both the 
weakness and short-sightedness of human nature. We can appre- 
ciate the magnitude and enormity of the "grand system" better 
perhaps, by aj)i)lying facts and figures to it. The census t;dven in 
1835, returned the population of the State 271,727; in 1880 it 
was 3,078,! 36, or over eleven times greater. The ratio of increase 
in the wealth of the State is fully as great.* The debt author- 
ize I for these improvements in the first instance was $10,J30,- 
000. But it was shortly found that the estimates of the cost of 
the works were too low by half. We may with certainty assert, 
therefore, that the State was committed to a liability of $20,000,- 
000, equivalent to $225,000,000" at the present time, with over 
eleven times the population, and more than twelve times the 
wealth. Yet what would be the indignation of the people if any 
legislature should now dare to impose the enormous liability of 
2*25,000,000, or even half that sum, upon the State, notwith- 
standing its great wealth and resources ! 

The bill did not meet the approbation of the council of revision. 
It was assigned as a reason, "that such works can only be made 
safely and economically in a free government, by citizens or by 
independent corporations, aided or authorized by government." 
Allusion ^vas also made to the undue influence over legislation that 
such vast i)ublic works would exercise. Notwithstanding these 
objections the bill was again passed by the constitutional major- 
ity and became a law. Messrs. E. B. Webb and John McCown, 
members of the House from White county, entered their solemn 
protest agahit its passage, setting forth their reasons at large, 
which was spread upon the journal. 

Various combinations, or what is in modern parlance termed 
"rings," were formed in the legislature to eliect the passage of 
the act. Previous to this all estimates of the crtst of the canal, 
then in course of construction, were upon too low a scale. Its 
completion was very nmch desired by a large portion of the peo- 
ple, and it had been regarded as a work of great i)ublic utility 
with nmch inuinimity among public men, but now further aid was 
menaced to be withheld if other portions of the State were refused 
the improvements which their situations demanded. The canal 
was therefore connected with the general system, and a provision 
made pledging the faith of the State for a loan of $500,000 toward 
it. The canal is not yet done playing an important part in obtain- 
ing appropriations from the State treasury. To enlist the requi- 
site number of members for the passage of the bill, provision was 

*The taxible wealth of the State in 1839 was only $5S,b89,52S, while in 1880 it was 
about $5lo,uOD,uoo. 



DUNCAN'S AD]WINISTRATION. 439 

made for improvements in almost every part of the State, and 
those ont-of-the-way connties which conhl not be rea(;he(l were to 
share in a fniid of |-!00,(>00, first to be raised. Alton, then mnni- 
ficently supplied with millions by the State bank to build her up 
as the mercantile center and metropolis of the west, would not be 
satisfied with less than the termini of three railroads. In 1834, 
s!ie had received the highest number of votes as the seat of 
government, after the 20 years limitation at Vandalia should ex- 
pire ; but upon this she did not now insist — she preferred rail- 
roads. Several efibrts were ma<le to cut down the scheme to less 
dimensions, with failures each time, and not unfrequently more 
works added. Although the internal improvement convention 
had lono- since adjourned, there was still a powerful lobby busily 
engaged applying the pressure to pliant members of the legislature. 
The lobbies witnessed many oratorical eft'orts of ingenious and 
logical argument. The manifest destiny of government was pro- 
trayed in glowing colors; deductions from similar systems in pro- 
gress in other States were made applicable to Illinois, and their 
certain success driven home and clinched with predictions; and 
who can argue against prophecy"? The subsequent facts of signal 
and disastrous failure were then hidden in the womb of time. 
What api)ears ridiculous and absurd now, was then by many 
confidently believed, because there were no facts to gainsay it, but 
much positive asseveration that it would be a success. 

The question of removing the seat of government from Vandalia, 
the 20 years limitation under the constitution having uearl}^ ex- 
pired, played no inconsiderable part in the passage of this 
measure. Sangamon county, then the most populous in the State, 
was represented by two senators and seven representatives, 
familiarly known as the "long nine," all whigs but one. Says 
Gov. Ford : 

"Amongst them were some dexterous jugglers dnd managers in 
politics, whose wliole object was to obtain the seat of government for 
Springfield. This delegation, from the beginning of tlie session, tiirew 
itself as a unit in support ot", or opposition to, every local measure of 
interest, but never witliout a bargain for votes in return on the seat of 
government question. INIost of the otlier counties were small, having 
but one representative, and many of them with but one for tlie M'hole 
district ; and this gave Sangamon county a decided preponderance in the 
log-rolling system of those days. It is wortliy of examination wliether 
any just and equal legislation can ever be sustained whei'e some of the 
counties are great and powerful and others feeble. But by sucli means 
'the long nine' rolled along like a snow ball, gathering accessions of 
strengtli at every turn, until they swelled up a considerable party for 
Springfield, whicli party tliey managed to take almost as a unit in iavor 
of the internal improvement system, in return for whicli the active sup- 
porters of that system were to vote for Springfield to be tlie seat of gov- 
ernment. Thus it was made to cost the State about $6, 000, (JOO, to remove 
the seatof •government from Vandalia to Springfield, half of wliicli sum 
would have purchased all the real estate in that town at three prices; and 
thus by log-rolling on the canal measure, by multiplying railroads, by 
terminating three railx'oads at Alton, that Alton might become a great 
city in opposition to St. Louis, by distributing money to some of the 
counties, to be wasted by the county commissioners, and by giving the 
seat of government to Springfield, was the whole State bouglit up and 
bribed, to approve the most senseless and disastrous policy wliich ever 
crippled the energies of a growing country." 

The first board of commissioners of public works consisted of 
Murray McConnell, William Kinney, Elijah Willard, Milton K. 



440 HISTORY OF TLLIKOIS. 

Alexander, Joel Wright, James W. Steplieiison, and Ebeiiezer 
Peck. All effort was made to elect members of tbe legislature to 
tbis important place of trust. To evade tbe provision of the con- 
stitution, that "no senator or representative shall, during tbe tune 
for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil 
ofiice under this State," and also the determination of Governor 
Duncan not to commission any member who might be chosen, a 
law was endeavored to be passed to over-ride the constitution and 
do away with a commission, notwithstanding the requirement 
that all civil officers shall be commissioned. In the light of a late 
decision of the supreme court, however, a commissioner is not an 
officer. Still, at the joint meeting of the two houses an effort was 
made to elect members as commissioners, but there were some 
scruples in the way ; an adjournment for a day was had, when 
men were chosen, not members of either house. 

It was now fondly hoped by those whose heads were not entirely 
turned that the fund commissioners would be unable to negotiate 
the bonds of the State. But this was soon swept away. Through 
the aid of the United States bank, then trading in State stocks,, 
which served to bankrupt it, loans were effected, in the summer 
of 1837; work was commenced at nmny different points before 
the end of the year. Througlu^ut the State public expectation, 
was wrought to the highest pitch over the scheme. Monc}' became 
abundant by reason of local expenditures and in payments for 
estimates upon works. It had been contidently believed that the 
bonds of the State Avould bring ten per centum premium iu 
nuuket. Gov. Duncan had disposed of $100,000 in canal bonds 
the summer i)receding at 5 per centum premium, which he con- 
sidered too low and declined a larger sum at that rate. But now 
the commissioners could effect loans in this country only at par ; 
London was tri^d with worse effect, "those in Europe were at 1) 
per cent discount. The bankers paid 00 cents on the dollar to the 
State, and, as is alleged, 1 per cent to the fund commissioners, 
for brokerage."* Besides which a heaAy contract was given for 
railroad iron at a most exorbitant jn'ice. Labor progressed 
meanwhile upon all the works. 

♦Ford's History. 



r 



Chapter XXXVIII. 
1838-1842— ADMINISTRATION OF GOVEENOR CARLIN. 

Continuation of the Subject of Internal Improvement — Collapse of 
the Grand System — Sard Times — Eeorganization of the Judiciary 
in 1841. 



While the unwieldy internal improvement system of the State 
was in full operation, with all its expensive machinery, amidst 
bank suspensions throughout the United States, a great stringency 
in the money market everywhere, and Illinois bonds forced to sale 
at a heavy discount, the general election of 1838 was apj)roach- 
iug. Discreet meii who had cherished the hope of a speedy sub- 
sidence of the public infatuation, met with disappointment. A 
governor and legislature were to be elected, and these were now 
looked forward to lot a repeal of the ruinous State policy. But 
the grand scheme had not yet lost its dazzling influence upon the 
minds of the people. Time and experience had not demonstrated 
its utter absurdity. Hence the question of arresting its career 
of profligate expenditures did not beconie a leading one with the 
dominant party during the campaign, and most of the old members 
of the legislature were returned at this election. 

Of the gubernatorial candidates, Cyrus Edwards (brother of the 
late governor,) whig, came out strongly for the system f while 
Thomas Carlin, the demo(;ratic nominee, Avell apprised of the public 
infatuation not yet sobered, failed to declare an emphatic opinion 
either for or against. This was the first time that the t\\'0 political 
parties had the field to themselves in a gubernatorial campaign, 
unembarrassed by other tickets. In December preceding, the 
Democratic State convention had nominated James W. Stephen- 
son for governor, and John S. Hacker for lieutenant goAcrnor. In 
April following, Hacker withdrew from the contest, and Stephen- 
sou, who was charged with being a defaulter, also Avithdrew, 
a sacrifice to the demands of party interests. The convention was 
recalled and met June 4th, when Thomas Carlin was nominated 
for governor, and S. H. Anderson for lieutenant governor. Carlin 
was elected, receiving 35,578 votes, and Edwards 29,629. Ander- 
son received 30,385 votes, and W. H. Davidson, the whig nominee 
for lieutenant governor, 28,716. 

Gov. Carlin Avas born in Kentucky, near Frankfort, July 18th, 
1789. His father was an Irishman. The education of young* 
Carlin was meagre. In early manhood he api)lied himself to 
remedy this deficiency, being his own tutor. He was fond of 
reading through life. In 1803 his father removed to Missouri, 
then Spanish, where he died in 1810. In 1812 the subject of our 

441 



442 HTSTOIiY OF ILLINOIS. 

sketch came to Illinois aiul participated in all the "ranging" ser- 
vice incident to the war of that period, proving' himself a soldier 
of undaunted bravery. He was married to Rebeca Huitt in 1814, 
and lived on the bank of the Mississippi opposite the mouth of the 
Missouri 4 years, when he removed to Greene county. He located 
the town site of Oarrollton, and made a liberal donation of land 
for county building ])urposes in 1825. He was the first sheriff of 
Greene county, and afterward was twice elected a senator to the 
legislature. In the Black Hawk war he commaiuled a spy 
battalion, a post of considerable danger. In 18134 he was appointed 
by President Jackson receiver of public moneys and removed to 
Quincy. After the close of his gubernatorial term he moved 
back to his old home at Oarrollton, where he spent the renuiinder 
of his life, as before his elevation to office, in agricultural pursuits. 
In 1849 he served out the unexpired term of J. D. Fry in the 
lower house of the legislature. He died Feb. 14, 1852, leaving 
surviving' hiin his wife and seveii children, out of thirteen born to 
them.* 

Gov. Carlin was a nmn of remarkable physical energy and 
capacity. In stature he was above the medium height; light com- 
plexioned, a spare looking face, high forehead, long nose, and thiu 
lips, giving to his mouth a comi)ressed appearance. He was un- 
yielding if not obstinate in dis2)Osition, ]>ossessed in private life 
au unblemished character, and was a democrat of the straightest 
sect. While he did not seek preferment, he did not reject oflice. 
Mentally he was not without vigor. His messages are smoothly 
and rather well written, but he did not attempt public speaking. 

Tlie lieutenant governor elect, Anderson, was a native of 
Tennessee. He i)rove(l an efficient officer, and attached to himself 
many warm friends through life. He resided in JeHerson county. 
After the expiration of his term of office, he received from Pi'esi- 
dent Polk the office of United States Marshal. In politics, it ]s 
needless to add, he was a democrat. 

Upon, the meeting of the legislature, 1839, the retiring governor, 
Duncan, in his message spoke in emphatic terms of the impolicy 
of the internal imiirovement system by the State; presaged the evils 
threatened by that measure, which exi)erience liad already suffici- 
ently shown would have a most deleterious effect upon the prosperity 
of the State; and urged that to correct the mistake, without too 
great a sacrifice of public or private interests, should occupy the 
most serious and patriotic delibeiation of the legislature. But the 
incoming governor, contrary to the hope of many wise and discreet 
men, while he strongly assailed, in true Jacksonian style, the 
banks and their suspensions, which had been legalized, held the 
following language on the subject of internal improvements: 

"The signal success which has attended our sister States in the con- 
struction of their extensive systems of improvements can leave no doubt 
of the wise policy and utility of such works. They open new channels 
of commei'ce and trade, furnish the farmer and mechanic the means of 
transporting the i)roducts of their labor to market, develop the natural 
and hidden resources of the country, and stiuudate tlie enterprise and 
industry of the people. * * In the principles and policy of this plan, 
contrasted with that of joint stock companies and private corporations, I 
entirely concur. Had 1 occupied my present situation at the establish- 

♦From a memoir by his daughter, Mrs. E. C . Woodward. 



CARLO'S ADMINISTRATION. 443 

meiit of the system, I would have reconimeuded its adoption ou a less 
extensive scale, and the construction of the most important works first. 
Under the present plan of proceeding, however, near two million dollars 
have been expended, and whatever diversity of opinion may now exist 
as to the expediency of the system as originally projected, all must 
admit that the character and credit of the State forbid its abandonment." 

It was, therefore, to be expected tluit those wlio saw the folly of 
the State in the prosecution of this system, and had cherished the 
liope of a clianye, woukl be disappointed. The new legislature 
not only did not repeal or modify the expensive i)roject, but nnide 
further s})ecitic a[)propriatious and authorized additional works, 
involving- an out-lay of near a million dollars: $50,000 for the im- 
j)roveinent of Eock river; 1150,000 to improve the navigation of 
the Little Wabash; $L*0,000 ou the western mail route; $100,000 
for a uew railroad from Rushville to Erie, on the bank of the Illinois 
river; $20,000 to improve the navigation of the Embarras river; 
$20,000 for the Big Muddy; and $10,000 for a road from Cahokia 
Creek to Kaskaskia. Besides these specific; amounts, the improve- 
ment of the ua\'igation of the Illhiois river was directed to be 
extended to Ottawa (which according to modern experience would 
have taken nuxiiy millions more) and a lateral branch railroad from 
some eligible point ou the Alton and Shelbyville railroad between 
Hillsboro and Alton to run to Carlinville. The governor was also 
authorized to negotiate a loan of $4,000,000 to prosecute the work 
ou the canal. The lands and public works of the State were ex- 
em]»ted from taxation. So thoroughly was the legislature still 
imbued with the idea of the State exclusively owning all the public 
works, that the chairman of the Committee on Internal Improve- 
nlens, Mr. Smith, of Wabash, in reporting adversely upon a bill 
for "an act to incorporate the Albion and Grayville Eailroad 
Company," at this session, said: "In the opinion of the com- 
mittee, it is inexpedient for the legislature to authorize corporations 
or iiulividuals to construct railroads or canals calculated to come 
in competition with similar works now in course of construction 
under the State system of internal improvements." 

Here let us stop and speculate over the j^i'obable future of our 
State, had this remarkable Mr. Edward Smith lived. As chairman 
of the committee on internal improvements, he drafted that glow- 
ing report of the committee Avhich so fired the honorable members 
upon the subject of developing the resources of the State as to 
cause them to vie with each other in actually doing more than 
that not very modest docujnent asked; and who, apparently, 
possessed the magnetic power to bring the members squarely up 
to the support of these inii)rovement measures, like a skillful 
general marshaling his hosts for victory. He seemed to be born to 
command in this particular field of enterprise. Unfortunately, 
before the next session, Mr. Smith died, when the splendid system 
collapsed. Had he remained in life, with the peculiar force that 
characterized him in pushing through these measures, the final 
result of this herculean undertaking of the State becomes a sub- 
ject of curious contemplation. It must have either bankrupted 
the State beyond all hope of redemption, or made her treasury the 
recipient of all the many millions of annual earnings of the vast 
net- work of nearly 9,000 miles of completed railroads at the present 
time, which now find their way into the coffers of pri^•ate corj^ora- 



444 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tioiis, eiiricliiiig" tbem to an unlimited and uncontrollable extent. 
With such an enormous income by the State, the burthen of taxa- 
tion would be entirely removed; we would be enabled doubtless 
to ship our produce to market for half of the present rates, which 
would double the value of crops and farms, and incidentally all 
other real and personal property; the cheapening' of travel in a 
corresponding ratio would double the amount of it; we would 
visit our distant friends oftener, cultivate an extensive social inter- 
course by rail — indeed the whole country Avonld be much as a city 
now is with its street railroads ; promote harmony and good fellow- 
ship throughout the length and breadth of the State — in a word, 
have a very millenium in Illinois! 

We have noted the fact of the governor being authorized at 
the session of 1838-9 to negotiate a further loan of $4,000,000 
for the canal. Money was stringent at the time both in Europe 
and America. The tiscal negotiations of the fund commissioners, 
made in Europe prior to this, were anything but satisfactory. 
Gov. Carlin, therefore, unwilling to put the new canal loan in the 
hands of these agents, and ambitious doubtless for the glory of his 
administration, commissioned ex-Governor Ileynolds, the very last 
public man in the State, perhaps, for a duty so responsible and 
delicate, requiring an extensive and accurate knowledge of 
domestic and foreign fiscal affairs. The latter urged the associa- 
tion with himself of E. M. Young, then a senator in congress, to 
which the governor ultimately acceded. In their over-weening 
desire to raise money to carry forward the public works, both the 
fund commissioners and Gov. Carlin's financial agents made some 
very ill-advised and bungling loans, attended with heavj^ losses to 
the State. 

Eeynolds hurried immediatelj^ forward to New York, where he 
met and obtained the advice and assistance of Mr. Eawlings, one 
of the fund commissioners. They sold to Mr. Delafield, of IST. Y., 
April 23, 1839, 300 bonds of $1,000 each, bearing 6 per cent, 
interest, payable half-yearly at Philadelphia and New York — the 
principal becoming due in 1860. In this the law was exceeded, 
because it provided only for annual interest. The whole of the 300 
bonds were delivered, and payment was stipulated as follows : 
$50,000 within 15 days into the bank of the New York Banking 
Company, thence to be drawn out on not less than ten days sight 
drafts, in forty different installments; the next payment of $50,- 
000 was not to be made till the 1st of August, 1839, in the notes 
of some bank or baidiing association of New York city, of a 
denomination not exceeding $10; and in like manner the remainder, 
commencing October 1st, in monthly installents of $50,000 each. 
Here was a sale of interest-bearing bonds made in April, the 
bonds all immediately delivered, and yet they were not finally to 
be j)aid for until the following January, 1840. 

Ai)ril 29, 1839, the same gentlemen contracted with Thomas 
Dunlap (whose performance was guaranteed by the United States 
bank of Pennsylvania,) to sell him 1000 bonds due in ] 870 of 
£225 each, annual interest 6 per cent. ; and both principal and 
interest payable in London, ''at the rate of 4s. 6d. sterling to the 
dollar." Payment for the bonds sold was to be made in ten equal 
monthly installments of $100,000 each, without interest, in $10 
notes. This million dollars it was estimated by the house com- 



caelem's administration. 445 

iiiittee of the Illinois assembly-, could be redeemed with 250,185 
sovereigns, lis. 2d., instead of £225,000, realizing- a gain of 18,- 
314 sovereigns, 8s. lOd. to the purchasers, equal to a loss of 
$91,250.34 to the State of Illinois. The contract was, besides, a 
glaring departure from the law, because the commissioners bound 
the State to pay in Britiah coin £225,000, instead of $1,000,000 ; 
and while the State was pacing interest on her bonds she not only 
did without the money for ten months but got no interest for that 
time. The money was to be paid in bills of the United States 
bank, but before the State actually received it, it became dei)re- 
ciated 10 per cent., making a loss of $100,000 on the amount. 
The total loss of this one transaction was near $200,000. The 
law required ready payment in cash for all bonds sold. 

These transactions with Delaheld and Dunlap, amounting to 
$1,300,000 in Illinois bonds, became in part the iDasis for start- 
ing into operation the New York free banking system, about tbat 
time authorized, which required a deposit of State stocks, in 
double value of the circulation, together with a small percentage 
of specie in the bank vaults. Our financiers thus enabled several 
of the "wildcat" institutions to start business, by furnishing them 
Illinois bonds on credit, and receiving in payment the money — 
after proper exchange with other banks doubtless — issued in 
pursuance of the charters, Illinois meanwhile paying interest for 
the privilege of advancing their bonded capital! 

After the negotiations in New York and Philadelphia, the gov- 
ernor's agents, ex-Gov. Keynolds, and two of the fund commis- 
sioners, Gen. Rawlings and Col. Oakley, in May, 1839, repaired to 
Europe to effect further loans for the State. Judge E. M. Young, 
the other agent of Gov. Carliu, in custody of the bonds, subse- 
quently joined them in London. The money market in Europe 
was tight, but the commissioners, whom the law required to be 
"experienced and skilled in finance," were not to be bafded. After 
considerable delay, Messrs. Young and Reynolds, on October 30th, 
1839, deposited with John Wright & Co., of London, 1,000 bonds, 
representing $1,000,000, to be again reckoned in British coin of 
£225 each, authorizing them to sell or negotiate the bonds at a 
rate of not less than £91 for the £100. If more than 91 per cent, 
could be obtained for them, the surplus, not exceeding 4 per cent, 
was to be retained by Wright & Co. as commissions ; any excess 
beyond 95 per cent, for said bonds, was to be equally divided be- 
tween the State and the said brokers. On this contract the 
brokers agreed to advance £30,000. 

The law under which the financial agents acted, we will reiterate, 
expressly required ready paymentin cash for all bonds negotiated, 
and that none should be sold for less than par. Although the 
bonds might be hypothecated, yet when the agents authorized 
Messrs. Wright & Co. to sell them at 91 per cent., they acted 
without warrant of law. The brokers sold about half a million 
dollars worth of the bonds, when they failed, with both the pro- 
ceeds of these sales and the remainder of the bonds in their 
hands. The unsold bonds, being the property of the State, were 
afterward returned by the receivers, but the money received on 
those sold was adjudged as assets of the firm, in wbich the State 
was compelled to share pro rata with other creditors, amounting to 
a few shillings on the pound. 



44G HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The Hon. E. B. Webb, from the house judiciary committee, to 
whom the accounts for the sales of bonds were referred, reported 
Jan. 29, 1840, saying: "The anxiety of the agents to ju'ocure 
money for the State, or their eagerness to succeed in effecting 
sales where others had failed, induced them to enter into contracts 
injurious to the best interests of the State, derogatory to her dig- 
nity, and in every way calculated to depreciate her securities." 
Resolutions were adopted by the house disapproving of these 
transactions, whereby the State was required to receive in pay- 
ment local bank bills, as under the contracts with Delafield and 
Dunlap, and the sales made on credit; condemning, as in contra- 
vention of law, the hypothecation of boiuls with John Wright & 
(Jo., to be sold at 91 per cent. ; declaring that the agents had tran- 
scended the powers vested in them, and that their Loiulon nego- 
tiation was void, copies were to be transmitted to J. Wright & Co., 
Covent Garden, London. By this time it had become patent that 
no more loans could be effected at par, as the law required. 
The dark cloud of infatuation which obscured the vision of the 
people began also to be dissijiated, and as glimmers of liglit shone 
through they became clamorous against the large extent in which 
the works were feebly prosecuted simultaneously' at all points. 
The ideas of Governor Carlin, in one short year's time, underwent 
a total revolution with regard to the grand system of internal im- 
provement. He now found from correct data, that the State would 
speedily impose upon herself a debt of not less than $21,740,444, 
at an annual interest of $1,31(>,77(), with a revenue of less than 
one sixth that amount— §20(M)(M) ; that the then debt of the State 
exceeded already $14,0(K>,(K)(>, which rested upcm a community of 
less than half million souls, remote from markets, and with little 
commerce to bring in money. The giddy magnitude of the idea 
became appalling to his excellency, and he convoked the legisla- 
ture in extraordinary session for December 9tli, 1839. 

In his message, after alluding to the spirit of speculation so 
rife in 1830, whereby not only individuals but deliberative bodies 
were lured from the paths of prudence and economj^ by this over- 
weening delusion, he says: 

" At this critical and most important crisis, a bill was introduced into 
the legislature, providing for a geueral system of internal inijirove- 
meuts by the construction of nearly 1,300 miles of railroad, and the 
improvement of various rivers ; and such was the zeal with which it 
was urged, and so numerous and powerful were its friends, that it passed 
through botli houses by large majorities. No fear seemed to be enter- 
tained by its advocates but the ability and resources of the State would 
prove equal to the accomplishment of such a liereuleau task, and they 
pointed with pride and exuUation to that high rank in the scale of 
wealth to which the measure would finally elevate us." 

His excellency, now discovering impending ruin and dishonor, 
in^'oked the legislature to the exercise of wisdom and unity of 
action in the ado])tion of such measures of reform as would best 
subserve the ]»ublic welfare and save the State from bankruptcy 
and degradation. 

The legislature whose ruthless hand was destined to destroy 
the stupendous system, was composed in the main of the same 
members who bad originally passed it — v/ho had but one short year 
before supplemented and endorsed it by the addition of works in- 
volving a further expenditure of $1,000,000. Now, by their delib- 



OAELIN'S ADinNISTEATION. 447 

erate action tct i)laee the seal of coiideniiiation upon their cher- 
ished oiispring-, was certainly most humiliating, ami they hesitated 
in their course. If they could have wiped the sjstem out, leaving 
no debtor memory of it behind, it would not have been so disa- 
greeable, but when they reflected that their folly would cost the 
people $loO,(»0() for every member, the politicians were smitten 
• with fear regarding the future of their preferments. But thanks, 
the unpalatable task was performed. By the two acts of Februar^r 
18J:t), it was provided tluit the board of fund commissioners and 
connnissioners of public works be abolished; one fund com- 
missioner was provided to perform the same duties as before re- 
quired of the board, " except that he shall not be authorized to 
sell State bonds or borrow nujuey on behalf of the State." He 
was to receive and take charge of tlie railroad iron purchased in 
Europe and pay the duty on it; receive back all bonds from per- 
sons failing to coiuply with their contracts, and register and burn 
the same; to audit and settle the accounts of the late board of 
fund commis'sioners and the late board of public works, and bring 
suit against each member in arrears in the Sangamon circuit court, 
for which i)urpose jurisdiction was given it to any county. Three 
instead of seven connnissioners of public works were now provi- 
ded who were to settle and adjust all liabilities under the internal 
improvement system, and give drafts for the amounts due con- 
tractors on the Fund Comnussioners, whereui)on such contracts 
were to be regarded as cancelled. If the drafts could not be 
wholly cashed, the amount paid was to be endorsed, and the resi- 
due to draw interest. All engineers and agents whose services ' 
were not imlisi)ensable to ascertain the amounts due contractors, 
were to be immediately discharged. The board \vas to secure and 
operate such roads or parts of roads as were com[)]eted, fix and 
establish tolls, and provide for their collection and payment over 
to the fund commissioners. 

The progress of the work on the canal was not arrested ; but 
of tlie remainder of the works of the grand system {with the 
exception of a part of the Northern Cross railroad) simultaneous- 
ly l)egun in various parts of the State, nothing was ever done, 
except in detached i^arcels on every road, where excavations and 
embankments may even yet be seen — memorials of sui)reme legis- 
lative folly. That portion of the Northern Cross Eailroad from 
Meredosia to Springfield, was afterwards finished at a cost to the 
State of $1,000,000; its income proved iusufticient to keep it in 
repair and it was subsequently sold for $100,000 in State indebt- 
edness. Of this road some 8 miles of track Avas laid in 1838, from 
Meredosia east, the first rail being laid May 9th. The first 
locomotive that ever turned a wheel in the great valley of the 
Mississippi was put on the track of this road at Meretlosia, Nov. 
8th, 1838. George W. Plant, afterward a prominent business 
man of St. Louis, was the engineer. The locomotive ran over 
the track 8 miles and ba(;k, carrying Gov. Duncan, Murray Mc- 
Connel, one of the commissioners of the public works, James 
Dunlap and Thos. I. January, contractors, Charles Collins and 
Miron Leslie of St. Louis, and the chief engineer, Geo. P. Plant. 
Twelve years before oidy, 1820, the first railroad in the United 
States was built, connecting Albany and Schenectady, in New 
York. Her eager desire in the race of empire now gave to Illinois 



448 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

a clieck for 12 years before another railroad was built. This 
was the Chica<;o and Galena, finished as far as Elgin in 1850. 
Then dawned npon the State the great railroad era which has 
since covered her surface with a net-work of these iron arteries of 
commerce, affording rapid and easy communication with almost 
every (jounty. 

Thus, in 1840, after a short but eventful life of less than three . 
years, fell by the hands of its creator the most stupendous, 
extravagant and almost ruinous folly of a grand system of inter- 
nal improvements that any civil community, perhaps, ever engag- 
ed in, leaving a debt of $i7,615,765.36. While great disappoint- 
ment pervaded the people at the failure of the splendid scheme, 
they were not surprised nor crushed with the news of its repeal. 
Indeed, their sobered senses had for some time taught them that 
to this extremity it must come at last, and they felt that sort of 
relief a man feels at the loss of half his fortune — he has learned 
his fate and is thankful it is no worse ; possibly he learns a profita- 
ble lesson at the same time. While they felt chagrined, there was 
no one to blame in great part but themselves, for in many cases 
their representatives had but obeyed the voice of the people as the 
voice of God. Many names since prominent, honored and great, 
are recorded in favor of the original passage of the measure, as 
may be seen by reference to the journal of the assembly of 1837. 

Illinois was not the only State which embarked in these wild 
schemes of State undertakings. Indiana, in 1837, pursued the 
same course. Her bonds to upward $11,000,000 were disposed of, 
and after expending the proceeds improvideiitly, extravagantly, 
and doubtless fraudulently, there remained nothing to show for it 
but 40 miles of railroad, pieces of canal, and some unfinished 
turnpikes. Pennsylvania had taken the lead in like schemes of 
developing the State, for which she at one time owed a debt of 
$40,000,000, part of which was paid by the sale of the works. 
The same held good with Ohio ; and Missouri, more recently, for 
the pur])ose of building railroads and other works of internal 
imi)rovement, on the breaking out of the rebellion found herself 
loaded with a debt exceeding a score of millions of dollars. 

Sard Times. — With the collapse of the great internal improve- 
ment system, the suspension of banks and a depreciated currency, 
hard times obtained. The total debt of the State was as 
follows : 
For bank stock, - ... . $.5,614,196 94 

On account of internal improvements, - - 5,614,196 94 

Canal debt, - . . ... 4,338,907 71 

State house, ...... 116,000 00 

School, college and seminary fund (borrowed) - 808,085 00 

Due State bank for auditor's warrants, - - 294,190 00 

Annual interest upon this amount ($13,836,377.65) - 830,188 77 

Total, $17,615,765 86 

To meet this debt, outside of taxation, the State owned 42,000 
acres of land, bought under requirement of the internal improve- 
ment law ; 230,407 acres of canal donation remained undisposed of, 
besides 3,491 town lots in Ottawa, Chicago, and other places 
along the line of the canal ; the State obtained shortly after by 
the distribution act of congress of 1841, 210,000 acres of land 



carlin's administration. 449 

more from that source. These, together with the ill-advised 
European purchase of railroad iron, and the various pieces of 
unfinished railroads in different parts of the State, almost worth- 
less, constituted the resources of the State to discharge a debt, 
which, considering the population (488,929 in 1840) as one-seventh 
of what it was in 1880, our wealth ($58,752, 108 in 1840), as one- 
thirteenth of what it was in 1880, and the value of money then 
and now at a difference of 100 per cent., which owing to the large 
yields from the California, Australia, and other mines since, is an 
estimate perhaps not out of the way, was equal to a debt upon the 
State at the present of at least $150,000,000. This was indeed a 
heavy burden. The annual revenues — $117,821, in 1840 — were no 
more than would meet the ordinary expenses of the State govern- 
ment, leaving a deficit annually to the amount of the interest on 
the debt — $830,182, — to further yearly augment the debt. The 
State had sold and hypothecated its bonds until its credit was 
well nigh exhausted; the people were both unable and unwilling 
to pay higher taxes, and they were besides largely indebted to the 
merchants; the merchants to the banks, or for goods j)urchased 
abroad ; while the banks, on account of suspending specie pay- 
ment, owed every body who carried one of their rags in his pocket. 
None could pay in par funds, for they were not to be had. 

In this condition of the State, it required great unanimity 
of action and harmony in counsel to carry it safely over the 
financial crisis. This did not wholly obtain. The character and 
genius of the people were very incongruous. Wide differences, 
social and political, of the two great geographical sections 
of the State, have prevailed even down to this (lay. The disparity 
in wealth between the north and south, and the rapid settlement 
of the former after the close of the Black Hawk war, engendered 
great jealousy, of which public men partook and carried into 
the councils of the State. This mutual misunderstanding of 
character and purposes was a stumbling block in the way of 
united and harmonious action in the adoption of the wisest meas- 
ures for public relief. The canal, as it afterward proved, afforded 
the best and only avenue leading out of the financial embarrass- 
ments, and toward restoring tlie credit of the State. It stood 
independent, to a certain extent, of the other works of internal 
improvement, upon a landed capital of its own, the gift of the 
nation, and when the latter were abandoned, the work upon it 
was still more or less prosecuted. But the canal, from the want 
of unity in the sentiments of the j)eople, now became the sub- 
ject of bitter attack, for no other reason than it was in the north- 
ern part of the State. 

Besides, there did not obtain with the people a clear conception 
of State policy. Men were elected to the legislature with refer- 
ence to their national politics, greatly intensified by the excit- 
ing contest of 1840, and not with regard to the affairs of the 
State, then of deepest concern to the welfare of the people. 
Politicians were better acquainted Avith the devious ways of 
obtaining office than qualified to discharge its duties in accord- 
ance with enlarged principles of statesmanship. This is toonnich 
the case at the present time; people in the election of oflicers are 
actuated by a desire to confer favor upon the man, rather than 
choosing a servant who is to perform a service for them and the 
29 



450 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

public at large with wisdom and impartiality. It was therefore 
difficult to make the questions of j^resent embarrassment and 
future State prosperity paramount, in a broad view, to all other 
considerations. 

By various expedients, means were provided to meet the accru- 
ing interest of 1841 on canal loans in New York and London, but 
not so with regard to the interest on the State debt generally. 
The fund commissioner, in his report, stated the difficulty of 
meeting that which would fall due January 1st, 1841 ; the legisla- 
ture, elected in August previous, was convoked some weeks earlier 
than the time of the regular session, for the express purpose of 
devising means to this end. This was the session by the sine die 
adjournment of which it was attempted to crush the State banks, 
or compel them to resume specie payments — a thing impossible 
for them to do. Much conflict of opinion obtained among mem- 
bers and found expression in a flood of resolutions, as usual at the 
outset of a session. The questions of difference were as to not 
paying interest at all, or withholding it only on bonds for which, 
by the mismanagement of the ffnancial agents, the State had either 
received less than par, or, as in some cases, nothing. To the 
credit of the State it is to be recorded, that no idea of repudia- 
tion obtained among a large mnjority of the members. On the 
contrary, the desperate remedy was proposed of issuing more 
bonds and hypothecating them for what they would fetch in 
market. The course pursued by the financial agents of the State 
in disposing of bonds contrary to law, at less than par value on 
credit, was severely animadverted, and that the State should pay 
interest only on what money she had actually received on her 
bonds was strenuously insisted upon. The opponents of this view 
contended that bonds were articles of commerce, against which no 
equities could arise while in the hands of innocent purchasers j 
that the State must be held responsible for the conduct of its 
agents; that the legislature in the selection of the fund commis- 
sioners, and the governor in the appointment of Messrs. Young 
and Eeynolds, had fully committed the credit of the State to their 
hands, and if they blundered, the State was bound nevertheless 
by their acts — she should have chosen agents more "skilled in 
finance." In this conflict of views, legislation was well-nigh de- 
feated altogether. Alfred W. Cavarly, of Green, now discovered 
the happy expedient by which to extricate the legislature from its 
dilemma. He prepared a bill of two sections, which became a law 
Dec. 16th, 1840, empowering the fund commissioner to hypothe- 
cate not exceeding $300,000 of the State internal improvement 
bonds, to raise a sufficient sum of money to pay the interest which 
would legally fall due on the internal improvement debt in 
January 1841 ; the bonds were to be redeemed any time before 
1843, and not to draw interest unless forfeited. Thus was the 
question of contention taken out of the halls of legislation, and 
the decision of the legality of the loans imjiosed upon the commis- 
sioners — not an unfrequent expedient of deliberative bodies. The 
legislature further authorized the issuance of State interest bonds, 
to be sold in market for what they would bring, the proceeds to 
be applie<l to the payment of interest and the redemption of hyi^o- 
thecated bonds — a most execrable measure. By another act, Feb. 
27th, 1841, an additional tax of 10 cents on the $100 worth of 



CARLIN'S ADMINISTRATION. 451 

property was imposed, to be set apart exclusively as an "interest 
fund," pledged to pay the interest on these bonds ; and the mini- 
mum assessment of all lands was to be $3 per acre. The fund 
commissioner, Mr. Barrett, by hypothecating internal improve- 
ment bonds, paid off the Jauuarj' interest, 1841 ; but by the time 
the July interest was to be raised, Illinois stocks had (lepreciated 
in market so that Mr. J. D. Whitesides, the new fund (;ommis- 
sioner, hypothecated with Macallister and Stebbins, of New York, 
$801,000 in interest bonds for $321,600, as was promised him, but 
of which amount only $261,160 was ever by them paid. This was 
the origin of the notorious "Macallister and Stebbins bonds," of 
which more hereafter. Another law, showing the extremity to 
which this legislature went, was that of Feb. 27th, 1841, regula- 
ting the sale of property under execution. This serves to illus- 
trate both the hard times and the inconsiderate and unjust 
legislation to aiford relief to the debtor class at the expense of 
the creditor. It provided that property levied upon should be 
valued as in "ordinary times," to be made by three householders 
summoned by the officers, of whom the creditor, debtor, and 
officer should each choose one — placing it in the power of the 
officer to favor either party at his option ; the property was not to 
sell unless it brought two-thirds of their valuation ; no way was 
provided bj' which the creditor, if two-tliirds of the valuation was 
not bid, could hold his lien — forcing him to stay collection or suffer 
a discount of 33^ per cent. The law was made applicable to all 
judgments rendered and contracts accruing prior to the 1st of 
May, without reference to the legal obligations of the time when 
contracts were entered into — being in violation of that clause of 
the constitution of the United States, declaring that "no law shall 
be passed impairing the obligation of contracts." In the case of 
McCracken vs. Howard, the supreme court of the United States 
subsequently held the law to be unconstitutional.* The law in the 
meantime had been instrumental, by various arrangements between 
parties, in extinguishing many debts. But this species of legisla- 
tion seldom efi[^ects the benefits intended. It is apt to be harass- 
ing and vexatious to both debtor and creditor, while experience 
teaches it to be destructive of all confidence between men in busi- 
ness, requiring prompt compliance with contracts ; and it tends 
further to affect inimically the trade and commerce of the State. 
These views were enlarged upon in a solemn protest against its 
passage, signed by such names as John J. Hardin, D. M. Wood- 
sou, Lyman Trumbull, and many others.t 

After July, 1841, no further effort was made to pay interest on 
the debt of the State. Her bonds declined rapidly in market to 
14 cents on the dollar. In a few months, Feb. 1842, from prox- 
imate causes alread,y stated, the State bank, with a circulation 
exceeding $3,000,000, finally went down ; in June the Illinois bank 
at Shawneetown, with a circulation exceeding $1,500,000, also 
broke, thus rendering worthless about the only money there had 
been for sometime in the country, and adding materially to the 
pressure of the times. The banks had managed to keep up the 
value of their circulation far above the bonds of the State, but to 
conciliate an unfriendly legislature by advances on auditor's war- 

•See 2d, Howard 608. 
+See House Journal, 1841. 



452 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

rants, for the State house then building-, and to carry forward tbe 
public works, an unwarranted expansion snapped their threads of 
life, spreading- disaster round about thein. The condition of this 
fair State, with her calamities thus augmented, was truly distress- 
ing. Abroad, her name was freely associated with dishonor; em- 
igrants, dreading high taxation, gave it a wide berth, unless it 
were those who, having no character of their own, cared little 
for that of the State of their adoption ; while the people here 
with rare exceptions were anxious to sell out and flee a country 
which presented no alternative but dishonor or exorbitant taxa- 
tion. The chances to sell were, however, in inverse ratio to the 
desire, and while impending flnancial ruin, disgrace, and the fear 
of taxation kept the State from gaining population as rapidly as 
had been her wont, the im])racticability of effecting sales saved her 
against loss. In the meantime, an utter dearth and stagnation in 
all kinds of business prevailed. Tiie notes of the banks were 
receivable in payment of taxes, for which purpose they had been 
to a small extent hoarded by the people ; but now the governor, 
auditor and treasurer, forbade their receipt by the collectors of 
the State revenue, except at specie rates — 50 cents on the dollar. 
This step was unwarranted by the law, and condemned by the 
press and people in public meetings, irrespective of party, until 
such a breeze was raised about the ears of the "officers of State" 
that they were fain to retract their pretentious proclamation, and 
taking the other extreme, suspended the collection of the taxes 
till the meeting of the legislature. 

At this crisis in the fair fame of our State, there were not want- 
ing men, in position to aid in moulding public opinion, who 
favored repudiation, both by the plan of omission and by directly 
declaring this purpose, and "setting the moral sense of mankind 
at defiance." Gov. Ford says : 

"It is my solemn belief that when I came into office I had the power 
to make Illinois a repudiating State. It is true I was not the leader of 
any party ; but my position as governor would have given me leader- 
ship enough to have carried the democratic party, except in a few coun- 
ties in the uortli, in favor of repudiation. If I had m'erely stood still 
and done nothing, the result would have been the same. In that case a 
majority of both parties would have led to either active or passive repu- 
diation. The politicians on neither side, without a bold lead to the 
contrary by some high in office, would never have dared to risk their 
popularity by being the first to advocate an increase of taxes to be paid 
by a tax-hating people." 

Again he says : 

"The people of Bond county, as soon as the internal improve- 
ment system passed, had declared in a public meeting that the 
system must lead to taxation and utter ruin ; that the people were not 
bound to pay any of the debt to be contracted for it ; and that Bond 
county would never assist in paying a cent of it. Accordingly, they re- 
fused to pay taxes for several years. When the system went down, and 
had left the State in the ruinous condition predicted by the Bond county 
meeting, inauy people remembered that there might be a question 
raised as to the obligation of payment. Public men everywhere, of all 
parties, stood in awe of this question ; there was a kind of general silence 
as to what would be popular or unpopular. The two great political 
parties were watching each other with eagle eyes, to see that no one 
should get the advantage of the otlier. The whigs, driven to despe- 
ration by repeated ill-success in elections, were many of them in favor of 
repudiating, as a means of bettering their party. The Sangamon Journal 



carlin's administration. 453 



and the Alton Tehfiyaph, the two leading whig newspai:>ers of the State, 
boldly took ground that the debt never could and never would be paid, 
and that there was no use to say anything about it.* Very many demo- 
crats were in favor of the same course, for fear of losing the power the 
democratic party already possessed. 

It was thought to be a very dansrerous subject to meddle with. At a 
democratic convention which nominated Mr. Snyder for governor, a 
resolution against repudiation offered by Mr. Arnold of Chicago, was 
laid on the table by an overwhelming vote of the convention, so as not 
to commit the party one way or the other. It was evident that this was 
to be a troublesome question, and a great many of the politicians on 
both sides were as ready to take one side of it as the other, and their 
choice depended upon which might finally appear to be most powerful 
The whigs were afraid, if they advocated the debt-ijayiug policy, the 
democrats would take the other side, and leave the whigs no chance of 
ever coming into a majority ; and the democrats feared that if they 
advocated a correct policy, the other side might be more popular, and 
might be taken by the whigs. I speak only of the leaders of parties, 
amongst whom on all sides there was a strong suspicion that repudiation 
might be more popular than taxation." 

REORGANIZATION OF THE JUDICIARY. 

Partisan Malice and Revolutionary Conduct. — By act of Feb. 10, 
1841, the legislature repealed out of ofti(!e the then 9 circuit judges, 
increased the number of supreme judges from 4 to 9, and, in 
addition to their duties as a supreme courtandtheirfunctionsasthe 
council of revision, imposed upon them all the circuit court busi- 
ness in the State. Since 1835 the supreme judges, relieved of 
circuit duty, had acted soleh' as a court of appeals, errors and 
revision. The present change was a bitter partisan measure, in 
the language of Gov. Ford, "confessedly violent and somewhat 
revolutionary." 

Three of the four supreme judges were of the whig party — the 
minority party of the State — while Judge Smith was a democrat. 
Gov. Ford says: "It is due to truth here to say, that Wilson and 
Lockwood were in every respect amiable and accomplished gentle- 
men in private life, and commanded the esteem and respect of aU 
good men for the purity of their conduct and their probity in 
official station. Wilson was a Virginian of the old sort, a man 
of good education, sound jiulgment, and an elegant writer, as his 
published opinions will show. Lockwood was a Xew Yorker. He 
was an excellent lawyer, a man of sound judgment, and his face 
indicated unconnnon purity, modesty, and iutelligence, together 
with energy and strong- determination. His face was the true 
index of his character. Brown was a fine, large, affable, and good 
looking man, had a tolerable share of tact and good sense, a com- 
plimentary, smiling and laughing address to all men, and had 
been elected and continued in office upon the ground that he was 
believed to be a clever fellow." 

The State, in the exciting party struggle of 1840, had gone for 
Van Buren and both houses of the legislature were largely demo- 
cratic. I'he supreme court had two years before oftended the 

*After the publication of Gov. Ford's history, in 1854, more than three- years after 
his death, botli the Alton TeUgraph and Illinois State Journal, formerly the Sanpnmon 
Journal, denied havinf^ favored repudiation, either directly or indirectly ; that they 
uniformly opposed it with zeal, and always advocated the ilqiiidation of the entire pub- 
lic debt at as early a day as the means of the State would justify.— See Illinois State 
Journal, March 7, 1855. 



454 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

sense of supreuiacy of the dominaut party, in deciding a case of 
appointment to oflQce by the governor. Pending before the same 
tribunal tliere was still another case fraught with political conse- 
quences far graver, which it was thence surmised would also be 
decided against the party in power. When men are themselves 
actuated by party feelings and prejudices in everything, they are 
apt to think others are similarly influenced, no matter wliat their 
l^osition or how exalted in public life. 

Alexander P. Field was and had been secretary of State since 
his appointment by Gov. Edwards, having ser\xd through both 
the adnunistrations of Govs. Reynolds and Duncan. In i)olitics he 
was a Avliig, though originally, like Duncan, he had been a violent 
Jackson man. When Gov. Carlin came into office in 1838, he 
claimed the power of appointing a new secretary of State without 
a vacancy existing in that ofi&ce. The claim was based upon the 
idea that a secretary of State under our lirst constitution, like a 
cabinet officer in the national government, was a confidential 
adviser of the governor, and for purposes of harmony in such 
relation, should be of the same political party with his excellency. 
The governor nominated John A. McClernand, then of Gallatin, 
to the senate for that office. But the senate, although democratic, 
by a vote of 22 to 18 passed a resolution, " That the executive 
does not possess the power to nominate to the senate a secretary of 
Stare, excej^t in case of vacancy in that office, and that, inasmuch 
as the senate has not been advised of any vacancy in that office, 
the nomination of .lolm A. McClernand be not advised and consented 
to by the senate." They were further of opinion that the 
tenure of office might be limited by the legislature; which had not 
been done, however. During the session, the governor sent to 
the senate several other names for that office, but all were 
rejected. 

After the adjournment, he again ap])ointed McClernand secre- 
tary of State, who thereupon demanded possession of the office 
from the whig incumbent, Mr. Field, but was refused. McCler- 
nand then laid an information in the nature of a quo ivarranto 
before Judge Breese, in the circuit court of Fayette county, and 
upon hearing, that court decided in favor of the complainant. 
Field took an appeal to the sujjrenie (nnirt, where the cause was 
reversed. The question decided by the court, aside from the polit- 
ical or partisan bent given to it, derived imi)ortauce from the fun- 
damental princij^lesof government involved. Quite an array of 
able counsel appeared on either side. For the appellant Field, 
there were Cyrus Walker, Justin Butterfield and Levi Davis; and 
for the appellee McClernand, S. A. Douglas, Jas. Shields and 
Wickliffe Kitcheli, attorney general. Three separate opinions 
Avere written by the judges, Wilson and Lockwood concurring. 
Smith dissenting, and Brown, being connected by affinity with 
the relator, declined sitting in the cause.* Chief Justice Wilson 
rendered the decision of the court in language clear, cogent and 
elegant, which is both exhaustive of the subject and convincing 
in its conclusions. The court decided that the governor had not 
the constitutional jjower at his will and pleasure to remove from 
office the Secretary of State; that when that functionary was 
once a])pointed, the i)Ower of appointment was susi)ended until a 

•See 2d Scam., 111. reports, p 70. 



carlin's administration. 455 

vacaucy occnrred ; tbat when tlie coiistitutiou cieated an office, 
and left the tenure undefined, the officer held during good be- 
havior, or until the legislature by law limited the tenure or author- 
ized some functionary of the government to remove the officer at 
will. The constitution was the charter of the governor's authority. 
All the powers delegated to him, or in accordance with that in- 
strument, he was entitled to exercise and no other. While it was 
s, limitation upon the powers of the legislative department, it was 
to be regarded as a grant of powers to the others. Neither the 
executive nor the judiciary, therefore, could exercise any authority 
or power, except such as was clearly granted by the constitution. 
In England the king was the source of i^ower, and all rights and 
prerogatives not granted were adjudged to him, but here the 
theory is that the people are sovereign and the source of power, 
and that the executive could exercise onlj^ those powers specially 
delegated to him ; and as it was not even pretended that any ex- 
press grant of this character was to be found in the constitution, 
it must be denied. A grant by implication could not be main- 
tained, because the enumeration of the powers of a department of 
government operated as a restriction and limitation of a general 
grant. " The executive power of the State shall be vested in a 
governor," was a mere declaration of a general rule. Besides, the 
power of appointment in case a vacancy existed, was given to 
the governor conjointly with the senate ; and a nomination would 
not confer office without approval by the senate. 

The decision caused a great partisan outcrj' against the " whig 
«ourt," as it was called. The democrats, largely in the ascend- 
ancy in the State, were yet debarred from exercising uncontrolled 
power and the enjoyment of all the benefits and emoluments of 
office to which their ascendancy entitled them, by this decision, 
which proclaimed in their teeth, as it were, the existence of office 
for life incumbents. 

But the other question, still pending and far more imjiortant, 
was fraught not only with preclusion from the secretary's office, 
but with the danger of losing political control of the State, and 
consequently all power and patronage. This was the celebrated 
Galena alien case. The alien vote was nine-tenths democratic, 
and sufficient in strength — about 10,000 — that if precluded from 
the polls to determine the election in favor of the whigs at the 
approaching presidential election of 1840. As the McClernand- 
Field case was by the unscrupulous boldly charged to be partisan, 
it was now doubtless believed by many that the court in this case 
was prepared to violate a plain jjrovision of the constitution. The 
-constitution provided that " in all elections, all white male inhabi- 
tants above the age of 21 years, having resided in the State six 
months next preceding the election, shall enjoy the right of an 
elector." 

The idea had gained currency that suffrage and citizenship were 
concomitant and indispensable qualifications to constitute a man 
an elector, and therefore the provision above quoted, if brought 
to the test before the proper tribunal, would be declared null and 
A'oid. An agreed case had been made at Galena, where there was 
a large alien vote concentrated in and about the mining region, 
between two whigs, one of whom sued the other, who had acted 
as judge at the August election of 1838, and in that capacity re- 



456 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ceived the vote of au alien, to recover $100 under the election law 
of 1829, for the use of the county, which it was supposed would 
present the constitutional question Ikirly. The suit was brought 
in the circuit court at Galena, Judge Dan Stone, presiding 5 and 
as the case was admitted, he, without hearing argument, or prob- 
ably giving the question much examination, decided that an alien^ 
unlike a citizen, was not entitled to exercise the elective fran- 
chise. The decision, when it became public, produced great ap- 
prehension in the ranks of the <lemocracy, and steps were imme- 
diately taken to bring the case before the supreme court. 

In view of the decision in the McClernand-Field case, it was- 
further imagined that tliat tribunal would affirm the decision be- 
low, and that the remedy was the revolutionary one to reform the 
supreme court by adding a sufficient number of democratic mem- 
bers to change its political complexion, and thus eithey avoid the 
fearful contingency of such a decision, or, if too late for that, ta 
have it overruled. This precedent is not without a tolerably close 
modern parallel in national affairs. 

The case was ably argued in the supreme court at the Decem- 
ber term, 1839, upon its merits, and continued to the June term^ 
1840. This was during the heat of the presidential canvass of 
that year. If the case was now decided adversely to the aliens 
the State might be lost to the democracy. There was a general 
apprehension tliat such would be the decision. And now Judge 
Smith, the only democrat on the supreme bench, sharing in the 
apprehension, clandestinely pointed out to counsel a defect in the 
record, consisting in a clerical error. A motion to dismiss was 
thereupon founded, because it appeared by the record that the case 
argued was alleged to ha^•e occurred at a time when by the laws 
of the State, as the court must judicially take notice, no general 
election could be held, to-wit, on the 6th of August, 1839, the year 
meant being 1838. For the puri)Ose of correcting the record ai. 
continuance was granted to the December term, which put it be- 
yond the ])residential election in November, 1840. The achieve- 
ment of discovering the flaw in the record was accounted a re- 
markable stroke of legal acumen. 

When the case came up finally for decision at the December 
term, 1840, it was found that the constitutional question upon 
whicli it was expected the case should turn, was not really before 
the court, but simply a question under the election law of 1829 : 
If any judge of election shall knowingly admit any person to* 
vote, not qualified according to law, he shall forfeit and pay to the 
county the sum of $100; and any person presenting himself to- 
vote, and his qualification be suspected, he shall swear that he is 
a resident of the county; has resided in the State six months next 
preceding the election; is 21 years old and has not before voted 
at that election. The court held that, as it was admitted that one 
Kyle, upon the reception of whose vote the question was made^ 
possessed all the qualifications required by the affidavit, under the 
law of 1829, it would have simply been supererogatory either to 
challenge him or to have administered the oath to him; and there- 
fore the court below, in fining the judges of election, erred, and 
the case was reversed. The broad and important question of alien 
suffrage under the constitution did not arise in the case, and no 
opinion of the court was expressed upon it. Judge Smith, how- 



carlin's administration. 457 

ever, not to disap]>oiiit partisan expectation, took occasion, in a 
separate opinion elaborated at great leugtli, to argue the consti- 
tutional question, quoting freelj- from a speech of James Buchanan 
made in Congress on the admission of Micliigan as a State.* 

Meanwhile the bill to reorganize the Sui)reme court was pend- 
ing before the legislature, and with the rendition of this decision 
bv the court, it was circulated about by the politicians, and boldly 
charged by Douglas in a speech made in the lobby of the house, 
that the main question had been purposely evaded by the court 
to allay the apprehensions of democrats as to the alien vote, and 
to conciliate their favor, with the object of defeating the bill. 

"Douglas," says Gov. Ford, "had been one of the counsel for the 
aliens, and it appeared from liis speech, that he and Judge Smith had 
been in constant communication in relation to the progress of the case. 
Judge Smith, (I regret to say it of a man who is no more), was an ac- 
tive, bustling, ambitious and turbulent member of the Democratic party. 
He had for a long time aimed to be elected to the U. S. Senate; his de- 
vices and intrigues to this end had been innumei'able. In fact lie never 
lacked a plot to advance himself, or blow up some other person. He 
was a laborious and ingenious schemer in politics, but his plans were 
always too complex and ramified for Iris power to execute them. Being 
always unsuccessful himself, he was delighted with the mishaps alike 
of friends and enemies, and was ever chuckling over tlie defeator blasted 
hopes of some one. In this case he sought to gain credit with the lead- 
ing democrats by the part he took, and affected to take, in the alien case 
as he had before in the case of the secretary of State. He it was who 
privately suggested to counsel the defect in the record which resulted in 
the continuance in June 1840, and during the whole time the case was 
pending, with the same view, he was giving out to Douglas and others, 
the probable opinion of the court. He affirmed that the judges at one 
time all had their opinions written ready to deliver, and all but himself 
decided against the aliens; and that thecase would have been decided if 
he had not discovered the aforesaid defect in the record. Upon his 
authority Douglas denounced the court and brought all these charges 
against the whig judges, and endeavored to make it appear that they 
had now onlj- evaded a decision for the time being, in the vain hope of 
stopi»ing the career of the legislature. The judges on their part, denied 
all these charges; and Judge Smith uniting with the ^Vhig judges, pub- 
lished their denial in the S<iniiam<iu. Journal newspaper, published at 
Springfield." Gov. Ford further adds, " and there is now no doubt that 
tlie whole of it was false." 

In this connection we subjoin the following correspondence: 

" House of Representatives, Spkingfield, January 26, 1841. 
^^To William Wilson^ Theoplidus W. /Smith, TJiomas C. Broivn and Samuel D, Lock- 
wood, Judgea of the Supreme Court of the State of llliuoia: 

" Mr. McClernand, a member of this house, (who is now speaking) 
has made the following statements, in substance, in his speech in favor 
of the bill to reorganize the judiciary of this State: 'I am authorized to 
say, and I do say on my own responsibility, if any such resjionsibility is 
needed, that the judges of the supreme court prepared an opinion against 
the right of foreigners to vote, at the last June term of that court; but 
on account of objections made by counsel to a mistake in the record, 
they withheld their opinions, but did so most reluctantly.' 

"The opinion has gone abroad thatthese judges have made the decision 
recently delivered on the subject of the right of foreigners to vote, in 
order to defeat the bill under consideration and to prevent these judges 
from going on the circuit. 

"This communication is made to call j^our attention to the statements, 
and I think it but due to yourselves that an answer should be made to 



See case of Thomas Spragius v. H. H. Houghton in ilit- M.S. C. ixiorts. 



458 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

these [statements], as deductions may and will be made from silence 
which would seem to imply an acquiescence in the truth of these state- 
ments. 

"Desiring to know whether these allegations are true, I trust an 
answer will be given. Yours, 

"JOHN J. HARDIN." 

"Springfield, January 26, 1841. 
*'/(5/tn /. Hardin, Esq. 

"Dear Sib: Your letter of to-day has just been received, and we pro- 
ceed to answer it without hesitation. 

"In doing so, we cannot, however, but express our great astonishment 
at the character of the statement to which you refer. You say that Mr. 
McClernand, a member of the house of representatives, has asserted in 
debate, in substance [here follows a quotation of the language as given by 
Hardin.] 

"To this statement we give the most unqualified denial in all its parts; 
ueitlier of the members of the court having ever prepared or written 
any opinion against the right of aliens to vote at elections. 

"In reference to the mistake in the record, the error alluded to was 
discovered by one of the judges, and suggested to the counsel in the cause, 
as interposing a supposed difficulty in coming to a decision, which, with 
a subsequent motion made by counsel for the plaintifl^'in error to dismiss 
the cause for that reason, and for the further reason that the cause was a 
feigned and not a real one, produced the continuance of the cause, as 
will be seen by a copy of the motion herewith enclosed. 

"As to the insinuation that the decision was made at this time to defeat 
the judiciary bill, we reply that it is in all its parts equally unjust, and 
without a pretence for its justification. Having been repeatedly urged 
to come to a decision of tlie cause, and having been moreover assured 
that individuals were industriously engaged in circulating rejiorts that 
tlie judges had opinions written against the right of aliens to vote, and 
that as soon as the judiciary bill before the legislature was defeated these 
opinions would be delivered — to refute these groundless assertions on 
this subject, we concluded to decide the case without further delay, 
having no other means of refuting these aspersions. 

"We have thus promptly complied with your request, and we cannot 
close this communication without remarking on the great injustice done 
to ourselves, not only by the statements referred to, but numerous other 
slanders which, in our situation, we have no means of repelling. 
We have the honor to be, respectfully, 
Your obedient servants, 

THOS. W. SMITH, 
SAMUEL D. LOCKWOOD, 
WM. WILSON, 
THOMAS C. BROWN." 

With tliis coutradiction, JMcClernaiKl, under date of January 
29, called upon his inlorinaut, Mr. Douglas, to sustain hiin — in- 
viting immediate attention to the subject. Besides Douglas, six 
other gentlemen, viz : A.R.Dodge, V. Hickox, J. H. Kalston, 
John Pearson, M. McConnell, and J. A. McDongal, all of whom 
derived their information from Judge Smith alone, furnished 
letters, some of which state positively that Smith had informed 
them distinctly that all the judges had their opinions written out 
and ready to deliver at the Juue term, and others that they under- 
stood from him that lie (Smith) was tlius prepared.* There is now 
no doubt that Smith made the former statement, nor is there any 
doubt that it was false. 

"As to Judge Smith," says Gov. Ford, "he made nothing by all 
his intrigues. By opposing the reform bill, he fell out and quar- 

•See Illinois State Register, Feb. .5. 1841. 



carlin's administration. 459 

reled with the leaders of his party. He lost the credit he had 
gained by being the democratic champion on the bench, and failed 
to be elected to the United States Senate; and was put back to 
the laborious duty of holding circnit courts." 

The judiciary bill ])roduced much excitement and party 
animosity at the capital, both among members and the goading, 
insatiate lobby vultiu-es. It was no easy task for the dominant 
party to rally its force to the blind support of a measure so purely 
one of revenge. A great deal of opposition came from the friends 
and interests of the circuit court judges, every one of whom 
would be repealed out of office and the majority of whom were 
democrats. However, the bill finally passed both houses. The 
council of revision returned it with their objections, urged at 
length. 

The council regarded the requirement that the supreme court, 
with live additional judges, hold circuit courts in all the counties 
of the State, attend at the seat of government, and act as coun- 
cil of revision during the sessions of the legislature, and preside 
in the supreme court until all the business of that tribuiuil was 
disi)Osed of, as physically impossible. Owing to the magnitude 
of the circuit court business, the nine circuit judges, for no fault 
of theirs, had been unable to attend to it and fully subserve the 
interests of the public. To thrust all this business upon the hands 
of the supreme judges, in addition to their other duties, would 
result in such delay in the administration of justice as to be equiv- 
alent to a denial of it. The law would prejudice the rights of 
citizens and the character of the State. 

The bill, however, was re-passed, notwithstanding the objections 
of the council, in the senate, by a large majority, but in the house 
by barely one. A solemn protest by the undersigned members, 
many of whom have since attained imperishable renown, was 
spread upon the journal, February 26, 1841. After stating their 
objections at length, they sum up as follows : 

1st. The bill violates the great principles ot government by subject- 
ing the judiciary to tlie legislature. 

2d. It is a fatal blow at tlie indeisendence of the judges, and the con- 
stitutional term of their office. 

3d. It is a measure not asked for or wished by the people. 

4th. It will greatly increase the expenses of our courts or greatly di- 
minish their utility. 

5tli. It will give the courts a political and partisan character, thereby 
impairing public confidence in tlieir decisions. 

6tli. It will impair our standing in the opinion of other States and 
the world. 

7th. It is a party measure for party purposes, from which no practi- 
cal good to the people can possibly arise, but which may be the source of 
innumerable evils. * * The blow had already fallen, but they felt im- 
pelled to point out the danger of the measure, its imi^oliey and its usur- 
pation, in order at least that the despotism of a momentary majority 
may not become a precedent for succeeding enormities, or future crimes. 
We have struggled ineffectually to guard the principles of our govern- 
ment from unhallowed innovation, and contended for the supremacy of 
the constitution. 

(Signed): Joseph Gillespie, John J. Brown, Leander Munsell, Wil- 
liam B. Archer, John F. Charles, Isaac Funk, Alden Hull, John Dar- 
nielle, Geo. W. Waters, Cyrus Edwards, James T. Cunningham, John 
Bennett, Thos. Threlkeld A. Lincoln, J. M. McLean,iH. W. Thornton, 
Wm. A. Marshal, James M. Bradford, John J. Hardin, Jeremiah Cox, 
Peter Menard, jr., W. H. Henderson, James Reynolds, W. W. Bailey, 



460 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

D. M. Woodsou, E. B. Webb, John Denny, Isaac Froman, Jas. A. Beal, 
Josiah Francis, Daniel Gi'ay, James Parlcinson, John Canady, Alexan- 
der Phillips, James N. Brown. 

The five additional supreme judges elected by the legislature 
under this law were, Thomas Ford, (subsequeiitl}' gov.) Sidney 
Breese, Walter B. Scates, Samuel H. Treat, aud Stepheu A. 
Douglas,* all democrats. By this means all api)rehension was 
allayed in the democratic breast regarding the continued suj^port 
of the alien vote, so far as any interference from the sui)reme 
court was concerned. l!^or did the majority of that court now 
question the right of the executive to ai)point his own secretary of 
State ; and had the question been now ijresented to the court, the 
McOleruaud-Field decision would have been overruled. Such is 
party influence upon the judiciary. One of the newly appointed 
judges, writing of this reorganization of the court, says: "The 
highest courts are but indifferent tribunals for the settlement of 
great political questions ; * * when any great political question 
on which parties are arrayed comes up for decision, the utmost 
which can be expected of them is, an able and learned argument 
in favor of their own party, whose views they must nat- 
urally favor. "t The court, however, as newly organized, proved 
not entirely acceptable to the dominant party ; the juilges gener- 
ally enjoyed great personal popalarity, but the bench became the 
subject of frequent malevolent assaults by the legislature. That 
body, fresh from an exultant constituency, imbued often with ex- 
treme partisan views, could ill}' brook any independence in the 
other departments of govern ment.| 

At this session of 1844-5, the legislature, ostensibly as a meas- 
ure of retrenchment, passed resolutions drafted by Mr. Trumbull, 
who was not a member though an aspirant for the ermine, calling 

*The last named gentleman had been of counsel for the aliens, had derived his infor- 
mation of how the case was going to be decided in June preceding from Judge Smith, 
had obtained the continuance then on the defect in the record as pointed out by him, 
had made a violent attack upon the old judges by a characteristic sp<^ech in the lobby, 
and had furnished McClernand the data upon which the latter denounced the court ; 
iu view of ail of which, it seems strange that he had sought and obtained a position 
side by side with the gentlemen he had traduced and attempted so much to bring in- 
to disrepute. Partisan scheming and the cravings of otlice could not well go 
further. 

The new judges were charged with partisan conduct, by the whig pi-ess of the 
period, in the secret app'ointment of a clerk of the supreme court. Ebenezer Peck, 
it seems, as a member of the legislature had originally opposed the judiciary bill ; but 
his position became suddenly changed, and the bill passed the House by one majority 
over the objections of the council. After taking their seats, the new members of the 
court had no consultation with the old judges on the subject of the clerkship, and not 
a word was said in open court about removing the incumbent, Duncan. Indeed, one 
of them had given out that to avoid the imputation of being a partisan court, the 
clerkship was not to be disturbed. The pulilic astonishment was not inconsiderable, 
therefore, when shortly after its adjournment. Peck announced himself as the clerk 
by appointment of the majority of the court.— Sa/njanKm Jou7-nal. 

+Ford's History. 

$At the session of 1843-43, there was an effort made to remove Judge Brown, on the 
ground of incompetency. This gentleman, whose home was at Shawneetown, upon 
the reorganization of that court, had been assigned to the remote Galena circuit, with 
the view to render his position uncomfortable and irksome, and worry him into a 
resignation. This failing, four lawyers from his circuit, viz : 0. S. Hempstead. Thomas 
Drummond. Thompson Campbell, and A. L. Holmes, filed their specafications charging 
that he had not that natural strength of intellect, and lacked the legal and literary 
learning, requisite and indispensable to a proper discharge of the high and responsible 
duties devolving upon him as a judge of the supreme court; that his opinions deliv- 
ered in that court were written and revised by others, and that his decisions upon the 
circuit had been the mere echo of some favorite attorney ; and that by nature, educa- 
tion and habit, he was wholly unfit for his high position. Their stinging language 
indicated something more than a purpose to solely subserve the public good. The 
senate declined to iiarticipate in the examination of the charges. The house in com- 
mittecof the whole >'ent several times into the investigation of them, but finally ask- 
ed to be discharged from their further consideration and so the matter ended and 
Judge Brown retained his seat.— House Journal, session 1842-43. 



carlin's administration. 461 

on the judges and governor to relinquish a portion of their sala- 
ries. This was refused, on the ground of the principle involved 
as to the right of the legislature to make such a request. It im- 
plied a control to a certain extent of a co-ordinate department of 
government, however the request coupled with it the consent of 
the incumbents. Althongh their salaries were fixed, coercion was 
in this manner songht through the fear of losing public favor, 
interest, and popularity. It was an unworthy means, and des- 
tructive of the first great pi'inciple of free constitutional govern- 
ment — the indei)endence of the co-ordinate branches to each oth- 
er. The supreme court, as constituted under the act of Feb. 10th, 
1841, was finally dissolved by operation of the constitution of 
1848, the judges going out of office December 4th, that year. 



Chapter XXXIX. 
1842— 1846— ADMmiSTEATION OF GOVERNOR FORD. 

The Campaign — Life and Character of Gov. Ford — Lieut. Gov. 
Moore — Means of Relief from the Financial Embarrassments — 
The State at the Turning Point — Restoration of her Credit. 



As early as December, 1841, the State democratic convention 
met at Springfield, and nominated Adam W. Snyder, of St. Clair, 
and John Moore, of McLean, as their candidates for governor and 
lientenant governor at the election of Angast 1842. In the spring 
following, ex-Gov. Joseph Duncan and W. H. Henderson became 
the candidates of the whig party for the same offices. Charles 
W. Hunter and Frederick Collins were also, respectively, candi- 
dates for the same positions. Mr. Snyder was an effective speaker 
and possessed an ostentatious and plausible address. He had 
been a member of congress and state senator, and in the latter 
capacity, to gain the favor of the Mormons, who were looming up 
in the State as a considerable political power by reason of their 
unity, had been largely instrumental in the passage of the 
obnoxious " Mormon charters," by which that modern sect was 
placed above and beyond the laws of the State — constituted a 
petty sovereignty within their cor|Jorate limits, whence they issued 
forth, committed the:r depredations upon the neighborhoods out- 
side, retired to their legal citadel of Nauvoo, and defied the process 
of any court of the county to follow them. 

The Mormons, driven from Missouri by a democratic governor 
denied protection by a democratic president, but in congress coun- 
tenanced by Messrs. Clay and John T. Stuart, in 1840 had given 
their support to the whigs. But now Joe Smith, their pro[)het, 
issued his proclamation exhorting his followers in favor of Mr. 
Snyder, and " declaring Judge Douglas to be a master spirit." 
This mandate showed the whigs that the democracy had, by the 
extension of these very liberal charters, woed the Mormons with 
success. But the odium of this sect was already rapidly spread- 
ing over the entire State ; and of this circumstance. Gov. Duncan 
as the whig candidate, who was not concerned in the i)assage of 
the obnoxious charters, sought to take advantage, and more than 
retrieve from the people the whig loss by the Mormon defection. 
Indeed things bore a very promising look in that direction. But 
at this juncture Mr. Snyder sickened and died, and the new choice 
as the standard bearer of the democracy for governor fell upon 
the Hon. Thomas Ford, who, although well known as a 
jurist, was in no wise i^rominently connected with politics, 




^^^--. ., 





FOBD'S ADMINISTRATION. 463 

and certainly not with the passage of the obnoxious Mormon 
charters. The democracy, apprehending the drift of pubhc opin- 
ion, placed Judge Ford in the position made vacant by the death 
of Mr. Suyder, because of his availability. It is doubtful Avhether 
any of the democratic leaders, in the then tenijier of the peoj^le 
toward the Mormons, could have been elected ovfr so adroit and 
courageous a competitor as Duncan. The death of Suyder proved 
the triumph of the democracy. 

Besides the odious Mormon charters and the alleged intrigues 
and corrupt bargains between certain politicians and the ])rophet, 
the other public questions of the day were, a levival of the work 
on the canal, repeal of the bank charters, and the claim of Wis- 
consin to 14 of our northern counties. The position of the new 
democratic candidate upon the questions was variously and 
oppositely reported in the public press of different sections of 
the State, to be everywhere in hannony with the varying, but pre- 
vailing, sentiments of the people. Much allowance ought to be 
made, however, for the statements of the press during a heated 
political campaign. Duncan charged Ford during the cauvass 
with concealing his ojiinions on all these questions. 

The following is the number of votes cast for governor in 1842: 
For Thomas Ford, 46,901; Joseph Diuican, 38,584; Charles W. 
Hunter, 909. For lieutenant governor: John Moore, 45,567; W. 
H. Henderson, 38,426; Frederick Collins, 905. 

Thomas Ford was born at Uniontown, Pa., in the year 1800. He 
was a half-brother to George Forquer, his senior by six years. 
Their mother, after the death of her first husband, married Kobt. 
Ford, who, in 1802, was killed in the mountains of Pennsylvania 
by Indians. She was left in indigent circumstances, with a large 
family, mostly girls. With a view to better her condition, she, in 
1804, removed to Missouri, where it had been customary by the 
Spanish governmeut to give land to actual settlers, but upon her 
arrival at St. Louis she found the couuti-y ceded to the United 
States, and this liberal policy, unlike as at present, changed by the 
new ownership. After some sickness to herself and family she 
finally removed to Illinois, and settled some three miles south of 
Waterloo, but the following year moved closer to the Mississij^pi 
bluffs. Here the boys received their first schooling under the 
instructions of Mr. Humphrey, for which they walked three 
miles. 

Their mother, though lacking in a thorough education, was a 
woman of superior mental endowments, joined to energy and 
determination of character. She inculcated in her children those 
high-toned moral principles which distinguishedher sons in public 
life. She exercised a rigid economy to provide her children an 
education, but George Forquer, her oldest son, at an early age had 
to quit school, to aid by his labor in the support of the family. 
He acquired the trade of a house-joiner, afterwards became a 
merchant, failed, and studied law, which his vigorous intellect 
enabled him to readily master in spite of a defecti\e early educa- 
tion. He was determined and ambitious, had a good voice and 
became a fluent and elegant speaker. He tilled many public 
offices; was a member of the legislature from Monroe, secretary 
of state under Gov. Coles, attorney general, senator from Sanga- 
mon, subsequently register of the land ofiice at Spriugtield, and 



4G4 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

but for his early death woukl probably have been elected to the 
United States senate. Joined to his other intellectual qualities 
was rare merit as a writer. He was of an amiable and generous 
disposition, and was successful in accumulating- a considerable 
estate.* 

The younger brother, Thomas Ford, with somewhat better oppor- 
tunities, received a better, though limited common school, educa- 
tion. His mind gave early promise of superior endowments, with 
an inclination for mathematics. His proficiency attracted the 
attention of the Hon. Daniel P. Cook, in whom young Ford found 
an efiRcient patron and friend. The grateful heart of the jrrotege 
did not forget its benefactor. On page 73 of his History of 
Illinois, Ford pays that gentleman such unwonted compliments 
as no other of all his public cotemporaries receives at his hand. 
Through Cookj young Ford turned his atteutiou to the law, but 
Forquer, then merchandising, regarding his education defective, 
sent him to the Transylvania University, where he remained, 
however, but one term, owing to Forquer's failure in business. 
On his return he alternated his law reading with teaching scliool 
for support. In 1829 Gov. Ed^^'ards appointed him prosecuting 
attorney; in 1831 he was reappointed by Gov. Eeynolds; after that 
he was four times elected a judge, by the legislature, without oppo- 
sition; twice as circuit judge, judge of Chicago, and as associate 
judge of the supreme court, when, in 1841, that tribunal through 
IDartisan malice Avas reorganized by the addition of five judges, all 
democrats. Ford was assigned to the 9th judicial circuit, and at 
the time of his nomination for governor was holding court in Ogle 
county. He immediately resigned his ofidce, accepted the nomina- 
tion and entered ujion the canvass. In August he was elected 
governor. The offices which he held, although perhaps he was 
willing enough to have them, were unsolicited. He received 
them upon the true Jeffersonian principle, never to ask and 
never to refuse office. 

As a lawyer. Gov. Ford stood deservedly high, but his cast of 
intellect fitted him rather for a writer upon law than a practicing 
advocate in the courts. In the latter capacity he was void of the 
moving power of eloquence, so necessary to success. As a judge 
his written opinions are sound, lucid and able expositions of the 
law. He was a stranger, in practice, to the tact, skill and insimi- 
ating address of the politician ; but, as we may well infer from his 
history, no man of his time had a clearer perception of the wiles 
and siViuosities of that devious class than he. Yet despite this 
appreciation, his confidence in the honest purposes of others, 
joined to indecision or hesitation perhaps, enabled the unscrupu- 
lous to deceive him, and in the nondescript Mormon war cause 
him unwonted trouble and vexation. 

As a man. Governor Ford was plain in his demeanor.f He 
lacked that sanguine and determined boldness and decision of 
character requisite to fit one for a great political leader. For 

•Reynold's Pioneer History. 

[+ It is related that after the expiration of his term of office, upon the occasion of 
the assembling of the legislature, which always collected a horde of greedy seekers 
for subordinate positions at the capitol, a wag pointed him out to a certain "ring" us a 
formidable aspirant for door-keeper of the house. He was hunted up in his room at 
the hotel, in the small hours of the night, and approached fora bargam or combination. , 
On discovery the "ring" felt mortified and the ex-governor perhaps not highly flat- 
tered.] 



FOED'S ADIVIINISTRATION. 465 

money getting lie cared little more than would afford him a decent 
support, and scarcely that. He accumulated no wealth and upon 
his retirement troui the gubernatorial chair he resumed the practice 
of the law. Gov. Ford was small of stature, sleiider, dark com- 
plexioned, with a profusion of black hair, sharp features, deep set 
eyes, a pointed, aquiline nose, with a decided twist to one side, 
and had a small mouth. His a})pearance was said to be somewhat 
cynical, and he was, perhaps, not without vindictiveness. He was 
by nature a student, and the traits of his mind titted him for close 
thought ; though he lacked in imagery, the gift of genius. He 
had his weak trait; one besetting sin into which his convivial na- 
ture betrayed him, aud which contributed to his early death. 

As an author he deserves our special consideration. He has 
left to the State in which he was reared, trusted and honored with 
the highest office in the ^ft of the people, and which he dearly 
loved, a legacy in the form of a histor}', which, though but a frag- 
ment comprisiug his own time, and not topically arranged, will be 
more and more appreciated with the advance of years. 

His writings show a natural flow of compact and forcible thought, 
never failing to convey the nicest sense. In tracing with his trench- 
ant pen the devious operations of the professional politician, 
in which he is inimitable, his text is open perhaps to the objec- 
tiou that all his cotemporaries, many of whom have since had 
their names written high on the scroll of national fame, were mere 
})oliticians, and that he fails to discover little else in all their acts 
and deeds than the selfish promptings for place, power, or some 
local benefit. It has been inferred — indeed his book is somewhat 
calculated to leave such an impression upon the mind of the 
reader — that it was dictated by spleen, and his enemies have 
charged it to be the jealous bile of disappointed ambition. But 
except, perhaps, as to his own administration, this is a mistaken 
view. That he was an accurate observer of his ow n times, and 
that he relates events trulj^ and describes men correctly, may, aside 
from the internal conviction which his book produces, be inferred 
from the fact that he wrote concerning those who survived him, 
but who have never contradicted him. 

The lieutenant-governor elect, John Moore, was born Septem- 
ber 8, 1793, in Lincolnshire, England. Bereft of jKU'ents at the 
age of 20 he emigrated to America. Sojourning for a while in Vir- 
ginia, he located in Hamilton county, Ohio, and about 1830 re- 
moved to Illinois, settling pernuinently at Eandoli)h Grove, 
McLean county, where he pursued his vocation of wheelwright, a 
trade which he had learned in England. His force of character 
was such that he speedil^^ rose from obscuiity. In 1831 he was 
elected a justice of the peace; twice afterward to the lower house 
of the legislature and in 1839 to the State senate. His sterling- 
qualities of head and heart gained him distinction throughout the 
State, causing his party to designate him as its standard bearer 
for lieutenant-governor in 1842. On the breaking out of the Mexi- 
can war, animated by an ardent patriotism for the cause of his 
adopted country, he volunteered in the ranks, was chosen lieut. 
colonel of the 4th regiment, and participated in all its active ser- 
vices. After that, by the partiality of the people, he was twice 
elected State treasurer, and in that capacity earned the honored 
sobriquet of " Honest John Moore." He was long and favora- 
30 



466 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

bly known in the State as a consistent leader of the democracy, 
and died Sept. 23d, 1863. 

With the advent of Governor Ford's administration, he sums 
up the condition of the State as follows : 

" The domestic treasury of the State was indebted for the ordinary 
expenses of government to tlie amount of about $313,000. Auditor's 
warrants on the treasury were selling at 50 per cent, discount, and there 
was no money in the treasury whatever ; not even to pay postage on 
letters. The annual revenues applicable to the payment of ordinary 
expenses amounted to about $130,000. The treasury was bankrupt ; the 
revenues were insufficient ; the people were unable and unwilling to 
pay high taxes ; and the State had borrowed itself out of all credit ; a 
debt of near $10,000,000 had been contracted for the canal, railroads and 
other purposes. The currency of the State had been annihilated; there 
was not over $200,000 or $300,000 in good money in the pockets of the 
whole people, which occasioned a general inability to pay taxes. The 
whole people were indebted to the merchants, nearly all of whom were 
indebted to the banks or foreign merchants ; and the banks owed every- 
body, and none were able to pay." 

In his message, the governor says : 

"We have suffered all the evils of a depreciated i^aper circulation ; 
the first of which is a great and sudden scarcity of money. The specie, 
which ought to be in circulation, is locked up in the banks ; a large 
amount of the depreciated paper has been purchased up and held on 
speculation, and tlae residue has just been sufficient to keep money of a 
better character from coming among us. Consequently, we have been 
left without money, property has fallen unusually low in price, and the 
products of the farmer have been almost unsalable. Two courses have 
operated to px'event an increase of population for a year or two past; one 
is the prevalent fear of exorbitant taxes ; the other the reproach to 
which we are subject abroad. The remedy for this is obvious. Let 
it be known in the first place that no oppressive and exterminating taxa- 
tion is to be resorted to ; in the second, we must convince our creditors 
and the world that the disgrace of repudiation is not countenanced 
among us — that we are honest and mean to pay an soon as we are able." 

In the legislature, which came into power simidtaneously with 
Governor Ford, there was no party in favor of taxation to pay 
interest on the public debt. Some wanted to make no effort for 
live or ten years, but await the influx of immigrants, trusting that 
the future might develop liomething favorable; all would gladly 
yield up to the holders of the internal improvement bonds the 
public works as far as completed, and the lands, railroad iron and 
other property i>nrchased to carry forward the system, in liquida- 
tion of the indebtedness, if they would finish the canal, but this 
was impracticable for obvious reasons. The great majority were 
neither willing to tax nor yet to repudiate. Governor Ford, in his 
message, said: "Although the elections in August last were con- 
ducted with warmth on the part of the candidates and people, not 
more than one or two individuals were found willing to offer their 
services upon principles of repudiation, and they were unsuccess- 
ful." The majority quieted their consciences by the adoption of 
resolutions recognizing both the moral and legal obligations to 
pay interest and principal, but that the present abihty to do so 
was out of the question. Outside there were not wantiug manj'' 
who were outspoken in favor of repudiation, contending that 
neither the legislature nor the State financial agents possessed the 
power to legally obligate the people to the payment of debts in- 
curred in a scheme of such gross and reckless infatuation as that 
of the internal improvement system of the State. 



ford's administration. 467 

Another source of anxiety aud trouble to tliouglitful and con- 
servative men, was the prostrate banks. They had been for a long 
time odious to the people on account of their oft infirmities. Any 
extremity pursued toward them would meet the hearty approba- 
tion of the people, however such course might be detrimental to 
the country. Hence politicians, who looked only to popularity 
with their constituents, were clamorous for the repeal of the bank 
charters. Illinois bonds in market were worth only 14 cents on 
the dollar at the time. The State owned bank stock to the amount 
of $3,100,000, which it was urged by the repudiating party should 
be returned to the banks in exchange for State bonds held as col- 
lateral ; that the latter should be forced ni>on the market as assets, 
and with the proceeds pay the debts of the banks. This would 
have further depressed Illinois bonds. The bank stock was much 
more valuable than State bonds, the bills of the bank being worth 
about 50 cents on the dollar, yet the madness of the hour de- 
manded a surrender and even exchange. 

These were some of the obstacles in the way of harmonious de- 
liberation for the best interests of the State. But fertile brains 
were immersed in thought to devise ways out of the em- 
barrassing circumstances under which the State labored. The 
canal, upon which work had been longer continued than the other 
public works, was greatly advanced, requiring only some $3,000,- 
000 more to finish it upon the first magnificent plan. It was now 
proposed to make of this work a fulcrum by which to raise the 
credit of the State out of its slough of despond. And as some 
sort of canal was better than none, it was further proposed to fin- 
ish the remainder of it by abandoning the deej) cut for the shallow, 
which could be accomplished at about half the price, or $1,600,- 
000. The completion of the canal Mould inspire confidence abroad, 
invite emigration, and revive the drooping energies of the people 
at home. The plan was to induce the canal bondholders to ad- 
vance this amount on the pledge of the canal, its lands and reve- 
nues, as a first mortgage, postponing all creditors who should 
refuse to contribute until the former were reimbursed. It seems 
that Justin Butterfiekl, an eminent lawyer of Chicago, was entitled 
to the credit of suggesting this plan, which, after a brief delay, 
proved successful. He first mentioned it to Arthur Bronson, a 
heavy operator in Illinois stocks, and a large landholder in the 
northern part of the State, who was on a visit to Chicago, in the 
summer of 1842, looking after his interests. Mr. Butterfiekl fur- 
ther imbued Mr. Michael Ryan with this idea, and the latter, when 
shortly after in New York, enlisted Mr. David Leavitt, Mr. Bron- 
son, and other operators in Illinois stocks, both in London and 
New York, in the scheme. The plan received definite shape from 
these financiers, and upon the meeting of the legislature, Decem- 
ber, 1842, awaited the sanction of that body. 

But the more absorbing question of repealing the bank charters 
and winding up those institutions, boded evil to the success of 
the new canal loan, even if the bill to convey the canal in trust 
for the advance of $1,600,000, did become a law. The financial 
embarrassments of the State would probably become involved in 
an inextricable coil, to disentangle which would consume years of 
time. There was a question of law as to the vested rights of the 
banks under their charters, which they asserted their determina- 



468 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tioD to contests witli all the law's delay that the United States 
courts afforded, if forcible liquidation was attempted. In the 
meantime, their assets Avould be absorbed in litigation or squan- 
dered by villainous officials. It would, besides, produce mistrust 
and a want of confidence in the minds of capitalists abroad, upon 
whom we depended for the new loan to complete the canal. If 
the bank charters could be repealed and banking corporations 
arbitrarily crushed, what guarantee was there that a succeeding 
legislature would not treat the new canal comjjauy the same 
way ? 

Gov. Ford, for the best interests of the State, determined upon 
a just compromise with the banks, and labored earnestly to that 
end. But with the convei)ing of the legislature, the retiring 
executive, Gov.Carlin, (says Ford), "recommended repeal in his 
valedictory message. When he fu-st came to the seat of govern- 
ment he showed me his message, recommending wise, just, and 
honorable measiu'es to the banks. He also showed me what he 
had prepared on the subject of repeal, assuring me that he had 
decided not to put it in. But shortly afterwards, some of the 
ultraists got a hold of him, and induced him to alter his message, 
by recommending repeal. This recommendation embarrassed me 
then, and has embarrassed me ever since. Here was a respecta- 
ble recommendation of something more ultra than I thought was 
warranted by the best interests of the State. It gave countenance 
to the ultraists ; they could rally around it, win a cliaracter for 
stern and inflexible democrats. It at once put them ahead of the 
new governor and his friends." As a fuither source of opposition 
to the banks, Gov. Ford continues : "There was quite a party 
out of the legislature, expectants of office and others, who 
hoped that if the banks were repealed out of existence and 
put into forcible liquidation, some of them might be appoint- 
ed commissioners and put in charge of their specie and effects. 
It was known that if the bank debts were paid pro rata, a large 
amount of specie would remain on hand for a year or more, the 
use of which could be made profitable in the meantime. Then 
there were to be bank attorneys and agents in collecting and 
securing debts ; and the whole would furnish a handsome picking 
for the buzzards and vultures who hang about lobbies and sur- 
round legislatures. As for myself, I decided at once in favor of a 
compromise; and I gave notice to all these greedy expectants of 
office, who were hanging around with eyes straining to devour 
their substance, that if the banks were repealed, and the appoint- 
ment of commissioners was vested in me, none of them could 
expect an appointment. This I know cooled some of them." 

The governor, who labored under a greater apprehension in re- 
gard to the x^ower of the ultra anti-bank party than there was 
perhaps any call for, drafted the bank bill himself, giving it 
rather a higher sounding title than its provisions deserved or its 
effects would warrant, namely "an act to diminish the State debt 
and put the State baidc into liquidation." The officers of the bank 
were well apprised of its provisions and had agreed to them. "It 
was then," says the governor, "shown to Mr. McClernand, chair- 
man of the finance committee. Gen. Shields, Judge Douglas, and 
myself, were invited to be present at the meeting. I was desirous 
of having the bill introduced as a democratic measure, and 



ford's administration. 469 

for tliis reason the whigs of tlie committee were not invited 
to be present. The project was stated to the committee, and all 
the members agreed to it bnt one, and he was soon argued out of 
his objections by Judge Douglas. The next day it was introduced 
into the lower house as a report from the finance committee. 
This circumstance put Mr. McClernand in the position of being- 
its principal advocate ; and it was soon known to be a favorite 
measure of the new administration." It met with general favor 
among the meuibers. 

The opposition to it came mainly from the ontside expectants 
of office in winding up the concern. Says Ford : "Lyman Trum- 
bull, secretary of State, put himself at the head of thisopi)Osition. 
In taking this ground, Mr. Trumbull was probably less influenced 
by a hope of pecuniary advantages to himself, than by a desire to 
serve his friends, to be considered a thorough-going party man, 
and by a hatred of McGlernaad and Shields, who both favored 
the measure.* 

"As soon as McClernand took his position on the bank question, 
Trumbull arrayed himself in opposition. He pretended that 
McCleruaud's measure was not sufficiently democratic ; in fact, 
that nothing could be democratic in relation to the banks but to 
tear them up and destroy them root and branch, and he hoped to 
fasten npon McClernand the imputation of being a ' milk and 
water democrat,' and thns lower him in the estimation of the i)arty. 
At the instance of Ebenezer Peck, clerk of the supreme court, and 
others, he put up a notice that he would address the lobby on the 
subject, in the evening after the legislatnre had adjourned. Most 
of the members attended to hear his discourse. 
"The next day McClernand, who possessed a kind of bold and 
denunciatory eloquence, came down upon Trumbull and his con- 
federates in a speech in the house, which for argument, eloquence, 
and statesmanship Avas far superior to Trumbull's. This speech 
silenced all opposition thereafter to the bill in the house. The out- 
door opposition, after this, foreseeing signal defeat in the house, 
turned their attention to the is'enate. * * * Trumbull took his 
stand in the lobby and seut iu amendments of every sort, to he 
proposed by Crain, of Washington, Catlin, of St. Clair, and others. 
The mode of attack was to load it down with obnoxious amend- 
ments, so as to make it odious to its authors ; and Trumbull openly 
boasted that the bill would be so altered and amended in the sen- 
ate that the framers in the house would not know their own bant- 
ling when it came back to them. From this moment I determined 

[* "His quarrel with McClernand sprung- out. of his appointment to the office of sec- 
retary of State two years before. McClernand was a member of the legislature in 
1838, but not bein? an applicant then, Jmifie Doug-las was appointed at the beginning- 
of the session without opposition. But when Douglas was elected a judge of the su- 
preme court, toward the end of the session, McClernand incited his friends to get up 
in his favor a strong recommendation from the members of the lejiislature for the va- 
cant ofRee. » * ♦ Gov. Carlin had already allowed the members of the legisla- 
ture and his political friends to dictate to him the aiipointment of McClernand on a 
former occasion He had lately yielded to similar dictation in the appointment of 
Douglas in opposition to his own wishes, for he had previously promised the office to 
Isaac N. Morris, of Quincy. [He] subsequentlj' used his influence with the legislature 
to get Morris elected to the office of president of the board of canal commissioners. 
But this contest between McClernand and Trumbull took place at the close of the ses- 
sion, when the governor had nothing more to hope or fear from tiiat legislature. ' * 
Trumbull was nominated to the senate; and McClernand and Shields as immediately 
went to work in that body to procure the rejection of his appointment. They came 
within a vote or two of defeating his nomination. Ever since then there has been no 
good feeling between McClernand and Trumbull."— Ford's History. 



470 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



to remove Trumbull from the office of secretary of State, [wbich 
was doue]. The obnoxious amendmeuts were rejected, and the 
bill x>assed by a large majority, and was api^roved by the council 
of revision. Jiulge Douglas, notwithstanding he had advised the 
measure before the finance committee, voted against it in council. 
[The bill passed the house by 107 for to 4 against.] A bill 
somewhat similar i)assed in relation to the Shawueetown bank. 
By these two bills the domestic treasury of the State was at once 
relieved, and another debt of $2,306,000 was extinguished imme- 
diately. 

''The legislature at this session also passed laws for the sale of 
State lands and property; for the reception of the distributive 
share of the State in the proceeds of the sales of the public lands ; 
for the redemption of interest bonds hypothecated to Macalister 
and Stebbins, and for a loan of $1,600,000 to complete the Illinois 
and Michigan canal. By these various laws provision was made 
for the reduction of the State debt to the amount of eight or nine 
millions of dollars. * * From this moment the affairs of the 
State began to brighten and improve. Auditor's warrants rose to 
85 and 90 i)er cent. State bonds rose from 14 to 20, 30 and 40 
per cent. The banks began to pay out their specie, and within 
three months time the currency was restored, confidence was in- 
creased in the prospects of the State, and the tide of emigration 
was once more directed to Illinois."* 

But the new canal loan of $1,600,000 met witU delay in its ne- 
gotiation. European capitalists were well disposed toward it, but 
there was no reliable evidence placed before them as to the value 
of the canal; nor were they willing to take the loan without 
some evidence of public faith and recognition of the obligation of 
the State, and some legislation for taxation to make at least a be- 
ginning to pay interest on the public debt. 

In his message to the legislature of 1844-5, therefore, Gov. 
Ford recommended taxation. In September ])receding, however, 
Mr. William S. Wait, of Bond county, through his published let- 
ter to the governor against taxation, had already afforded him an 
opportunity to make known his views in a public letter written in 
reply, which did great credit to his sentiments of honor and ca- 
pacity as a sagacious statesman. It gained a wide circulation and 
produced so favorable an effect in Europe as to immediately cause 
the completion of the subscription to the loan. The State levenue 
was derived from a land tax, a portion of which had been in 1827 
diverted to the counties then generally in debt, to aid them toward 
the erection of court-houses and jails, which had long since been 
built, and the governor in his message says : 

" This land tax ought to be resei-ved to the State treasury. Frequent 
attempts have been made to effect this, but without success. The objec- 
tion has always been that there was more land taxable in the old tlian 
in the new part of the State, and that the measure would be unequal. 
[Under tlie compact with congress in the enabling act of 1818, lands 
were not to be taxed till five years after their entry.] 1 would recom- 
mend that tlie additional revenue thus derived, and such additional 
tax as the legislature in its wisdom will i^rovide for, be formed into a 
fund, the proceeds and increase of which shall be sacred and dedicated 
to the extinction of a portion, however small at first, of the interest on 
the public debt. Whatever we do in this way, ought to have the great- 

*Ford's History. 



ford's administration. 471 

est permanency. * * And thus by settiug a limit to the fears and 
imaginatious of men in relation to the huge phantom of expected taxes, 
we might reasonably calculate to restore ourselves in the estimation of 
mankind, turn the tide of emigration again into our country, accom- 
panied by wealth and intelligence." 

But from various causes quite an opposition bad been raised to 
the administratiou. This grew out of tbe " Mormon war," and 
tlie jealousies of political aspirants. Two bank commissioners, a 
secretary of state, three judges of tbe supreme court, and a U. S. 
seuator bad been appointed. For tbese oftices tbere were many 
applicants, and tbe disappointed ones joined tbeir influence to op- 
pose tbe administration measures. Man}" cbarges were brougbt 
against tbe administration and an investigating committee was 
appointed, wbicb, wbile it made a tborougb inquisition of tbe ex- 
ecutive offices and found notbiug amiss, still did not possess tbe 
magnanimity to make any report at all — ''tbe newest way of dis- 
crediting an administration," wbicb ougbt to be patented, says bis 
excellency. 

Tbe main administration measure at tbis session was a suj>ple- 
mental canal bill, and to provide for paying a portion of tbe inter- 
est on tbe State debt. It provided for a transfer of 1 mill from 
tbe county to tbe State tax, so as to make tbe State tax 3 mills, 
tbe latter to remain permanent, and togetber witb all surplus 
moneys in tbe treasury constitute an " Interest Fund," to be sa- 
credly set apart for tbe payment of interest on tbe jmblic debt. 
Tbe bill giving to the foreign bondbolders tAvo canal trustees and 
to tbe State but one, afterwards divided and passed in two laws, 
was prej)ared in accordance witb tbe propositions of tbe foreign 
creditors, as made by tbe Boston committee. Governor Davis, of 
Massachusetts, and Mr. Leavitt, of IsTew York, being present 
during the latter part of the session. 

Besides disaffected democrats, a strenuous effort was made 
to array the whig party in opi)osition to this measure. To this 
end a secret meeting of tbe whig leaders was called to form a 
coalition with the southern democrats. But to these intrigues, 
fraught with mischief to tbe credit and prospeiity of the State, 
Judge Stephen T. Logau, of Springfield, IS". D. Strong, of Alton, 
and other whigs, set their faces as steel ; and in the bouse these 
machinations met with signal defeat, the bill passing by some 20 
nuijority. In tbe senate, after a substitute ottered by Edwards and 
amendments by Wortbington and Constable, (whigs,) all tending 
toils defeat, were voted down, that body refused to order tbe bill 
to a third reading — 19 to 22. IsTow followed much parliamentary 
maneuvering, and cbarges of bribery and corruption were freely 
made. 

"Tbe vote on the bill in the senate being reconsidered, it was 
referred to a select committee, together with another bill of an 
important character, which had already passed tbe bouse of rep- 
resentatives. It was known tliat one senator would not vote for 
the tax and the canal both in the same bill. By their connection 
the tax was made to appear as a local measure, intended only for 
the benefit of tbe north. Tbe committee, therefore, divided the 
bill. They struck out of the caiial bill all that related to a tax, 
and they struck out all of tbe bill referred with it, and inserted 
tbe taxing part in that. And these two bills being now reported 



472 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

back to the senate, the senate couciuTed in their passage as thus 
amended. They were sent back to the house the same hour for 
concurrence, which was given ; and thus these important meas- 
ures passed into hiws, or rather they wabbk'd through the legis- 
hiture. To Thomas M. Kilpatrick, senator from Scott, is due the 
honor of the good management in the senate, in dividing and 
amending the measure, and thus securing its passage. I give the 
facts, curious as they may appear, to iUustrate the fertile genius of 
western men, and as a specimen of the modes of legislation in a^ 
new country."* 

Thus was shown a recognition of our obligation to pay the pub- 
lic debt, and a willingness to contribute to do so as far as lay in 
our power. This, too, at a period of sore trial to the people of the 
State. For the two preceding seasons the crops had been a par- 
tial failure; the unprecedented freshets of the Mississippi, the 
Illinois, and many other streams in the State, in 1844, had de- 
stroyed a large amount of x>ro])erty, and laid waste many a home- 
stead ; and an unusual amount of sickness had not only followed 
in the wake of the floods, but generally pervaded the country. 

Another "Hard Times" measure, adopted at this session, wa» 
the reduction of interest to per cent. During the flush times,, 
prior to 1840, when money was abundant and unlimited, the peo- 
ple overtraded themselves, and, finally, on settlement, gave their 
promissory notes, bearing 12 per cent, interest, which they did 
rather than be sued and have their property sold under execution. 
The reader will have noticed that for tAventy-five years the ten- 
dency of legislation in Illinois, and indeed all western states, a, 
tendency not yet arrested, was to favor the debtor classes. 

At the close of Gov. Ford's administration,t we find the domes- 
tic debt for the ordinary expenses of the State government to be 
only 131,212, instead of $313,000 as when he came into oftice j 
now, without the sum due from the general government to the 
school fund being paid, there was in the treasury $9,200, when at 
that time it did not contain enough to pay postage on a letter ; now^ 
auditor's warrants were worth over 90 cents on the dollar, then^ 
not 50 ; now, people were in the main out of debt, then they were 
overwhelmed with private liabilities. The banks had been put 
into liquidation and gradually wound up, their de])reciafed circu- 
lation I'etired and replaced by a reasonable abundance of specie 
and the issues of solvent baidcs from other States. By exchang- 
ing the bank stock of the State for the bonds, and the sale of 
public property, about $3,000,000 of the i)ublic debt had been 
extinguished ; and by the canal, then promising to be completed 
within the next year, some $5,000,000 more was eflFectiially pro- 
vided for in the enhanced value of the canal property, and the 
fact of its conveyance in trust to the foreign canal bondholders — 
being a reduction of some $8,000,000, extinguished and provided 
for during Gov. Ford's administration, notwithstanding its begin- 
ning under circumstances the most adverse and unpromising. 
The State, which for years before had been overwhelmed with 
debt ; which had not for 4 years paid even interest on its bonds, 
and loth to even recognize its public debt ; which was on the brink 
of repudiation— discredited throughout the civilized world, had dur- 

*1 Ford's History. 

+See his message, Dec. 1846. 



FOED'S ADMINISTEATION. 473 



ing his administration its credit greatly restored, and was enabled 
to borrow $1,600,000 to complete the canal. It now had a popula- 
tion of about 700,000, and the 1^ mill tax to be exclusively ap- 
plied as interest on the public debt, would yield for the year 
1846, $125,000. With the dissipation of the clouds of threatening 
dishonor, emigration, with an increasing tide, again sought 
our lands for homes, and population was augmenting faster 
than at any previous time. The list of taxable property, and 
the aggregate wealth of the State, were rapidly on the increase. 
From the i)eople here, erst so anxious to sell out and depart the 
State, the terrors of high taxation had been removed, and now 
when opportunity to sell and leave was almost daily i>resented, 
they were content to remain. The reputation of Illinois before 
the civilized world now stood forth almost without spot or blem- 
ish, the peer in honor and credit of any in the sisterhood of 
States. The year 1845 was the turning point in her financial em- 
barrassments, and marks the beginning of her since unabated 
prosperity and march to greatness. 

"We may date the commencement of our returning prosperity 
to the passage of that law" — the law requiring the banks of this 
State to put their affairs in process of gradual liquidation — says 
Gov. French in his inaugural message. This law, we have seen, 
was conceived by the brain and drafted by the hand of Gov. 
Ford himself; through his admirable letter in rejdy to W. S. 
Wait, of Bond county, our foreign creditors took heart and sub- 
scribed the money for the completion of the canal ; he had the 
courage to recommend taxation, and suggested the permanaut 
tax or "interest fund" bill, which after a severe struggle became a 
law. We see thus the directing finger of Gov. Ford in every im- 
portant measure which aided in restoring the credit of the State, 
and snatching it from the jaws of repudiation and dishonor! 
And this was done, not with the united support of his own party 
friends, but in the face of their many intrigues, jealousies and 
party machinations. Illinois was most fortunate in securing his 
services for its helm of State attliis critical juncture of her finan- 
cial career; and ])osterity will ever owe a debt of gratitude to him 
for his clear insight into the condition of her affairs, the meas- 
ures which his genius brought forward for her extrication, and the 
fidelity with which he discharged the high trust reposed in him at 
this crisis in her history. In his valedictory message he says: 
"Without having indulged in wasteful or extravagant habits of 
living, I retire from office poorer than I came in ; and go to pri- 
vate life with a full determination not to seek again any place in 
the government." Gov. Ford died, Nov. 2d, 1850, at Peoria, in 
very indigent circumstances. 



Chapter XL. 
THE ILLIls^OIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 
Trials and Troubles Incident to its Construction, 



The importauce of a canal comiecting the waters of Lake Mich- 
igan and those of the Illinois river, and thence by other navigable 
streams hundreds of miles in extent to the Gulf of Mexico, was at 
a very early time appreciated, and its consummationfondly cherish- 
ed. The French traders and voyageurs in their explorations of the 
west, between one and two centuries shice, passed with their boats 
from Lake Michigan into the Des Plaines at some seasons of the 
year, via the Calumet river and lake. The portage between the 
south branch of the Chicago river and the Des Plaines was only 
some five or six miles. Until the artificial connection between the 
waters of Lake Michigan and the Illinois river w as practically 
essayed, it was regarded as of easy accomplishment; but the facts 
have shown the contrary. The canal, which in 1825 and prior was 
estimated at 1040,000, has first and last, including the Chicago 
deepening for sanitary purposes, cost near twenty times that 
sum. 

During the war of 1812, with the massacre at the mouth of the 
Chicago, and the retreat of the savages westward, national atten- 
tion was first directed to the importance of this work, and the 
president in his message in 1814 brought the subject to the atten- 
tion of congress, and a select committee reported it as "the great 
work of the age, " for both military and commercial purposes. "In 
1810," says Gov. Edwards, who was one of the commissioners, " a 
tract of land bounded on Lake Michigan, including Chicago and 
extending to the Illinois river, was obtained from the Indians, for 
the purpose of opening a canal communication between the lake 
and the river. * * l peisonally know that the Indians were 
induced to believe that the opening of the canal would be veiy 
advantageous to them, and that, under authorized expectations 
that this would be done, they ceded the land for a trifie.'"* In 
1817, Major Long made a repcvrtto congress that "a canal, uniting 
the waters of the Illinois river with those of Lake Michigan, may 
be considered the first in importance of any in this quarter of the 
country, and the construction would be attended with very little 
expense compared with the magnitude of the object." Another 
rejjort favorable to the canal was at that time made by Richard 
Graham and Chief Justice Phillips, of this State.t In 1819, Mr. 
Calhoun, secretary of war, directed the attention of congress to the 

*E(1 wards' Life of Edwards. 
*Ibid 

474 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 475 

canal on account of its importance for military puri^oses.* In 
1822 congress autliorized tliis State to construct the canal tlirough 
the public lands, granting for the purpose a strip of ground 90 
feet in width on both sides of it, and reserving the lands through 
which it might pass from sale until further direction. It was to be 
commenced within three and completed within twelve years. To 
the State was given the privilege of taking from the government 
land, material for its construction. Upon this slender beginning 
congress subsequently enlarged considerably. 

In 1818, Gov. Bond, in his message, strongly recommended the 
construction of the canal; Governor Coles, four years later, did the 
same, and every governor of the State espoused its cause. No 
sectional question was made of it for many years. The legislature, 
at the sessioh of 1822-3, appointed a board of canal commission- 
ers "to make or cause to be made, estimates, etc., for completing 
said canal," and report to the next general assembly. Emanuel 
J. West, Erastus Brown, Theopbilus W. Smith, Thomas Sloe, jr., 
and Samuel Alexander, were appointed commissioners. The 
board employed Bene Paul, of St. Louis, and Justine Post, as 
engineers to survey the route and make out the estimates. They 
reported the route highly practicable, and estimated the cost of 
the work at from §640,000 to not exceeding $716,110.71, which has 
proven to be very wide of the mark. The examination was super- 
ficial, and no idea was formed of the amount of rock excavation 
which afterwards proved so formidable. These preliminary steps 
cost the State $10,589.87.t 

By act of Jan. 19, 1825, the "Illinois and Michigan Canal Asso- 
ciation," with a capital of $1,000,000 was incorporated. The com- 
pany was to build and complete the canal within 10 year's time; 
to receive for its own use and benefit all the public lands which the 
United States, State, or individuals might donate in aid of the 
undertaking, and the tolls for 50 years after its completion; at the 
expiration of which time the canal and all its unsold lands were to 
be turned over to the State and the total sum expended in its con- 
struction, with 6 per cent interest, was to be paid. 

The act, after its passage, incurred the strenuous opposition of 
the Hon. Daniel P. Cook, our only member in congress. A grant 
of land for the construction of the canal, upon the ground of its 
national character, was then with some degree of confidence look- 
ed forward to during the administration of Mr. Adams. The 
House committee, through Mr. Cook, had made a favorable re- 
port upon it. But the act of the legislature, by which any bonus 
to aid the work was in advance turned over to a corporation of 
private individuals, would probably defeat the measure in con- 
gress. Mr. Cook published a long address to his constituents, 
under date of Oct. 28, 1825, forcibly attacking the canal policy of 
the State; urging the legislature to resume its possession and re- 
peal the charter before any work was commenced, and the claim 
of vested rights should be set up. He demanded "that the rich 
harvest which it was destined to yield, should go into the treas- 
ury of the State ;" and declared "that in less than 30 years it 
would relieve the people from the payment of taxes, and even 
leave a surplus to be applied to other works of public utility." 

'Vol. 4 Pub. Doc. 15 Consress, 2d session. 

+8ee Report of George Foiquer, Senate Journal, session 1834-5. 



476 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



These hopeful predictions have not been fulfilled. So sanguine 
was he, that to raise capital to build the canal, he was ready to 
sell or pledge a million acres of the school lands to carry for^Yard 
the work. But no stock was ever subscribed by the "canal asso- 
ciation ;" the incorporators voluntarily surrendered their charter 
and the act was repealed. 

This obstacle out of the way, the legislature, at the special ses- 
sion of January, 1826, called by acting Gov. Hubbard, transmitted 
to congress a very able memorial, drafted by Mr. Kussell, of Bond, 
praying aid for the canal. We quote two sentences : "The con- 
struction of the canal, uniting the waters of Lake Michigan with 
the Illinois river, will form an important addition to the great con- 
necting links in the chain of internal navigation, which will 
ett'ectually secure the indissoluble union of the confederate mem- 
bers of this gieat and powerful republic. By the comx)letion of 
this great and valuable work, the connection between the north 
and south, the east and west, would be strengthened by the ties 
of commercial intercourse and social neighborhood, and the union 
of States bid defiance to internal commotion, sectional jealousy, 
and foreign invasion." 

The memorial, together with the efforts of our delegation in 
congress. Cook (in the house,) and Kane and Thomas (in the sen- 
ate), but notably tlie first named, whose genial inliuence and un- 
tiring labors in this behalf have i)laced the State, and particularly 
Chicago, under lasting obligation to his memory, ])roduced a 
favorable effect, and congress by act of March 2d, 1827, grant- 
ed to the State of Illinois "for the purpose of aiding her in 
opening a canal to connect the waters of the Illinois river with 
those of Lake Michigan," the alternate sections of the public 
lands on either side of the canal for five miles, along its entire 
route, which when set ai)art by the president were found to contain 
224,322 acres. The lands were subject to the disposal of the legis- 
lature "for the purposes aforesaid, and no other." The canal was 
regarded as of national utility; it was to be commenced within 5 
years thereafter and comi^leted within 20 ; and if not so comple- 
ted, the State was to pa^' the general government for all lands 
sold up to that time, and the remainder were to revert. This 
grant was the beginning of those enormous landed subsidies to 
western railroads which have become so frequent of late, but it 
will be noticed that this and the next, also in Illinois, for the con- 
struction of the Cential railroad, were made to the State, where- 
as latterly the grants are to private corporations directly. It is a 
curious fact that the largely democratic State of Illinois obtained 
both these grants, by which she was more materially benefited 
than all else ever done for her, from whig administrations. 

In 1829 the legislature organized a new board of canal commis- 
sioners, " to explore, examine, fix and determine the route of the 
canal," dispose by sale of the lands and lots and commence the 
work. Governor Edwards appointed Charles Dunn, afterwards 
U. S. judge of Wisconsin Territory, Dr. Gersham Jayne and Ed- 
mond Eoberts, both of Springfield, as commissioners. For lack 
of funds little or nothing was done ; times were rather hard, 
owing to the financial embarrassments caused by the old State 
bank of 1821. Feb. 15, 1831, an act amendatory of that of 1820, 
was passed. Under the provisions of these two acts, the board 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 477 

laid out the towns of Chicago and Ottawa, the map of the former, 
])repared by James Thompson, who made tlie surveys, bearing 
date August 4, 1830. When Thompson began his surveys of 
Chicago, in 1830, only 7 families lived outside of Fort Dearborn. 
Town lots and canal lands were sold to the amount of $18,924.83, 
and a re-examination and re-survey of the entire route of the canal 
were made, the engineer this time being Mr. Bucklin, whose esti- 
mate ran the work into millions instead of hundreds of thousands. 
The question of building a railroad over the route, instead of tlie 
canal, was also considered. The commissioners reported their 
estimate to the legislature at the session of 1833, the cost of the 
canal at $4,043,386.50 — still too low by about half — and the cost 
of a railroad at $1,052,488.19. The expenses of these examina- 
tions and surveys were $1(),974.83, The board of canal commis- 
sioners, by act of March 1, 1833, was abolished. The incumbents 
were required to pay over all moneys, and deliver up all papers, 
vouchers, «&c., of their transactions, to the State treasurer, and 
if upon examination any of the oflicers aforesaid had not faith- 
fully and fairly accounted for all moneys &c., suit was directed to 
be commenced upon their oflicial bonds, for which purpose, juris- 
diction was given to the Fayette circuit court, its process running 
to any county in the State. 

Meanwhile there were various projects of turning the construc- 
tion of the canal and all its i)roperty gifts over to a company, and 
of building a railroad instead between Chicago and Peru. The 
distance was about 100 miles and the cost of a railroad was esti- 
mated at about $10,000 per mile. At the time, considering the 
expedition with which railroads are built, and the delay which has 
attended the completion of the canal, the former would doubtless 
have served the country more acceptably. A railroad would have 
been fully adequate to all the wants of the country, and for pas- 
senger travel it is far preferable, while for the transportation of 
freight it offers the advantage of carrying in winter as well as 
summer. The consent of congress to divert so much of the avails 
of the canal lands as might be needed for this object was readily 
obtained. By act of March 2d, 1833, the State was authorized to 
use the lands granted for the canal, in building either a railroad 
or canal, as the legislature might elect; and the time for com- 
mencing either was extended live years. 

In 1835 the governor was authorized to negotiate a loan not ex- 
ceeding $500,000, "solely on the pledge of the canal lands and 
tolls," for the construction of the canal. The stock was to be 
called " Illinois and Michigan canal stock," and in no case to be 
sold for less than par. Governor Duncan told the legislature such 
was the universal estimate of the importance of the canal by all 
men of intelligence, that he had no hesitation in believing ample 
funds could be procured for its speedy completion. But the effort 
to obtain the loan proved a failure. Ex-Gov. Coles, residing at 
Philadelphia, was deputed to negotiate the loan for the full sum 
authorized. Under date of Ajml 28, 1835, he wrote that capital- 
ists were unwilling to take it because the bonds were not based up- 
on the faith of the State. Nor were any funds for the payment ot 
either princiijal or interest provided, except such as might arise 
from the lands and net revenues of the canal. 



478 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

To meet these objectious, the act of Jau. 9, 1836, was passed, 
which repealed the former act and authorized the same loau of 
$500,000 on the credit and faith of the State, irrevocably pledged 
for the iiaymeut of the canal stock and its accruing- interest. 
James M. Strode, a senator then representing all the country north 
of and including- Peoria, introduced this bill, which served as an 
entering wedge to the State treasury, and became the model for 
subsequent like legislation. The money borrowed, premiums ou 
sales ot stock, the proceeds of the canal lands and lots, and all 
other moneys arising from the canal, were to constitute a fund 
sacred to the canal till it was completed, except to pay interest on 
the stocks. The board of canal commissioners was constituted a 
body i)olitic and corporate, subject to the control of the governor. 
One was to be the acting- commissioner and general superinten- 
dent of the work, who was to report to the board. Thej' were to 
hold till January following, when commissioners were made elec- 
tive biennially. The salary of the acting commissioner was 
$1,200, and the compensation of the other two $3 per day W'heu 
employed. Moneys from sale of stock or other sources were to be 
de[)osited in the State banks, to be thence drawn as needed by 
warrants on the treasurer. Immediate steps were to be taken for 
the construction of the canal, the contracts to be let to the lowest 
bidder. Materials for the canal were exempted from execution. 
Town sites were to be located and lots sold at auction. A sale of 
Ottawa lots, and the fractional section No. 15, adjoining Chicago, 
was made June 20j 1836 ; the latter under the extraordinary mania 
of sj)eculation then rife regarding- Chicago,* is said to have 
brought $1,503,495. The dimensions of the canal were to be not 
less than 45 feet at the surface, 35 at the base, and a navigable 
dex)th of at least 4 feet of water. Quarterly reports were to be 
made to the governor. The commissioners appointed by Gov. 
Duncan were William F. Thornton (acting commissioner), Gurdon 
S. Hubbard and William B. Archer, all whigs. The canal was to 
extend from Chicago to the mouth of the Little Vermilion, work 
to be begun at its northern terminus. Of the loan now author- 
ized. Governor Duncan negotiated $100,000 in New York at a pre- 
mium of 5 per cent., which he deemed too low and declined a 
larger amount at that rate. Subsequent experience showed that 
he should have taken more. The survey and estimate made at this 
time by chief engineer Goodwin, was $8,694,33.51 — a hundred per 
cent higher than that of Bucklin — $86,000 per mile, being 4 times 
the cost of the Erie canal. The estimate was based upon a sur- 
face width of 60 feet, 40 at the bottom, and depth of water (to 
flow from the lake) of 6 feet. These dimensions were larger than 
the Erie, and would have made it one of the most splendid works 
of internal improvement anywhere to be found. But for such a 
work the estimate was yet too low. Contracts were let, and on the 
4th of July, 1836, ground was first broken for the canal. The 
occasion was j^ublicly celebrated at Chicago, by reading the 
Declaration of Independence, and the delivery of an able and 
appropriate address by Dr. Egan, picturing in glowing colors the 
future of Chicago and of the State of Illinois. Those glowing- 
colors have been alread;\' dimmed by the reality. 

• See Brown's History Illinois, p. 417. Note— Evidently a mistake . 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 479 

Much of the route of the canal lay through marshy ground, 
inundated in the spring- and fall, rendering it difticult of access. 
Forty thousand dollars was expended the first year upon roads 
leading to the work. The country bordering upon its route was 
but scatteringly settled, affording neither provisions nor shelter for 
laborers. Sujjplies had to be gathered from abroad. The work 
preceded the local demands of the country, other than those con- 
ceived in the brilhant imaginations of "corner" or "water lot" 
speculators in Chicago. Labor and provisions were high. The 
former from $20 to $30 per month and board. Pork at Chicago 
was from $20 to $30 per barrel ; flour $9 to $12 ; salt $12 to $15 j 
oats and potatoes 75 cents jier bushel ; and other articles of con- 
sumption in ratio. 

To give a further idea of the difficulty of this great work, we 
reproduce from an exhaustive legislative report, made by the Hon. 
Newton Cloud in 1837, the following. The canal is treated in three 
divisions: The first, comi)rising a high level from Chicago to 
where it runs out (Lockport) distance 28 miles. On this, from 
Chicago river to Point of Oaks, a cut of 18 feet was required, to 
aUow the waters of Lake Michigan to flow through. Half of the 
excavation for the entire 28 miles consisted of stratified and solid 
rock. The whole of this summit division was described as a sunken 
plain, largely underlaid with rock, the waters of the Des Plaines, 
Portage Lake, and the Saganaskee swamp extending over it and 
forming at times a continuous lake ; 15 or 16 feet of tbe canal cut, 
on this division, lay below the surface of the Des Plaines and con- 
tiguous to it; and as drainage was impracticable, the difQculties 
and expense to be encountered from this object alone baffled the 
power of calculation. Besides, as the line was many feet below 
the river and the surface of the lake, subterraneous veins or foun- 
tains of water might be expected. In the rock cutting, much would 
depend upon the compactness of the rock and its capacity to ex- 
clude the suberincumbent water from the prism of the canal. If 
fissures, peculiar to hme stone regions, should be met with the 
work would be exceedingly slow, enormously expensive at any 
time of the year, and impracticable during rainy seasons. An 
abstract of the engineer's estimate put the total cost of this 
division at $5,897,701.13; but the legislative committee, by 
referring to contracts already let, (which they cite) found that 
solid rock excavation per cubic yard would cost $2.50, instead of 
$1.54; earth excavation 40 cents, instead of 33; contingencies 
and superintendence 15 per cent, instead of 3, &c., &c.; whence 
they deduced that the summit level would cost $10,192,461, a 
difference against the engineer's estimate exceeding $4,250,000. 
These obstacles led to the consideration of the high level or 
shallow cut plan, as run by engineer Bucklin, ten feet above Lake 
Michigan, using the Calumet or Des Plaines river for a feeder. 
They estimated thatui)on this plan the summit division, including 
the necessary feeders, might be constructed for one-fourth the cost, 
or $2,500,000. The Calumet was preferred for a feeder, because 
of its connecting 80 miles of navigation with the canal from the then 
contemplated internal improvements of the State of Indiana in that 
region. The middle division of 37 miles was estimated at $1,510,957 ; 
and the western division at $1,272,055— total $5,283,012. They 
further reported that by connecting the canal with the river at lake 



480 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Juliet, 60 miles would be saved; that the river could be locked and 
dammed tlience to Peru at a cost of $576,665, reducing' the cost of the 
entire work to only $3,551,665 — the improvements of the river giviug 
to the State, besides, a hydraulic power capable of running 700 pair 
of mill stones, yielding an annual rental of $210,000. Kone of 
these suggestions were adopted; though the State was, from 
tiuaucial embarrassments, afterwards forced into the adoption of 
the shallow cut plau. 

By act of March I'd, 1837, supplemental to the law of Jan. 9, 
1836, the canal comnnssioners were rendered independent of the 
governor. Besides an acting commissioner, one was to be presi- 
dent of the board and the other treasurer, the latter to give 
additional bond for the safe keeping and disbursement of the funds. 
In the absence of the acting commissioner, the others were to 
perform his duties. They were to, without delay, prosecute the 
canal to final completion upon the plan of 1836. A new survey 
and estimates, on tbe established route, were to be made under 
oath, with the ^iew to ascertain if sufficient water could be 
obtained to feed the canal on the summit level. A route diverging 
from the main trunk was to be surveyed through the Aug-sag- 
nash-ge-ke SAvamp and Grassy lake to intersect the Calumet river, 
estimates to be made, and the canal built whenever the State of 
Indiana should undertake a corresponding work connecting 
therewith. A navigable feeder, from the best practicable point on 
Fox river to Ottawa, was to be constructed, and at the latter 
place, basins or a lateral canal connecting with the Illinois river 
were also to be built. Sales of Chicago lots to the amount of 
$1,000,000 were ordered; the governor was to borrow $500,000 
upon the credit of the State, to be expended on the canal in 1838; 
to promote competition between contractors, no bond should be 
required, but a certain percentage on estimates reserved until the 
final completion of their jobs. ]Srotwithstanding congress had 
juany years before given license to the State to take materials from 
the public lands for the construction of the canal, the legislature 
now authorized the circuit courts to appoint men to appraise all 
damages arising to settlers upon them from the construction of the 
canal. Many claims were presented and allowed, costing the 
State many thousands of dollars. But at this time the canal had 
become connected with the great internal improvement system, 
and with the then inflated notions pervading the public mind 
nobody doubted either the credit or ability of the State to compass 
all these grand works, and such a power could not afford to be 
niggardly to individuals with claims. 

Up to January 1, 1839, the gross expenditures on the canal, 
derived from the various sources of loans, lot and land, amounted 
to $1,400,000. All of it, but about 23 miles between Dresden and 
Marseilles, was contracted, and the jobs let were roughly estimated 
at $7,500,000. The legislature, still infatuated with the huge 
State interinil improvement system, at the session of 1838-9, 
encouraged the canal by directing the fund commissioners to loan 
to its fund $300,000, and authorizing the governor to make a 
furtlier loan for it by the sale of $4,000,000 of State bonds. This 
was tlie canal loan, to negotiate which, Gov. Carlin, uuAvilling to 
put it into the hands of the fund commissioners, employed Messrs. 
Young and Eeynolds, who made a very bungling job of it, entail- 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 481 

ing- upon the State a loss of several hundred thousand dollars, by 
their various transactions with Duulap, of Philadelphia, Delatield, 
of New York, and Wright & Co., of Loiidon. The latter, for a 
million dollars, except the advance of £30,000, proved almost a 
total failure; Delatield became unable to pay his installments, and 
was unwilling to surrender the bonds f and that of Dunlap was 
paid in such dribs of depreciated currency as to be of little avail 
in carrying forward the w ork. 

In the meantime it became apparent that no more loans could 
be effected for the State without heavy sacrifice ; the great system 
of internal improvements showed symptoms of a speedy collapse, 
and in February, 1840, the legislature put a period to its wild and 
reckless career. The work upon the canal was not interrupted by 
legislative action; provision was nmde to meet the liabilities of 
the State to contractors by issuing to them checks for the amounts 
found due on estimates, to bear interest at the rate of G per cent. 
The contractors had taken their jobs during the flush times 
(for Illinois) of 1836-7, when prices ruled much higher than in 
1840. They could afford to lose 25 per cent, on them and still do 
well ; and as the State hesitated to sell her bonds much below par, 
they engaged to receive them on their estimates at par. $1,000,000 
was in that manner paid to them. Gen. Thornton, canal com- 
missioner, was deputed to go to London with the bonds, where 
he effected a sale of $1,000,000 at 85 cents on the dollar, the con- 
tra(;tors suffering the discount — being ten per cent, better than 
his instructions. By this expedient life was kept in the canal, 
though work on every other internal improvement had long since 
been abandoned. With the completion of their jobs some of the 
contractors proposed to receive, in like manner, the residue of their 
estimates, and $197,000 more was paid to them, when, with the 
final breaking of the State bank in February, 1842, an extraor- 
dinary depreciation of Illinois stocks in market took place, which 
put a period to this character of payments. After that no fur- 
ther payment was made to contractors for over two years, when 
the canal j)assed into the hands of the foreign bondholders, though 
work was not wholly intermitted upon many of the jobs during 
this time. The new board of canal commissioners, elected by the 
legislature at the session of 1841, were : Isaac N. Morris, presi- 
dent ; Jacob Fry, acting commissioner, and Newton Cloud, treas- 
urer. 

After July, 1841, no further efforts were made to pay interest on 
the public debt. The financial embarrassment of the State be- 
came alarming. To add to the distress of the people, the State 
banks, early in 1842, broke down completely. Tlie governor, 
auditor and treasurer issued their circular, stating that the notes 
of these institutions would not be received in payment of taxes — 
nothing but gold and silver. The treasury was empty. There 
prevailed a dearth in trade and business amounting to stagnation; 
values declined; many despaired of the State's ability to ever pay 
off its enormous debt, exceeding $14,000,000, and equal to a pres- 
ent debt of at least $200,000,000, counting the lessened value of 
money and increased i)opulation, resources and capacity of the 
State. The people Avere unwilling to submit to higher taxation. 
Eepudiation was openly agitated by not a few at home and abroad, 
and the fair name of Illinois became freely associated with dishonor. 
31 



482 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

In this crisis, besides the comjjromise legisUxtion with the banks, 
the canal atfoided the only practicable avenue out of tlie diffi- 
culty; its completion, it was thought, would give a new and pow- 
erful impulse to every department of business and industry 
throughout the State; and the advantages and facilities to be 
aftbrded by it would cause tides of emigrants and floods of 
wealth to pour into the State. The want of money and anxiety 
to have any sort of canal, now caused an advocacy of the high 
level or shallow cut, which could be completed at half tbe cost of 
the deep cut. The idea was to induce the holders of canal bonds- 
to advance the money for its completion, upon a pledge of the canal, 
its lands and revenues in the nature of a tirst mortgage, and thu& 
infuse life into a work now dormant, which would quicken every- 
thing else. Justin Butterfield, of Chicago, first suggested this idea; 
Michael Ryan, a canal engineer and State senator, in the summer 
of 1842, met Messrs. Bronson, Leavitt and other large canal bond- 
holders in New York, and devised a plan for raising $1,600,000 to 
finish the canal on the shallow cut; and Gov. Ford recommended 
it in his first message. 

In accordance with the above plan, the act of February 21, 1843. 
was passed authorizing the governor to negotiate a loan of $1,600,- 
000, solely on the credit and pledge of the canal property, its 
revenues and tolls for a term of 6 years at 6 per cent, interest, 
payable out of tlie first moneys realized. The holders of the canal 
bonds and other evidences of canal indebtedness, were first enti- 
tled to subscribe the loan. A board of 3 trustees was established, 
1 to be appointed by the governor and 2 by the subscribers of the 
loan — one vote for every $1,000 of stock. The former were to ap- 
portion their duties among themselves. The canal property was 
to be conveyed by the governor in trust, and to be managed by 
the trustees much in the manner of former in^oceedings. They 
might adoj)t such alterations of the original plan as they deemed 
advisable, without materially changing the location, having due 
regard to economy, permanency of the work and an adequate sup- 
ply of water. It was to be completed in a good, substantial, Avork- 
manlike manner, ready for use, if practicable, in two and a half 
years time. On payment of all debts the canal was to revert to 
the State. In the interest of economy, by another act, the num- 
ber of canal officers was greatly reduced. 

And now, when there appeared every favorable prospect for the 
speedy completion of the canal, it became involved in the meshes 
of national politics. Col. Charles Oakley and senator Michael 
Ryan were by the governor appointed agents to negotiate the new 
loan of $1,600,000. The treasury was empty; to give them an 
outfit $3,000 of the school fund Avas borrowed, which became the 
subject of attack upon Gov. Ford by Mr. Trumbull,* the lately re- 
moved secretary of State. The agents proceeded to New York ; but 
with a view to the making of political capital, letter writers at home 
and partisan editors abroad attacked the canal policj' of the State, 
in the hope that a measure so fraught with good should not re- 
dound to the credit of the dominant party. The action of the 
legislature was misrepresented, the party in power charged with 
disregarding the interests of the people, and the State creditors 
advised that if they advanced further funds, the succeeding legis- 

*Ford'8 History. 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 483 

latare would break faith with them aud repeal their fraDchiise. 
But these publications pi'oduced the opposite effect intended. The 
financial agents, with truth on their side, employed the public 
press in a series of articles in reply. The real condition of the 
State, the legislation adopted to reduce its debts, and its future 
prospects, were candidly and ably brought before the public, and 
the result was that the State stocks advanced in a week from 14 
to 20 cents on the dollar, and in a short time doubled on that. 
Through the aid of David Leavitt, president of the American 
Exchange Bank of New York, which owned $250,000 canal bonds, 
the American creditors were called together, who resolved to 
subscribe their ratio of the new loan. 

Thus assured, Messrs. Oakley and Ryan hastened to Europe 
with letters of these proceedings to Baring Brothers, of London, 
Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, and to Magniac, Jardine & Co., all 
wealthy bankers and creditors of the State. But these houses 
disappointed the ardent hopes of the State agents. They de- 
manded something more substantial than newspaper articles, which 
had raised the spirits of the New York bond-holders. They 
wanted accurate data of the sufiiciency of the canal property as 
security for both the present loan, and ultimately the payment of 
the entire canal debt, some $5,000,000 more; and further, some 
legislative effort at taxation and submission of the people thereto, 
in payment of interest on the public debt. It was finally ar- 
ranged that Abbott Lawrence, Thomas W. Ward, and William 
Sturgis, of Boston, should designate two competent men to exam- 
ine the canal and its property, estimate the value thereof, ascer- 
tain the total debt and report the whole; that $400,000 should be 
subscribed in America toward prosecuting the work; and that the 
governor recommend taxation in his next message to the legisla- 
ture; whereupon the agents returned home in November, 1843. 
Ex-Gov. John Davis, of Mass., and W. H. Swift, a reputable en- 
gineer and a cajjtain in the U. S. army, were selected by the Bos- 
ton committee to examine the canal, its property and debts. This 
excited the political jealousy of the eastein press to a renewed in- 
terference with the domestic affairs of Illinois. 

Gov. Davis' name was at the time mentioned in connection with 
the vice-presidency on the whig ticket in 1844. The Globe news- 
paper at Washington, the great organ of the democracy, boldly 
charged that Gov. Davis had been selected for this work with the 
view to inliueuce the people of Illinois toward the support of the 
■whig ticket, and in favor of the policy of the general government 
assuming the State debts. Senator Ryan came again to the res- 
cue and published a merited and vigorous reply, in which Gov. 
Davis, the foreign bond-holders, and the i>eople of Illinois, were 
ably defended, and the editor of the Globe deservedly rebuked for 
his impertinence. 

The careful examination of the canal and elaborate report of 
Messrs. Davis and Swift, confirmed substantially the representa- 
tions of Messrs. Ryan and Oakley, and they recommended the 
loan as a safe investment. Gov. Ford jjromised to recommend to 
the legislature increased taxation toward paying interest on the 
public debt. Thus armed, the sanguine financial agents again re- 
paired to Euroi)e, only to meet again with failure. The subscrip- 
tion of $400,000 was wanting. The foreign bond-holders refused 



484 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

to perfect the new loan, alleging that the legislature and i>eople 
should take some steps in good faith toward a recognition of their 
obligations to their creditors. Gov. Davis was sent for in the 
meantime, to proceed to London for fuller explanations of the de- 
tails of the work and inspire greater conhdeuce for the subscrip- 
tions. Thus the summer of 1844 passed ; in December, the Illi- 
nois legislature would meet, and further effort was suspended to 
await the action of that body, of which Ryan was a senator. 
E-yan, chagrinetl at this failure, now yielded to the unworthy 
weakness of attempting to cast the blame upon Gov. Davis, from 
political motives. Through the public press of New York he 
reiterated the calumnies of the Washington Globe against that 
gentleman, which he himself had formerly so ably refuted ; and 
further charged him with causing the delay of the loan pending 
the presidential election. Messrs. Baring Bros, of London, took 
occasion, in an open letter addressed to Mr. Ryan, in a very plain 
manner to deny the charges.* 

In the fall of 1844, after the election of the members of the 
legislature, but prior to their meeting, William S. Wait, of Bond, 
addressed a long letter to Gov. Ford through the public press, 
reviewing the illegal action of the State's financial agents in dis- 
posing of bonds, and bitterly inveighing against taxation to pay 
the public debt. The object was to elicit an expression from the 
governor as to repudiation or taxation. Now this was the very 
pretext the governor wanted, and he embraced it with alacrity. 
Although his excellency well knew the unpopularity of an advoca- 
cy of increased taxation, he replied in a \'ery able letter, remarka- 
ble not only as a literary prodiiction of rare merit, but for its 
clear exposition of the embarrassed condition of the State, from 
which there was no hope of honorably escaping, except by taxa- 
tion ; and while it was replete with broad, common sense and 
sagacious views, it characterized in fitting terms the disgrace of 
repudiation, breathing a noble spirit of self-abnegation and 
patriotism. The governor's reply was extensively re-published in 
newspapers, and elicited general commendation for its high tone. 
Mr. Leavitt, of the American Exchange Bank of New York, which 
held largely of the canal stock, was greatly encouraged, and after 
procuring subscriptions to the new loan in New York, joined Col. 
Oakley, who was still in that city, and early in the winter of 1844- 
45 they returned to Euroi)e. The governor's letter had preceded 
them, and caused a maiked change in the views of our London 
creditors, who now, without hesitation, subscribed liberally to the 
new loan, each more than originally intended. Thus, after many 
delays, (such are the vexations incident to a ruined credit) did the 
new loan of $1,600,000 become an accomi)lished fact, and the com- 
13letion of the canal assured. 

Mr. Leavifct and Col. Oakley, on their return home, joined by 
Gov. Davis, hastened to Illinois before the adjournment of the 
legislature. They arrived in Springfield the middle of February, 
1845, where they became directly the curious objects of attraction 
as the envoys of Illinois' creditors. A prejudice was attempted to 
be excited against the administration policy of taxation, and these 
gentlemen were slyly denounced as moneyed kings, aristocrats, 

•Letter of Baring Bros. to Michael Ryan, in Ford's History. 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 485 

etc.* But by their kindly and pleasant intercourse with the 
members, all prejudice against them was speedily dissipated. 
They reported the proposition of the foreign bond holders through 
the executive, and the finance committee brought in a bill, to 
which we have made allusion in the preceding chapter, which 
provided for raising by taxation an "interest fund" to be sacredly 
set apart for the payment of interest on the State debt ; and as 
supplemental to the canal act of 1843, that the governor should 
execute and deliver, under the seal of the State, a deed of trust to 
the canal trustees, of all the canal property, both real and person- 
al, as the first mortgage, the subscribers of the new loan to have 
priority in the payment of their advances for both interest and 
priucipal, out of the proceeds of said trust property. The bill in 
its present form, met with decided opposition ; it passed the 
house, but was defeated in the senate. 

The ex]Dedient was now resorted to of dividing the measure, 
putting the provision for taxation and that relating to the canal 
into two separate bills. It was taking two bites at one cherry, 
for both bills became laws. The opponents, after the adjourn- 
ment, took their departure in ill-humor, threatening that the 
southern part of the State should be thoroughly canvassed to 
arouse the people against the enormity of these measures. But 
when they found the friends of the measures as ready as theiu- 
selves to enter the field, to expose their machinations and dema- 
goguery, the purpose was abondoned. During the summer fol- 
lowing, two conventions in that portion of the State, one at 
Marion and one at Fairfield, passed resolutions both in favor of 
the canal and of taxation to pay the public debt. In these 
measures of the legislature, the hydra of repudiation met its final 
quietus. 

The canal, its lands and appurtenances, were convej^ed by the 
governor to the trustees, the bond holders, under the act of 1843, 
having elected two, Messrs. William H. Swift and David Leavitt, 
the State trustee being Jacob Fry; the new loan was perfected in 
June, 1845 ; the new board was organized, the canal was accurately 
examined and careful estimates of its cost made; jobs were let 
and work was resumed in September, 1845. Thus, much of the 
working season was gone, the autumn proving unpropitious on 
account of sickness in the valley of the Illinois, and but little 
progress was made. The people were imi:)atient at this tar- 
diness. They were next promised that the canal should be in 
navigable order by July 4th, 1847, only to be again disap- 
pointed. Meanwhile a host of canal officials were drawing 
their large salaries with unerring fidelity. The foreign trustees 
received $2,500 each, the engineer the same, secretary $2,000, 
&c. There were a dozen or more subordinate officials. These 
were large salaries for the period, exceeding those of our State 
officials at the time by nearly 100 per cent. Estimates of work 
were made quarterly, but by the time they were approved by the 
foreign trustees, residing in Washington and New York, and the 
money sent on and paid out to the contractors and hands, weeks 
were consumed. Much dissatisfaction and public clamor pre- 
vailed. Even the eastern press commented with severity ujion 
the delay, while the money on deposit was drawing interest. 

•Ford's History. 



480 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Finally, by the opeuiug season of 1848, the Illinois and Michigan 
Canal, a stupendous public work, urged for 30 years, and iu 
course of actual construction for 12, after many struggles with 
adverse circumstances, Avas completed. It was finished on the 
shalloAv cut plan, the datum line on the summit level being 12 
feet above Lake Michigan. On this level, extending from the 
Chicago river to Lockport, the water was supplied by pumping.* 

The success attending its first season's operations, yielding, as 
it did during that of 1848, $87,890. 87 in tolls, seemed an earnest 
to the hopes of its warmest friends. For llie first season its 
capacity for business Avas comparatively but slightly taxed, and 
its promises of revenues for the future from a largely increased 
business were undoubted. The law required that the lands and 
lots, constituting part of the canal fund, should within a very 
short time after its comidetion, be apjiraised and offered for sale. 
A sale was accordingly had iu September, 1848, at Chicago and 
other towns, which yielded $780,758.87, less $11,060, on which 
payment was not made ; which sum exceeded the original valua- 
tion of all the canal lands by 2 per cent., and Avas an excess over 
the appraisal of $40,724.87. The appraisal of all the canal lands 
and lots, before the sale, Avas $2,12G,ooo. 09 ; but if the remainder 
brought as great an adA^ance over the apijraisement as this sale, 
$3,500,000 Avould be obtained from this source ; a most encourag- 
ing prospect, as thisproi)erty Avouldgo far toward liquidating the 
canal debt, aside from its tolls. 

The aggregate amount ultimately realized from the congres- 
sional grant of land to the canal, from 1830 to 1869, Avheu the 
selling ceased, was $5,337,554. The total receipts for tolls, from 
the opening of the canal, in 1848, to the close of 1868, 21 seasons, 
were $3,997,281. 22. Tbe total expenditures on the canal, under 
the act of 1836, were $4,979,903; under the act of 1843, $1,429,- 
606 — total cost $6,409,509. The entire canal debt at this time 
(1848) was some $6,000,000.t 



*We have seen that Mr. Leavitt, early in the winter of 1844-5, returned to Europe, 
and the Governor's letter to Wait having- preceded him, the foreign canal bond holders 
readily subscribed the new loan of 351,600,0(10. This agency of Mr. Leavitt, Gov. Ford 
said, "'was entirely voluntary, and [he was] not advised that any compensation was 
expected." But in 1849 Mr. Leavitt brought 'forward aclaim of $40,00o for negotiating 
the loan. As the foreign bondholders were disinclined to allow it, Mr. L renounced his 
demand and was re elected trustee Subsequently the claim was variously referred, 
but not decided. In 1854 lie obtained tbe certificates of a number of banlsers and 
prominent citizens of this State, stating that the~'/4 per cent, was a reasonable charge. 
Gov. Matteson. after some hesitation, approved the claim, and certified it to the canal 
trustees. Josiah McRoberts. State trustee, drew a check for the amount, but with- 
held it till the claim was first approved by the board, which had to be done by mail, as 
the members resided apart. Capt Swift, the other member besides Leavitt, objected 
to the allowance, and McRoberts did not act lurther. Thus the matter rested until 
the administration of Gov. Bissell, whpn C. R. Ray.ot the Chicago 'I'ribune. relieved 
McKoberts. The Governor approved the claim and Ray paid it out of the canal fund. 
Swift entering a vigorous protest against it. Ray was furiously assailed for his action 
by the press of Illinois, and suit was brought against him and Leavitt to recover the 
amount. By agreement the matter was referred to Hon. B. F. Thomas, of Boston, and 
Edwin Bartiett, New York, as arbitrators. In 1859, the matter became the subject of 
investigation by our legislature, which reported against the allowance. An award 
was finally made by the arbitrators by which Leavitt waSallowed $ll),OuO, and after en- 
joying the money for 6 years, he disgorged $32,0ti3.90, the costs of suit and !tfl,000 as 
compensation to the arbitrators. 

+ lt is a curiousfact that the early growth of Chicago was greatly in accord with the 
progress of the canal. The canal may be said to have made Chicago. When the sur- 
vey of the site was commenced and platted, by order of the canal commissioners, in 
18^9, there resided upon its site only about a half dozen families, outside the palisades 
of Fort Dearborn ; but with the prospect of the inauguration of this great work, pop- 
ulation began to pour in freely. The Black Hawk war perhaps checked it a little, but 
with the removal of the Indians, the tide of immigration was resumed. When, in 1835, 
the first canal loan of 55500,000 was authorized, a new impulse was given to the settle- 
ment of the town, and with the additional legislation of Januar.v, 1836, her population, 
swollen to about 4,000, the extraordinary fevei- for speculating in town lots still rife. 



ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL. 487 

lu 1857 the arrearages of interest on the i)ublic debt, including 
tliat of tlie canal, were funded by the act of that year. The new 
loan of $1,600,000 and interest was finally paid oft" in 1858, and 
the same year the trustees commenced paying oft' the principal of 
the registered canal debt, the State aiding to the amount of $600,- 
€00. But the incumbrances were not finally removed until Aug., 
1871, when the trustees, after a faithful service of 25 years, turned 
over the canal to the State with a suiplus of $92,099,61. 

The legislature, bj- act of 1865, supplemented in 1867, authorized 
the city of Chicago to deepen that i)ortion of the canal known as 
the summit level, a herculean feat which has been accomplished. 
The ciry was impelled by sanitary reasons tocut down the channel, 
turn the pure waters of the lake into the disease-breeding Chicago 
river, reverse its current, allow it to course through the deepened 
<ianal into the Illinois in order to cleanse it. For this most necessary 
work to the city the State gave her a lien upon the canal revenues, 
after its old indebtedness was discharged, for a sum not exceeding 
■$2,500,000, from which redemption might however at any time be 
made. The annual net revenues of the canal averaged only about 
^110,000, not near paying the interest on the outlay of the city. 
The canal, contrary to the ardent hopes of its early friends, who 
predicted for it a source of unfailing revenue sufdcient to defray 
the expenses of the State government, utterly disappointed these 
fond expectations. The more there was expended upon it the 
more was demanded, and neither Chicago nor the State wanted it as 
Sk financial investment. But when on the 9th of October, 1871, the 
^reat metropolis Was overwhelmed by the fire fiend and prostrated 
in ashes and want, the State, unable by the terms of the constitu- 
tion to directly render the aid and succor that charity and the 
exigency demanded, through her legislature at the extraordinary 
session of October 13th, indirectly extended a noble bounty 
by redeeming the non-paying canal from her lien of some $3,000,- 
OOO. 

There is a further history of the canal, as connected with the 
various eftbrts to obtain government aid to enlarge it to the 
dimensions of a ship-canal; the river imj)rovements; the lock at 
Henry ; and the repeated struggles in the legislature to procure 
appropriations ; but the details would be voluminous, and unin- 
teresting. We will only add that the year 1853 was the first to 
obtrude upon j^ublic recognition the disagreeable fact that the 
Illinois river required artificial aid to render it navigable through 
the boating season. That of 1853 lasted from March to December, 
9 months; but from the iirst of July on, the river for its greater 
length was uselessfor craft of any considerable tonnage, curtailing 
the through carrying trade of the canal very greatly. 

and the cctual commencement of the work, we And the prosperity of that period to 
<;uhninate. Shortiy after came the g-reat revulsion of 1837, which, with the collapse 
-of the visionary internal improvement system of the State, two and a half years later, 
-would have utterly prostrated Chicago but lor the persistency with which the work on 
the canal was sustained. As it was her prosperity was checked materially for 7 years. 
In 1837 the taxable valuation of her real estate was $:i36,843, but in 1840' it lapsed to 
$94,437 ; and in the course of the next two years real estate was offered at less than 5 
per cent of the price paid during the period of inflation in 1836. By 1843 the work on 
the canal, not having been entirely suspended, the population had slowly increased 
to 7,580 but with the resumption of work, in 1845. we find her inhabitants in that year 
speedily swollen to the number of 12.088, and a corresponding increase in the value 
of taxable real estate ; and in 1848, with the completion of the canal, they had reached 
the number of 20,023 souls.— His. Chicago. 



488 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Had the navigation of the river during tLat long season not 
been interrupted, the tolls of the canal, it was estimated, would 
have reached $300,000 instead of $173,327. The fact is recognized 
all over the State, that as the country becomes settled many tribu- 
taries of the larger rivers become almost dry every season, and in 
all, by the removal of obstructions, the water runs speedily to a low 
stage. Surface water generally has fallen many feet in the past 
few years. Wells, which formerly afforded a bounteous supply at 
a depth of 16 to 20 feet, have gone dry, and 25 to 40 feet are now 
required to reach water. Springs that have become historic and 
lakes that dotted our maps have disappeared, and while the health 
of the country has been materially improved, the scarcity of water 
is a very general complaint. To render the Illinois river perma- 
nently navigable during the forwarding season, there is no 
alternative but to thoroughly improve it by dredging and by locks 
and dams. 



Chapter XLI. 

1840-4— MOEMONS OR LATTER DAY SAINTS. 

Joe Smith — Prophetic Mission — Followers Remove to Missouri — Ex- 
pulsion from the State — Settlement in Illinois — Obnoxious Nauvoo 
Charter and Ordinances — Arrest and Acquittal of Smith — Sis 
Assassination. 



In the spring of 1840, a religions sect styled Mormons or Latter 
Day Saints, made its advent in Illinois, and located on the east 
bank of the Mississippi, in the county of Hancock. This strange 
I)eople had previously resided in Missouri, but having been guilty 
of larceny and other crimes, they sought refuge in Illinois to 
escape the indignation of the inhabitants and the penalties of 
outraged law. They purchased a considerable tract of land 
and commenced building a city, which they called Nauvoo, a 
name signifying peaceable or pleasant. Joseph Smith, thefounder 
and pretended prophet of the religion, was born at Sharon, Wind- 
sor county, Vermont, Dec. 23d, 1805. His parents being in humble 
circumstances, the prophet's opportunities for acquiring knowl- 
edge in early life were limited, and when to the want of means is 
added the want of capacity, it is not strange that he lived and 
died a person of ordinary attainments. 

In 1815 his father left Vermont, and settled on a farm near 
Palmyra, Wayne county, New York, where young Smith began to 
exhibit the traits which distinguished his subsequent life. Both 
he and his father became famous as water wizards, professing to 
discover the presence of water in the earth from the movements 
of a green rod, and offering their services to point out suitable 
localities for the digging of wells. Many anecdotes formerly 
existed respecting the vagrant habits of the son, who spent most 
of his time wandering in the woods, dreaming of hidden treasures^ 
and endeavoring to find them by the use of charms. Such 
was the character of the young profligate when he made the 
acquaintance of Sidney Rigdon, a person of some intelligence and 
natural ability, who had conceived the design of starting a new 
religion. A religions romance, written hy a Presbyterian clergy- 
man of Ohio, who was then dead, falling into the hands of Rig- 
don, suggested this idea, and finding in Smith the requisite dupli- 
city and cunning to reduce it to i)ractice, it was agreed that he 
should act in the capacitj^ of prophet. They then devised the 
story that Smith had discovered golden plates buried in the 
earth, near Palmyra, containing a record engraved in unknown 
characters, and that this romance was a translation of the 
inscription. 

489 



490 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The fiction purports to be a history of the ten lost tribes of 
Israel, giving an account of tlieir wanderings in Asia and subse- 
quent emigration to America, where they flourished as a nation, 
and where Christ in due time appeared and established his relig- 
ion, as he had done among the Jews. It also contained the histo- 
ry of the American christians for several hundred years after- 
ward, when in consequence of their wickedness, judgments were 
visited upon them and they were destroyed. According to the 
iiccount several powerful nations inhabiting the continent were en- 
gaged in war, and at last a decisive battle was fought between the 
Lamauites or heathen, and the Nephites or Cbristian, and the lat- 
ter were defeated. This mighty contest, called the battle of Cum- 
orah, was fought at Palmyra, Ncay York ; hundreds of thousands 
were killed on both sides, and all the Nephites, except a few who 
tied to the southern part of the continent, were exterminated. 
Among the survivors were Mormon and his son Moroni, Avho were 
righteous men, and who were directed by God to engrave the his- 
tory of these imi)ortant events on plates of gold and deposit them 
in the earth for the benefit of future generations. 

Smith pretends that when he arrived at the age of fifteen he 
began to reflect on the necessity of prei)aring for a future state 
of existence, but the nature of the preparation was an unsettled 
question in his mind. He regarded this a consideration of infi- 
nite importance, for if he did not understand the way it was im- 
possible to walk in it, and the thought of resting his soul's salva- 
tion on uncertainties was more than he could endure. If he sought 
information of the different sects of religion, they all claimed to be 
right, but as their doctrines were in many respects in direct con- 
flict, it is impossible for most of them to be true. The vital issue 
to be determined was, if anj- of the conflicting systems of theolo- 
gy prevalent in the Avorld is correct, which one is it? and until 
this question was decided he could not rest content. Under these 
circumstances he concluded to study the scriptures, and soon be- 
came convinced that if he sought wisdom of God he would be 
enabled to judge which of the opposing creeds conformed to the 
teachings of Christ. He therefore retired to a grove, in the 
vicinity of his father's house, and kneeling down, commenced call- 
ing on the Lord. At first the powers of darkness endeavored to 
overcome him, but continuing in prayer the darkness fled away, 
and he was enabled to ask for knowledge Avith "great faith and 
fervency of spirit. While thus i)0uring out his soul in supplica- 
tion, there appeared in the hea\'ens above a bright and glorious 
light, which, as it drew near the tops of the trees increased in 
splendor and nuignitude, the whole wilderness glowing with the 
most brilliant illuminatiou. He expected to see the foliage of the 
trees consumed, but not perceiving any eflect produced, he was 
€L|C0uraged to liope that he also would be able to abide its pres- 
ence, and quickly he was enveloped in the midst of it without sus- 
taining any injury. The natural objects about him soon vanished 
and he was caught away in a heavenly vision, in which two glori- 
ous personages appeared and informed him that his sins were 
forgiven, and that none of the existing ecclesiastical organizations 
were accepted by God as his church and kingdom. After being 
especially informed not to go after them, and promised that in 



THE MORMONS. 491 



the fullness of time the true gospel should be made kuowu to 
him, the vision disappeared. 

ISTotwithstanding this glorious announcement, he afterward be- 
came entangled in the vanities of the world, but seeing the error 
of his way, and truly repenting, it pleased God to again hear his 
prayers. On the 21st of Sept., 1823, he retired to rest as usual, 
when his soul was tilled with a desire to commune with some mes- 
senger who could make known the principles of the true church 
and his acceptance with God as promised in the former vision. 
While in this state of mind, suddenly a splendor, jjurer and more 
glorious than the light of day, burst into the room and the entire 
building was illuminated as if filled with a consuming tire. The 
unexpected aj^ijearance of a light so brilliant, caused in his whole 
system a shock which was soon followed by peace of mind and 
overwhelming raptures of joy. In the midst of this happiness a 
personage stood before him, whose stature was above the ordinary 
height of man, whose garments were perfectly white and without 
seam. Notwithstanding the glare which filled the room, the glory 
which accompanied him enhanced its brightness, and though his 
countenance was as lightning, the benignity of its expression ban- 
ished all fear. This glorious being informed him that he was an 
angel sent from God to declare the joyful tidings that the cove- 
nant which had been made with ancient Israel concerning their 
posterity, was about to be fulfilled, and that the second coming of 
the Messiah was at hand, when the Gospel would be preached in 
its purity and a people prepared for the millennial reign of uni- 
versal peace and joy. He was also informed that the American 
Indians were a remnantof the ancient Hebrews, who had come 
to the country ; that for several hundred years after tlieir arri- 
val they enjoj'ed a knowledge of the true God, and that their 
sacred writings contain an account of the i^rincipal events that 
transi)ired among them during this interval. When, however, 
they neglected the religion of their fathers most of them perished 
in battle, but at the connnand of God, their sacred oracles were 
entrusted to a surviving prophet who buried them in the earth to 
prevent their falling into the hands of the wicked, who sought to 
destroy them. He was then told if he continued faithful he Avould 
be the highly favored instrument of bringing these important 
documents to light, but it must be done for the glory of God, and 
none could be entrusted with them who would use them for sel- 
fish purposes. After giving him many instructions concerning 
the past and future, the heavenly messenger disappeared and the 
glory of God withdrew, leaving the mind of the projihet in per- 
fect peace. ]!^ot many days thereafter the vision was renewed and 
the angel appearing, pointed out the place where the records were 
deposited, and directed him to go immediately and view them. 

According to the Mormon account they were deposited in a stone 
box, buried in the side of a hill, 3 miles from the village of Man- 
chester, Kew York. When Smith first visited the depository, 
September 22d, 1823, the crowning stone was visible above the 
surface and a slight etibrt brought the contents to view. The 
words were beautifully engraved in Egyptian characters, on both 
sides of plates, eight inches long and seven inches wide, having 
the thickness of tin and the appearance of gold. Three rings 
passhig through the edges of the plates united them in the form 



492 HISTOKY OF ILLmOIS. 

of it book about six inches iu tliickuess. Besides the plates the 
box contained two transparent stones, clear as crystal, the Urim 
and Thummim of ancient seers, by which they obtained re\ela- 
tions of things past and future. 

While contemplating the sacred treasure the heavens were 
opened, the glory of God shone about him, and he was filled with 
the Holy Ghost. The heavenly messenger who had visited him 
on previous occasions, again stood in his presence and said, look; 
and as he spake he beheld the power of darkness with an im- 
mense retinue of associates tiee away. The angel instructing him 
declared that it was then impossible to possess the records; that 
they could only be obtained b}' prayer and faithfulness in servnig 
God who had preserved them, not lor the temporal but the spirit- 
ual welfare of the world. "In them is contained the Gospel of 
Christ as it was delivered to liis people of this land, and when 
brought forth by the power of God it shall be preached to the 
nations; the Gentiles receiving will be saved and Israel obeying 
it will be brought into the fold of the Eedeemer. After it is known 
that the Lord has shown you these things the wicked will en- 
deavor by falsehoods to destroy your reputation ; nay, they will 
even attempt your life, but you observe the conmumdments, and 
in due time you sh air bring them forth. When interpreted the 
Lord will apijoint a holy priesthood, who will proclaim the Gos- 
pel, baptize with water, and have power to confer the Holy 
Ghost by the laying on of hands. In due time the ten tribes of 
Israel shall be revealed in the north country, where they for a 
long time have resided. The knowledge of the Lord shall be 
greatly extended, and your name shall be known among tlie na- 
tions by the works which shall be wrought by your hand." 

On the 22d of September, 1827, after a probation of four years, 
during which he was frequently counseled by the angel, the re- 
cords were delivered into his hands. When it Avas known ann»ng 
the inhabitants of the surrounding country that the prophet 
had seen visions and discovered the records, he was not onlj- 
ridiculed and slandered but waylaid and assaulted, for the pur- 
pose of destroying the plates. These persecutions increased to 
such an extent that the house in which he lived was frequently 
beset by mobs, and finding his life thus exposed to constant dan- 
ger he concluded to leave the place and go to Pennsylvania. Dur- 
ing the journey thither he was twice overtaken by ofBcers with 
search-warrants for the plates, but they failed in the accomplish- 
ment of their designs. After arriving in the northern part of Penn- 
sylvania, where his father-in-law resided, by the aid of the Urim 
and Thummim he made the translation of the plates known as the 
book of Mormon. This translation is from an abridgment com- 
posed by Mormon from the sacred writings of his forefathers, with 
additions subsequently made by his son Maroni, who survived 
him. The latter, in his continuation of the narrative, informs us 
that the Lamanites destroyed all the Nephites who escaped the 
battle of Cumorah, except such as forsook tlieir religion, and that 
he, for the x>reservation of his own life, was comi^elled to hide him- 
self. 

This story, in its pretended miracles, visions and prophecies, is 
like other forgeries of the kind, which at different times have been 
imposed on the credulity' of mankind. As dishonesty and igno- 



THE MORMONS. 493 



raiice will always exist, it may yet flourisli ami exert upon tbe fu- 
ture of the race au iuflueiice as controlliug" as that of other sys- 
tems which have preceded it in the past. While the holiest affec- 
tions of the heart cluster about the religious element of man's 
nature, there is also a weakness connected with it which in all 
ages of the world has subjected him to the grossest impositions. 
In his social and political relations he exhibits a sagacity which, 
if it does not always protect him against abuse, is at least divested 
of the superstition which beclouds his religious aspirations and 
so frequently makes him the dupe of falsehood. He insists in his 
secular investigations upon the most rigid inductions, theories are 
subjected to the most searching analysis, and no doctrine can ob- 
tain credence unless sustained by indubitable facts; but in theol- 
ogy vague conjecture is substituted for positive knowledge, and 
erroi'S which outrage the character of Deity and imbrutethe intel- 
lect of man are accepted without even questioning their authen- 
ticity. To this infirmity of human nature, and the cui)idity of de- 
signing men, Mormouism and other similar delusions owe their 
origin. If the parties who originate and manage them are intel- 
ligent they give them plausibility, but this is not important, for 
no system can be devised so absurd that fools will not believe it, 
and that knaves will not be found to profit by their ignorance. 

According" to the statements of the saints, after the book of 
Mormon was translated, the Lord raised up witnesses to testify to its 
truth. Oliver Cowdry, Daniel Whitmore and Martin Harris thus 
affirm : "We certify that we have seen the plates which contain the 
records ; that they were translated by the gift and power of God, 
for his voice hath declared it unto us, wherefore we know that the 
work is true, and declare with words of soberness that an angel 
of God came down from heaven and laid the plates before our 
eyes, and we saw the engravings on them." Eight other witnesses 
also declare: "Joseph Smith, the translator of this work, hath 
shown us the jDlates herein spoken of, which have the appearance 
of gold, and as many of the leaves as the said Smith hath trans- 
lated we have handled with our hands, and we also saw the en- 
gravings thereon, all of which had the appearance of ancient and 
curious workmanship." The ])arties connected with these certifi- 
cates were no doubt accomplices in the fraud, for if humanity 
could furnish a spawn base enough to originate the deception, 
plenty of men could be found sufficiently degraded to assist in its 
promulgation. 

Another statement is given respecting the plates, by those in 
the confidence of the projihet, which does not coincide with the 
above certificates. It is said that the early followers of the 
prophet were desirous of seeing the plates, and importuning him 
for the privilege, he told them that they could not be seen by the 
carnal eye, that they must obtain a lively faith by fastuig and 
prayer if they would have their holy curiosity gratified. Acting 
upon his suggestion, they engaged in continuous supplica- 
tions that the hidden things of God might be made manifest, and 
when finally becoming impatient. Smith produced the box con- 
taining the treasure and opened it in their midst. Not seeing 
anything in it, they said, "Brother Joseph, we do not see the 
plates." The prophet answering said "Oh ye of little faith, how 
long will God bear with a wicked and perverse generation ? Down 



494 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

on your kuees, bretliren, eveiy oue of you, and i>ray God for the 
forgiveness of your sins and for the living faith which comes 
down from heaven." As commanded they fell upon tlieir knees, 
and beseeching God with great earnestness for more than two 
hours for faith and spiritual discernment, they again looked and 
the i)lates were visible. In this case it has been suggested tliat 
the parties, operated upon by a fanatical enthusiasm, may per- 
haps have imagined they saw the plates, but it is far more i)roba- 
ble that they had selfish ends to accomplish and wilfully misrep- 
resented to iini^ose on the ignorant. 

On the 6th of April, 1830, the church of the Latter Day Saints 
was organized at Manchester, New York. Their numbers now 
rapidly increased, and w^ith a view to securing a permanent loca- 
tion, in 1833 they moved to Missouri, purchased land in Jackson 
county, and commenced building the town of Independen(;e. 
There the commission of petty crimes, and their arrogant pre- 
sumptions that as saints of the Lord they had a I'ight to thcAvhole 
country, incensed the neighboring people against them. After 
some of their number had been ducked in the rivei', some tarred 
and feathered, and others killed, the whole community renu^ved to 
Claj' county, on the opposite side of the Missouri river. Remaining 
in this place only a short time, most of them went eastward, and 
located at Kirkland,Ohio, twenty miles from Cleveland, and com- 
menced building a temi)le. In 1830 a large convocation of their 
elders met, and according to their reports, the work of the Ijord 
had greatly increased in America, Europe and the islands of the 
sea. 

About this time a financial institution, styled the Kirkland Sav- 
ings Bank, was organized, and Smith appointed president. For 
the want of capital and integrity among the managers, it soon 
failed, under circumstances of more than ordinary dei)ravity. 
Property to a large amount was purchased witlj the bills, and after 
the title became vested in the saints, the bank failed and its notes 
were never redeemed. Thus swindled, the people of the adja- 
cent country, as at other places, became exaspeiated and a 
third hegira became necessary. Accordingly theprophet, ajiostles, 
elders and a great body of the saints, shaking the dust from tbeir 
feet as a testimony against Ohio, started for Missouri, and this 
time settled in Davis and Calhoun counties. There they also pur- 
chased land of the United States, and built the town of Far West 
and other small villages. Still exhibiting the same conduct that 
at other places had involved them in difficulties, it was not long- 
till they were accused of every ijossible crime. The breach thus 
opened between the saints and gentiles continued to widen, and 
in a few years both parties became so embittered that a resort to 
physical force was the only alternative bj' which the quarrel could 
be adjusted. The Mormon leaders declared that they would no 
longer submit to the government of Missouri. Joe Smith, as 
he was generally called, ordered the circuit clerk, who was a disci- 
ple, not to issue any more writs againts the saints, and one of the 
elders, in a sermon, informed his people that henceforth they were 
not amenable to the laws of the State. Armed jjarties of Mor- 
mons commenced patroling the country and i)lundering the pro- 
perty of the inhabitants, who assembled in arms to protect them- 
selves and drive the felons from the State. A company", under 



THE MORMONS. 495 



Major Bogait, wLo had formerly commauded a battalion of rangers 
in the Black Hawk war, met one of these marauding j)arties, and 
a battle ensuing, the Mormons were routed after they had burnt 
two towns and ravaged a large extent of country. Gov. Boggs 
called out the militia for the purpose of either exterminat- 
ing the plunderers or driving them from the countrj'. A 
large force, commanded by Gen. Lvicas and Brigadier Gen. Doni- 
phan, surrounded them in the town of Far West, and although 
armed with the determination of resisting to the last extremity, 
they surrendered without an engagement. A large part of the 
stolen property' was recovered, and, with the exception of the 
leaders, the Mormons were dismissed under promise to leave 
the State. Smith and other principal men were tried before a 
court martial and sentenced to be shot. The criminals would 
doubtless have been executed had not Gen. Doniphan, who con- 
sidered the i>roceedings against them illegal, interfered and saved 
their lives. They were next arraigned before a civil tribunal, and 
indictments being found against them for murder, treason, rob- 
bery and other crimes, they were committed to jail, but before 
their trials came on they escaped from prison, and fled the State. 

In the years 1839-40 the whole body of saints arri\ed in Illinois, 
and, according to their own account, the cruel treatment of their 
enemies, and their perils by field and flood, would make a story 
without a parallel in the annals of suffering. Eepresentiug that 
the}' had been persecuted in Missouri on account of their religion, 
and being the vanquished party, the^' soon excited the sympathy 
of our people. The inhabitants of Illinois have always been 
justly esteemed for their enlightened spirit of toleration, and the 
Mormons were kiiidly received as suflerers in the cause of reli- 
gion. Several communities even vied with each other in ofl'ers of 
hospitality and efibrts to induce the persecuted strangers to settle 
among them. As already stated, they finally located on the east 
bank of the Mississipi>i, in the county of Hancock, where they 
commenced building the city of Nauvoo, which they designed 
should be the center of their future operations in the conversion 
of the world totlie new religion. 

On their arrival in the State the efforts of politicians to get their 
patronage soon brought them into notice. As they were already 
numerous and raj)idly increasing in numbers, it was sup^DOsed 
that at no distant day they would exert acontroUing influence in 
the elections. Knowing their power in this respect, and intimat- 
ing that they would support the men and measures most likely to 
promote their own welfare, both jiarties by acts of kindness and 
promises of help endeavored to win their support. In Missouri 
they had always sustained the democratic party, but having been 
expelled from the State by a democratic governor, and having 
afterwards been refused relief hy Van Buren, a democratic presi- 
dent, in a spirit of retaliation they voted for a time with the 
whigs. When, however, the legislature met in 1840, wishing to 
obtain the passage of several bills for the incorporation of Nau- 
voo and other purposes, they flattered both parties in order to 
secure their joint influence. W^ith these objects in view Dr. John 
C.Bennett, a ]V[ormon by profession andoneof the most profligate 
men in the State, was sent as their agent to the seat of govern- 
ment to operate as a lobbyist. Arriving in Sx)ringfield, he applied 



496 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

to Mr. Little, tlie whig' seuator from Hancock, and to Mr. Douglas, 
tbe democratic secretary of state, who botli promised liim their 
influence, and when an act incorporating the city of Nauvoo was 
presented to the legislature, although in many respects in the 
highest degree objectionable, such was the dexterity with which 
these politicians managed their respective parties that it passed 
both houses without discussion or oj)position. In the lower house 
it is said it was not even read, each party being- afraid to oppose 
it for fear of losing- the Moriuon vote, and each in sustaining it 
verily believed it would secure their favor. 

This act, which is a perfect anomaly in leg-islation, made the 
original boundaries of JSTanvoo not only equal to the limits of some 
of the larger cities, but also provided for their indefinite exten- 
sion. It reads: ''"Whenever any tract of land adjoining- Nauvoo 
shall have been laid out into town lots, and duly recorded accord- 
ing to law, the same shall form a part of the city." The 
corporation was also empowered to deal in real and personal 
property for speculative purposes, a privilege not at that 
time conferred upon any other cities of the State by legisla- 
tive enactment. One section of the law gave to the city council 
the extraordinary power to enact any ordinance not repugnant to 
the State and national constitutions, whereby they could nullify 
at pleasure the statutes of the State within the corporate limits 
of the city and over as much of the adjacent county as they could 
extend them. A mayor's court was established, with exclusive 
jurisdiction ot all cases arising under the city ordinances, but sub- 
ject to the right of appeal to the municipal court. The mayor and 
four aldermen as associates composed the municipal court, which 
was clothed A^ith power to issue \vrits of habeas corpus, and had 
jurisdiction of ap])eals from the mayor's court, subject again to 
ai)i)eal to the circuit court of Hancock county. It made the Nauvoo 
legion, with the exception of being subject to the governor, 
independent of the military organization of the State, and 
its commissioned officers a perpetual court martial, having 
authority to enact such regulations as should be considered neces- 
sary for its welfare. The legion was made subservient to the 
mayor in executing- the laws of the city, was entitled to its propor- 
tion of the State aims, and by subsequent enactments of the 
legislature any citizen of Hancock county might unite with it, 
whether he lived in the city or out of it. A bill was also passed 
incorporating- the Nauvoo House, in which Joe Smith and his 
heirs weie to have a suite of rooms in perpetual succession. By 
this unusual legislation the courts had little dependence on the 
constitutional judiciary, and the military establishment, empow- 
ered to regulate itself, was independent of the laAvs of the State. 
The different departujents of the city government were blended 
into one, Avhereby the same public functionary could be entrusted 
with the discharge of legislative, executive, judicial and military 
duties at the same time, and such instances frequently occurred 
as the events which immediately followed prove. 

In the year 1811, the Mormons organized a city government and 
Smith was elected mayor; presiding in the council as a legislatoi 
he assisted in making- laws for the government of the city, and as 
mayor it was his duty to see that the laws were faith full j^ executed. 
By virtue of his office he was judge of the mayor's court and chief 



THE MORMONS. 497 



justice of the municipal court, in Avliich sitntition he was tlie ex- 
pounder and enforcer of tlie laws -wliich he had assisted to make. 
In the organization of the JSTauvoo legion it was made to consist 
of divisions, brigades, and cohorts, each of which had a general 
ixnd over the whole as commander-in-chief Smith presided as 
lieutenant general. If to these multiform duties we add his call- 
ing as a real estate agent and his anticipated position as tavern 
keeper, the list of his vocations will be comjjlete. 

It has alreadj- been said that Smith and other leading Mormons 
escaped from jail in Missouri, and hence in the autumn of 1841, 
the governor of that State made a demand on Governor Carlin of 
Illinois for the arrest and delivery of the fugitives. A warrant 
was accordingly issued by which Smith was arrested and brought 
before Judge Douglas, who, at that time was holding court in 
Hancock and adjoining counties In the trial which ensued, Smith 
was discharged on the plea that the writ by Avhich he had been 
arrested was defective. The prophet, not being well enough 
versed in law to understand the legal nature of the question, 
regarded his acquittal as a great favor from the democratic party, 
lu consequence of this decision the Monnons once more renewed 
their allegiance with that political organization and to strengthen 
the alliance, Bennett, who was then an alderman in Nauvoo and 
the major general of the legion, was made master in chancery and 
adjutant general of the State militia. At these signal marks of 
favor, Smith issued a proclamation exhorting his followers to unite 
with the democratic party, and the whigs on seeing themselves 
outgeneraled in this manner, commenced a tirade of denunciations 
against the Mormons, their pa|)ers teeming with the enormities of 
Kauvoo and the wickedness of the party which would consent to 
receive the support of such miscreants. 

As soon as the machinery of the government of Nauvoo was 
properly put in motion, ordinances were enacted in conflict with 
the laws of the State. The Mormons, believing that another 
attempt would be made by the governor of Missouri for the arrest 
of their leaders, declared that the jjublic mind in that State was 
so prejudiced against them that a fair trial there was impossible, 
and should any of their fraternity be taken thitliei', if they could 
not be legalh' convicted and punished, they -would be nuirdered by 
a mob before they could get out of the State. Determined to 
guard against any future demands of this kind, they commenced de- 
vising a scheme whereby they could protect themselves through 
the instrumentality of the city ordinances. A law was therefore 
passed by the common council virtually declaring that the muni- 
cipal court should have jurisdiction whatever might be the nature 
of the offense, thus giving a latitudinarian construction to the 
charter, which was only intended to grant the right of adminis- 
tering justice in cases where imprisonment resulted from a breach 
of the city ordinances. Smith was afterward arrested by a writ 
from the governor, but it is unknown whether he was rescued by 
his folio w^ers or discharged in consequence of this ordinance. 

A combination of circumstances now concurred in rendering the 
Mormons unpopular. Besides imjiolitic enactments, they were 
furnished by the State with three pieces of cannon and 250 stands 
of small arms, which jealousy" and popular rumor increased to 30 
cannons and 5,000 or 6,000 muskets. Many thought they euter- 
32 



498 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

taiiied the treasonable design of overturning the government^ 
driving out tlie original inhabitants and substituting their own 
population in their stead, as the children of Israel had done in the 
land of Canaan. 

In 1S42, the Mormon population of Hancock county had in- 
creased to about 16,000, and several thousand more were scattered 
over various parts of the United States and Europe. Mr. Henry 
Caswel, an English gentleman of talent and respectability, 
ascending the Mississippi in a steamboat, gives the following- 
graphic account of his observations respecting the Saints at that 
time: 

"Having been told that three hundred English emigrants were on 
board to join the prophet at Nauvoo, I walked to that part of the vessel 
appropriated to the poorer classes of travelers, and beheld my countrymen 
crowded together in a comfortless manner. I addressed them and found 
they were from the neighborhood of Preston, in Lancaster ; they were 
decent looking people and by no means of the lower class. I took the 
liberty of questioning them concerning their plans, and found they were 
the dupes of Mormon missionaries. Early on Sunday morning I was 
landed ojjposite Nauvoo, and crossing the river in a large canoe, filled 
with Mormons going to church, in a few minutes I found myself in this 
extraordinary city. It is built on a grand plan, accommodated to the site 
of the temple and the bend of the river. The view of the winding 
Mississippi from the elevation where the temple stands is truly magnifi- 
cent. The temple being unfinished, about half past ten o'clock a con- 
gregation of perhaps 2,000 persons assembled in a grove, within a short 
distance from the sanctuary. Their appearance was quite respectable 
and fully equal to that exhibited at the meetings of other denominations 
in the western country. Many gray-headed old men were there and 
many well dressed females. Their sturdy forms, clear complexions, and 
heavy movements, strongly contrasted with the slight figure, the 
sallow visage, and the elastic stej) of the Americans. There, too, were the 
bright and unconscious looks of little children, who born among the 
privileges of England's churches baptized with her consecrated waters 
and taught to lisp her prayers and repeat her catechisms, had now been 
led into this clan of heresy, to listen to the ravings of a false prophet 
and to imbibe the principles of a semi-pagan delusion. Two elders 
shortly came forward and one of them having made a few common-place 
remarks on the nature of prayer, and dwelt for a considerable time on 
the character and perfections of the Almighty, proceeded in the follow- 
ing strain : 'We thank thee, O Lord, that thou hast in these latter days 
restored the gifts of prophecy of revelation, and of great signs and 
wonders as in the days of old. We thank thee that thou didst formerly 
raise up thy servant Joseph to deliver his brethren in Egypt, so hast 
thou raised up another Joseph to save his brethren from bondage of 
sectarian delusion, and to bring them into this great and good land, 
flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lauds, and which 
thou didst promise to be an inheritance for the seed of .Facob for ever- 
more. W^e pray for this servant and prophet, Joseph, that thou wouldsl 
prosper and bless him ; that although the archers have sorely grieved 
him, and shot at him, and hated him, his bow may abide in strength, 
and the arms of his hands may be made strong by the- hand of the 
Almighty God of Jacob. We pray, also, for thy temple that the nations 
of the earth may bring gold and incense, that the sons of strangers may 
build up its walls and fly to it as a cloud and as doves to their windows. 
We pray thee, also, to hasten the ingathering of thy people, every man 
to his heritage and every man to his land. We pray that as thou hast 
set up this place as an ensign for the nations, so thou wouldst continue to 
assemble here the outcasts, and gather together the dispersed from the 
four corners of the earth. May every valley be exalted and every mouu- 
tain and hill be made low and crooked places be made straight and the 
rough places plain, and may the glory of the Lord be revealed and all 
the flesh in it together. Bring thy sons from afar and thy daughters 



THE MORMONS. 409 



from the ends of the earth, and let them bring their gold and silver with 
them.' 

" After prayer the other elder commenced a discourse on the necessity 
of a revelation for America as well as Asia, and on the probability of 
continued revelations. At its close a hymn was sung, and a third 
elder came forwai'd and observed that his office required him to speak 
of business, and especially of the Nauvoo House, and among other 
things said, 'the Lord had commanded this work and it must be done; 
yes, it shall be done, it will be done; that a small amount of the stock 
had hitherto been taken, that the committee had gone on borrowing and 
borrowing till they could borrow no longer; that mechanics had been 
emjiloyed on the house, that they wanted their pay and the committee 
are not able to pay them ; that he came there with seven thousand 
dollars and now had but two thousand, having expended five thousand 
on the work of the Lord;' that he therefore called upon the brethren to 
obey God's command and take stock. The address being concluded, 
others followed in the same strain, and appeared as familiar with wordly 
business and operations of finance as with prophecies and the book of 
Mormon. None, however, came forward to take stock, and one of the 
elders thereupon remarked, that as they had not made up tneir minds as 
to the amount of stock they would take, he wished them to come to his 
house on the next day for that jjurpose. The public exercises being closed, 
accompanied by a prominent member of the church, I next visited the 
temple. Its position is commanding, and designed to be one of tlie best 
edifices in the country. It is one hundred and twenty feet by one hun- 
dred, and when completed will be fifty feet up to the eaves. Its expense 
is estimated at three hundred thousand dollars. The baptismal fount is 
finished. It is a capacious laver, above twenty feet square, rests on the 
backs of twelve oxen, well sculptured, and as large as life. The laver 
and oxen are of wood painted, but are to be gilded. Here baptisms 
for the dead are celebrated as well as baptisms for the healing of disease. 
Baptisms for the remission of sins are performed in the Mississippi, I 
was next introduced to the prophet, and had the honor of an interview 
with him. He is a coarse, plebeian person in aspect, and his countenance 
exhibits a curious mixture of the knave and clown. His hands are large 
and fat, and on one of his fingers he wears a massive gold ring with some 
inscription upon it. His dress was of coarse country manufacture, and 
his white hat was enveloi:)ed in a piece of black crape, being in mourning 
for a brother. I had no opjjortunity of observing the eyes of Smith, he 
appearing deficient in that open, staid-fixed look which characterizes an 
honest man. The Mormon system, mad as it is, has method in its 
madness, and many shrewd hands are at work in its maintenance and 
propagation, and whatever may befall its originators, it has the elements 
of increase and endurance. Mormon missionaries have been sent forth 
and are now at work in almost every country in Christendom. They 
have recently gone to Russia with letters of credence from the Mormon 
prophet. Their numbers in England, we have no doubt, are increasing 
rapidly, and it remains for christains of the present day to determine 
whether Mormonism shall work to the level of those fanatical sects, 
which like new stars have blazed for a little while and then sunk into 
obscurity, or whether like asecond Mohamedanism it shall extend itself, 
sword in hand, till Christianity is leveled in the dust." 

In 1842, Dr. John C. Bennett was expelled from the Mormon 
church, and thereafter traveled through different parts of the 
country, avowing, in lectures and publications, that the Mormons 
entertained treasonable designs against the government. One of 
Bennett's principal objects was to induce the authorities of Missouri 
to bring another indictment against Smith for an alleged attempt 
to murder Gov. Boggs. Being successful in his endeavors, June 
5, 1843, an indictment was found against the prophet and another 
prominent Mormon, and shortly afterwards a messenger presen- 
ted himself to Gov. Ford with a new demand for their arrest. In 
pursuance of the laws of the United States, the writ was given to 



500 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

a constable in Hancock county for execution. The Missouri agent 
and a constable hastened' to Nauvoo for the purpose of serving 
it, but finding on their arrival that Smith was on a visit to liock 
river, they repaired thither, and made the arrest in Palestine 
grove, in the county of Lee. The prisoner was then left in the 
custody of the agent, who set off with him to Missouri, but had 
not proceeded far, when he was met and cajjtured by an armed 
body of Mormons, who released the prophet and conducted him 
in triumph to Nauvoo. A writ of habeas corpus was sued out in 
the municipal court of that city, and Cyrus Walker, the whig can- 
didate for congress, appeared as attorney for the accused. In a 
labored effort of great length, he endeavored to show that this 
court, which was composed of Smith and his friends, had juris- 
diction to issue the writ, and proceed in the defense of the prison- 
er, under the ordinances of the city, and he accordingly was 
acquitted. Mr. Hodge, the democratic candidate, was visiting 
Nauvoo at the time of the trial, and both he and Walker were 
called on in a political convention to givethe opinions relative to 
the city ordinance, empowering the municipal court to issue writs 
of habeas corpus in all cases of imprisonment, and both solemnly 
declared that they considered it valid. It is hardly necessary to 
state that this advice was given for the purpose of obtaining 
votes, as both candidates knew it was false. Instead of being 
actuated by that integrity which combats and corrects public 
opinion when wrong, the only true passport to ofttcial iiosition, 
both willfully sanctioned an error for the accomplishment of selfish 
ends. 

The Mormons, on the other hand, in consequence of stupidity 
and ignorance, were ever ready to be duped and brought in 
antagonism to the laws of the State, by the chicaner^' of party. 
If the action of the government bore hard upon them, however 
justly it might be administered, they regarded it as wantonly 
oppressive, or if judicious advice was given them, it was rejected 
with scorn whenever opposed to their favorite schemes. Un- 
scrupulous politicians becoming aware of this characteristic, 
would first learn their predilections and advise them accordingly, 
whereby they became the sport of party and the victims of the 
most corrupt men in the country. 

On the release of Smith, the Missouri agent applied to Gov. 
Ford for a military force to assist in arresting him, but the 
application was refused. Smith having once been arrested, and 
the writ returned as fully executed, the goveriior had no further 
cognizance of the case except to issue a new warrant, provided 
another requisition should be made for his re-arrest by the execu- 
tive of Missouri, While it was readily admitted that Smith had 
been forcibly rescued and suffered to go unpunished by a court 
transcending its authority, yet it would have been an illegal and 
perhaps dangerous expedient to attempt to call out the militia to 
correct or reverse the decision. 

The Mormons, emboldened by success in this trial, in the winter 
of 1843-4, passed another ordinance to further protect their 
leaders. They enacted a law providing that no writ issued from 
any other place except Nauvoo for the arrest of any person in the 
city, should be executed without an approval endorsed thereon 
by the mayor; that if auj public ofiBcer, by virtue of anj- foreign 



THE MORMONS. 501 



writ, should attempt to make au arrest in the city without such an 
approval of his process, he should be subject to imprisonment for 
life, and the governor of the State should not have the power of 
pardoning the offender without the consent of the mayor. 

Thepassage of this ordinance created great astonishment, and in- 
duced many to believe that there was a reality in the accusations 
which had been made against them, respecting the establishment 
of an independent government. After this law went into opera- 
tion, if robberies were committed in the adjoining country, 
the thieves would flee into Nauvoo, and if the, plundered 
parties followed them, they were fined by the Mormon courts for 
daring to seek after their property in the holy city. The 
Mormons themselves were frequently the guilty parties, and by 
this means sought both to retain the stolen goods and escape 
the just punishment of their crimes. 

The most positive evidence that they contemi^lated the organi- 
zation of a separate government, was based on the fact that about 
this time they sent a petition to congress, asking for the estab- 
lishment of a territorial government, of which Nauvoo was to be 
the center. Another act characteristic of their vanitj", was the 
announcement of Smith, in the spring of 1844, as a candidate for 
the presidency of the United States. His followers, sanguine of suc- 
cess, sent from two to three thousand missionaries into the field 
to convert the people, and labor for the election of the prophet. It 
was stated by dissenters in the Mormon church, tbat Smith 
also entertained the idea of making himself the temporal as well 
as the spiritual leader of his people, and that, for this purpose, he 
instituted a new order of church dignitaries, the members of 
which were to be both kings and priests. 

He next caused himself to be annointed king and priest, but of a 
higher order than the others, who were to be his nobility, and to 
whom as the upholders of his throne he administered the oath of 
allegiance. To give character to his pretensions he declared his 
lineage in an unbroken line from Joseph the son of Jacob, and 
that of his wife from some other important personage of the 
ancient Hebrews. To strengthen his political power he also in- 
stituted a body of police styled the Danite band, who were sworn 
to protect his person and to obey his orders as the commands of 
God. A female order previously' existing in the church, called 
spiritual wives, was modified so as to suit the licentiousness of 
the projihet. A doctrine was revealed that it was impossible for 
a woman to get to heaven except as the wife of a Mormon elder ; 
that each elder might marry as many women as he could main- 
tain, and that an,y female might be sealed to eternal life by 
becoming their concubine. This licentiousness, the origin of 
polygamy in the church, they endeavored to justify by an appeal 
to Abraham, Jacob and other favorites of God in a former age 
of the world. 

After the establishment of these institutions. Smith began to 
play the tyrant over his people, as all persons of inferior intel- 
lect and unduly developed passions always do when others 
become subject to their wilL One of his first attempts to abuse 
the power with which he was intrusted, was an effort to take the 
wife of William Law, one of his most talented and respectable 
followers, and make her a spiritual wife. Without the sanction 



502 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of law he established offices in !N"anvoo for recording proj^erty titles 
aiid issuiug marriage licences, wbereby be sought to monopolize 
the traffic in real estate* and control the marital relations of his 
people. The despotism thns practiced soon caused a spirit of in- 
subordination and disaffection in the Mormon church and com- 
munity. Law and the other leaders determined to resist the en- 
croachments of Smith, andfor the purpose of exposing the abuses 
growing out of the new institutions, they procured a jiress and 
commenced the publication of a news])aper. The appearance of 
the paper was the signal for opposition, and before the second 
number could be issued, by an order of the council, the heretical 
press was demolished, and the publishers ejected from the church. 
It is difficult to decide whether this trial, which is one of the 
most singular instances of adjudication to be found on record, 
was the result of insanity or depravity. The i)roceedings were 
instituted against the press instead of the owners, who were not 
notified to attend. No jury was called, the witnesses were not 
required to testify under oath, and the evidence was all furnished 
by the i)laintiffs in the absence of the defendants. It was not 
difficidt, under these circumstances, to prove that the publish- 
ers of the paj^er were the vilest of sinners, and that the press was 
the greatest nuisance, hence the order to have it abated. 

The holy city becoming a dangerous place of residence for the 
seceding Mormons, they retired to Carthage, the county seat, and 
obtained warrants for the arrest of Smith and the members of 
the cit}' council, and others connected with the destruction of the 
press. Some of the parties having been arrested and discharged 
by the authorities in Nauvoo, a convention of citizens assembled 
at Carthage, and appointed a committee to wait on the governor 
for the purpose of procuring military assistance to enforce the ex- 
ecution of the law in the city. The governor, on learning the 
position of affairs, determined to visit the county and inquire into 
the nature of the complaints before he gave his official sanction to 
any particular course of action. When he arrived a message was 
sent to the mayor and common council informing them of the com- 
plaints made against them, and requiring that a committee might 
be sent to answer the charge. A number of ijersons were accord- 
ingly sent, and in the examination which ensued, it became evi- 
dent that the whole proceedings of the mayor and common 
council were irregular and illegal. Though such proceedings could 
not be tolerated in a countr}' claiming to be governed by law and 
order, yet they were excusable to some extent in consequence of 
undue statements frequently made to the ISTauvoo olticials by 

*The Mormons made no efforts to conceal their design of monopolizing the lands in 
the vicinity of Nauvoo to ihe exclusion of those who had welcomed them with such 
genuine sympathy, when banished from Missouri. It is said. Avhen they wished to 
possess the property of a gentile they offered what they considered a reasonal)le 
price for it, and in case of refusal they proceeded to enforce acceptance by various 
intolerable annoj'ances Whittling was resorted to as one method of vexation. For 
this purpose three persons were appointed who, armed with sticks and jaek-linives, 
took a position in front of the obdurate owner's residence and commenced whittling. 
If he went to church, the post office, market or other place of business, they followed 
him whittling. If he expostulated, became angry, threatened or swore, they ans- 
wered by whittling. If idle boys laughea and jeered the victim, his tormentors de- 
murely whittled When he returned home the whittlers followed and again took their 
places in front of his house and continued their annoyance from early dawn till late 
at night. The irritated owner could not look from a window without encountering the 
insolent stare of his persecutors, who were still whittling. Generally a single day, it 
is said, was sufficient to make him submit, very rarely lie held out two days, but never 
was able to endure more than three days of this ludicrous yet insufferable martyrdom. 



THE MORMONS. 503 



some of the best lawyers in the State who, as caiKlidates for 
office, sought their support by purposely exaggeratiiig the exteut 
of their authority. 

The destruction of the press was a blow dealt against civil lib- 
erty, and hence among a republican people jealous of their rights, 
it was well calculated to raise a tlame of excitement. The 
Mormon leaders, if honest, little understood the fact that a well 
conducted press is essential to a free government, and that a 
profligate one, by veuality and falsehood, is sure to lose its influ- 
ence and thus defeat the improper object it seeks to accomplish. 
Attempts to interfere with the freedom of the press caus(*. the 
suppression of information which shouhl be disseminated among 
the people, and are always attended with a greater loss to ci\il 
liberty than can possiblj" result from the temi)orary indiscretions 
of a few imprudent publishers. Besides, when calumnies are cir- 
<5ulated in this manner the authors are amenable to the law, which 
is the proper means of redress, and not the wanton destruction of 
property. 

In the investigations made by the governor while at Carthage, 
it was proved that Smith sent a number of his followers to Mis- 
souri for the purpose of kidnapping two witnesses against a mem- 
ber of the church, soon to be tried for larceny; that he had as- 
sailed and brutally beaten an oflicer of the county for an alleged 
non-performance of duty, when in consequence of sickness he 
was not able to attend to it; that he stood indicted for i^erjury, hav- 
ing falsely sworn to an accusation of murder against a real estate 
iigent, that he might be expelled from the city, and not interfere 
with his monopoly as a land speculator; and that the municipal 
court of which he was chief justice, had frequently discharged 
Mormons accused of crimes committed in various parts of the 
county, thus obstructing the administration of justice and making 
tlie common council of Nauvoo independent of the State govern- 
ment. 

In addition to these actual infringements of law, other causes 
served to increase the tide of opposition now turned against the 
saints. The extravagance of their theological i)retensions had 
incurred the ill will of other denominations of religion, while the 
i'ffort to elect their prophet to the inesidency brought them in con- 
flict with the zealots and bigots of both political jtarties and cov- 
ered them with ridicule. A fruitful cause of hostile feeling grew 
out of the fact that at several pieceding elections they cast their 
vote as a unit, whereby it was evident that no one in the country 
eould obtain ofticial position without first securing their sui)i)ort. 
It w-as believed that Smith instructed the Danite band, which he 
had chosen as the ministers of his vengeance, and the instruments 
of the intolerable tyranny which he exercised over his people, that 
no blood, except that of the church, was to be regarded sacred if 
it contravened the accomplishment of his object. It was asserted 
that he inculcated the legality of perjury and other crimes, if com- 
mitted to advance the cause of the true believers ; that God had 
given the world and all that it contained to his saints, and since 
they were kept out of their rightful inheritance by force, it was no 
moral oft'ense to get possession of it by stealing. It was reported 
that an establishment existed in Nauvoo for the manufacture of 
couuteifeit money, and that a set of outlaws were maintained. 



504 ni STORY OF ILLINOIS. 

there for the purpose of j^iittiiig' it in circulation. Statements 
were circulated to the eftect that a reward had beeu offered for the 
destruction of the Warsaw Signal, a newspai^er published at 
Warsaw, in opposition to Mormon interests, and that Mormons 
dispersed over the country threatened all persons who offered to- 
assist the constable in the execution of the law, with the destruc- 
tion of their property and the murder of their families. There 
were rumors also afloat that an alliance had been formed Avith the 
Western Indians, and in case of war they would be used in mur- 
dering their enemies. In short, if only one-half of these reports 
were true the Mormons must have been the most infamous people 
that ever existed, and if one half of them were false they must 
have been the worst slandered. 

Previous to the arrival of the governor the whole body of the 
militia in Schuyler and McDonough counties had been called 
out, and armed forces commenced assembling in Carthage and 
Warsaw to enforce the service of civil process. After the forces 
had appointed their officers, the governor, apprehensive that the 
Mormon leaders might be made the victims of popular fury, ex- 
acted a pledge trom both officers and men that in the discharge 
of their duties they would, under all circumstances, keep within 
the pale of the law. All signified their willingness to co-operate 
with him in preserving order, promised to pursue a strictly legal 
course and protect the persons of the accused in case of violence. 
The constable and ten men were then sent to make the arrests- 
being instructed to inform the accused that if the}- peaceably 
submitted they would be protected, but if not, they must receive- 
the consequences, as the wliole force of the State, if necessary, 
would be called out to enforce submission. 

In the meantime, Smith had declared martial law ; his followers 
residing in the country were summoned to his assistance; the 
legion was assembled and underarms, and the entire city was one 
great military encampment, no ingress or egress being permitted 
except on the strictest examination. However, on the arriAal of 
the constable and his escort, the mayor and members of the com- 
mon council at once signified their willingness to surrender, and 
accomi^any them on the following morning to Carthage. Failing* 
to make their appearance at the appointed time, the constable 
hastened away without attempting to make the arrest. It was 
subsequently ascertained that the cause of the hurried departure 
was the fear that the Mormons would submit and thus entitle 
themselves to the protection of the law. There were daring- and 
active men traversing the country and making inflamatory speeches^ 
with the hope that a po])ular movement might be inaugurated for 
the expulsion of the Mormons from the State. The constable 
and those who accompanied him were in the conspiracy, and en- 
deavored, by the partial performance of their duty, to create a 
necessity for calling out an overwhelming force to effect this 
object. The artifice was, however, soon detected by the governor,, 
and another opportunity gi\en the accused to surrender. A requi- 
sition was also made on them for the return of the State arms, be- 
cause the legion to which they had been entrusted had used them 
illegally in the destruction of the press, and the enforcement of 
martial law as a means of preventing civil process. On the 24th of 
June, 1845, in obedience to the last summons, Joe Smith, his brother 



THE MORMONS. 505 



Hiram, the members of the city council and others, went to 
Carthage, and surrendered themselves prisoners to the constable, 
ou the charge of riot. All entered into recognizance before a 
justice of the peace to appear at court, and were discharged. A 
new writ was, however, immediately issued and served on the two 
Smiths, and both were airested and thrown into prison. The 
prophet, it is said, whether desirous of courting martyrdom or 
alarmed at the popular storm which threatened him, seemed to 
have a presentiment that he never would return to Nauvoo alive. 
According to the statement at Carthage, he remarked, "I am 
going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I have a conscience void 
of offence toward God and man." 

The jail in which the prisoners were confined, was a stone 
building of considerable size, furnished with a suite of rooms for 
the jailer, cells for the close confinement of convicts, and a large 
apartment not so strong but more comfortable than the cells. The 
prisoners were first confined in the cells by the jailor, but at the 
remonstrance of the Mormons, and the advice of the governor, 
they were afterwards transferred to the large apartment, where 
they were more jjleasantly situated, and where they remained till 
the occurrence of the tragedy in which they lost their lives. No 
serious apx)rehensions were entertained of an attack on the jail, 
nor was it supposed that the Smiths would make an effort to es- 
cape. At the time the x>risoners were incarcerated, the forces at 
Carthage and Warsaw amounted to 1700 men, most of whom were 
anxious to be led into Nauvoo to destroy the apjtaratus with 
which it was said the Mormons manufactured counterfeit money. 
It was also believed by the governor, that if an imposing demon- 
stration of the State forces should be made, it might overawe the 
Mormons and exert a salutary influence in preventing the murders, 
robberies and burnings apprehended as the result of the proceed- 
ings against their prophet. In accordance with this view, ar- 
rangements were made for the marching of the trooi)s ou the 27, 
of June, and Golden's Point, near the Mississii)pi, and midway 
between Warsaw and Nauvoo, was selected as the i)lace of ren- 
dezvous. Before, however, the movement was fully inaugurated, 
the governor discovered his mistake, and immediately counter- 
manded his previous orders for the assembling of the forces. 

It was observed, as the preparations for marching advanced, 
the excitement pervading the public mind correspondingly 
increased, and threats weie occasionally made to destroy the city 
and expel the inhabitants from the State. Subsequent develop- 
ments rendered it evident that an agreement had been made by 
some of the most daring and reckless spirits, to fire on the forces 
of the State when they arrived in Nauvoo, and afterwards attrib 
ute it to the Mormons, as a means of bringing on a general 
engagement. The city at that time contained a population of 
12,000 to 15,000 inhabitants, many of Avhom were helpless women 
and children, and humanity shudders at the wanton destruction 
of life and property that must have resulted from such blind and 
obdurate fury. Besides, if the disposition had existed to precipi- 
tate upon the city a calamity of this kind, the forces of the State 
were inadequate to afford such protection to the adjacent country 
as would have been necessary. After the surrender of the 
Smiths, at their request. Captain Singleton with a company from 



500 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Brown couuty, was sent to take command of tlielSTanvoo legion and 
guard tlie city. Ac(rording to his report, when the legion was called 
out for inspection, they assembled 2000 strong and were fully equip- 
ped with arms. This was after the public arms had been taken 
away, and noAV they were prepared with weapons of their own for 
any emergency. The State forces had three pieces of cannon, 1200 
muskets and rations for two days, after which they would 
have been compelled to discontinue operations for the want of 
subsistence. It was therefore deemed advisable to abandon the 
enterprise as impracticable, and the forces with the exception 
of three companies were accordingly disbanded. Two of these 
were selected to guard the jail, and the remaining one was retain- 
ed as an escort for the governor, who i^roi^osed to visit I^auvoo 
for the i)urpose of inquiring into the charges preferred against 
the inhabitants, and to warn them that if any secret violence 
.should be committed by them on the persons or property of 
those who had assisted in the execution of the law, it would 
inevitabl}' be followed by the most summary retribution. 

Leaving Gen. Deming in command of the guards, on the 27th. 
of June, the governor, accompanied by Col. Buckmaster, and 
Cai)tain Davis' dragoons, departed for Nauvoo, eighteen miles 
distant. Before proceeding far. Col. Bucknmster informed the 
governor that while at Carthage some circumstances of a suspic- 
ious character induced him to believe that an attack upon the jail 
was meditated. The latter, however, was incredulous. It was 
notorious that he had gone to Nauvoo, and it was not probable 
that while there any outrage would be committed on the Smiths, 
which would endanger his own safety and that of his compan- 
ions. Nevertheless, to guard against all possible contingencies, a 
messenger was sent back to inform the guard of danger, and to 
insist on their defending the jail at the peril of their lives, till 
the governor returned. It was also decided, to defer to some 
future time the exanjination of the misdemeanors alleged against 
the Mormons, that the company might immediately return and 
render assistance, in case the jail shouldbe assaidted. 

The party arrived in iSTauvoo about 4 o'clock on the 27th of 
June, and as soon as notice could be given, a large number of the 
inhabitants convened to hear a discourse from the governor. In 
the address delivered, the illegal action of their jjublic functiona- 
ries was explained ; they were advised of the infamous reports 
rife in all the country respecting their conduct, and the conse- 
quent prejudice and hostility engendered in the jmblic mind, and 
admonished that in future they Avould have to act with great cir- 
cumspection, or their lives and the safety of their city would fall 
a sacritice to popular indignation. During the deliver}- of the 
speech, some imi)atience and excitement were exhibitecl by the 
auditors at the various allegations made against them, which they 
persistently denied as untrue. They claimed to be a law abiding 
I^eople, and carefully observed its ])rovisions, that they might in 
turn have the benefit of its protection. After the conclusion of 
the address, the question as to whether they would conform to the 
laws of the State in opposition to the advice of their leaders, was 
submitted to a vote, which resulted unanimously in favor of the 
proposition. Their subsequent conduct, however, jnoved that 



THE MORMONS. 507 



wlien guilty of tlie greatest extravagances, they would make the 
loudest professions of attachment to law and order. 

The party left the city a short time before sundown, and had 
not gone far before they met two messengers, who informed them 
that the Smiths had been assassinated about five o'clock that 
afternoon. All were astounded at the reception of this intelli- 
gence, and fearful apprehensions were entertained resijecting the 
consequences likely to ensue from the massacre. The Mormons 
Avere an infatuated, fanatical people, not likely to be influenced by 
the motives which ordinarily govern the conduct of men, and a 
desultory war might be the result. To prevent the news reaching 
i>[auvoo the messengers were ordered into custody, and the gov- 
ernor hastened to Carthage to be in readiness for the outburst of ex- 
citement and lawlessness that might follow the dissemination of the 
intelligence. A courier was also dispatched to Warsaw to inform 
the citizens of the tragedy. They, however, appeared to under- 
stand the matter better than the messenger, and before his arrival 
had commenced lemoving their families across the river to guard 
against impending danger. The ensuing night they sent a com- 
mittee to Quincy for help, and at an early hour on the following 
morning a large concourse of the citizens assembled to devise 
means of defense. At the meeting it was reported that the Mor- 
mons had attempted to rescue the Smiths; that a party of Mis- 
sourians and others had killed them to prevent their escape ; that 
the governor and his cortege, who were in Nauvoo at the time, 
had been attacked by the legion and forced to take refuge in a 
house, and that if assistance was not furnished within two days 
he would fall a victim to Mormon vengeance. A force of some 
250 men was immediately raised, and by ten o'clock the same 
morning they embarked on a boat and steamed up to Nauvoo 
to assist in rescuing the governor. On arriving at the city the 
whole story i)roved a fabrication originatedto intensify the excite- 
ment and cause a collision between the Mormons and State forces. 
Subsequent evidence also rendered it highly probable that the 
conspirators connected with the assassination contemplated 
involving the governor in the same misfortune. Circumstan- 
ces Avarranted the conclusion that the assassins had arranged 
that the murder should occur while the governor was in 
Nauvoo ; that the Mormons on hearing the catastrophe would 
suspect him as an accomplice, and at the first outburst of indig- 
nation put him to death as a means of retaliation. The motive 
for this treacherous attempt against the executive officer of the 
State was to arouse a spirit of oj^position, and cause the exter- 
mination of the Mormons. 

The governor arrived in Carthage about ten o'clock, and found 
the citizens in a state of consternation, some having left and 
others preparing to follow. One of the companies which had 
been left to guard the Jail, departed before the attack was made, 
and many of the others left shortly afterward. General Deming, 
who was absent when the murder occurred, volunteered to remain 
and guard the town with the small force which remained, unless 
compelled to retire before superior numbers. The governor retired 
to Quincy and immediately issued orders for provisionally raising 
and equipi)iug an imposing force, in case they should be needed. 



Chapter XLII. 

1844-6— MOEMON WAR. 

Manner of BmiWs Death — Character of the Mormons — Apostles 
Assume the Government of the Church — Trial and Acquittal of 
the Assassins — Saints Driven from the Vicinity of Lima and 
Green Plains — Leadifig Mormons Retire Across the Mississippi — 
Battle at Nauvoo — Expulsion of the Inhabitants. 



When the assassination of the Mormons became known, it aj)- 
peared that the force at Nauvoo, agreeably to orders, had marched 
on the morning of the 27th in the direction of Golden's Point to 
form a connection with troops at that place, but after they had 
advanced about 8 miles they were met by a messenger from 
Carthage with an order to disband and return home ; the gover- 
nor, who issued it, fearing he could not control the inflammable 
material he was collecting, determined to scatter it. About 150 
of the men, instead of complying with the order, blackened 
their faces with powder, hurriedly started for Carthage and en- 
camped some distance from the village. Here they learned that 
one of the companies left to guard the Smiths had gone home 
and that the other, the Carthage Grays, was stationed in the 
square, 150 yards distant, and that Sergeant Fraukliu A. Worrel, 
with only 8 men, was detailed to watch the prisoners. As soon 
as messages could be interchanged it was agreed among the con- 
spirators that the guns of the guard should be charged with 
blank cartridges and fired on the assailants, when they should 
attempt to enter the jail. 

Gen. Deming, who had been left in command, discovering the 
plot to assassinate the Smiths, and having been deserted by the prin- 
cipal part of the troops, retired from the village, lest an attempt 
should be made on his own life. After perfecting their scheme of 
murder, the assailants scaled the slight fence enclosing the jail, 
and immediately disarming the guards, who according to agree- 
ment discharged their pieces, they ascended the flight of 
stairs leading to the room containing the prisoners. At the time 
the assault was made, two other Mormons, Richards and Tailor 
as visitors, were in the large' ai)artment with the Smiths. Hearing 
the rush on the stairs, the imperiled men instinctively held the 
door by pressing their weight against it. The attacking party 
thus denied entrance, fired upon the door, and the bullets passing 
through it, killed Hiram Smith, who falling, exclaimed, "I am a 
dead man." Tailor receiving 4 wounds, retreated under the 
bed, and Richards, after the door was burst open, secreted himself 

508 



MORMON WAR. 509 



beliiiid it, tliongh afterward in relating tlie iiuirder, lie claimed 
that he ytood in the midst of danger, -warding off the balls with 
a consecrated wand. The iirophet, armed Avith a six barreled pis- 
tol which had been furnished by his friends, fought bravely in 
defence of his life, and wounded four of his antagonists before he 
was killed. At length when his x^istol was exhausted, severely 
wounded, he ran to the window, and partly leaped and ijartlj' fell 
into the yard below ; there Avitli his last dying energies he gath- 
ered himself up in a sitting posture, but his disabled condition 
and vague, wandering glances excited no compassion in the in- 
furiated mob, thirsting for his blood. The broils which had so 
long distracted the country, infused into the avengers the spirit 
of demons, and the shooting of Smith was not considered any 
Qiore criminal than taking the life of a wolf or tiger. While in 
this position a party of Missourians discharged their guns at him, 
and he fell crying out, " Oh Lord mj* God." Four balls had 
pierced his body and before the smoke cleared away the Mormon 
prophet was no more.* 

When the tragedy was over horror succeeded the frenzied rage 
which had possessed the assassins, and in silence they hurried 
across the dusty prairies to Warsaw, 18 miles distant. 
The murder occurred at half-past five, and at a quarter before 
eight the fugitives dragged their weary limbs along the streets 
of Warsaw, at such an astounding rate had the lash of a guilty 
conscience driven them. An outburst of vengeance on the part of 
the Mormons was anticipated, but nothing of the kind occurred. 
The appalling disaster which had thus befallen the church was 
not followed by revenge, and it was a long time before they re- 
covered from the stuj^or and despair attending it. A delegation 
repaired to Carthage for their dead, and on returning to Nauvoo 
they were buried with the honors belonging to the general of the 
legion. 

"Thus fell Joe Smith, the most successful impostor of modern 
times. A man who, though ignorant and coarse, had some great 
natural parts which fitted him for temporary success, but which 
were so obscured and counteracted by the inherent corrux)tioD and 
vices of his nature that he could never succeed in establishing a 
system of policy which looked to x)ermanent success in the future. 
His lusts, his love of money and power, always set him to studj^- 
iug present gratification and convenience, rather than the remote 
consequences of his plans. It seems that no power of intellect 
can save a corrupt man from this error. The strong cravings of 
the animal nature will never give fair play to a fine understanding; 
the judgment is never allowed to choose that good which is far 
away, in i^reference to enticing evil near at hand. And this may 
be considered a wise ordinance of Providence, by which the coun- 
sels of talented but corrui:)t men are defeated in the very act which 
I)romised success. 

" It must not be supposed that the pretended prophet practiced 
the tricks of a common imx)OStor; that he was a dark and gloomy 
person, with a long beard and grave and severe aspect, and a re- 
served and saintly carriage; on the contrary he was full of levity, 
even to boyish romping, dressed like a dandy and at times drank 

• John Hay in the Atlantic Monthly of December, 1869. 



510 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

like a .sailor and swore like a pirate. He could, as occasion re- 
quired, be exceedingly meek in Lis deportment, and then again, 
rough and boisterous as a highway robber, being always able to 
satisfy his followers of the propriety of his conihict. He always 
quailed before i^ower, and was arrogant to weakness. At times 
he could put on the air of a penitent, as if feeling the deepest hu- 
miliation for his sins, suffering unutterable anguish and the most 
gloomy forebodings of eternal woe. At such times he would call 
for the prayers of the brethren in his belialf with a wild and fear- 
ful energy and earnestness. He was full six feet high, strongly 
built and uncommonly well muscled. No doubt he was as much 
indebted for his influence over an ignorant people to the superi- 
ority of his physical vigor as to his cunning and intellect.*" 

The Mormon church at this time consisted of two classes, the 
rulers and the ruled, knavery in the one and credulity in the 
other being the beterogeneous characteristics which kept them 
together. The former coiisisted of unprincipled men of talent, 
who, abandoned in character and baidirnpt in fortune, espoused 
the cause of Mormonism for speculative purposes, knowing it was 
an adventure in which they had nothing to lose, while it might be 
the means of retrieving their fortunes. Having neither respect 
for God nor man, and not reverencing any religion, they proposed, 
like Mahomet and others, to found a new system of theology, and 
if they could impose it on the credulity of mankind and live on 
the labor of their dupes, they had no higher object to accomplish. 
They formed a nucleus which attracted to Nauvoo adventurers 
and adepts in every species of crime, while the extraordinary 
powers which had been conferred on the city authorities enabled 
them to screen the guilty from the penalties of the laws they liabit- 
uall}" violated. At their social entertainments, where music and 
dancing constituted the principal pastime, great attention Avas 
paid to dress, while little prudence was exercised in the selection 
of their company. There were in the same gay assemblage the 
brazen'^^aced desperado who despised the law, and the venal mag- 
istrate who i^rotected him in his crimes, the wanton wife and the 
truant husband on an equal footing- with those who respected the 
sanctity of marriage, the reckless adventurer in search of fortune, 
and the successful imposter in possession of ecclesiastical emolu- 
ments and honors. Discordant and incongruous in nature, they 
managed to keej) time to the same music, and to forget minor dif- 
ferences, provided their principal objects, sensual pleasure and 
public plunder, were subserved. 

The lay members of the church, on the other hand, were gener- 
ally honest and industrious but ignorant, and the dupes of an 
artful delusion. In devotion to the princii)les which they pro- 
fessed, they were not surpassed by the belieA^ers of other creeds, 
for humanity exhibits little difierence in this resi^ect, whatever 
may be the system of religion. If the system is crude, the intel- 
ligent devotee rejects it, but if his want of knowledge allows him 
to believe it he will adhere to its dogmas with a tenacity equal to 
that exhibited by the enlightened advocate of a rational theology. 
With the great majority of the Mormons their religious belief 
amounted almost to infatuation, and they were, therefore, more 

*Ford's History. 



MORMON WAE. 511 



properly objects of compassion than persecution. Certainly no 
greater calamit}' can befall a member of the Luman iamijy than 
to have the adoration which he offers the Deity perverted by the 
vagaries of such a monstrous superstition. 

Mormonism, instead of perishing by the death of Smith, received 
a new impetus from his martyrdom. His followers now regarded 
him as a saint ; his words on going to Carthage were adduced 
as fresh i)roof of his prophetic character, and a thousand stories 
were circulated respecting the meekness with which he met death. 
Prophecies were published that in imitation of Christ he would 
rise from the dead. Many confldentlj' expected the fultillment 
of these predictions, and in due time it was reported he was seen, 
attended by a celestial army, coursinghis way through the heavens 
on a great white horse. 

The principle that the death of the martyr is the seed of the 
church, proA'ed true in regard to Mormonism. Smith, though well 
qualitied to originate a movement of this kind, was unable to 
safely direct it through the complication of perils which always 
besets religious innovation. By dying he made room forErigham 
Young, the late head of the church, who, by his superior adminis- 
trative ability, perhaps, saved the Mormon theocracy from dis- 
organization and its subjects from dispersion. Cunning and 
duplicity may be used by the founders of a sect, but great pru- 
dence and judgment best befit him who would afterwards har- 
monize its jarring elements and shape its future career. 

The church, as originally organized, contained 3 presidents, 
Joseph Smith, Hiram Smith and Sidney Eigdon, and 12 apos- 
tles. The latter were abroad, and till they could return home the 
saints were in doubt as to the future government of the church. 
Kigdon, being the only surviving member of the presidency, 
claimed the government, and fortified his pretensions by declaring- 
that the will of the prophet was in his favor, and that he had re- 
ceived several new revelations to the same effect. One of his rev- 
elations, requiring the wealthy to dispose of their possessions and 
follow him to Pennsylvania, rendered him unpopular, the rich 
being reluctant to part with their proi^erty, and the jioor un- 
willing to be deserted by those whose patronage enabled them to 
live. When the apostles returned a fierce conflict arose between 
them and Eigdon for supremacy, which resulted in the expulsion 
of the latter from the church. 

He afterwards retired with a small fragment of the saints, and 
established a little delusion of his own near Pittsburgh, while the 
larger part submitted to the apostles, with Brigham Young, a 
talented but dishonest and licentious man, as their leader. 

Missionaries to the number of 3,000 were now sent abroad 
to preach in the name of the martyred Joseph, and Mor- 
monism increased more rapidly than it had at any time in its past 
history. In their wild enthusiasm they were willing to compass 
sea and land to make a single convert, and everywhere they went 
they found the ignorant and credulousready to become infatuated 
with their strange fanaticism. No other religion promised such 
great spiritual and temporal advantage with such little self-denial, 
and not only dupes but sharpers united with the church, and it 
is said that within 14 years after its organization it numbered 200,- 
000 members. The missionaries always informed their wondering 



512 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and deluded couveits that it was necessary to repair to the place of 
gatlieriiig where the sublime I'nllness of the gospel alone could be 
fully revealed and enjoyed. When removed thither, by seeing 
and hearing nothing but Mormonism, and associating with those 
who placed implicit confidence in its dogmas, they ultimately- be- 
came so deluded as to believe the greatest extravagances and 
submit to the most intolerable despotism. Many by this system 
of training became devoted disciples, who would have spurned 
the empty ]>retensions and licentiousness of their religion, had it 
at first been presented to them in its real deformity. 

About a year after the apostles had assumed the reins of gov- 
ernment, they cojicluded to suspend for a time their efforts to 
convert the world, and accordingly their missionaries and all 
others connected with the church were called home. In a short 
time Mormons commenced pouring into jS^auvoo from all jjarts of 
the world, and the infuriated elders, instead of expounding the 
gospel to the congregations which were regularly called together, 
indulged in a tirade of abuse against the gentiles, chrses on the 
government and all who were not of the Mormon church or its 
tools. Nor were the anti-Mormons or those who opposed them 
idle. The death of the Smiths had not appeased their desire 
for vengeance, and more determined than ever to expel their 
adversaries from the country, they frequently called on the gov- 
ernor for aid. The Mormons also invoked the assistance of the 
executive in punishing the murderers of their prophet, and both 
parties were thoroughly disgusted with the constitutional provisions 
which imposed restraint on the summary attainment of their 
un]a^\ful designs. The elections coming off" in August, 1844. for 
members of the legislature and congress, and another pending 
for the presidency of the United State, further complicated the 
iliflicnlties and enmities of the parties. The whig politicians, 
who were unable to secure their su])port, uniting with the anti- 
Mormons, sent invitations to the militia captains of Hancock and 
all the adjoining counties of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa to ren- 
dezvous with their companies in the vicinity of Kauvoo, i^repara- 
tory to engaging in a wolf hunt, it being understood that the 
Mormons were the game to be hunted. Preparations were made 
for raising several thousand men; the anti-Mormons commenced 
anew the most exaggerated accounts of Mormon outrages, the 
whig press in every part of the United States came to their assist- 
ance, and the publications of the opposite party, m hich had hith- 
erto been friendly, now quailed under the tempest which followed, 
leaving the denunciated and discredited sheet at Nauvoo alone to 
correct public opinion. Prominent ])oliticians who had received 
the Mormon vote, were now unwilli/ig to risk their reputation iu 
defending them, so great was the cowardice of the one and the 
odious character of the other. 

In the meantime, the anti-Mormon force, which had beien sum- 
moned to meet in the guise of hunters, commenced assembling for 
the purjDose of assaulting Nauvoo, and driving its inhabitants out 
of the countr}'. To avert the blow, the governor, assisted by Gen. 
J. J. Hardin, and Cols. Baker and Merriman, raised a force of 500 
men and marched to the scene of the thieatened outbreak. "When 
he arrived a large part of the malcontents fled across the river into 
Missouri. Flight, hoAvever, was unnecessary, for the State forces 



MORMON WAE. 513 



liad not been long in tlie disaffected district before they espoused tbe 
cause of the rioters, and instead of driving- them out as enemies, 
were disposed to receive them as friends. Despite his demor- 
alized forces, the governor, whose sense of justice seemsto have been 
in part sharpened by political motives, determined to follow the 
fugitives and arrest three of their leaders, against whom writs had 
been issued for the murder of the Smiths. Boats were procured 
and secretly landed a mile above Warsaw, iind the troops marched 
to the same place, pre j^aratory to crossing the river and seizing the 
accused. 

In the meantime, however. Colonel Baker visited the encam^)- 
ment and effected ariangements for the surrender of the alleged 
assassins, and the further prosecution of the expedition was 
abandoned. Two of the suspected persons accordingly recrossed 
the river and surrendered themselves prisoners, it having been 
agreed that they should be taken to Quincy for examination ; that 
the attorney for the people should be advised to admit them to 
bail, and that they should be tried at the next term of the Carthage 
court. The faith of the governor had been pledged for the protection 
of the Smiths, and he deemed it especially important that their 
assassins should be punished as a means of vindicating the honor 
of the State, restoring the supremacy of the law and preventing 
the recurrence of such infamous crimes in the future. Able 
lawyers were therefore secured to prosecute the prisoners, and the 
trial came oft' in the summer of 1845. The panel of jurors 
selected by the Mormon officials of the county was rejected, in con- 
sequence of being effected by prejudice, and two elisors were 
chosen, one a Mormon and the other an anti-Mormon, to select a 
new one. Ninety-six persons were presented, before any 
could be found sufflciently ignorant and indifferent to administer 
justice. They all swore they had never formed nor expressed an 
opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the prisoners, although 
at the same time they belonged to a military- mob, which to the 
number of 1,000 men was in attendance with arms to overawe the 
Mormons and extort from the court the verdict in favor of the 
accused. The principal Mormon witnesses were Brackenbury, 
Daniels, and a Miss Graham. The first two had accompanied the 
expedition from Warsaw to Carthage, had witnessed the killing 
of the Smiths, and were able to identify the murderers. From 
Carthage they went to Nauvoo, where they united with the 
church and were boarded by the Mormons to secure their evidence 
at the trial. While here Brackenbury secured the services of a 
sign painter who executed the death and ascension of Smith, 
which he exhibited ostensibly for the spiritual edification of the 
saints, but more for the augmentation of his own prix^ate resources. 
Daniels, not to be outdone by his associate, wrote an account of 
the death of Smith, in which, among a great many other absurd- 
ities, he says he beheld descending fjom heaven and resting on the 
head of Smith, a bright light, which struck some of his murderers 
with blindness, and that he heard celestial voices confirming his 
mission asaprophet. Owing to these fictions, the evidence both of 
the showman and scribbler was rejected as invalid. Miss Graham 
was present and assisted in feeding the hungry mob at the War- 
saw House, after it came straggling in from Carthage. Her 
nervous and sensitive organization,however, had been so wrought 
33 



514 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

upon by the Mormon delusion, tbatsliewas unable to distinguislilier 
suspicions and fancies from actual facts, and so blended tbem in 
lier evidence that it was contended she proved nothing except 
her own honest but insane zeal. Other witnesses were examined 
who knew all the facts, but under the dominating influence of a 
faction thej' refused to divulge them. The judge was held in 
duress by an armed mob, which filled the court house, and stamped 
aj)plause or hissed defiance, according as they approved or disap- 
proved the proceedings. The trial closed and though there was 
not a man in the jury, court house, or county, that did not know 
the prisoners had committed the murder, yet nothing could be 
proved and they were accordingly acquitted. 

At a subsequent term of the court the Mormons were tried for 
the destruction of the heretical press. The tribunal in this case 
consisted of a Mormon court, a Mormon sheriff and a Mormon 
jury, selected on account of their partiality for the accused, as in 
the previous trial, yet all swore that they knew nothing of the 
guilt or innocence of the defendants, who of course were ac- 
quitted. No leading man of either faction could now be arrested 
without the aid of an army, and when thus secured, neither part}' 
would permit an impartial trial in their own county, and since a 
change of venue to a disinterested locality could not be effected 
without the consent of the accused, it Avas impossible to convict 
any one of a partisan crime. The administration of the criminal 
laAv was impossible, civil government was at an end, and the en- 
tire community was in a frightful state of anarchy. 

During the summer and fall of 1845, several occurrences trans- 
pired calculated to increase the irritation existing between the 
Mormons and their neighbors. A suit was instituted in the cir- 
cuit court of the United States against one of the apostles to re- 
cover a note given in Ohio, and a marshal was sent to summon 
the defendants, but they refused to be served with the process. 
Indignation meetings were held by the saints, intiamatory speech- 
es delivered by their principal men, and the marshal threatened 
for attempting to serve the writs, while it was agreed that no 
further attempts of that kind should be made in Nauvoo. About 
the same time an anti-Mormon made an assault upon Gen. 
Deming the sheriff' of the court, and was killed bj' the latter in 
repelling the attack. The vanquished party had many friends, 
and his death occasioned a fresh outburst of passion. To allay 
the storm, the officer who was believed to be friendly to the Mor- 
mons was held to bail, although he had acted strictly in self- 
defence, and was therefore not guilty. It was also discovered in 
trying the right of property at Lima, iii Adams county, that the 
Mormons had an institution connected with their church to secure 
their effects from execution. It was an association of five persons, 
any of whom was to own all the property, and in the event of its 
being levied on for debt, they could refer the ownershii) to such a 
member of the firm as would defeat the execution. Incensed at 
this action, the anti-Mormons of Lima and Green Plains held a 
meeting to devise means for the expulsion of the Mormons from 
that part of the country. It was accordingly arranged that a 
number of their own jDarty should fire on the building in which 
thej' were assembled, in such a manner as not to injure any one, 
and then report that the Mormons had commenced the work of 



MORMON WAR. 515 



plunder and death. This plot was duly executed, and the start- 
ling- intelligence soon called together a mob, which threatened the 
Mormons with fire and sword if they did not immediately leave 
the neighborhood. The Mormons of this locality had previously 
annoyed the inhabitants by petty larcenies, and now refusing to 
depart, the mob at once executed their threats by burning- 125 
houses and forcing the inmates to flee for their lives. The fugitives 
arrived in Nauvoo in the midst of the sickly season, carrying with 
them the infirm, whose pitiable condition excited the utmost indig- 
nation among the inhabitants. 

As soon as the intelligence of these events reached Springfield, 
the governor ordered Gen. Hardin to raise a body of men sufficient 
to enforce the law^, but before it was ready to march, the sheriff 
of the county took the matter in his own hands. Gen. Deming, 
the former sheriif, was dead, and J. B. Backinstos, his successor 
and a prominent Mormon, owing to unpopularity was unable to 
get assistance from the anti-Mormons, although many of them 
were strongly opposed to the riotous proceedings. He, therefore, 
hastened to Nauvoo and armed several hundred Mormons, estab- 
lished a ijermanent guard at Carthage, and swept over other 
parts of the county in search of the incendiaries. The guilty 
parties fleeing to the neighboring counties of Illinois, Iowa and 
Missouri, he was unable to bring them to battle or make any 
arrests. One man, however, was killed without provocation, 
another attempting to escape w^as shot, and afterwards hacked and 
mutilated as if he had been murdered by Indians, and Franklin A. 
Worrel, who had command of the jail, and betraj'ed his trust in 
consenting to the assassination of the Smiths, lost his life from 
the effect of a rifle ball discharged by some unknowai person con- 
cealed for that purpose in a thicket. The anti-Mormons also com- 
mitted one murder. A party of them set fire to a quantity of 
straw near the barn of an old Mormon ninety years of age, and 
when he appeared to extinguish the flames, he was shot and 
killed. The perpetrators of this cold blooded, murder were after- 
wards examined before an anti-Mormon justice of the peace and 
discharged, though their guilt was sufficiently apparent. 

The Anti-Mormons having left their property exposed in their 
precipitate retreat from the county, those who had been burnt out 
of their homes sallied forth from Nauvoo and j)lundered the whole 
country, taking whatever they could carry or drive away. Gen. 
Hardin finally succeeded in raising a force of. 350 men, and march- 
ing to Carthage dispersed the guard which had been stationed at 
that place by the sheriff, checked the Mormon ravages, and re- 
called the fugitive anti-Mormons home. 

While he was here a convention, consisting of delegates from 
eight of the adjoining counties, assembled to concert measures for 
the exi)ulsion of the Mormons from the State. The people of these 
counties became fearful that Hancock would be deserted by the 
original inhabitants, and that their own homes and property would 
thereby become exposed to the depredations of the common 
enemy. The Mormons, on the other hand, believing the times 
foreboded a series of fresh disasters, seriously contemplated emi- 
gration westward, having despaired of establishing their religion 
in the midst of a people whose opinions and prejudices v/ere hos- 
tile to its teachings. At this juncture they were advised by the 



516 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

governor aud other prominent men that a withdrawal from the 
State was the only possible alternative for escaping the impending 
calamities aud Gen. Hardin being sent with instructions for effecting 
this purpose, was successful in negotiating arrangements for their 
removal. It was agreed that the greater part of the Mormons 
should retire from the State during the following spring; that no 
arrests should be made bj^ either hostile party for crimes pre- 
A'iously committed, and that a military force should remain in the 
county to preserve the peace. A small force was accordingly left 
in command of Major Warren, who discharged his duties with 
such efficiency that the turbulent spirit of faction was kej^t in 
subjection. 

During the winter of 1845-6, the most stupendous preparations 
were made by the Mormons for removal ; all the principal dwellings 
and even the temple were converted into workshops, and before 
spring 12,000 wagons were in readiness. Previous to the depar- 
ture indictments had been found against most of the apostles for 
counterfeiting the coin of the United States, aud an apj)lication 
was made to the governor for a sufficient force to arrest them, 
but in pursuance of the amnesty agreed on for old offences, the 
api)lication was dismissed. It was deemed impolitic to arrest the 
leaders aud thus terminate the preparations for removal when it 
was notorious that they could command Avitnesses aud evidence 
sufficient to render conviction impossible. With a view, however, 
to hasten their departure, the impression was made that a ijortion 
of the regular army would be ordered to Nauvoo as soon as navi- 
gation opened, to enforce the writs, and hence the leaders, on the 
15th of February, with 2,000 of their followers, crossed the river 
on the ice and started westward in advance of the others. By tbe 
middle of May it was estimated 1,400 more, with tlieir flocks, their 
wives and little ones, followed the former band, to seek a new 
home in the mountain fastnesses of the western wilderness. 

Nauvoo, before the Mormon exodus, contained a population of 
17,000 souls. Its buildings, commencing at the margin of the 
river and spreading over the upland, sparsely covered an area of 
6 square miles. The temple, rising high above the adjacent ob- 
jects, was built of compact polished limestone, obtained in the 
hmits of the city. ISTo order of architecture was observed in its 
erection, and the Mormons claimed that it was commenced with- 
out a plan and built in accordance with instructions received 
directly from heaven as the work advanced. It was 128 feet 
long, 88 feet wide, 65 feet to the top of the cornice, and 165 to the 
top of the cui)ola. The basement was a large, imperfectly venti- 
lated room, containing a baptistry, supported by 12 oxen, hewn 
out of limestone. In the main story was the audience room used 
for public worship. At the end of this large apartment were 4 
seats, regularly elevated one above the other, on which were sta- 
tioned, according to their respective rank, the elders who ad- 
dressed the people. The second story also contained an audience 
room, and the third a large hall for educational purposes. 
Besides the large apartments there were in all the stories rooms 
connected with the ecclesiastical and governmental interests of 
the people. From the top of the cupola a scene of enchanting 
beauty met the eye, from which few could turn away with indiffer- 
ence. Woodlands and prairies, diversified with gentle undula- 



MORMON WAR. 517 



tioiis and covered with farm houses, herds of cattle, fields of 
waving- grain and other evidences of agricultural thrift, could be 
seen for a distance of 20 miles. Through this extensive land- 
scape glided the Father of Waters, in whose floods repose a great 
number of islands, all in the range of vision, and captivating the 
eye of the beholder by their surpassing loveliness. 

A small remnant of about 1,000, unable to dispose of their pro- 
perty, remained behind. These were sufficient, however, to con- 
trol the vote of the county, and lest they should endeavor to 
make the attempt, their opponents discovered a i)retext for new 
broils. For this purpose a party of Mormons who had been sent 
to harvest some wheatflelds in the vicinity of Nauvoo, were 
severely whipped, the peri)etrators declaring that they had dis- 
turbed the neighborhood by their boisterous conduct. Writs 
were sworn out in the city against those who had inflicted the 
castigation, and they were arrested and kept under strict guard 
until they could give bail. The anti-Mormons in turn j^rocnred 
writs for the arrest of the constable and posse who had served 
the first writs. Tlie Mormons, believing that instead of being- 
tried they would be murdered, refused to be taken, whereupon 
several hundred anti-Mormons assembled to enforce the process. 
The difficulty was, however, adjusted without making the arrest. 
A committee having been sent to Nauvoo reported the Mormons 
had agreed not to vote in the ensuing election, and that they were 
making- every possible preparation for removal, and proceedings 
against them were suspended. Notwithstanding this agreement, 
when the election came oft' they all voted the democratic ticket, 
and so determined were they that their support should be efficient, 
all voted three or four times for each member of congress. Their 
excuse for violating- their pledge was that the president of 
the United States had permitted their friends to temporarily oc- 
cupy the Indian lands on the Missouri river, and for this favor 
they felt under obligations to supjiort his administration. The 
want of good faith in this respect greatly incensed the whigs, 
and the certainty that many designing men were endeavoring to 
induce them to remain permanently in the country, revived the 
general opposition which previously prevailed against them. 
Writs were again issued for the arrest of prominent Mormons, 
and to create a pretext for assembling a large force toexecute them, 
it was asserted by the constable that if the accused were taken 
and carried out of the city they would be nmrdered. Under these 
circumstances they refused to be arrested, and the posse sum- 
moned to enforce the law soon amounted to several hundred men. 
The Mormons in like manner obtained writs for the arrest of prom- 
inent anti-Mormons, and under the pretense of executing them 
called out a posse of their own people, and hence constable was 
arrayed against constable, law against law and posse against 
posse. 

While the hostile parties were assembling their forces, the new 
citizens of Nauvoo, who had purchased property of the Mormons 
at the time of their exodus, applied to the governor for sufficient 
force to restore order and confidence. Major Paiker, a whig, was 
accordingly sent, it being supposed, in consequence of his poli- 
tics, he would have more influence with the malcontents, who were 
mostly of his party. When, however, he arrived the anti-Mor- 



518 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

iiion constable refused to be superseded by liiiu,and declared that 
he cared little for the arrests, thereby evidencing that his faction 
was only using the process of the law as a pretext for accomplish- 
fng their real object, the expvdsion of the Mormons. The anti- 
Mormon faction continued to increase till it numbered 800 men, and 
while thej^ were preparing to march on Nauvoo the inhabitants 
were preparing for a vigorous defense, a portion of the new citi- 
zens uniting with them, and some assisting their enemies. At 
this stage of the proceedings Mason Brayman, a citizen of Spring- 
iield, was sent by the governor to inquire into and report the 
nature of the difBculties. When he arrived an attempt was made 
to effect a reconciliation. It was agreed by the leaders of both 
factions that the Mormons should remove from the State in two 
mouths, and that their arms in the meantime should be i)laced in 
the custody of a x>erson api)ointed to receive and redeliver them 
to the owners at the time of their departure. When this 
agreement was submitted for ratification to the anti-Mormon 
forces it was rejected. Gen. Singleton and Col. Ghittenden, their 
commanders, then withdrew and the governor was informed by 
Mr. Brayman that the better portion of the anti-Mormons would 
abandon the enterprise and return home. Subsequent events, how- 
ever, proved that Mr. Brayman was mistaken in his conjectures. 
When Gen. Singleton retired, Thomas S. Brockman, a dishonest 
and vulgar man, bigoted and bitter in his prejudices against the Mor- 
mons, was put in command. Brockman immediately marched 
his forces to Nauvooand commenced skirmishing with the inhabi- 
tants, while Mr. Brayman, owing to the threatening aspect of 
affairs, hastened to Springfield to obtain further assistance for 
the defense of the city. In this emergency, troops could not be 
called from a distance in time to be nuide available, and hence an 
effort was made to procure them in the neighborhood of the con- 
flict. Orders were issued to Major William T. Flood, commander 
of the militia of the adjoining populous county of Adams, author- 
izing him to raise a volunteer force sufiicient to restore the ob- 
servance of law. The excitement by this time had spread through 
Adams and all the adjoining counties, and it was evident that if 
the State attempted to raise a force a much larger one would 
march to the assistance of the insurgents, and hence this officer 
declined making any effort. 

To meet this contingency he had previously been instructed, in 
case he failed to raise the required force, to hand over his com- 
mand to some one who would j)roperly execute it. Major Flood, 
however, without immediately authorizing any one to act in his 
stead, hastened to Nauvoo to use his intiuence with the antago- 
nistic factions for the restoration of peace. Failing in his media- 
tion, he entrusted his authority to the Mormons, who selected 
Major Clifford to command them. 

The forces under Brockman numbered 800, and were armed 
with muskets and five pieces of small cannon, belonging to 
the State, given them by independent militia companies in the ad- 
jacent counties. The Mormon forces, including a liortion of the 
new citizens, at first amounted to 250 men, but before 
any decisive fighting commenced, were diminished by de- 
sertion to 150. Their weapons consisted of sixteen-shoot- 
ing rifles, common muskets, and five pieces of cannon, 



MOEMON WAK. 519 



hastily and rudely constructed by themselves from the shaft of a 
steamboat. Acting on the defensive they took a position in the 
suburbs of the city, a mile east of the temple, and threw uj) breast 
works for the protection of their artillery. The attacking force 
was sufficiently numerous to have simultaneously marched on 
both flanks of the besieged, beyond the range of their battery, 
and thus have taken the city without firing a single gun. Brock- 
man, however, approaching directly iu front, stationed his men 
about half a mile from the battery, and each party commenced a 
fire from their cannon, while some of the combatants Avith small 
arms occasionally approached closer, but never sufficiently near 
to do any damage. 

The contest was thus continued at a great distance, with little 
skill till the ammunition of the besiegers was exhausted, when 
they retired to their cam}) to await a fresh supply. In a few days 
ammunition was brought from Quincy, and the conflict again re- 
sumed, and kept up several days, during which the Mormons ad- 
mitted a loss of one man killed and 9 wounded, and the anti-Mor- 
mons of 3 killed and 4 wounded. It was estimated that some 800 
cannon balls were fired on each side, and the small number killed 
can only be accounted for on the supposition that the belligerents 
either kept at a safe distance, or were very unskillful in the use of 
arms. The contest was finally ended by the interposition of an 
anti-Mormon committee from Quincy. According to the terms of 
capitulation dictated by the sui)erior force of the besiegers, the 
Mormons were to surrender their arms to the committee. All, 
with the exception of trustees for the sale of their propei'ty, were 
to remove out of the city, and the anti-Mormon posse was to march 
in and have a sufficient force there to guarantee the performance 
of the stii3ulations. The posse with Brockman at its head, ac- 
cordingly started on its mission, followed by several hundred 
spectators, who had come from all the surrounding country to see 
the once proud city of Nauvoo humbled and delivered into the 
hands of its enemies. 

As soon as they got possession of the city, Brockman, whose 
vulgar soul became intoxicated with success, commenced acting 
the part of a tyrant. Arrogating to himself the right to decide 
who should remain and who should be driven away, he summoned 
the inhabitants to his i)resence, and at his dictum most of them 
were compelled to leave their homes in a few hours in a destitute 
condition. It was stipulated that only Mormons were to be ex- 
]>atriated, yet at his behests armed ruffians commenced expelling 
the new citizens, ducking some of them in the river, and forcing 
others to cross it at the point of the bayonet. In a few days the 
entire Mormon population and the new citizens who had co-op- 
erated with them in resisting the mob, were expelled. The latter 
class had strong claims to be treated with more generosity by the 
conquerors. Having been attracted to ISTauvoo from various parts 
of the United States by the low price of property, and knowing 
but little of the previous difficulties, it was but natural that they 
should offer their services to defend the town from mob violence 
and their property from destruction. They saw that the Mormons 
were industriously preparing to leave, and therefore considered 
the ettbrt to expel them not only unnecessary but unjust and cruel. 



520 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



The mob, however, under the influence of passion, could see no 
merit in this portion of their adversaries, and, in the flush of 
victory, dealt out indiscriminate brutality to all. 

Brockman, having sufficiently glutted his vengeance, returned 
home, leaving 100 of the lowest and most violent of his followers 
to prevent the return of those who had been driven into exile. 
This remnant of the mob continued its acts of violence and 
oppression till they heard that a force was moving against them 
from the seat of government, when they also departed. 

In the meantime, the Mormons were thrown houseless on the 
Iowa shore, Avithout provisions or means to procure them, and 
were in a star\^ing condition. It was also the height of the sickly 
season, and many had been hurried away while suffering with 
disease, to die from exposure and privation. Without food, medi- 
cine or clothing, the mother watched her sick babe till it died, and 
then became herself a victim to the epidemic, finding the grave a 
refuge from persecution and a balm for her sufferings. After this- 
distress became known all parties hastened to their assistance, the 
anti-Mormons vying with the Mormons in furnishing relief. The 
people of the State at first looked with indifference upon these 
outrages, but the liard.ships attending them at length began to 
cause reflection. They had seen a large tract of country com- 
pelled to submit to the domination of a self-constituted power,, 
the legitimate government trampled under foot and a reign of 
terror substituted in its place. 

With this change of sentiment, a force was laised in and near 
Springlield, of 120 men, and the governor proceeded with it to the 
scene of the disturbance. The principal object of the expedition 
was to restore the exiled citizens to their new homes and property, 
a large part of the latter having been stolen in their absence. 
When the force arrived the riotous population was greatly incensed 
at the governor, and could hardly find language sufficiently 
strong to express their astonishment that he and the people of other 
counties should interfere in the domestic afiairs of Hancock. 
Public meetings were held in Nauvoo and Carthage, at which it 
was resolved to again drive out the citizens as soon as the State 
forces should be withdrawn. 

Writs were also again sworn out against some officers of the 
State forces, with a view to calling out a i)0sse and exi)elling them 
from the county, but tlie mob failed to enlist more than 200 or 300 
men, and these hesitated and finally abandoned their design of 
making the arrests or resorting to violence. To prevent further 
outbreaks a small force was left in the county till the assembling 
of the legislature on the loth of December, 1846, when the cold 
weather put an end to the agitation and they were withdrawn. 
The western march of the Mormons wlio left the State the pre- 
ceding spring, was attended with greater suffering than had been 
endured in their banishment from Jilissouri. On the IStli of Feb., 
1846, the leaders crossed the Mississipi»i and sojourned at 
IVIontrose, Iowa, till the latter part of March, in consequence 
of the deep snow which obstructed the w^ay. 

W^hen finally the journey was resumed, the fugitives taking the 
road through Missouri, were forcibly ejected from the State and 
compelled to move indirectly through Iowa. After innumerable 
hardships, the advance guiird of emigration reached the Missouri 



MORMON WAR. 521 



river, at Council Bluffs, wheu a United States officer presented a 
requisition for oOO men to serve in the war against Mexico. Com- 
pliance with this order so diminished the number of effective 
men, that the expedition was again delayed and the remainder, 
consisting mostly of old men, women and children, hastily pre- 
pared habitations for winter. Their rudely constructed tents were 
hardly completed before winter set in with great severity, the 
bleak prairies being incessantly swept by piercing winds. 
"While here cholera, fever and other diseases, aggravated by the 
previous hardships which they had endured, the want of comfort- 
able quarters and medical treatment, hurried many of them to 
premature graves. Yet, under the iuHueuce of religious fervor and 
fanaticism, they looked death in the face with resignation and 
cheerfulness, and even exhibited a gayety which manifested itself 
in music and dancing during the saddest hours of this sad winter. 
At length welcome sj^ring made its appearance; by Ai)ril the peo- 
ple were again organized for the journey, and a pioneer party, 
consisting of Brigham Young and 140 others, was sent in advance 
to locate a home for the colonists. On the 21st of Juh', 1847, a day 
memorable in Mormon annals, the vanguard reached the valley of 
Great Salt Lake, having been directed thither, according to their 
accounts, by the hand of the Almighty. Here, in a destitute wil- 
derness, midway between the settlements of the east and the 
Pacific, and at that time a thousand miles from the utmost verge 
of civilization, they commeuced preparations for founding a 
colony. Those Avho were left behind arrived at different times 
afterward, in companies sufficiently large to preserve discipline 
and guard against the attacks of the Indians who continuously 
hovered about them for purposes of jjlunder. At first they endur- 
ed great sufferings for the want of food; immense numbers of 
grasshoppers having come down from the mountains and consum- 
ed a great portion of their crops. According to the Mormon 
historian, the whole would have been destroyed had not the 
Almighty sent great flocks of gulls which devoured the grasshop- 
pers and thus saved the people from famine and death. The 
lands, as soon as they were properl}- irrigated, produced abund- 
anth' all the necessaries of life; and at length plenty alleviatt^d 
the privations of hunger, and peace followed the fierce persecutions 
which had attended them in their former place of residence. New 
settlements were made as fresh companies of emigrants arrived, 
and in a short time the space occupied by the colonists extended 
nearly a hundred miles north and south, and Salt Lake City, the 
present capital of the territory, became a populous city. Nestled 
in a sea of verdure, at the base of the surrounding mountains, 
washed on the west by the Jordan, and commanding a view 25 
miles southward, over a luxuriant plain silvered with fertilizing^ 
streams, it is now one of the most romantically situated cities on 
the continent. So j)icturesque is the valley, and its metropolis 
especially, when decked in the beauty of spring-, that the 
traveler when he crosses the desert, imitating the enthusiasm of 
the saints, is wont to liken it to the New Jerusalem, surrounded 
by green pastures, and fountains of living water. 



Chapter XLIII. 
1846.— ILLINOIS 11^ THE MEXICAN WAE. 



We cannot enter into details regarding all the causes of this 
war. Proximately, it grew out of the annexation of Texas. In 
1836 the American settlers in that country defeated the Mexican 
forces at San Jacinto, cajjtured Santa Anna, the dictator of all 
Mexico, and under duress wruug from him a treaty acknowledg- 
ing the independeiu;e of Texas. But this treaty the republic of 
Mexico ever repudiated. From 1836 on, overtures were frequent- 
ly made to the United States by the "Lone Star," for admission 
into the Union. Mexico took occasion several times to inform the 
government of the United States that the annexation of Texas 
would be regarded as a casus helU. The question entered into the 
presidential contest of 1844, and the election of Polk was construed 
into a popular approval of the stej). Cougress no longer hesitated, 
and on the 1st of March, 1845, ga'S'e its assent to the admission of 
Texas into the Union. Mexico immediately- broke off diplomatic 
intercourse with the U. S. In July the army of occupation, under 
Gen. Zachary Taylor, was ordered to Corpus Christi. During 
the following winter, while Mexico was in the throes of revolu- 
tion, during which Parades came to the surface as x^resident, and 
wiiile the administration sought an adjustment of the questions of 
boundary, through an envoy (Mr. Slidell), it ordered the army of 
occupation to a point opposite Matamoras, to take possession of 
the territory long in dispute, lying between the Nueces and theEio 
Grande. This was a rei)etition of the dix)lomacy of Frederick the 
Great in Silesia. The Mexicans occupied the territory at the time 
with a military force stationed at Brazos Santiago, M'hich, on the 
ajiproach of Taylor to Point Isabel, withdrew west of the Kio 
Grande. Many outrages and robberies upon our citizens residing 
in Mexico had also been periietrated through oflBcial sanction, 
with losses amounting to several million dollars, which our govern- 
ment had labored to have adjusted, but with very tardy progress. 

On the 28th of March, 1846, Taylor's army of some 4000 troops 
took position on the left bank of the Eio Grande within cannon 
shot of Matamoras, opposite. On the 24th of April Gen. Arista 
assumed command of the Mexican forces. On the same day Gen. 
Taylor, having learned that a large body of Mexicans had crossed 
the Eio Grande 20 miles above, detached a force of 60 men, under 
Captains Thompson and Hardee, to reconnoitre the enemj'. They 
fell in with what they supposed was a scouting party, but which 
proved to be the advance guard of a strong body of the enemy 
jiosted in the chaparral. The American commanders, contrary to 
the advice of their Mexican guide, charged and i)ursaed the 

522 



MEXICAN WAR. 523 



guard across a clearing, and in an instant their forces were sur- 
rounded by the main body of the Mexicans, who fired upon them, 
killing 16 and taking prisoners the remainder. A wounded soldier 
was sent into Taylor's camp by the Mexican commander, with a 
message that he had no traveling hospital to render him the needed 
medical aid. 

Thus were hostilities actually commenced. Notwithstanding it 
was reasonably well known that war was almost inevitable from 
the advance of the army of occupation, which was about all the 
arm 3^ the country had, all militarj^ preparation to meet" such a ca- 
lamity was calmly avoided. This gave it the appearance of a sur- 
prise. Eeports of this disastrous engagement reached Washing- 
ton May 9th, together with many painful rumors that Taylor was 
surrounded and cut off from his base of supplies at Point Isabel. 
Consternation was rife; the president sent into congress an ex- 
traordinary message, declaring that Mexico had " at last invaded 
our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow citizens on our own 
soil." Congress, with an alacrity unusual, two days after, passed 
an act declaring that "by the act of the republic of Mexico a state 
of war exists between that government and the United States ;" 
authorized the president to accept the services of 50,000 volunteers, 
and appropriated $10,000,000 to carry on the war. The intent 
was to conquer a peace in shoit order with an overj^owering force. 

All this was in the midst of the public excitement incident to 
the Oregon boundary question — ''54 40 or fight," being 
our motto. Mr. Polk had been elected with the understanding 
that he would insist upon the line. The notice terminating the 
joint occupation of Oregon had passed congress, April 23d. But 
now hai)pily with one war on our hands a collision Avith Great 
Britain Avas avoided by adopting the 49th parallel of north lati- 
tude, and sacrificing all that vast region of the northwest, equal 
to several States; but we gained largely in the southwest. 

The call for volunteers was apportioned mostly to the western 
and southern States. The lequisition upon Illinois was for "three 
regiments of infantry or riflemen." The pay was $8 per month, 
but with commutations it amounted to $15.50. The enlistments 
were for 12 months from the time of mustering into service at the 
place of rendezvous. The men were to uniform themselves, for 
which they would be allowed. The selection of ofdcers was left 
to the volunteers, in accordance with the militia laws of the State 
whence they were taken. The number of privates was limited 
to 80 men in each company. Under date of May 25th, Gov. Ford, 
commander-in-chief of the militia of the State, issued his general 
order calling upon the major and brigadier generals and other 
militia officers to aid in raising and organizing the three regiments. 
As the militia had for a long time been in a disorganized state, it 
was further ordered that the sheriflfs convene the regiments or old 
battalions en masse, and enroll such volunteers as might offer in 
their respective counties. The governor proposed to receive the 
first full companies that ottered. The company officers were to 
act under their certificates of election until comuussioned. And 
now many portions of the State seemed alive with the zeal of 
patriotism. The animating strains of martial music were wafted 
upon the air, everywhere inspiring the soldierly im])ulse. Our 
public men rallied the peojile with spirited, patriotic and effective 



524 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

appeals. The militia generals issued their orders convening- their 
brigades, and exhorted them to volunteer and "maintain their 
honorable position on the present occasion." We note the first of 
these orders as by the gallant J. J. Hardin, who "enrolled himself 
as the first volunteer Irom Illinois."* The responses to the demands 
of patriotism were prompt, eager, and overwhelming. It was 
eeteemed an honor to be permitted to contribute to the nation's 
call. In 10 days time 35 companies duly organized were ofHcially 
reported to the governor, while the busy notes of preparation still 
resounded from all j^arts of the State. By the middle of June 
the requisition was exceeded by more than 40 companies. The 
ladies, too, animated by the patriotism of their brothers, with a free 
will formed sewing societies and made uniforms and garments for 
the volunteers. 

The place of rendezvous was appointed at Alton. Brigadier 
General James Shieldst was by the governor designated to inspect 
and muster into service the Illinois volunteers 5 this was not his 
excellency's province, however, and the war department sent out 
Col. S. Churchill, Inspector General of the United States Army, to 
supervise the mustering in. This gentleman entertained through- 
out the war an aifectionate regard for the Illinois troops. From 
the governor's office the 30 full companies were ordered, by letters 
addressed to their respective captains, to repair to the place of 
rendezvous as fast as uniformed. Of course, out of the more than 
75 companies, some fragmentary and others replete to overflowing, 
more than half Avere disappointed. Much fault was now found 
with Governor Ford, here and there over the State, by the disap- 
pointed ones, who, in their chagrin, charged him with partiality, 
favoritism and dislionorable Conduct in the acceptance of compa- 
nies, using language anything but temperate.^ 

The first regiment of Illinois volunteers Avas organized July 2d, 
as follows : The first battalion consisted of companies commanded 
by Captains J. D. Morgan, of Adams ; Elisha Wells, of Cook ; 
ifoah Fry, of Greene ; J. S. Eoberts, of Morgan ; and W. A. Eich- 
ardson, of Schuyler. The 2d battalion consisted of comi)anies 
under the command of Captains Lyman Mowers, of Cook; T. Lyle 
Dickey, of LaSalle ; A. W. Crow, of Jo Daviess; William Weath- 
erford, of Morgan ; and Samuel Montgomery, of Scott. Gen. John 
J. Hardin was elected colonel with great unanimity ; Captain 
William Weatherford was elected lieutenant colonel, and AY. B. 
Warren, major — all three of Morgan county. B. M. Prentiss was 
appointed adjutant, John Scanlan commissary, S. M. Parsons 



*See Illinois State Register, May 29, 1846. 

+NoTE.— Judg-e Shields, who resided at Washington, as Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, on the outbreakinfi- of the war, ever full of the martial spirit, promptlj' 
repaired to Illinois and labored efficiently to rouse the patriotic sentiments of the peo- 
ple, bring-ing: with him the President's promise of a brigadier-generalship, the Illinois 
regiments to constitute his brigade. Rumors in advance of the fact of his appointment 
reached Illinois and considerable dissatisfaction grew out of it at home, but the Presi- 
dent nominated him and he was confirmed. Criticisms and sneers at his military qual- 
ifications were freely indulged, but when his gallant behavior at Cerro Gordo, and his 
great services at Churubusco and Che|)ultepee were heralded ovt.r the countr.v, together 
■with the well deserved praises of his superior commanders, it appeared that a better 
choice from civil life could not well have been made, and his own State rewarded him 
with the highest office a foreigner can hold. 

iSee Capt. G. W. Aiken's letter dated Benton, .Tune :;Oth, in Illinois State Register of 
July 10, 1846. See also proceedings of the Clark Covinty Company at a public meeting 
in Marshall, July 6th, published in Illinois State Register, July 17, 1846. 



MEXTCAN WAR. 525 



quartermaster, E. A. Giller sergeant-major, A. W. Fry drum-major, 
JL)r. White surgeon, and Dr. Zabriskie* assistant surgeon. W. J. 
Wyatt was also a captain in this regiment. 

The 2d regiment was orgauizetl on the same day. It consisted 
of companies under tbe command of Captains Peter Goff, of Mad- 
ison county; J. L. D. Morrison, of St. Clair; Erastus Wheeler, of 
Madison ; A. Dodge, of Kendall, Jersey and Madison counties ; 
W. H. Bissell, of St. Clair; E.G. Coffee, of Washington; H. T. 
Trail, of Monroe ; John S. Hacker, of Union; L. G. Jones, of Perry ; 
and H. L. Webb, of Pulaski. Captain Wm.H, Bissell was elected 
colonel by 807 votes againstG, one of the latter being in his own com- 
t^any and 5 in Captain Morrison's. Capt. J. L. D. Morrison was 
eh^cted lieutenant colonel, and Capt. H. F. Trail major. Lieut. A. 
Wliitesides was appointed adjutant, and Lewis J. Clawson sutler. 
Julius Eaith, Joseph Lemon and Madison Miller were also captains 
in this regiment. 

Tbe 3d regiment was composed of the following companies : 
Captains Ferris Forman, of Fayette county ; J. C. McAdams, of 
Bond; M. K. Lawler, of Gallatin ; Theo.McGinhis, of Pope ; W. 
W. Wiley, of Bond ; J. A. Campbell, of Wayne; W. W. Bishop, 
of Coles ; S. G. Hicks, of Jefferson ; James Freeman, of Shelby ; 
and J. P. Hardy, of Hamilton. Capt. Forman, of Fayette, was 
elected colonel ; W. W. Wiley, of Bond, lieutenant colonel, and 
Samuel D. Marshall of Gallatin, major. Lieut. J. T. B. Stapp was 
appointed adjutant. Philij) Stout and B. S. Sellers were also cap- 
tains in this regiment. Col. Churchill, of theU. S. army, inspected 
and mustered it into service. The 1st numbered 877 men, rank 
and file ; the 2d 892, and the 3d 900. The inspecting ofticer pro- 
nounced them as ffiie a body of men as ever he saw mustered. It 
was a subject of remark how little intoxication there was among 
the volunteers. 

In the meantime the Hon. E. D. Baker, then a member of con- 
gress from the Sangamon district, had received authoiity from the 
secretary of war to raise an additional regiment of Illinois volun- 
teers. Gov. Ford issued his order of approval under date of June 
5th, and authorized companies raised, or to be raised, to join this 
regiment by permission of Mr. Baker. He also authorized him to 
appoint the time and place of rendezvous for the regiment, and to 
provide for its sustenance, equipment and transportation. The 
following companies constituted this regiment : Captains Pugh 
of Macon county ; Elkin, of McLean ; Eoberts, of Sangamon 
Harris, of Menard ; Morris, of Sangamon ; Newcomb, of DeWitt 
Hurt, of Logan ; Jones, of Tazewell ; McKonkey, of Edgar — 9 
companies. The 10th company did not join until after its arrival 
at the place of rendezvous, Alton. It was at first expected that 
this would be either Captain Garrett's, of Chicago, or that of Cap- 
tain Eagan, of LaSalle ; but these failing to arrive in time, Cap- 
tain Murphy's, of Perry, formed the 10th company. The regimen- 
tal officers elected were : E. D. Baker, colonel ; ex-Lieut. Gov. 
John Moore, of McLean, lieutenant colonel; and Capt. T. L. 
Harris, of Menard, major. The regiment lacked a few privates of 
being full ; but Illinois had raised a larger number of volunteers 

"Capt. Roberts resigned at Alton, and the brave Zabriekie, who fell by the side of 
the noble Hardin at Buena Vista, was chosen in his place. 



526 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

than any other State in the Union. Lewis W. Eoss and A. W. 
Wrigiit were also ca])tains in this regiment. 

Immediate]}- after the arrival of the 4th regiment at Alton, a 
question of rank arose between Its colonel, Balcer, and Col. John 
J. Hardin, of the 1st regiment. Col. Baker had been elected at 
Springfield, and his commission ante-dated that of the other col- 
onels, whence he claimed seniority. This was resisted by Colonel 
Hardin, who charged such irregularity in Baker's choice as to be 
no election at all by the regiment, first, because the governor had 
never ordered the election ; second, because there were but seven 
companies present to participate in the election ; therefore the im- 
proper issuance of the commission could not give luiority to Col. 
Baker. The matter was referred to a court of inquiry, consisting- 
of Captains Bishop, Dickey, Crow, Jones. Elkiii, Hicks, McAdams, 
Wiley, Coffee, Roberts and Morgan, with G. T. Al. Davis as clerk. 
After due investigation Col. Hardin was declared the senior ofiticer* 
At a meeting of the officers of the 3 first regiments, subsequently, 
a fonnal protest was signed and forwarded to the president 
against the appointment of officers on the recommendation of mem- 
bers of congress.t The 4th regiment passed on to Jefferson Bar- 
racks. 

After the disaster to Captain Thompson's reconnoitering party 
on the 24th of April, and before the news reached Washington, 
the important battles of Palo Alto and Eesaca de la Palma, May 
8th and 9th, were fought and won by Taylor's forces, on the route 
between his camj) and Point Isabel, his depot of supplies, which 
the Mexicans sought to cut off". They had also bombarded Tay- 
lor's camp opposite Matamoras, called Fort Biown, but the siege 
was raised by the arrival of the victorious army on the 10th of 
May, and Matamoras was surrendered without a further struggle. 
Thenceforward the Rio Grande was assumed as the base of military 
operations, and the Mexican villages at the mouth of the San Juan 
having also surrendered, Comargo, 180 miles above the mouth of 
the Rio Grande, was selected as the depot of sui)plies for Gen. 
Taylor's army. Thither the various volunteer regiments which 
were to reinforce Taylor's army were to be sent. 

But while Gen. Taylor was passing the Rio Grande and direct- 
ing his columns toward the interior of Mexico, the cabinet at Wash- 
ington formed the plan of moving a corps on Santa Fe, and another 
to march on the capital of Chihuahua, believed to be the centre of 
much wealth and strength — a gross mistake. It was also sup- 
posed that the northern States of Mexico were ready for revolt. 
The former, called the army of the west, was assembled at Fort 
Leavenworth and j^laced under the command of Gen. Kearney ; 
and the latter, under Brig. Gen. John E. Wool, was called the 
army of the centre, the troops for whicli were ordered by the war 
department to assemble at San Antonio de Bexar, on the San 
Antonio river, whence they were to proceed westward to Chihua- 
hua. The troops for these expeditions were the volunteers, scat- 
tered at the time in different parts of Uie U. S., strangers to the 
vicissitudes of war, and remote from the ponits of rendezvous. 
But the celerity of their assembling, their prodigious marches and 
esprit du corps are among the wonderful incidents of that war. 

♦Illinois state Rfg. July 10, 1846. 
+See Mo. liepublican, July, 1846. 



MEXICAI^ WAR. 



The llliuois regiments were not all formed into one brigade, as 
many bad fondly hoped. The 1st and 2d were assigned to the 
army of the centre, and the destination of the 3d and 4th was 
Comargo. They proceeded by water, The 1st and 2d left Alton, 
July 17th, 18th and 19th, on board the steamers Convoy, Missouri 
and Hannibal: were transhi])ped at jSTew Orleans, and finally 
debarked at Levacca, on Matagorda Bay, July 29th. Gen. Wool 
accompanied them from Alton. They arrived at Pallida creek, 12 
miles from Le\'acca, August 7th, and commenced their march 4 
days later. The route to San Antonio de Bexar was over an arid 
prairie under a tropical sun, w^hose rays were cooled but little by 
the frequent showers. At the crossings of the head streams of 
the San Antonio and the Guadaloupe, the parched and weary vol- 
unteers of the north found the only good water to quench their 
thirst, or shade for rest. An Illinois soldier wrote: "Heat — 
heat — heat; rain — rain — rain; mud — mud — mud, intermingled 
with spots of sand gravel, form the principal features of the route 
from Levacca to San Antonio. Loaded wagons, of course, moved 
slowly over the roads, and our troops moreover were scourged on 
the route by the mumps and measles."* On the 23d, the 1st and 
2d Illinois regiments were encamped on the San Antonio, 2 miles 
below the Alamo, at Camp Crocket. 

The 3d regiment (Col. Forman's) took its departure from Alton, 
July 22d, on board the steamers Glencoe and John Aull. On the 
next day the steamers Sultana and Eclipse took on board the 4th 
regiment (Col. Baker's) at Jefferson Barracks. It came first to 
St. Louis and made a parade through some of the streets, and 
in front of the Planters' Hotel executed with nice precision its 
evolutions and drill. Itw^as handsomely uniformed and was much 
admired. The boats got off the same evening, and the troops, 
after considerable detention at the mouth of the Eio Grande and 
Matamoras, arrived at Comargo toward the close of September. 

Our northern troops reached the enervating southern climate 
in the very heat of summer ; they were used to a more bracing air, 
a variety of wholesome food, well cooked, good water, cleanliness 
of clothing and body, comfortable bedding and regularity of 
work and rest. All this was changed in the new life of the sol- 
dier, with its irregularities, its excitements, its unrest and its 
restraints. The food was new and untried, its quality often infe- 
rior, and its preparation unskillful. The residt was a percentage 
of sickness unprecedented, and a death rate extraordinary. The 
suffering of our once hale, yet brave young men, in this re- 
spect, was fearful. The burden of messages home w^as sickness — 
measles, diarrhoea, ague — the first named very fatal. 

Gen. Taylor's army, reinforced by volunteers, had gradually 
concentrated at Comargo, and about the first of September began 
to march up the valley of the San Juan, towards the important 
city of Monterey, whither the Mexicans, after evacuating Mata- 
moras, had retreated. Taylor's force, after leaving a strong gar- 
rison behind, consisted of about 7,000 effective men. On the 19th 
of September, Monterey was reached. Gen. Ampudia was in 
command of the city with an army of 6,000, and some raw re- 
cruits, though up to the time of attack Gen. Taylor supposed it 
to consist of only about 3,000. The defences of the city, both 

•"Rondenac" to Nat. Intel. Niles Regis. 71—90 



528 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

natural and artificial, were very strong; and Gen. Ampudia for 3 
days made a vigorous resistance. On the 24tli lie sent a flag to 
the American commander requesting a cessation of firing. After 
negotiation, terms of capitulation were entered into by which the 
Mexicans evacuated and surrendered the city, and retired beyond 
a line formed by the pass of the Einconada, the city of Linares 
and San Fernando (le Presas, beyond which the forces of the 
United States were not to advance during a period of 8 weeks, or 
until the orders of their respective governments could be received. 
The war department disapproved the armistice, and under date 
of October 13th, directed Gen. Taylor to give notice that it should 
cease. By the middle of November, Saltillo A\as occupied by Gen. 
Worth's corps. 

The army of the centre under Gen. Wool, some 3,000 strong, 
began its march westward September 25th. Its declared object 
was to aid in establishing the independence of the northern States 
of Mexico. Its route lay over a great barren region of country, 
rendering its subsistence extraordinarily expensive. With it were 
the 1st and 2d Illinois regiments. The 3d and 4th regiments on 
the Rio Grande did not reach Comargo in time to participate in 
the movements of Taylor's army up the pleasant valley of the San 
Juan and the reduction of Monterey. On the Rio Grande a great 
dearth in army movements prevailed, rendering the volunteer offi- 
cers, eagerly seeking the ''bubble reputation at the cannon's 
mouth," extremely impatient. Gen. Shields was now, however, 
detached from his brigade, consisting of the 3d and 4th Illinois 
regiments, and ordered to join the moving column under 
Gen. Wool. In addition to his staff, Gen. Shields called upon 
Gen. Patterson, in command of all the forces at Comargo, for an 
escort, for which Le received from the 1st battalion of the 4th Illi- 
nois, 18 privates, a lieutenant, sergeant and corporal. They were 
mounted and had 6 pack mules. Their destination was the Presi- 
dio, where they arrived before the middle of October, the 1st and 
2d Illinois being now assigned to Shields' brigade. At the time (Oct. 
14th) Bissell's regiment, Avhich had not started with the advance, 
was a week behind. After the detachment of Gen. Shields from 
his brigade on the Rio Grande, the question of rank or seniority, '' 
which, as we have before noted, had its origin in Illinois, came up 
between Colonels Forman and Baker, of the 3d and 4tli regiments. 
The order to Gen. Patterson was to assign the senior colonel to 
the command of the brigade. The question, however, was left 
ox^en for the present, Baker taking the temporary comnumd. Gen. 
Shields remained in his new position but a short time, when he 
was again detacbed and returned to Matamoras. An entire change 
in the conduct of the war had been planned at Washington. This 
consisted in an attack on Tampico, (which invited deliverance 
from Mexican misrule), the invasion of Tamaulipas, and most im- 
portant, the descent on Vera Cruz. In November Gen. Scott was 
assigned with full power to the conduct of the expedition against 
Vera Cruz. Gen. Taylor had been instructed to organize a force 
in accordance with these plans, for which j)uri)ose Generals Twiggs, 
Quitman and Pillow were ordered from Monterey, and Gen. Pat- 
terson from Matamoras, to march by way of Victoria and concen- 
trate at Tampico. This was a hard and apjiarently needless march 
for Gen. Patterson's division, to which the 3d and 4th Illinois regi- 



MEXICAN WAK. 529 



nients belonged. Itsliould have gone by water, as was tirst iuteuded. 
The troox)S did not get finally started till in December. Gen. 
Shields in the meantime had preceded his brigade by water, and 
on December 19th he took formal command of Tampico. On the 
22d he issued his police regulations, which were of a rigid char- 
acter. Tamj)ico had been captured by Commodore Perry, but was 
garrisoned by land forces.* 

We propose first now to follow and sketch the career of the 1st 
and 2d Illinois regiments. They were in Gen. Wool's exi)edition, 
planned by the cabinet at Washington, to march to Chihuahua and 
to promote the revolt of the northern States of Mexico. The 
army, some 3,000 strong, broke camp near San Antonio, Texas, 
September 26, 1816. Two months later it crossed the Eio Grande 
at San Juan, better known as the Presidio, an old Mexican town, 
containing many Jesuit ruins, distant 182 miles. Thence their 
route lay over a level but now desolate plain, through the dilapi- 
dated town of Nava, in the midst of it, by the Grove of the Angels, 
to San Fernando de Eosas. This place was embosomed appa- 
rently in an artificial grove, surrounded on 3 sides by a fine stream 
of clear water, and stretching ofi' in every direction were fertile 
plains. It contained some 4,000 inhabitants, was neatly built up 
in the Mexican style of architecture, the material being stone and 
adobe. It was a perfect oasis in the long and weary marches of 
the army. The army thence traversed over spurs of mountains, 
through rugged defiles, to the valley of the Santarita, and emerged 
by a tortuous gorge upon the broad plain of San Jose, stretching 
30 miles away before them. Through it flowed two rivers, 4 or 5 
feet deep, with currents so swift that it was diflicult to hold a 
footing in fording. But with considerable delay, by the aid of 
ropes, all the forces, cannon, provision trains, &c., were i)assed 
over. On the 24th of October, the army entered the city of Santa 
Eosa. The inhabitants, numbering some 3,000, oft'ered no resis- 
tance, but furnished the supplies required. This place was situ- 
ated at the base of the Sierra Gorda, a range of mountains rising 
4,000 feet above the level of the i^laiu. Through these they now 
ascertained there were no defiles westward afibrding passage to other 
than nude trains. It was impossible to lead an army over them. It 
became apparent that the luartial ambition of the War Depart- 
ment exceeded its geographical knowledge, which had thus been 
obtained at a cost of many millions to the treasury of the nation. 
The only alternative was to push hundreds of miles out of the way 
south, to Monclova and Parras, and strike the great road from 
Saltillo to Chihuahua. This course was decided upon, and the 
army again took up its weary line of march over the most rug- 
ged, moTuitainous and sterile country it had yet passed, about 
the only vegetation met with being the Maguey^ celebrated as the 
plant from whicii an intoxicating liquor, called mescal, is distilled. 

After a short halt at the hacienda of Senor Miguel Blanco, they 
finally emerged into the valley of Monclova; crossing which, Gen. 
Wool encamped his column before the city of that name. This 
was in consequence of the formal protest of the prefect, the first 
show of opposition with which the army had met thus far on the 
route. Gen. Wool immediately took possession of the town, 
Kovember 3d, and displayed the American flag from the top of the 

* See letter from Secretary of War to G en. Tavlor, Oct. 22, 1846. 
34 



530 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

goyernor's palnce on the principal plaza. In the meantime, Gen. 
Taylor had ordered Gen. Wool, with whom he had communicated 
several times, not to advance beyond Monclova until the termina- 
tion of his armistice with Ampudia. Being now some 700 miles from 
Lavacca, Gen. Wool determined to establish a depot of snj^plies at 
Monolova, for which purpose he employed the time to collect large 
quantities of stores and provisions and in reconnoitering the coun- 
try, while he also x)erfected the discipline of the troops. After the 
delay of a month, the "Centre Dh-ision," excei^t 250 men left to 
guard the depot at Monclova, once more took up its line of march 
for Parras, distant 180 miles. The route was south, and led 
through a number of towns before reaching Parras, containing- 
about 6,000 inhabitants, located near the centre of the best grain 
region of Mexico, at the base of the Bolson de Malpami, 100 miles 
southwest from >-'altillo and 300 miles from San Luis de Potosi. 

This key to Chihuahua (distant 450 miles) was reached on the 
5th of December. By thistime the conquest of Chihuahua had been 
abandoned, and, as we have seen, other plans of prosecuting the war 
were in process of execution. Scott was in supreme command j 
the army of occupation had dispersed from Monterey, Taylor 
beings at Victoria, and Patterson ordered from Comargo to 
Tanipico. Santa Anna was collecting a large force at San Luis 
Potosi, threatening Monterey, the Rio Grande, and all the con- 
quests of Taylor's army. Gen. Wool therefore left Parras, after 
12 days' stay, to throw himself across the probable route of Santa 
Anna's advance, and on the 21st of December occupied Agua 
Nueva, his movement culminating just two mouths later in the 
severest and most important battle of the war, that of Buena 
Vista. Thus was completed a fatiguing march of near a 1,000 
miles, made in about 6 weeks time (deducting stoppages at Mon- 
clova and Parras), over a barren and desolate country, through 
which supplies were transported at an infinite expense, which 
proved utterly fruitless of results; and viewed at this day seems 
to have been planned without consideration, if not conceived in 
folly. Throughout the arduous and excessive marches the Illinois 
troops conducted themselves as veterans. 

Battle of Buena Vista. — It becoming more and more apparent 
that Santa Anna meditated a descent upon Saltillo, and probably 
the entire country over which the army of occupation had fought, 
Gen. Taylor, in January, 1847, left Victoria and established his 
headquarters at Monterey. Directly, further information of Santa 
Anna's purposes was discovered in the capture of C. M. Clay, 
and Majors Borland and Gains, at Encarnacion. Leaving 1,500 
men behind, Taylor now advanced with all his available force to 
Saltillo, distant 40 miles. After a short halt he proceeded forward 
to the cam]) of Gen. Wool at Agua Nueva, the whole effective 
forces (concentrated there now being swollen to about 5,000 men, 
all volunteers excej^t 500. 

Agua Nueva was situated at the southeast corner of the elevated 
and well watered valley of Encantada, where the great road from 
San Luis Potosi entered it. From thence north to Saltillo, a dis- 
tance of 20 miles, the road folloAved the pass of Buena Vista, 
which varied in width from 1^ to 4 miles, but at a point 6 miles 
south of Saltillo contracted to the " Narrows" — La Angosturea. 



MEXICAN WAR. 531 



Meandering tlirongli the Pass was a small stream of water, which 
had washed out at the Narrows a net Avork of gullies 20 feet deep, 
with precipitous hanks. On the east side of the stream the ground 
was elevated to the height of GO or 70 feet. Into this, at right 
angles from the Narrows, extended 3 gorges of unequal length, 
varying from perhaps a ^ to J mile, the southermost being the 
longest and deepest. Betweeu these were high ridges running 
hack into a plateau, which extended to the mountain further east 
about ^ a mile. Between the gullies and the table land thus cut 
into ridges there was a narrow stri^D of ground for the road, down 
on the lower level, leaving hardly room for two wagons to pass. 
Back of the plateau a deep ravine ran up to the mountain, and to 
the south of it there was also a ravine, broad, but not so difficult to 
cross. Precisely two months before the battle. Gen. Wool, on a 
trip to Saltillo, i)ointed out this defile as the spot of all others for 
a small army to fight a large one. And it was in fact a perfect 
Thermopylae. 

When, therefore, Santa Anna with his splendid army of 20,000, 
poured into the valley at Agua Nueva, early on the morning of 
the 22d of February, hoping to surprise Taylor, he found nothing 
but destroyed dwellings, burning stacks of grain, and a small 
mounted force, which gave him room without parley. Everything 
indicated a hurried departure, which his ready imagination con- 
strued into a i^recipitate retreat. Thus deluded, after a bare 
halt, he made pursuit, hoping to overtake the Americans and con- 
vert their retreat into a rout. He urged forward his famished 
and jaded forces 14 miles farther, without adequate rest or nour- 
ishment, and when he did overtake the Americans it was at these 
very "Narrows," where he could not recede without defeat or 
avoid battle without dishonor. 

Gen. Minon, who had hovered around Gen. Wool's forces for a 
week, had been dispatched with 2,000 cavalry by a circuitous 
route to the east, to threaten Saltillo and cut off their retreat ; 
and Gen, TJrrea, with 1,000 raucheros, had been sent by a circuit- 
ous route to the west of the road. 

The approach of the Mexicans through the Pass was made visi- 
ble at a considerable distance by the clouds of dust raised. Our 
troops had halted north of the Narrows, about 1^ miles, at the 
hamlet of Buena Vista. After refreshment on the morning of the 
22d, they were marched back and placed in i;)osition on the field 
by Gen. Wool. Gen. Taylor was away 6 miles, at Saltillo, dii-ect- 
iug the defences of the depot of supplies. Capt. Washington's 
battery of 8 pieces was placed to occupy the road at the Narrows, 
supported by the 1st Illinois regiment. Col. Hardin, posted on the 
high road to the east of it. Still farther to the east, on the main 
plateau, was the 2d Illinois regiment and one company of Texans 
(Capt. Conner's,) under Col. Bissell. Captains Morgan's and 
Prentiss' companies of the 1st Illinois, and Captains Hacker's 
and Wheeler's of the 2d Illinois, were despatched under command 
of Major Warren to Saltillo, to guard the train and depot against 
attack from Gen. Minon. To the left of the 2d Illinois, near the 
base of the mountain, were the mounted Kentucky and Arkansas 
regiments. Colonels Marshall and Yell ; and on the ridge to the 
rear of the Illinois troops, as a reserve, were placed the 2d and 
3d Indiana regiments (Gen. Lane's brigade), the Mississippi rifles, 



532 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the 1st and 2d diagoons, and the light batteries of Captains Bragg* 
and Sherman. The 2d Kentucky regiment (of foot), Col. McKee, 
occupied a ridge, around which the road divided to the rear of 
Washington's batter^'. 

As the Mexican cavalry came clattering down the road, the first 
intimation they received of an enemy in the way was to behold 
him thus stationed in battle array. Before they came within 
range their bugles sounded a halt, and they directly wheeled to 
the right behind a protecting elevation of ground. As those in 
the rear came up, the whole were formed into three columns, one 
to carry Washington's battery and the others to turn our left ; 
with still a large reserve. The enemy had 20 guns, among which 
there were three 24-pounders, three 16, five 12, besides a 7-inch 
howitzer. Before attacking, Santa Anna sent Gen. Taylor a flag 
of truce, assuring him he would be cut in pieces, and summoning 
him to surrender, which was promptly declined. It was now 3 
p. m. In the meantime, Gen. Wool had passed along the lines, 
addressing a few spirited words to our troops. He reminded his 
own column, mostly Illinoisans, of their protracted and imijatient 
marches, but that every one would now have an opportunity to 
win all the distinction desired. In honor of the day the watch- 
word was : "The memory of Washington." 

The enemy opened with a brisk cannonade upon our right and 
centre, but he fought mainly to get possession of the two 
slojjes of the mountain rising from the plateau on the east, to 
turn our flank. This Mas met by the Kentucky and Arkansas reg- 
iments (dismounted), and a portion of the Indiana brigade, armed 
with rifles. A movement was also made on the west, to meet 
which Bragg's batterj' was sent across the stream on an eminence 
opposite the Narrows, supported hj McKee's 2d Kentucky. A des- 
ultory fight was kept up till nightfall, but the two armies did not 
become fully engaged. Gen. Taylor, who had returned, departed 
for Saltillo to look after the safety of the stores and the jirotec- 
tion of his rear. 

During the dux Col. Hardin's 1st Illinois threw up a parapet 
along his whole front, cut a trench across the road to the brink 
of the gullies, in front of Washington's battery, and covered his 
position with an epaulement, leaving an opening for the advance 
of the battery choked with two wagons loaded with stones, their 
wheels locked that the enemy should not profit by it. The troops 
bivouacked on the field without fires, resting upon their arms. The 
night was cold and dreary, M-ith rain and gusts of wind, causing 
them to suffer with cold. Santa. Annaniade a spirited address to his 
troops, reciting in burning words the wrongs heaped ujjon their 
counti-y by the barbarians of the north, their vivas being distinctly 
heard by the Americans. The delicious strains of his own band 
till late in the night, playing the exquisite airs of the sunny 
south, mellowed by distance, were fully audible to our troojis. 
But at last silence fell over the hosts that were to contend unto 
death in that narrow pass on the morrow. 

The battle was resumed early on the morning of the 23d, and con- 
tinued without intermission until the shades of night precluded 
fuither effort. Never did armies contend more bravely, determin- 
edly, stubbornly and arduously than these on this long and toil- 
some day. It was again opened on the mountain slope to the east 



MEXICAN WAE. 533 



of tlie plateau by Gen. Aiiipudia's division of light infantry, heav- 
ily reinforced.. At 2 a. m. they chiuibered np the mountain to 
flauk our riflemen, who had kindled fires, and at dawn the engage- 
ment became general. Gen. Wool sent reinforcements to onr rifle- 
men, nnder the command of Major Trail, of the 2d Illinois, consist- 
ing of Captains Lemon's and Woodward's companies, and Captain 
Conner's Texans, and a 12-poand howitzer and two guns under 
Lieut. O'Brien, which did great execution uj^on the Mexicans, as 
they i^oured upon our men in the number of eight to one. 

About 8 a. m. the enemy made a strong demonstration against 
ou.r centre, doubtless for a feint. His force was soon dispersed by 
the well directed shots from Washington's battery ; but in the 
meantime he was collecting a large force in the broad ravine south 
of the main plateau, under Gen. Pacheco, while Gen. Lombardini's 
division maiched up the ridge (which hid the former) in plain view, 
supported by dragoons and lancers, the whole in their sjilendid 
uniforms presenting a beautiful sight. The object was to form a 
junction on the south side of the main plateau, and, that gained, 
overwhelm our forces. The plateau at the time was occupied by 
the 2d Illinois, Col. Bissell's, and the 2d Indiana, Col. Bowies', 
the latter of Gen. Lane's brigade. The object of the enemy was 
perceived: and to prevent the junction of his two divisions, Gen. 
Lane ordered forward Lieut. O'Brien M'ith three pieces of artillery 
and the 2d Indiana in support. They proceeded between 200 and 
300 yards in advance of all other troops, turning down the ridge 
up which Lombardini's division was advancing. Ko sooner had 
they formed than the Mexicans opened upon them, the odds 
against them being as ten to one. There, isolated, they stood and 
fought the cohorts of Santa Anna with terrible effect. But a Mex- 
ican battery, south-east of them and somewhat to their rear, began 
to play a murderous cross fire of grape and cannister upon them. 
The unequal contest was maintained not less than 25 minutes ; to 
get out of the range of this battery Gen. Lane now ordered his 
force still forward and to the right, 50 yards farther, which was 
jiromptly done ; but at this juncture, perhaps from a misappre- 
hension of Gen. Lane's order. Col. Bowles cried out to his regiment, 
"cease firing, and retreat", which was obeyed not only with alac- 
rity but precipitancy. It was sought to rally the men back to their 
position, but without effect. The battery, with the loss of one 
piece, got away. 

Pacheco's division having by this time made the ravine, joined 
Lombardini's, and the two poured upon the main plateau, so form- 
idable in numbers as to appear irresistible. At this time the 2d 
Illinois, Col. Bissell, six companies, a squadron of cavalry, and 
Lieutenants French and Thomas with their pieces of artillery, the 
whole having already advanced to a closer point, came handsomely 
into action and gallantly received the concentrated fire of the en- 
emy, which they returned with deliberate aim and terrible effect j 
every discharge of the artillery seeming to tear a bloody path 
through the heavy columns of the enemy. Says a writer: "The 
rapid musketrj- of the gallant troops of Illinois poured a storm of 
lead into their serried ranks, which literally strewed the ground 
with the dead and dying." But, notwithstanding his losses, the 
enemy steadily advanced, throwing a large body l>etween the left 
of the Illinoisans and Sherman's battery, which had come up, so 



534 HISTOllY OF ILLINOIS. 

that onr gallant regiment received a fire from tliree sides, front, 
left flank and left rear; l)ut tliey maintained their position for a 
time with unflinching firinfiess against that immense host — to have 
charged which would have been speedy and complete destruction. 
At length, perceiving the danger of being entirely surrounded, it 
was determined to fall back to a ravine. Col. Bissell, with the cool- 
ness as if on ordinary drill, ordered the signal "cease firing" to be 
made; he then, with the same deliberation, gave the command, 
■" Face to the rear ! Battalion, about face ; forward march !" — which 
■was executed by the lllinoisans with the regularity of veterans to 
a point beyond the peril of being outflanked. Again, in obedience 
to command, these intrepid and subordinate men halted, faced 
about, and, under a murderous tempest of bullets from the foe, re- 
sumed with promptness and x^recision their well-directed fire on 
his left, as he essayed to cross the plateau and gain their rear. The . 
conduct of no trooj^s anj'where could have been more admirable. 
Will it add any encomium to state that they had never till that day 
been under fire? — that in the space of less than half an hour they 
had seen drop by their sides their fellows to the number of 80— 
officers and men 1 How different from the four companies of the 
Arkansas regiment, which (dismounted) were ordered to the i)la- 
teau, but gave way and dispersed after delivering their first fire ! 

There now came to the aid of our struggling and shattered regi- 
ment four companies from the 1st Illinois under the gallant Hardin 
himself, the 2d Kentucky, Col. McKee, and Capt. Bragg, with two 
pieces of artillery. Here on the plateau now the battle long in even 
balance hung. In the meantime the enemy's left, 4,000 strong, 
was repulsed by the iron tempest from Washington's battery. But 
behind his serried ranks on the plateau, next to the base of the 
mountain, his cavalry swept past, driving the Kentucky and Ar- 
kansas mounted volunteers back. Seeingthis, our riflemen aban- 
doned their position with great loss under the pursuit of Ampu- 
dia's light infantry, ^\ho poured down in great masses on a sec- 
tion of the plain half a mile north of the plateau, completely turn- 
ing our left. With the exception of Col. Hardin's parapet, and 
Washington's battery at the narrows, both held and supported by 
a portion of his regiment, our forces had now been driven from 
every first position on the field, and our loss was immense. Gen. 
Wool had conducted the brilliant achievements of our army up to 
this time ; but the demand for reinforcements was now imperative. 
It was at this critical i>eriod that Gen. Taylor arrived from Saltillo, 
accompanied by the ^Mississippi Eifles, Col. Jefferson Davis, a 
squadron of dragooiis, Lieut. Col. May, two companies of infantry, 
Captains Pike and Preston, and a piece of artillery. This force, 
tried in the storming of Monterey, threw themselves with intrepid 
gallantry against Ampudia's hordes as they came pouring down 
the plain flushed with victory. From their unerring rifles men 
dropped as grass before the scythe. The tide of victory was 
checked ; and the 3d Indiana coming to their support, the Mexi- 
cans were driven beyond range. 

In the meantime Santa Anna had, with infinite labor, brought 
his battalion de San Patricio (deserted Irish soldiers from our 
army) forward with a battery of 18 and 24-pounders, enfilading 
with grape and cannister the whole plateau. But by a vigorous 
sortie his heavy column was broken near its centre, a portion fly- 



MEXICAN WAR. 535 



iiig- north to\Yards Ampudia; the other, with Santa Anna in their 
midst, (his horse shot,) pressing southward, and Hardin, Bis- 
sell and McKee, with their forces, dasijiug in pursuit to a point 
within close musket range, where they j)oured 'a rapid and most 
destructive fire into liis ranks till he gained the cover of the ra- 
vine. His battery, however, held its position. Directly after, Gen. 
Taylor ordered Bragg's and Sherman's batteries to another part of 
the field, leaving but 4 pieces on the plateau. The 1st and 2d Illi- 
nois and the 2d Kentuckj- regiments, together with 4 pieces of ar- 
tillery, were now stationed near the heads of the first and second 
gorges, holding in check the enemy's 1st and 2d attacking columns 
filling the ravine next south of the plateau. For a long time the 
contest \vas maintained without decided advantage to either side 
on the platean, the main theatre of the battle. 

We have not space to follow in detail all the gallant fighting 
around on our left. Suffice it to say that the pieces of Bragg, 
Sherman, Eeynolds, and Kilburn, the Mississippi Eifles, the 3d 
Indiana and a fragment of the 2d, and Major Trail with two com- 
panies of the 2d Illinois, and Capt. Conner's Texans, the 1st and 
2d dragoons, and Colonels Marshall's and Yell's mounted Ken- 
tucky and Arkansas volunteers, and others, with signal success, 
Tjeat back the enemy, cavalry and infantry from the hacienda de 
Buena Yista, around on our left under the base of the mountain. 

But now vve have to relate the saddest, and for Illinois the most 
mournful event of that battle-fatigued day. As the enemy on our 
left was moving in retreat along the head of the plateau, our 
artillery was advanced well within range, and opened a heavy fire 
upon him, while 

" Colonels Hai'din, Bissell and McKee, with their Illinois and Ken- 
tucky troops, dashed gallantly forward in hot pursuit. A powerful re- 
serve of the Mexican army was just then emerging from the ravine, 
where it had been organized, and advanced on the plateau opposite the 
head of the southerniost gorge. Those who were giving way rallied 
quickly upon it ; when the whole force, thus increased to over 12,000 
men, came forward in a perfect blaze of tire. It was a single column, 
composed of the best soldiers of the Republic, having for its advanced 
battalions the veteran regiments. The Kentucky and Illinois troops 
were soon obliged to give ground before it and seek shelter of the 2d 
gorge. [The enemy pressed on, and] arriving opjDosite the liead of the 
2d gorge, one-half of the column suddenly enveloped it, while the other 
half pressed on across the plateau, having for the moment nothing to 
resist them but the 3 guns in their front. The portion that was imme- 
diately opposed to the Kentucky and Illinois troops, ran down along 
each side of the gorge in which they had sought shelter, and also cir- 
cled around its head, leaving no possible way of escape for them except 
by its mouth, which opened upon the road. Its sides [which] were 
steep — at least an angle of 45 degrees — were covered with loose pebbles 
and stones, and went to a point at the bottom. Down there were our 
poor fellows, nearly 8 regiments of tliem [1st and 2d Illinois and 2d 
Kentucky,] with butlittle opj^ortunity to load or tire a gun, being hardly 
able to keep their feet. Above the whole edge of the gorge, all the way 
around, was darkened by the seried masses of the enemy, and was brist- 
ling with muskets directed upon the crowd beneath. It was no time to 
pause ; those who were not immediately shot down, rushed on toward 
the road, their numbers growing less and less as they went ; Kentuckians 
and Illiruoisans, officers and men, all mixed up in confusion, and all 
pressing on over the loose pebbles and rolliug stones of those shelving, 
precipitous banks, and having lines and lines of the enemy firing 
down from each side and rear, as they went. Just then, the enemy's 
cavalry, which had gone to the left of the reserve, had come over the 



536 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

spur that divides tlie mouth of the 2d gorge from that of the 3d, and 
were now closiug up the only door througli which there was the least 
shadow of a cliance for tlieir lives. Many of those ahead endeavored to- 
force their way out; but few succeeded; the lancers were fully 6 to 1, 
and their long weapons were already reeking with blood. It was at this 
time that those who were still back in that dreadful gorge heard, above 
the din of the musketry and the shouts of the enemy around them, the 
roar of Washington's Battery. No music could have been more grate- 
ful to their ears. A moment only, and the whole opening, where the lan- 
cers were busy, rang with the repeated explosions of spherical-case shot. 
They gave way. The gate, as it were, was clear, and out upon the road 
a stream of our poor fellows issued. They ran, panting down towards 
the battery and directly under the flight of iron then passing over their 
heads into the retreating cavalry. Hardin, McKee, Clay, Willis, Za- 
briskie, Houghton — but why go on ? It would be a sad task indeed to 
name over all who fell during this 20 minutes' slaughter. The whole 
gorge, from the plateau to its mouth, was strewed with ourdead; all dead; 
no wounded there, not a man ; for the infantry had rushed down the- 
sides and completed the work with the bayonet, "-f 

On the plateau our artillery did its utmost to hold at bay the 
hordes of Mexicans while reinforcements pressed forward to this- 
the center of conflict. The enemj^ fought with a perfect aban- 
don of life. The heavy battery steadily held its ground. The 
remnants of the 2d and 1st Illinois regiments, after issuing from 
the fatal gorge, were reformed and again brought into action, the 
former under the modest but intrepid Bissell, and the latter, after 
the fall of the noble Hardin, under the command of Lieutenant 
Colonel W^eatherford. The 2d regiment took a position to the 
right of our batteries, and the 1st somewhat toward the left of 
them. The enemy also brought reinforcements to the field. A 
brisk artillery duel was now steadily maintained ; but gradually^ 
with the setting of the orb of day, the cannonade and rattle of 
small arms slackened, and when night spread her pall over the 
field of carnage, it ceased altogether, and the gloom of silence 
succeeded. Both armies, after the long day's struggle, occupied 
much the same position as in the morning ; the enemy, with his 
overwhelming numbers, having gained but little ground. Early 
on the following morning the glad tidings spread rapidly among- 
our gallant troops that he had, under the cover of darkness, re- 
treated ; and victory once more perched upon the banners of the 
Americans. 

Our total loss was 746— killed, 264 ; that of the enemy, 2,500. 
The loss of the 1st Illinois regiment was 45 — killed, 29 ; of the 2dy 
131 — killed, 02. This battle, as it was the heaviest and most stub- 
born, proved also to be the turning point of the war — like that of 
Saratoga in the Avar of the revolution. It ended the campaign in 
that part of Mexico. 

In the movement against Vera Cruz, the 3d and 4th Illinois 
regiments. Colonels Forman and Baker, together with a New 
York regiment, Col. Burnett, constituted the brigade of General 
Shields. Alter reconnoitering the city by Gen. Scott, the spot 
selected for the landing place of the army was the main shore to 

*Colton's History of the Battle of Buena Vista; to which, with Gen. Taylor's official 
report, we are largely indebted for our account of this battle. 

■tCol. Bissell in a speech subsequently made at Jacksonville (?), said that neither 
Hardin nor any of the three Colonels had orders for their last furiovis charge made 
upon the retreatinff army across the plateau, (Taylor being- away); that it arose by a 
species of common consent between them, tor as Hardiu started, he (Bissell) followed, 
and McKee, with his Kentuckians, fell in in support of the movement. He stated 
further that it was tlitit terrible charg-e which «!ived the fortunes of the day. 



MEXICAN WAR. 537 



the west of tlie Island of Saciificios, and south of the city. The 
men were Umded March 9, 1847, bj' surf-boats, companies A, F 
and G of tbe 4th Illinois, under tbe immediate command of Lieut. 
Col, John Moore, being among tbe very first to participate in that 
admirably executed achievement in which not a man was lost. 
On landing, the troops of Shields' and Pillow's brigades were as- 
signed to the advance, and they cleared hill after hill of the Mexi- 
cans, wiio, with a feeble effort at resistance, took refuge in the 
chaparral. Tbe army, after experiencing very warm weather, 
alternated with a " norther" — a cold and blinding sand storm — 
and sleeping on sand banks at night, gradually gained in its ap- 
proaches upon the city, completing the investment in about 3 
days' time. 

Kearly two weeks later, after due summons and refusal to sur- 
render, our artillery opened its terrible fire of shot and shell upon 
the city and the far-famed castle of San Juan de' Ulloa, reputed 
to be the strongest fortress on the continent. After a stubborn 
resistance to the dreadful effects of our mortars, howitzers and 
Paixhau guns in the battery on shore, at a distance of 800 yards, 
andthebroadsidesof our ships of war for 5 days, the city and castle 
both, unable to cope with the advance in science which Americaii 
artillery' had made, surrendered. Our loss in men was very tri- 
fling. During tbe bombardment there were thrown into the 
walled city 3,000 ten inch shells of 90 j)ounds each, 200 howitzer 
shells, 1,000 Paixban shot and 2,500 round shot — a half million 
weight of metal. The wreck of the city and its mourning attested 
both the power and the sadness of war. 

On the 8th of Ai^rilthe army began its forward movement on the 
Jalapa road. Four days later it reached the Plan del Eio at the Pass 
of Cerro Gordo. Here a deep river breaks through the mountain, 
whose sides tower aloft 1,000 feet. Winding along through this 
gorge, on the north side of the river, -ran the national road, the 
only highway by which our army could gain the interior. On 
these ramjjarts of nature, Santa Anna, by a series of rapid 
marches, after his defeat atBueua Vista, had concentrated an army 
of 15,000 men, and had further fortified the position by entrench- 
ments and the erection of batteries, which, one above another, com- 
manded a sweej) of the road and frowned grimly upon our army 
below. It was concluded, after a thorough reconnoissance byGen. 
Scott himself, that the position was impregnable. The plan was 
next formed of cutting a new road through the chaparral to the 
north of and winding around the base of the mountain, thence 
to ascend and unite with the national road in the rear of the 
enemy's position. The plan was feasible only with great toil and 
labor, but our brave men were equal to the task. So well was 
the enemy's attention employed by movements in his front, that 
for 3 days he was not apprised of this work, when he assailed the 
laborers with grape and musketry. Twiggs' division was there- 
upon advanced, along the new route, which was nearly completed, 
and carried the eminence occupied by the enemy and protected 
the workmg parties. During the darkness of the night following, 
by almost superhuman exertion, a 24-])Ounder battery was silently 
lifted hundreds of feet to the top of this height. This was done 
by Gen. Shields' brigade, the 3d and 4th Illinois and tbe ISTew York 
regiment. It was a herculean labor gallantly performed. 



538 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Every til iug being ready, in accordance with the order of battle, 
Twiggs' division, by a somewhat farther route, was to turn and 
assail the position of the enemy directly in his rear; still beyond, 
but in supporting distance of him, were ordered the volunteer 
regiments under Gen. Shields, the 3d and ith Illinois and the 
New York, which were to carry a battery of the enemy on. 
his extreme left (Santa Anna's), gain the national roa<l and cnt off 
his retreat by that route; Pillow's brigade Avas to attack his river 
batteries in front. At a given signal the general attack on the 
enemy's line was to begin. Pillow's assault was repulsed ; 
Twiggs' men advanced from the rear with a xilunging fire iu their 
front and a rolling one on either Hank, climbed the rocky ascent, 
and under the lead of Col. Harney, stormed the enemy's center, 
carried the fortifications, routed his main body, and turned his 
guns upon the fugitives as they fled, while Shields' brigade as- 
saulted and carried the enemy's battery on the extreme left, dis- 
persed its sui)porting infantry, gained the Jalapa road, cut off 
his retreat in that direction and prevented his rallying beyond. 
In the storming of this battery, the heroic Shields received a 
grape shot through his lungs. He fell apparently juortally 
wounded ; his obituary was published in many newspapers 
throughout the country; he recovered, however, and lived many 
years after. The command of his brigade devolved upon Colonel 
E. D. Baker, of the 4th Illinois, from whose official report we 
extract the following : 

"At daylight on the morning of the 18th the brigade was underarms, 
and n:»oved at an early hour to turn the Cerro Gordo and attack tlie ex- 
treme left of the enemy's position, on the Jalapa road. This was effected 
over very difficult ground, through thick chaparral, and under a gall- 
ing fire of the enemy's guns on the heights. Upon approaching the 
main road the enemy was found upon and near it, with a field battei'y of 
six guns, supportecl by a large force of infantry and cavalry. Whilst 
forming for the attack, and under a heavy fire from the enemy's 
guns. Brig. Gen. Shields, who had gallantly led his command, fell, 
severely, if not mortally, wounded. I then directed a company 
to deploy as skirmishers on the right fiank, and ordered a charge 
upon the enemy's line, which was accomplished with spirit and success 
by those companies which were enabled by the nature of the ground to 
make the advance. They were promptly and gallantly supported by the 
remainder of the 4th regiment Illinois volunteers, under Major Harris. 
The 3d regiment under Col. Foimau, and the New York regiment, under 
Col. Burnett, being ordered by me to move to the right and left uj^on the 
enemy, the rout became complete at that point, and the enemy fled in 
great confusion, leaving his guns and baggage, a large amount of specie, 
provisions and camp equipage in our hands. Portions of the 3d and 
4th Illinois volunteers and several comi^auies of the New York regi- 
ment, all under the immediate command of Gen. Twiggs, pursued the 
enemy on the Jalapa road as far asEncerro, when they were passed by 
the dragoons and halted for the night."* 

Col. Baker further expressed his obhgations to Cols. Forman 
and Burnett, and to Major Harris for the coolness, promptitude 
iind gallantry with which they carried into execution the several 
dispositions of their commands ; also to his regimental staff (the 
4th), Capt. Post, A. C. S., and Adjutant Fondey ; and to the staff" 
of the brigade, Lieuts. E. P. Hammond, 3d artillery A. A. A., and 

*Col. Formau says that " Baker's report in the main is correct, except that the regi- 
ments fought under their own commanders— we knew what we had to do and did it." 



MEXICAN WAR. 539 



G. T. M. Davis, A. D. C, for their assistance and their proiupt- 
uess iu the discharge of their duties. 

His loss ^Yas: 4th regiment, 6 ofificers, (2 being killed — Lieuts. 
Murphy and Cowordin), and 42 non-commissioned officers and pri- 
vates ; 3d, 1 officer and 15 non-commissioned officers and privates ; 
the IsTew York regiment, 1 officer and 5 privates — total of 70 in 
the brigade. The loss of our army was 417 — killed, 04, and 
wounded, 353. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded is not 
known ; but we took 3,000 prisoners, 5,000 stands of arms and 43 
pieces of artillery. 

Gen. Twiggs iu his report speaks iu glowing and enthusiastic 
terms of the conduct of the Illinois regiments, both in the storming 
of Santa Anna's battery and in the pursuit of the tiyiug enemy, 
under his immediate command. The battle of Cerro Gordo, as it 
was one of unsurpassed difficulty, proved also one of the most bril- 
liant and important in the war. Its results were to lay open the 
road to the capital, and place the empire of Mexico under the feet 
of the conqueror. The gallant troops of Illinois shared to no in- 
considerable extent in the dangers, toils and hardships, as their 
large ratio of losses attests ; and their heroic deeds have reflected 
im])erishable honor and glory upon oiu" State. 

The battle of Cerro Gordo was the last in the war with Mexico 
in which any Illinois troops participated. At Jalapa, the year's 
time for which they had been enlisted having nearly expired, and 
it being ascertained that the 3d and 4th regiments would not re- 
enlist. Gen. Scott disbanded them ; the campaign on the Eio 
Grande having been virtually ended by the battle of Buena Vista, 
the ist and 2d regiments were disbanded at Comargo, and all our 
troops of the first four Illinois regiments returned home about the 
same time, Lieut. Col. Moore with companies B, G and K, of the 4th, 
reaching Springfield June 4th, and 300 men of the 1st arriving at 
St. Louis May 31st, 1847. The latter brought home the remains 
of their beloved colonel, Hardin ; and the people of Morgan county 
invited the entire regiment to accompany them to their final rest- 
ing place at Jacksonville. The funeral (Jxily 12th.) was one of 
the largest and most imposing ever hehl in the State.* 

The soldiers generally on their return home were received with 
marks of affection, and tendered, as they well deserved, the enthu- 
siastic welcomes of the people. Public dinners, complimentary 
toasts, flattering addresses and fulsome speeches were profusely 
showered upon them; the newspaper press vied with the orators of 
the period in praises of the heroic deeds of our volunteer soldier\ , 
while, as aspirants for office, all mere civilians had to stand aside 
and leave the track for the proud patrons of Mars, or be crushed 
iu the result. Mere ci\'il accomi)lishments or services will ever as 
nothing be in the average popular mind compared with the deeds 
heralded by the pomp and circumstance of glorious war. The 
Mexican war was such a wonderful lever to office and political pre- 
ferment that some envious Whigs, whose party had oi>posed it, 
took early occasion, it was said, to declare themselves in favor of 
the next war, whatever it might be for ! 

*Col. Forman brought home and presented to the State a 6-pound gun, now in the 
arsenal at Springfield, as a trophy from the Mexican battery in the battle of Cerro 
Gordo,stationed near Santa Anna's headquarters, which was taken by the Illinois troops 
shortly alter the fall of Gen. Shields. 



540 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

More Volunteers. — In the meantime, tlie government liaviug de- 
termined to raise 6,000 more troops, a call upon Illinois had been 
made for ten additional companies of infantry, or one regiment 
more, and one company of cavalry, by the secretary of war, W. 
L. Marcy, under date of April 19th, 1847. The enlistments were 
to be during the war; the other terms were the same as under 
previous calls ; Alton was again designated as the place of rendez- 
vous. Under date of April 27th, the commander-in-chief (Gov. 
French), by M. K. Anderson, adjutant general of the Illinois militia, 
issued his general orders calling for volunteers. In less than two 
weeks had not only the 11 companies reported and been accepted, 
but 8 more were tendered, which had to be rejected. Emulation 
never ran higher ; expresses hurried to Springfield with the utmost 
dispatch to secure places on the list before it should be tilled. The 
disappointment to those who were too late was most bitter. 

The following were the accepted companies, which, under date 
of May 10th, were ordered to march to the i)lace of rendezvous : 

Company A, Clinton county, Thomas Bond, captain. 
Company B, Williamson county, J. M. Cunningham, captain. 
Company C, Marion county, Vantrump Turner, captain. 
Company D, Brown county, John C. Moses, captain. 
Company E, St. Clair county, Q. W. Hook, captain. 
Company F, Cook county, Thos. B. Kinney, captain. 
Company G, LaSalle county, Henry J. Reed, captain. 
Company H. Williamson county, James Hampton, captain. 
Company I, Shelby county, R. Madison, captain. 
Company K, Pike county, W. Kinman, captain. 

The cavalry comi)any was from Schuyler county, Adams Dun- 
lap being the captain. 

The oth Regiment of Illinois volunteers was organized of the 
foregoing companies, at Alton, June 8th, 1847. E. W. B. Newby 
of Brown county, was elected colonel; Henderson Boyakin, of 
Marion, lieutenant-colonel; and J. B. Donaldson, of Pike, major, 
excellent selections. The regiment took its departure by steam- 
boat 6 days later for Fort Leavenworth. Its destination was 
Santa Fe, whither it marched across the plains from Fort Leav- 
enworth in the hottest part of the summer, the consequence being 
an unusual amount of sickness, traceable in great part to this ex- 
haustive march. While the days were extremely warm, the nights 
were frequently very cold ; the troops greatly fatigued, would lie 
down of nights with their blood heated beyond a health}- stand- 
ard ; ere morning they would be chilled by the transition of the 
atmosphere; besides several times on the journey they were o^■er- 
taken by severe storms, against which there was no shelter; thus 
the seeds of disease were sown and its virulence intensified. The 
measles had already appeared among them at Fort Leavenworth. 
By the first of December the loss of the battalion stationed at 
Santa Fe was reported at 68, of which 42 were by death. 

In October, at Santa Fe, the regiment was divided into two bat- 
talions, the first, together with a battalion from a Missouri regi- 
ment, under Col. jS'ewby, the senior officer, being ordered to move 
in an expedition south to El Paso. The 2d battalion, under Lieut. 
Col. Boyakin, remained as a garrison at Santa Fe. The regiment 
saw no service in conflict with the enemy, the war by that time 
being virtually over. We will note, however, that these Illinois- 



MEXICAN WAR. 541 



aus were the iirst to organize a lodge of the Masouic order at the 
remote post of Sauta Fe. 

6th Eegiment of Illinois volunteers. We have noted the fact 
that when in April a new call upon Illinois for ten companies of 
infantry and one of cavalry was made, that in less than two weeks 
time 10 offered, and still more continued to ofler, not knowing that 
the 5th regiment was full. Much disappointment was felt at their 
rejection ; but their hope was speedily revived. Under date of 
May 20th, the secretary of war wrote to Gov, French : "Yielding 
to the earnest solicitations of the patriotic citizens of your State, 
the President has instructed me to request that your excellency 
will cause to be raised and rendezvoused at Alton another regi- 
ment of volunteer infantry." The enlistments were to be for the 
same period and have the same organization as those of the 5th 
regiment, but its destination was Vera Cruz. 

The organization of the surplus companies had been held intact 
until the President's pleasure in the premises could be ascertained 
Accordingly, when the requisition came to hand, Gov. French, on 
the very same day (May 29), notified the expectant companies of 
their acceptance; ordered them to the i)lace of rendezvous to be 
mustered in, and the war department, two days later, that the 
companies were all organized and ready to march. 

The following are the companies of the 6th regiment : 

Company A, of Madison county, Franklin Niles, captain. 
Company B, Madison county, Edward W. Dill, caj^tain. 
Company C, Fayette county, Harvey Lee, jr., captain. 
Company D, Greene county, John Bristow, captain. 
Company E, Macoupin county, Burrell Tetrick, captain. 
Company F, Cook county, James R. Hugunin, captain. 
Company G, Boone county, William Shepherd, captain. 
Company H, Will and Iroquois counties, G. Jenkins, captain. 
Company I, Jefferson county, James Bowman, captain. 
Company K, Jo Daviess county, C. L. W^ right, captain. 

Company A, Captain Niles, was ordered into the 5th regiment, 
and Capt. Collins' company from Jo Daviess, took its place in the 
6th.* 

For colonel of the 6th regiment, Capt. Collins, of Jo Daviess, was 
elected, receiving 472 votes, to Capt. VVright of the same county 334; 
lieutenant-colonel, Capt. Hicks of Jefferson, received 448, to Lieut. 
Omlveny of Monroe, 379 ; for major, Lieut. Livington, of Jeffer- 
son, received 340; Capt. Shepherd, of Boone, 220; Capt. Lee, of 
Fayette, 142, and H. Hunter, 102. Lieut. Fitch, of Greene, was 
appointed adjutant, W. G. Taylor quartermaster, and J. B. Hines 
sergeant-major. At New Orleans the 6th regiment was divided, 
the first battalion, companies A, D, E, F, H, being sent to Vera 
Cruz under Col. Collins, and the 2d in command of Lieut. Col. 
Hicks, to Tampico. The division caused ilo little dissatisfaction 
among the men. The 2d battalion saw no service other than 
garrison duty. The 1st arrived at Vera Cruz, August 31st, and 
after remaining in camp Bergara awhile, was ordered out on the 
national road and stationed at the San Juan Bridge. Here a skir- 
mish with guerrillas was had, in which one private was killed and 

* Note.— Captains David C. Berry, James Burns, Ed E. Harney and John Ewing 
also served in this resrirnent. The "Roster in the Adjiitant-Generars OfBce, in griving^ 
the repiments which served in the Mexican War is very imperfect and inaccurate. It 
gives the 5th regiment as the 1st. We have collated our facts from the press of the 
period. 



542 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 

two wouiuled. Col. Collius was very sick iieaily all the time; iu- 
cleecl, more tliau the usual amount of sickness attended the whole 
regiment. lieports were current in the press that one-fifth of its 
force, in five months after leaving camp at Alton, found a grave 
in Mexico, not from the foe, but by sickness. The 1st battalion 
lost 7 out of its 2.0 officers ; and the battalion at Tampico, while 
it suffered as greatly in men, lost but one officer. 

Under date of June 30, 1847, the Hon. E. W. Young, commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office at Washington, wrote that the 
Secretary of War consented to accept two more companies of cav- 
alry from Illinois, which had been raised, — Capt. William Pren- 
tice's, to rendezvous as Gov. French directs, and Capt. W. B. 
Stapp's, of Warren county, to rendezvous at Quincy, on horse- 
back, and proceed thence to St. Louis by steamboat.* 

The destination of these cavalry companies was Vera Crnz, to 
operate against the enemy's guerrilla parties, and keep oiyen the 
roads from the gulf to the City of Mexico. Captain Lawler, of 
Shawneetown, also raised a cavalry company ; and to show the 
troublesomeness of this arm of the service, we will state that, 
owing to delays on the river — near 2 weeks being occupied in going 
to Baton Rouge — he was compelled at that point to land, rest 
and recruit his exhausted horses. 

After his return, Col. E. D. Baker, in pursuance of his request, 
was authorized to raise a battalion of five companies from the 
veteran volunteers, recently returned. The battalion was not 
raised ; the fall of the City of Mexico speedily followed, virtually 
ending the war, although the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was not 
made "till February 2, 1848. 

* See Illinois State Register, July 8, 1847. Josiah Little also raised a cavalry company 
He was commissioned Sept. 24, 1847. 



Chapter XLIV. 

COITSTITUTIONAL CO]S"VENTION OF 1847, AND SOME- 
THING OF THE OEGANIC LAW FEAMED BY IT. 



After the violent political sti-nggle of 1824 concerniDgr the admis- 
sion of slavery into the State, the qnestion of calling a convention 
to revise or ameinl the first constitution was not again revived for 
a ]>eriod of 18 years. At this time such wag the hight of partisan 
feeling aroused against the supreme court in deciding tlie McCler- 
nand-Field case against the wishes of the dominant party, and 
the unnecessary apprehension that the Galena alien case would 
also be decided against the wishes and interests of the democracy, 
involving a possible loss of its political supremacy in the State, 
that the legislature, at its session of 1840-1, passed a resolution 
recommending to the electors at the general election of 1842 to 
vote for or against the calling of a constitutional convention. But 
in the meantime the judiciary was reorganized by the addition of 
five judges to the supreme court, all democrats, to overbalance 
the whig judges. The democracy having by this act secured their 
political supremacy in everj^ branch of the government, had no 
further use for a convention to remodel the constitution, and at 
the August election the resolution failed to carry, though the whig- 
party, against whom it was originally aimed, ardently supported 
the call. 

Still the insufficient limitations of the old constitution became 
more apparent from year to year, and in 1845 the legislature again 
passed a resolution recommending to the electors to vote for or 
against a constitutional convention at the ensuing general election 
of August, 1846. The democratic press this time urged the people 
to vote for the call of the convention, publishing the resolution to 
be voted for as a standing advertisement and part of the regular 
democratic ticket ', but the whig press, if not opposed to the call, 
deeming, perhaps, that its espousal of the question might tend to 
defeat it, was totally silent upon the subject, and did not once 
direct the attention of the people to the importance of the measure. 
Being thus a democratic measure, the call prevailed. 

In the passage of the act to provide for the meeting of the con- 
vention, the main question over which there was any considerable 
contest, was whether it should consist of as many members of the 
then general assembly, apportioned upon the jiopulation of 1840 
(476,183), or whether the number should correspond to the new 
apportionment act of that session, based upon the census of 1845 
(662,125). The contest was between the north and south parts of 
the State; theformer, which had been benefited most by the immi- 

543 



544 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

gration of tlie preceding years, was iu favor of a representation 
based ui)on the census of 1845. The constitution reads: "The 
general assembly shall, at the next session, call a convention to 
consist of as many members as there maybe in the general assem- 
bly." Mr. Dougherty, since lieutenant governor, introduced a bill 
fixing the number of delegates to correspond with the number of 
members of the then two houses, and Mr. N. B. Judd, of Cook, of- 
fered a substitute based upon the census of 1845, which finally pre- 
vailed and became a law. 

A special election of delegates was fixed for the 3d Monday of 
April, 1847, who were to meet in convention at Springfield on the 
first Monday of June following. During the canvass the whig 
press in the strong democratic districts argued plausibly and trulj^ 
that for a duty so important as the framing of a new organic law 
for the State, which was to affect not only the present but per- 
haps future generations, when present political questions might 
be classed with the things that were, the ablest talent of the State 
should be called upon, irrespective of partj' predilections ; but at 
the same time good care was taken by them to bring out and sup- 
port none but their own partisans. The democratic press, having 
the utmost faith in the permanency and well-being of democratic 
principles, came squarely out and urged its party to rally as one 
man and secure such a majority in the convention as would insure 
the infusion of pure democratic principles into the instrument 
which was to be the guide for future legislation ; to attain which 
care should be taken to select candidates whose democracy was 
unimpeachable. The election resulted in a return of a greater pro- 
portion of whig delegates than was to be expected from the rela- 
tive strength of the two parties, although the democracy had a 
considerable majority. 

The democracy required the convention, as paramount to all 
other considerations, 1st, to abolish all life offices or long tenures, 
and to provide for an elective judiciary, from the supreme court 
down; 2d, to prohibit the legislature from ever again creating a 
bank — all the financial evils which had ever afiiicted the people 
of Illinois, it was charged, had proceeded from tlie oppressions of 
banks ; 3d, to limit the power of the legislature to borrow money, 
which had been another great source of calamity to the i>eople. 
This power should, be so limited as to prevent the legislature from 
pledging the credit and faith of the State in all cases except, per- 
hai)s, in great emergencies, as of threatened danger from invasion, 
and then only to defray the expenses of the State government. If 
such a provision had been embodied in the constitution of 1818 the 
financial embarrassments growing out of the reckless internal im- 
provement system of the State would not have oppressed the peo- 
ple. It required, 4th, a veto power to the governor equal to that 
of the jnesident of the United States. The veto power, notwith- 
standing the terrible ordeal of its denunciation, had been a favo- 
rite democratic measure ever since Jackson had saved the coun- 
try, as itAvas supposed, by refusing his assent to the re-charter of 
the TJ. S. Bank. Of course the democracy were opposed to any 
change in the qualifications of an alien elector. 

The whigs wanted, 1st, a longer residence than 6 months before 
any man should be entitled to exercise the elective franchise, and 
that no alien should be entitled to that sacred privilege of an. 



CONSTITUTION OF 1848. 545 

American citizen until he was first naturalized ; 2(1, to take from 
the legislature the power of electing or appointing officers for the 
people, particularly as it regarded tlie members of that bodj', and 
thereby prevent that bargaining and corruption which grew up in 
the general assembly, and to prevent that body from exercising 
nearly all the powers of governnjent, executive as well as legisla- 
tive; 3d, to limit the number of representatives in the general 
assembly, and to tix the age at Avhich men should be eligible to 
seats in that body, and thus i)revent the many mischiefs growing 
out of legislation by young men whose minds were imnniture; 4th, 
to tix the ages at which men might hold tlie office of judge, and at 
which judges should retire from the bench ; 5th, to ]u-event a ma- 
jority of the two-tliirds which constituted a quorum in the legisla- 
ture from finally passing a bill. 

There were also many provisions mooted by the press and people, 
upon which there was no i)olitical or party division. The most 
important and generally demanded were retrenchment and 
economy ; to disconnect the supreme judges from legislative duty 
as a council of revision ; to abolish eligibility to several offices 
at the same time; to limit the power of the legislature in con- 
tracting debts and imi)osing taxes; to organize a more efficient 
tribunal for the management and control of county aflairs than 
the county commissioner's court; to limit the i^owers of govern- 
ment so as to secure the i)eopIe against oi)pression by those in 
authority, (in view of what was done during the hard tinges of 
1841!, when the officials of the executive department required that 
nothing but gold and silver should be paid for taxes, while there 
was nothing but depreciated bank rags in the country, the State 
having made the issues of the State bank receivable for taxes) ; 
to i)rovido against successive special sessions of the legislature at 
the will and pleasure of tlie governor without specifying the char- 
acter of the business to be transacted ; to tix the pay of members, 
and to devise some Avay to prevent an accidental majority from 
continuing or adjourning sessions for the sake of compensation. 

Among the democratic delegates there was not entire unanimity 
upon the bank question. The following is one of the bolts 
launched at the recusants hy the press of that i)arty : 

"These bank-democrats occupy rather paradoxical ground. They 
assert that banks are pernicious, dangerous and anti-repubhcau, but 
inasmuch as the bank paper of other States naturally circulates among 
us, it is our true policy to establish these engines of evil as a measure of 
self-defense. They admit that we are injured by the paper of other 
States, and they propose to mitigate the injury by producing it them- 
selves — if any mischief is to be done, the citizens of the State ought to 
have the privilege and enjoy the profits of doing it. If other States 
choose to injure us, weouglit to seek redress by injuring ourselves."* 

The convention met on the 7th of June, 1847, and concluded its 
labors on the 31st of August following. When its Avork first 
came before the people (for unlike the constitution of 1818, this 
Mas to be jiassed upon by them), nobody seemed entirely satisfied 
Avith it, yet all concurred that the new was preferable to the old 
constitution. Judging it from the partisan stand-point of that 
day, it must be confessed that the greater success in grafting 
it with their peculiar views was with the whigs. The old allowed 

*I11. state Reg. 
35 



646 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

aliens and citizens alike to vote after a residence of 6 months, to 
maintain wliicli featnre when snpposedto be in danger in 1840, 
the democracy waged a tierce warfare against the supreme court, 
resulting ni a partisan reorganization. Yet the very thing feared 
from that court was now embodied in the constitution ; every 
elector must first be a citizen, and second have a residence of one 
year in the State. The elective i)rincii)le by the people was ex- 
tended to the tilling of every oftice, a thoroughly democratic pro- 
vision, and the only one which ought ever to obtain under any 
republican government. Yet the democracy, for obvious party 
reasons, desired to confine this to the life offices — the supreme 
judges — leaving the great bulk of the offices to be doled out, if 
not bargained, as before by the legislature, and thus fasten their in- 
cumbents upon every county in the State, regardless of local polit- 
ical majorities. For like party reasons the whigs desired to de- 
prive the dominant party of the power to elect this great crowd 
of officers — -judges and clerks, both circuit and county — to the 
legislature, but favored life officers for the supreme bench. In 
this particular, fortunately for the State, the partisan cravings 
of both, to a certain extent, were defeated, yet the dei)rivation of 
the power to elect all the host of the former by the legislature was 
a greater loss to the democracy than the latter was to the 
whigs. This took from the legislature a fertile source of patron- 
age by depiiving it of the choice of some 200 county officers from 
time to time, who by their intimate relations to the people are in the 
situation to exercise a most potent political influence. During 
the pendency of the constitution before the people, the provision 
relating to 3 county judges, called the " puppy court," was made 
to do peculiar service against it. Upon the subject of banks, too, 
the democracy may be said to have been in a manner defeated. 
The democratic convention of February, 1846, the largest ever 
assembled in the State, had declared that the creation of any new 
banks, either State or other banking institution Mhatever, should 
be frowned upon by the party; and throughout the sitting of the 
convention the press of that party was strenuous in its opposition 
to banks of any kind. Yet banks, other than State banks, were 
not prohibited by the constitution, though a general banking- 
law was required to be submitted to a vote of the people. 

"We note but a few features wherein the constitution of 1848 dif- 
fered from that of 1818. Profiting by the lesson of experience 
taught by the State internal improvement system, whose enor- 
mous debt was then pressing heavily ujion the people, no debt was 
allowed to be contracted by the legislature exceeding $50,000, and 
that only to meet casual deficits or failures in revenue ; nor was 
the credit of the State to be extended to any individual, associa- 
tion or corporation. Article 14, separately submitted, provided 
for the yearly collection of a tax of 2 mills upon the dollar, in ad- 
dition to all other taxes, the proceeds of which were to be paid 
out in extinguishment of the public debt, other than the canal 
and school indebtedness, pro rata to such holders as might pre- 
sent their evidences. This was a noble self -subjection of the peo- 
l)le to a tax for an indefinite time at that dark i)eriod of public 
and private embarrassment, for which we ought to profoundly 
honor them. 



CONSTITUTION OF 1848. 547 

Eegarding tax titles, the law of 1839 was one of peculiar hard- 
ship, rendering- their defeasance most difficult by throwing the 
omis prohandi as to anj- irregularity in the manner of acquiring 
them upon the real owners of the land. A deed was prima facie 
evidence that the land was subject to taxation ; that the taxes 
were unpaid ; that the lands were unredeemed ; that it had been 
legally advertised ; that it was sold for taxes ; that the grantee 
was the pm-chaser ; and that the sale was conducted in the man- 
ner required by law.* It was possible for a man to lose the title 
to his land, although residing on it and having paid his taxes. All 
this was radically changed bj' section 4, article 9 of the new con- 
stitution, introduced by .Tudge Lockwood, the requirements of 
which the courts have construed strictly, and it may well be infer- 
red that since then not many tax titles have stood this ordeal of 
the organic law. 

The legislature was required to encourage internal improve- 
ments by passing liberal general laws of incorporation and for 
other corporate purposes ; special acts for which were not to be 
granted unless the objects could not be attained under the former. 
It seems that in the legislatures since scarcely any corporate ob- 
jects could be attained under general laws, for throughout the 
sway of the constitution of 1848, were not only no general incor- 
poration laws of any degree of perfection passed, but from ses- 
sion to session were granted, with most lavish hand, private and 
special acts of incorporation for every conceivable purpose, 
passed in packages of hundreds at a time, making huge tomes, 
whose contents and provisions were equally unknown to the gen- 
eral public and the honorable members whose names stand re- 
corded in favor of their enactment. This species of legislation, 
in many cases, has been attended with the most pernicious results, 
as the people to their cost can testify. 

The judges of the supreme and circuit courts were made ineligi- 
ble to any other office of profit or public trust in this State or the 
United States during the terms for which they were elected, and 
for one year thereafter. This clause, as it reads, has been repeat- 
edly violated by the election of judges to congress ; and while it 
is true that body has held that it is the sole judge of the qualifica- 
tion of its members, and that State laws or constitutions in such 
cases are of no binding force, it is equally true that the geurlemeu 
thus elected had sworn upon their installation as judges to observe 
the constitution of Illinois in all its provisions, without any reser- 
vation as to the clause in question, or they could not have taken 
their seats upon the bench. 

In the legislature bills were to be read on three different days 
before becoming laws, and on final passage the ayes and noes were 
to be recorded. This well intended provision was most shamefully 
violated in actual practice in after years by a reading of the title of 
a bill only, and by the so-called "omnibus "system, by which hun- 
dreds of bills — many providing for private jobs and corrupt 
schemes — were passed at once, few of the members knowing their 
contents.t The reading of bills the fiist and second time by their 
title only gave rise to the reprehensible practice of introclucing 

•BlackwellTax.Tit. 84. 

+It seems that the Hon. J. Y. Scammon, of Cook, first suggested the passage of bills by 
the package . 



548 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and passing" aloug in their order what Mas known as "skeleton 
bills" — bills with simply a head, but no body, the latter being af- 
terward supplied.* 

But the cliief feature of the constitution of 1848 was its rigid 
economj'. The salary of the goveriu^r was fixed at $1,500; su- 
preme judges — three, made elective — $1,200 each; circuit judges, 
$1,000 each ; auditor of public accounts, $1,000 ; treasurer and 
secretary of State, each, $800; the compensation of members 
of the general assembly was fixed at $2 per day for the first 42 
days' attendance, and $1 a day thereafter. It was a hard times 
instrument. Eetrenchmeutin everything, as inaugurated bjGov. 
Ford and then with severity being carried out by Gov. French, 
was the order of the day. But in this [)articular the constitution 
rather overdid the thing. The true medium between paying our 
elective servants a just cou)peusatiou and allowing our represent- 
atives the exercise of a sound discretion in all the transactions of 
public business, and at the sauie time to bind them down so 
that they may work no mischief or injury to those who choose and 
delegate them, is, perhaps, difficult of attainment. It is one of the 
l)roblems connected with a representative form of government. 

In evidencing the severe economy of the new organic act, we 
will mention that the amount of warrants drawn upon the treas- 
urer on account of the general assembly for the session of 1845 
was over $55,000 ; and that the total amount of mileage and^jer 
diem compensation jiaid to the members and olficers of the two 
houses for the first session under the new regime in 1849, was not 
quite $15,000, a material reduction — exceeding 300 per centum. 
But in this connection, to show that we are a progressive people, 
and at the same time indicate the i^roficiency which our Solons 
liave attained in the "ways that are dark", we will give the total 
amount of legislative expenditures for the same purposes on ac- 
count of a later session, that of 1809, under the same economical 
constitution, which was $200,181, exclusive of printing, paper 
and binding, making nearly $75,000 more. The four items of news- 
papers, stationery, postage and pocket-knives alone amounted ro 
$54,322.t 

The salary of the governor, it was provided, was "not to be in- 
creased or (liminished ;" and by way of emphasis in fixing the com- 
pensation of the other ofljcers which we have enumerated, the 
words "and no more" were added. Yet by indirection, under pre- 
tense of paying a gardener to take charge of the grounds surround- 
ing the executive mansion, we find in 1801 $2,500 was appropriated 
to be expended or not by the governor, as he pleased, being in- 
tended as an increase of his salary. Afterwards this unlawful 
gift was annually increased to $4,500. Indeed, the auditor's office 
shows that the incumbents of the executive office have received, 
from December, 1800, to December, 1872, twelve years, $06,000, to 
Avhich they were not entitled. All the State offices became im- 
mensely profitable in fees — running the emoluments of their in- 
cumbents into thousands of dollars, instead of the hundreds fixed 
by the constitution. The compensation of the supreme judges 
was evasively increased to $4,000, by allowing them each a chief 

"See debate in senate, Feb., 1857. 
+Coiiveution Journal 1870, p. 218. 



CONSTITUTION OF 1848. 549 

clerk at $1,G00 and $1,200 for an assistant (neither of which they 
employed), instead of $1,200, their constitutional salary; and to 
the circuit judges, in defiance of the words $1,000 " and no more," 
was yearly given an additional $1,000 each, for revisions and sug- 
gestions of changes in the hnvs, a labor which they were not ex- 
pected to, and did not, perform ; besides which a docket fee of $1 
for each suit brought was wrung out of litigants, also for their 
benefit. But the abuses which crept into the legislative depart- 
ment were still grosser and more alarming. The per di&ni com- 
pensation of members, which for the session of 1861, for instance, 
amounted to $8,800, was su])plemented by i)ostage $8,892, news- 
papers$ll,18r2, pencils$2,GG4, few of which items were actually 
received, but the money taken in place of them, on "commutation" 
as it was called with State officers, and thus by indirection they 
got $8 per day each, instead of $2 "and no more." The practice 
was subsequently increased by various subterfuges of rent for com- 
mittee rooms never used nor jiaid for, &c., to sometimes amount to 
more than $20 a day for each member. Ten cents a mile was 
allowed to each as necessary traveling- expenses to and from the 
seat of government. While it would be difficult to travel more 
than 200 miles from anj" point in the State to the capital, the jour- 
nals show honorable members to have charged and received pay for 
1,200 miles going and coming. Thus did our i^ublic servants debauch 
themselves, one department the other. But notwithstanding- its 
abases, the constitution of 1848 was, in many particulars, a great 
improvement upon that of 1818. 

That the whigs had succeeded more than the democrats in 
stamping- that instrument with their principles, soon had its influ- 
ence. The whig press advocated its adoption constantly and ur- 
gently, while the democratic press, where it did not oppose, was 
lukewarm in its advocacy, yet candor compelled an acknowledg- 
ment that the elective principle as applied to every important 
office was a thoroughly democratic idea, which covered a multitude 
of bad iDrovisions; that on the whole, the new was preferable to 
the old, and it justly regretted the " abrogation of the pro^■ision 
permitting foreigners to a participation in the right of suftrage 
after a residence of 6 months, the same as the most unlettered na- 
tive," predicting that that would prove pernicious by diverting 
emigration from the State. Ko evil had resulted, and, it may be 
added, never will, from admitting foreigners to this privilege. It 
is a most foolish proscription. The provision limiting the power 
of the State to borrow money, and prohibiting the credit and faith 
of the State in aid of any individual or corporation, was a most ex- 
cellent one. 

The people had ample time to consider its provisions, and they 
did not fail to see its great superiority over the old organic law. 
For the points of party significance in it, which at best might prove 
but transitory, they could not attbrd to throw away the many safe 
and excellent limitations for their protection against the chances 
of a wild, reckless and extravagant legislature to involve them in 
ruin. 

The black clause — prohibiting negro immigration — met with 
considerable opposition in the northern part of the State, particu- 
larly in Cook county, which voted two to one against it ; but the 



550 niSTOUY OF Illinois. 

greatest general oi^position was to the 2 mill tax. The following 
is the vote upon the constitution and the separate articles : 

For the constitution proper, 59,887; against it, 15,859. 

For article XIV — negro clause, 49,066 ; against it, 20,884. 

For article XV— 2 mill tax, 41,017 ; against it, 30,586. 

The vote for ratitication or rejection was taken on the first Mon- 
day in March, 1848 ; and the new constitution went into operation 
on the first of April following. The election of governor was anti- 
cipated two years, and accordingly the first general election under 
it took place in November, 1848. The commencement of the regu- 
lar legislative sessions was deferred from December to January, 
the first convening at that time in 1849. 





(^yV^^-O^-t-O-^ 



Chapter XLV. 
1846-1852— ADMINISTEATION OF GOVEKKOE FEENCH. 

Lives and Characters of the Gubernatorial Candidates — Funding 
of the IState Debt — Refusal of the People to give the Legislature 
Control of the 2 Mill Tax — Toivnship Organization — Homestead 
Exemption — The Bloody Island Like and a Specie of War — 
State Policy regarding Railroads. 



The Democratic State Couveutiou of 1846, to nominate candi- 
dates for governor and lieutenant governor, met at Springfield on 
the 10th of February. There was no lack of aspirants for either 
of these positions. In connection with the first we will name six 
in the order of their supposed strength, before the meeting of the 
convention : Lyman Trumbull, John Calhoun, (he of subsequent 
Lecompton Constitution notoriety), Augustus C. French, Walter 
B. Scates, Eichard M, Young, and A. W. Cavarly, an array of 
very able and prominent names. The contest was supposed to lie 
between the first two mentioned, but the ballothig gave a differ- 
ent exhibit. After sundry efforts by their friends, it Avas found 
that neither could be nominated, and as iisual in such cases, both 
parties went over to the support of another. Trumbull received 
the highest number on the first ballot, it is true, but French, as 
the coming man, was already next, and on the 2d ballot advanced 
to the front. On the 4th ballot all the names except those of 
French, Calhoun and Trumbull being withdrawn, the friends 
of Calhoun, fearing the ultimate success of Trumbull, also with- 
drew his name. The friends of Trumbull saw in this move 
their inevitable defeat, and for the sake of harmony, they 
also withdrew the name of the latter. French was there- 
upon proclaimed the nominee of the convention for governor, 
iimidst a great tumult of shouting and exultation. Owing to the 
many able and determined democratic aspirants, and the strong 
attachment of their respective friends, the whigs had indulged 
a hope that the convention would break uj) in disorder, but in 
this they were disappointed. Trumbull's effort in 1845 to defeat 
the canal had been revived against him and industriously circu- 
lated by Gov. Ford and others, as being still his position, which 
doubtless proved his discomfiture. 

For lieutenant-governor, the names of J. B. Wells, Lewis Eoss, 
William McMurtry, Newton Cloud, J. B. Hamilton and W. W. 
Thompson, were presented for nomination. On the 4th ballot all 
the names except the first two mentioned were withdrawn, when 
the voting resulted in the choice of Wells, who received 132 to 

561 



552 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Boss 95 ballots. The resolutions adopted strongly coudemiied the 
resuscitation of the old State banks, and declared against any mote 
of any kind in this State.* 

The whigs, who were in a hopeless minority, seemed averse for 
a time to holding a State convention. Their press discussed the 
idea of some suitable candidate running by general consent with- 
out nomination. Names to this end were proposed, of which we 
may mention that of James Davis of Bond. It was also proposed 
that the Whig State Central Committee should make the ticket. 
Finally, on the 8th of June, a convention was held at Peoria, over 
which JMiijor Richard Cullom, of Tazewell, presided, which nomi- 
nated Thomas jM. Kilpatrick, of Scott, for governor, and Gen. 
Nathaniel C. Wilcox, of Schuyler, for lieutenantgovernor.t 

Kilijatrick was born in Crawford county, Penu., in 1807. His 
early education consisted solely in instruction from his mother. 
He lost his father at the age of 15, became a mechanic, married 
in 1828, and removed to Illinois in 1834. In 1840 he beat Mur- 
ray McConnel for the State senate. In 1844 he was elected to the 
lower house of the legislature, where he was greatly instrumental 
in the i^assage of the school law of that period. He was a man 
of easy manners, i)leasant address, strong, practical sense, and 
withal quite a forcible speaker on the stump. In this campaign,^ 
however, he deemed it doubtless a waste of time to canvass the 
State, and contented himself with issuing an address to the peo- 
ple, in which he opposed repudiation of the State debt and argued 
the ample resoui-ces of the State to i)ay, if properly developed. 
He looked forward to the completion of the canal as a means to 
arouse the despondent energies of the peo]»le. As Illinois was^ 
then the only State destitute of banking facilities, he favored 
banks based exclusively on .si»ecie, and a revision of the constitu- 
tion (a convention call for that puri^ose was then pending before 
the people), saying: "At the commencement of the session, the 
capitol is crowded Avith asi)irants from different parts of the State 
seeking different ottlces ; each has his friends among the members } 
a system of electioneering intrigue and log-rolling commences,. 
Avhich enters into the discussion and passage of almost every bill,, 
until these offices are disposed of; and it is not unfrequently the 
case that the success of the most important measures of State 
l)olicy depends upon the election of some little fourth-rate lawyer 
to the office of district attorney. I attributed the bad legislation 
mainly to this intiuence."| 

In the campaign, the whigs exposed Gov. French's record and 
connection with the passage of the internal improvement system, 
and urged it against his election; but in the meantime the war 
with Mexico broke out, regarding which the whig record was un- 
favorable. The war was the absorbing aiul dominating question 
of the period, sweeping every other i)olitical issue in its course. 
The election of August, 1846, resulted in the choice of the dem- 
ocratic candidate, A. C.Frencli, over Kil})atrick, his principal com- 
petitor, by 58,700 votes for the former, to 36,775 votes for the lat- 
ter. We say j)rincii>al competitor, because Eichard Eells (aboli- 
tion) was runnuig for the same office and received 5,152 votes. 

*See Illinois State Register, Feb. 27, 1846. 
+Illinois State Journal. 
$See Illinois State Journal. 



FRENCH'S ADMINISTRATION. 553 



For lieuteiiant-goveinor, Joseph B. Wells, tlie democratic candi- 
date, received 55,221 votes ; Natliauiel G. Wilcox, whig, 29,641, aud 
Abraham Smith, abolition, 5,179 votes. 

By the constitution of 1S48, a new election for State officers 
was ordered in jSToveniber of that year, before Governor French's 
term was half out. He was re elected for the term of 4 years. 
Gov. French thus is the only man who has ever held the office of 
governor in this State for G consecutive years. At the election of 
1848 there was no organized opposition to him, though a number 
of other gentlemen were honored as the recipients of the votes of 
the people. Augustus C. French received 67,453 votes ; Pierre 
Menard (son of the first lieutenant-governor), 5,039 ; Charles V. 
Dyer, 4,748; W. L. D. Morrison, 3,834; and James L. D. Morrison, 
1,361. William McMurtry, of Knox, was elected lieutenant-gov- 
ernor (in place of Josejjh B. Wells, the incumbent, who did not 
run again), receiving- 65,304 votes. O. H. Browning, Henry H. 
Snow, Pierre Menard and J. L. D. Morrison, were also honored by 
votes for this office, ranging from 2,000 to 5,000. 

Gov. French was born in the town of Hill, New Hampshire, 
August 2, 1808. He was the descendant in the 4th generation of 
Nathaniel French, who emigrated from England in 1687, and set- 
tled in Say bury, Massachusetts. In early life young French lost 
his father, but continued to receive instruction fronj an exemplary 
and christian mother until he was 19 years old, when she also 
died, confiding- to his care and trust four younger brothers and 
one sister. He discharged his trust with parental devotion. His 
education in early life was such mainly as a common school af- 
forded ; for a brief period he attended Dartmouth College, but 
from pecuniary causes and care of his brothers and sister, he did 
not graduate. He subsequently read law, was admitted to the 
bar in 1831, and shortly after removed to Illinois, settling first and 
practicing his profession at Albion, Edwards county. The following 
year he removed to Paris, Edgar county. Here he attained emi- 
nence in his profession, and entered public life by representing 
that county in the legislature. A strong attachment sprang up 
between him and Stephen A. Douglas. In 1839, French became re- 
ceiver of the United States land office at Palestine, Crawford 
county, at which i»lacehe resided when elevated to the guberna- 
torial chair. In 1844 he was a presidential elector, and as such 
voted for James K. Polk. After the expiration of his term of 
office as governor, he occu[)ied for some years the i)rofessor's 
chair of the law dejjartment of McKendree College, tit Leba- 
non, aud did not reappear in jniblic life except as a member of 
the constitutional convention of 1862. 

In stature, Gov. French was of medium height ; squarely built, 
well proportioned, light complexioned, with ruddy face and pleas- 
ant countenance. In manners he was plain, agreeable, and of easy 
approach by the most humble ; neither office nor position changed 
him in his bearing toward those he bad met while in the more hum- 
ble walks of hfe. Though by nature diffident, and at times appar- 
ently timid, yet when occasion demanded he was outspoken and 
firm in his views of public questions and convictions of duty. As 
a speaker, while he did not approach to the higher arts of oratory, 
he was chaste, earnest and persuasive. In business he was accu- 
rate and methodical, and as the executive of this State admiuis- 



554 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tered its affairs with great economy, prudence and discretion. 
He was an honest and conscientious man in all his transactions, 
and the State was fortunate in securing- his services just at the 
time she did. While strong common sense, vigilance in looking 
to the public welfiire, and conscientious convictions of duty are 
often more desirable in an executive officer than brilliancy or 
genius, it was peculiarly so at this juncture in the affairs of the 
State. In the pecuniary embarrassments of those times the credit 
of the State had been in a measure restored, and the overwhelm- 
ing debt i)roperl3' directed in the course of ultinuite extinction 
during the administration preceding, yet it still required a clear, 
careful executive brain to bring order out of chaos, aiul a steady 
hand to guide the ship of state into the haven of safety. When 
Gov. French quitted the helm, hi 1852, it was with tlie proud con- 
sciousness that her credit was fully restored, and her indebtedness, 
which had for many weary years pressed her incubus-like to the 
earth, would be faithfully and honestly discharged ; that prosper- 
ous days had at length dawned for her people ; that her unex- 
ampled resources were upon the eve of development, and that she 
would now make giant strides toward wealth, greatness and em- 
pire, in all of which his excellency had borne a just and faithful 
part. He was zealously devoted to the best interests of the State, 
ever acting for the public good, without regard to personal ad- 
vantage or aggrandizement. He lived in his exalted station with 
much frugality. As the first governor under the hard times con- 
stitution of 1848, he received simply the salary provided, $1,500, 
and no more. The legislative art of evading this stringent pro- 
vision by allowing the executive $4,500 for a gardener, had not 
as yet been evoked, nor would it, Ave may safely say, have been 
sanctioned by an acceptau(;e of such douceur. 

In 1845 a tax of IJ mills on the dollar was authorized, to be ex- 
clusively applied in payment of accrued interest upon the ijublic 
debt. The proceeds of this tax were aj)plied to all the interest- 
bearing debts of the State alike, including the canal bonds, leav- 
ing only about half of the tax to be applied to the interest accru- 
ing upon the debt proper, and causing a yearly deficit of uni^aid 
interest exceeding $300,000, which was unprovided for. The 
canal, subject to all its arrearages, under the loan of $1,000,000, 
had been transferred in trust to the new subscribers. To carry- 
forward the work so well begun of grappling with the monster 
debt. Gov. French recommended the registration and funding of 
the debts. The uncertainty, he urged, which hung over the exact 
amount of our liabilities, had i)roduced a vague and painful ap- 
prehension in the public mind that the efforts then making to 
meet> a portion of it were of little avail, to correct which, and 
elicit its true amount, this course should be adopted. Excluding 
the canal debt, the residue of all bonds or scrip should be con- 
verted into uniform transferable stock. For the arrears of inter- 
est due upon the bonds, a deferred stock of similar character, dif- 
fering only in that it bore no interest for a number of years, was 
recommended. The expense of funding, it was thought, would 
be less than the loss already suffered from counterfeiting the cou- 
pons. In accordance with these views the legislature passed two 
funding acts, one authorizing the funding of the State bonds, and 
the other funding the State scrip and accrued interest on the 



FRENCH'S ADMINISTRATION. 555 

debts. The funding of accrued interest met with considerable 
opposition, on the ground that the effect woukl be to cause tlie 
State to pay compound interest after 1857. But the measures 
passed, and by 1850 the entire State debt, exchiding that of the 
canal, Mas nearly refunded in uniform securities, which greatly 
simplified the debt, and precluded further losses from the free 
counterfeiting of the bonds, both to the State and holders of the 
boiMls. 

The State of Illinois, as a condition to her admission into the 
Union, like luany other States, had entered into a compact not to 
impose a tax upon the land sold by government within her limits 
for five years after sale, which was a serious clog upon her reve- 
nues. During the ])eriod of our financial embarrassment, the 
legislature earnestly petitioned congress to remove this restric- 
tion ; to these appeals, urged with much force by Senator Breese, 
that body had finally acceded. And now, by act of February 
19, 1847, the legislature provided that all lands hereafter sold by 
government within this State should be immediately subject to 
taxatiou. This measure materiall}' increased the revenue of the 
State, as after the close of the Mexican war, the distribution by 
the government of land warrants among the soldiers as bounty, 
caused a large quantity to be thrown ui^on the market, and great 
numbers were located in Illinois. Indeed, so cheap did land war- 
rants become, that they operated greatly to check the sale of 
State lands, which were held higher; and to avoid sacrifice, the 
legislature peremptorily^ suspended from further sale the public 
[)roi)erty, as provided by act of March 4, 1843, to wind up the in- 
ternal improvement system. 

The legislature, in 1847, in accordance with the recommenda- 
tion of the governor, authorized the sale of the Northern Cross 
Kailroad, from Springfield to Meredosia, — now the W., St. L. & P. 
Upon the purchaser was imposed the duty of putting it in good 
repair, safe for the transportation of persons and property. The 
road and its equiimients sold for f 100,000 m State bonds, though 
it had cost the State not less than $1,000,000. The salt wells and 
canal lauds in the Saline reserve in Gallatin county, granted by 
the general government to the State, were also authorized to be 
sold by the governor to pay State indebtedness. 

The 2 mill tax provided by the new constitution to be annually 
distributed in payment of the principal of the public debt, other 
than the canal, and which, in 1849, amounted to $165,788. 71, was 
found to work badly and unprofitably to the best interests of the 
State. The legislature passed a resolution submitting to a vote 
of the people an amendment to the constitution, to accord to that 
body the discretion of using the fund arising from this tax in the 
purchase of State bonds, in open market, at their current rates, at 
any time, instead of keeping the fund idle in the treasury until 
the 1st of January in each year, then to be apportioned and cred- 
ited pro rata at a par valuation on the bonds presented, no matter 
at what discount they might be rated in nmrket. In this there 
would undoubtedly have been a saving to the State, by her 
agents going upon the market and buying in her own pai)er 
at a discount, the same as any individual might operate; 
but the i)eople, who felt it to be more honorable that the State 
should pay the full amount, refused to sanction this scheme or to 



556 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

entrust the general assembly iu meddling' with tliis sacred fund, 
and tlie amendment failed for want of that majority of votes 
which the constitution required to secure its adoption. The ques- 
ticui, though urged again upon the peoi)le by the governor, was 
never again presented for their action, one reason being that the 
time required to again bring it to a vote would essentially lessen 
its importance, as the bonds were rapidly appi'oxinuiting a ])ar 
valuation in market. Such were some of the efforts made during 
Gov. French's administration to gain the mastery of the monster 
public debt. 

In 1850, for the first time since 1839, the accruing State revenue, 
exclusive of specific approi)riations, was sufiicient to meet the 
current demands upon the treasury. Prior to this it had been the 
practice to issue a surplus of auditor's warrants to meet deficien- 
cies. Of course when the treasury was not in a condition to re- 
deem these warrants, they depreciated, resulting in great losses 
both to the holders and the State by their lessened value, and the 
prolonged time of their redemption. But these embarrassments 
and sacrifices were now hapi)ily overcome. The aggregate taxa- 
ble property of the State at this time wa,s over $100,000,000, the 
annual constitutional 2 mill tax yielded a revenue, after allowing 
a pn)per nuugin for defaults and casual losses, of about $190,000, 
and the population was 851,470 souls. 

Toicnship Organization. — In 1849, in accordance with the per- 
mission of the new constitution, and in obedience to the demand 
of the people from the northern i»art of the State, who had ob- 
served its practical working in the eastern States, the first town- 
ship orgaiuzatiou act was passed by the legislature. But the law, 
in attempting to i)ut it into i)ractical operation, disclosed radical 
defects. It was revised and amended at the session of 1851, sub- 
stantially as it has existed up to the present time. The adop- 
tion of the township organization system marks an era in the 
management of fiscal affairs in many of the counties of this 
State. 

The system of township government had its origin in New Eng- 
land. But the root of this form of local government may be 
traced to the districting of England into tithings by King Alfred, 
in the 9th century, to curb the wide-spread local disorders which 
disturbed his realm.* Upon this ancient idea of tithing districts, 
the Puritans grafted their greatly improved township system. The 
county system originated in this country with Virginia, and was 
also derived from England. The tobacco planters of the Old 
Dominion, owning their laborers more completely than did the 
barons of England their vassals, lived isolated and independent 
on their large landed estates in imitation of the aristocracy of 
the mother country. They also modeled their county and munici- 
pal lustitutiouSjWith certain modifications suitable to the condi- 
tion of the new country, after the same prototype; whence has 
spread the county system into all the southern and many of the 
northern States. All of the northwest territory, now constituting 
five States, after the conquest of Clark, was by Virginia, in 1778, 
formed into a county under her jurisdiction, called Illinois. The 

•See further Blackstone's Commentaries B i.p.lU-llG. 



French's administration. 557 

county feature was afterwards retained in all the States carved 
out of the northwestern territory. The county business in Illi- 
nois was transacted by 3 commissioners, in the lespective coun- 
ties, who constituted a county court, which, besides the manage- 
ment of county affairs, had usually other jurisdiction conferred 
upon it, such as that of a justice of the peace and probate busi- 
ness. By the constitution of 1848, owing to the influence of east- 
ern or New England settlers in tlie northern portion of the State, 
township organization A\as authorized, leaving it optional for any 
county to adopt or not the law to be enacted. Our township sys- 
tem, however, is not closely modeled after that of the New Eng- 
land States. There, a representative is sent directly from each 
town to the lower branch of the legislature. In New York, owing 
to her large extent of territory, this was found to be impractica- 
ble, and a county assembly, denominated a board of supervisors, 
comi^osed of a member from each town, was there established. 
This modified system we have copied, almost exactly, in Illinois. 

Townships are often compared by writers to petty republi<is, 
possessing unlimited sovereignty in matters of local concern ; and 
boards of supervisors are popularly supposed to be vested with 
certain limited legislative powers. But neither is the case. Both 
the county and township boards are mere fiscal agents. They 
hold the purse strings of the counties; they may contract, incur 
debts or create liabilities — very great powers, it is true — but they 
caunoti)rescribe or vary the duties, nor control in any manner the 
county or township officers authorized by law. While the county 
court, consisting of three members, is a smaller, and, therefore, as 
a rule, more manageable or controllable body by outside influ- 
ences, there is little doubt that a board of supervisors is not only 
directly more expensive, but also that a thousand and one petty 
claims of every conceivable character, having often no foundation 
in law or justice, are constantly presented, and, being loosely in- 
vestigated and tacitly allowed, aggregate no insignificant sum. A 
board of supervisors also acts or is controlled more by partisan 
feelings. There ought to be uniformity throughout the State in 
the management of county affairs. No little confusion seems to 
pervade the laws at the present time relating to our two classes 
of counties. 

Homestead Exemption. — The general assembly, at its session of 
1851, first i)assed the act to exempt homesteads from sale on exe- 
cutions. This subject had been brought before the legislature re- 
peatedly' by Gov. French in his messages. The i^rinciple of this be- 
neficent law was not a new or untried one. Its i)ractical effects 
upon the social relations of communities had been full}- and suc- 
cessfully tested in ditterent States. The claims of society in main- 
taining the integrity of the family relation, which is the founda- 
tion of all society, it was argued, were suj^eiior to those of the in- 
dividual; that some men, then as now, were to be found mean 
enough to specially evade honest debts, did not argue that such a 
law, in the interests of a higher duty from man to man, would not 
subserve, as a rule, a beneficent purpose, by shielding the widow 
and orphans, the aged and decrei>id, from the cruel demands of 
the Shylocks of the world. Prior to this, the exemption of certain 
articles of personal proj^erty, which had been the law for a number 



658 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of years, had not proven inimical to the true interests of the cred- 
itor. For the $G0 worth of property exempted, suited to the debt- 
or's condition or occupation in life, he might select a yoke of oxen 
for the cultivation of land, but no land was by the law allowed him 
from which to raise something- wherewith to support his family or 
discharge his debt. 

The provisions of the laAV (which was in force up to July 1st, 
1872,) are too well known to recapitulate here. It exempted from 
levy or forced sale, under any process or order of couit, the lot of 
ground and the building thereon occupied as a residence and 
owned by the debtor, being a householder, and liaving a faniih, 
to the value of $1,000. The law of 1872 raises this to $1,500, but 
in 1873 the original valuation of $1,000 was restored. The 
benefit of the act was extended to the widov/ and family, some or 
one of them continuing to occupy the homestead until the young- 
est child should become of age, or until the death of the widow. 

The Bloody Island Dike — A Speck of War. — Owing to the form- 
ation of sand-bars in the Mississippi river opposite the lower part 
of St. Louis, which it was apprehended would divert the channel 
of the river to its left bank, aiul gieatly injure, if not destroy, the 
harbor of that city, the municipal authorities thereof, to prevent 
that threatened calamity, passed an ordinance, February, 1848, 
making appropriations to construct a dike or dam across the east- 
ern channel of the river, from the foot of Bloody Island to the 
Illinois shore, to force the main current of the water over to the 
St. Louis side. This effort, made at a great expense to the treas- 
ury of that city, was met with determined opposition in Illinois, 
as defiant to the sovereignty of this State and an infringement 
upon the rights of our citizens. It was urged that the work 
would change the channel in the upper Mississippi; that the effect 
would be to inundate the American Bottom ; that the river would 
cut around the dike, drive the full force of its current to\\ ards 
Cahokia creek, and destroy lUinoistown; and that the ferry would 
be changed up the river to the island, to get to which the company 
would charge enormous tolls over the dike. 

The work was commenced by St. Louis within the rightful juris- 
diction of this State, without permission from our legislature or 
notice to the governor, but solely with the consent aiul approbation 
of the proprietors of the island and the main shore opi»osite. Pome 
years x)rior, it seems, congress had made appropriations at differ- 
ent times for the improvement of St. Louis harbor, part of which 
had been expended in the removal of a sand-bar at the south end 
of the harbor. These appropriations, togetlier with the consent 
of the owners of the ground where the dike was to be built, St. 
Louis claimed as a sufficient license for her invasion of the sov- 
ereignty of Illinois with this work. The rising cities of Alton and 
Quincj', watchful of their rights and jealous of their big commer- 
cial neighbor, through their municipal boards passed resolutions 
expressive of their apprehensions that these improvements would 
be attended with danger to the navigation of the great commercial 
highway of the west, and prove detrimental to their interests. The 
executive of the State was called upon to inquire into the matter, 
and to take such stei)s as would protect the sovereignty of this 
State and the riehts of its citizens. A large number of letters 



feench's administration. 559 

from different citizens j)ouied in upon his excellency to the same 
end. 

Governor French thereupon ad<hessed a letter to the municiijal 
authorities of St. Louis, recapitnlating the representations made 
to him as to the threatened dangers of this work, urging them 
to x)ause in their manifest encroachments upon the sovereignty of 
this State, and the rights of its citizens, which, if persisted in, 
would require him to employ suitable means to arrest. 

To this somewhat bellicose document Mayor Krum, of St. Louis, 
rei)lied, claiming the general government had some years pre- 
viously projected and i)artly constructed certain works opposite 
the city, with the view to im[»rove the navigation of the river, and 
at the same time improve the harbor of St. Louis ; that the works 
now being prosecuted were substantially the same, originally de- 
signed and in part constructed by the U. S.; that to the unex- 
pended balance of the appropriations by congress for this purpose, 
St. Louis had likewise added moneys to further the said object ; 
joined to this high authority he pleaded also the consent of the 
owners of the ground where the work was being erected, and as- 
sured his excellency that the contemplated improvements would 
in nowise infringe upon either the sovereignty of the State of Illi- 
nois, or the rights of any citizen. After alluding to the influences 
at work to create a false impression upon the public mind, he 
closed, trusting that no inconsiderate steps would be taken on the 
part of the authorities of Illinois without due deliberation. 

This answer, intended to disarm opposition and allay feeling, 
was not satisfactory in Illinois. It was not believed that the dike, 
in any manner, entered into the plan of imjirovement by the gen- 
eral government, but that it was the offspring of and solely pros- 
ecuted by St. Louis. ]!Sreither was it conceded that the general 
government had the right to carry forward this work within the 
rightful jurisdiction of this State. It was further inferred that 
the work was to be vigorously pushed forward by St. Louis, and 
that the equivocal agency of the general government was held out 
as a cloak to ward off" molestation in its prosecution. 

In view of the fact that it was sought to associate the general 
government with the project, the governor proposed to submit the 
question as an agreed ease to the U. S. circuit court, then sitting 
at Springtield, as the speediest and most satisfactory mode of set- 
tling the controversy. But this proposition was declined. Sub- 
sequently, in a letter to Gov. Eeynolds, he writes that there is left 
him but one alternative, either to check the work or have some 
agreement that it .shall await the meeting of the legislature.* A 
committee of the common council of St. Louis, with power to treat, 
visited Governor French at Springtield. His excellency offered to 
lay the matter before the next general assembly, but as that in- 
volved a considerable loss of time, the commission was unwilling 
to accede to it. The governor could not grant permission to pro- 
ceed with the work. In the meantime an injunction, issuing from 
the St. Clair circuit court, had been served upon the contractors. 
But the work was proceeded with in contempt of the order of court. 
The governor now inaugurated "strong measures to cause the in- 
junction to be respected." To this end, H. S. Oooley, secretary of 

• See Illinois State Register, July 14, 1848. 



560 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

State, was sent to Illinoistown to investigate the matter. He 
learned that a large nnmber of men were employed, that steamers 
towed stone-laden barges from the St. Louis quarry, and that be- 
tween 200 and 300 tons of rock were deposited upon the dike 
every night, notwithstanding' the injunction 5 that lU feet of Avail 
was uji, and that in 4 weeks time the whole line, from the Island 
to the main shore, would be built above the water's edge. At 
Belleville he found the war feeling- so strong that a general disposi- 
tion was manifest to enforce obedience to the writ of injunction. 
The sheriff of St. Clair county went beyond his bailiwick and 
served the writ upon the Mayor in St. Louis, who treated the mat- 
ter rather lightly. Writs of attachment for contempt were now 
issued for the arrest of every person found violating- the process 
of the court. If these civil measuies failed and the sheriff's posse 
proved insufficient, the governor was determined to resort to mil- 
itary force, and all the iible-bodied men of St. Clair county ap- 
peared ready to back him in the enforcement of the civil process. 
It might be inferred that war was imminent. The sheriff ar- 
rested two of the principal workmen on the dike and convej'ed 
them before Judge Koerner to be tried for contempt. The press, 
both of St. Louis and Illinois, becameviolently inflammatory, por- 
traying all maiuier of dire results to grow out of these acts, much 
as if an actual state of war existed. 

In the meantime the governor's envoy found in mingling with 
the citizens of St. Louis that the p(;ople took very little interest 
in the trouble, and that the city authorities had no disposition to 
defy the process of a court of Illinois; that outside of the efforts 
of the Wiggins ferry company, which owned in great part the 
island, and the contractors, who wanted to earn their money, very 
little concern Avas felt in the dike controversy. It Avas represented 
that beyond a desire to hold the city harmless in its contract, 
(Avherefore no effort was made to impede or restrain the work of the 
contractors) the authorities had no immediate interest in it; that 
AAnllful contempt or double-dealing toward the authorities of Illi- 
nois, while their committee was ou a peace mission to the gover 
nor, was not designed. It was the ferrj' company, owning the 
island, which Avould monopolize the canscAvay or dike leading to 
it from the main shore ; the distance of its transit across the river 
would be shortened by half; the "St. Clair ferry," (partly- owned 
by the State), together Avith Illinoistown, to which it ran, Avould 
by the new ferry landing be throAvn so far out of the direct line 
of travel as to destroy both, and a ncAv town, (the present East 
St. Louis,) Avould si>ring- u}) on the island, more convenient and 
Avith shorter ferriage, Avhich Avould enable that company to hold 
the traveling public to their oavu terms Avithout successful compe- 
tition, and bid defiance to the State. For these reasons the Wig- 
gins Company took a deep interest in the successful accomplish- 
ment of the Avork.* 

The injunction suit came up for hearing in September, before 
Koerner, then one of the supreme judges, at BelleAille. 
After elaborate argument by Mayor Krum and Mr. Blannerhasset 
of St Louis, and Col. Bissell, in favor of the work, and Messrs. 
Keeting and Trumbull against it, the jurisdiction of the State 

* See letters of Gen. Cooley to Gov. French, Illinois State Register, August 4th and 
nth, 1848. 



FRENCH'S ADMINISTRATION. 561 

-:;ouit was held to be concurrent with that of the federal; the 
power of the State to prohibit obstructions being placed in her 
highways or the construction of this dike in her navigable waters, 
was equally clear. The bill and writ were sustained as to Hall, 
<Jannon and Bennet, three contractors served with process in St. 
Clair county, but as to the city of St. Louis, a foreign municipal 
corporation, and John Schreiber, served in St. Louis, out of the 
jurisdiction of the court, it was dismissed. An appeal to the su- 
preme court was taken from the decision dismissing the case as 
to the city of St. Loins and Shreiber.* 

The dike had been built up to the water's level, and the maiu 
contention now was over the atteini)t to build it 12 feet higherand 
level withthe shore for a highway, belonging to and in the control 
of a private company, traversing the navigable waters of the 
State. Another point was the consequential impairment of the 
St. Clair ferry below, in which the State had an interest. In de- 
fense, it was claimed that the obstructed channel never was navi- 
gable, which was the fact, except perhaps on occasion of ex- 
traordinary freshets, and that it had been cut within 20 years 
through lands belonging to the old Wiggins ferry company, which, 
with St. Louis, was making this dike, and thus reclaiming their 
own land. 

The legislature, at its session of 1849, settled the trouble by the 
passage of resolutions which provided that the city of St. Louis 
should file a good and valid bond with the secretary of state, 
binding the city to construct a safe and commodious highway 
over the dike; and that the ow^ners of the property on the island 
and main shore secure the undisturbed right of way to the public 
over it forever without tax or toll. The right of way was not to 
extend to chartered companies (except the St. Clair ferry) and 
turnpike companies. The city of St. Louis was also to secure to 
the St. Clair ferry a laiuling in the city, all of w'hich was done, 
and thus was the cloud of war disj)elled. 

A committee was also appointed, consisting of J. L. D. Morri- 
son, (from the aggrieved county), A. J. Kuykendall and Herbert 
Patterson, to examine the woiks, who reported, Februaiy 1, 1851, 
that the dike was then completed, being a solid stone wall across 
the chute, sunk in 40 feet of water, 36 feet wide and elevated to a 
level of 3 feet above the lower store doors on the levee in St. 
Louis, leaving the distance from the island across the river but 
800 yards. A thriving city was predicted, to which at no distant 
day the workshops, boatyards and manufactories of St. Louis 
Avould in a great measure be transplanted, and where the tired 
artisan or mechanic, atter his day's labor in the city, would repose 
in a cheaper and more conjfortable home thaji he could enjoy in 
the crowded city. The result of thebuilding of the dike has shown, 
after a lapse of over 30 years, that stability has been imparted to 
the Illinois shore of the turbulent river, that Bloody Island has 
been permanently joined to the main land, and while much 
remains to be done to build up a considerable city there, nearly a 
score of railroads now centre in East St. Louis. 

♦ See 5 Gilman, 368. 

36 



502 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



" STATE POLICY." 

Tribute Levied upon Illinois Produce in the St. Louis Marlcet — 
Railroads Disappoint Amhitiotis Towns, tfcc. — From 1849 until the 
special session of Februaiy, 1854, tliere prevailed in the legisla- 
tion of Illinois what was known as tlie " State Policy." The ob- 
ject was to so locate and fix the termini of cross railroads as to 
build uj) great commercial marts and migiity cities within the 
limits of this State ; and if this did not follow, railroads should 
not go where they would contribute to the commerce and wealth 
of cities without the State. The "policy" was directed against 
St. Louis, a foreign city, ostensibly to favor our aspiring domestic 
cities falling within her competition, situate on the hither banli; of 
the Father of Waters ; tliose on the Wabash, Vinceunes and 
Terre Haute were also included. 

The reasons urged in favor of this policy were many and novel, 
and forcible enough to in a measure hold the best interests of the 
State in thrall for a period of six years. A general railroad in- 
corporation law was opposed and defeated, on the grounds that 
any railroad company, foreign or domestic, could choose its route 
across the State in any direction without consulting the interests 
of the section of country through Avhich it passed, which was not 
only highly unjust, but amounted to an infringement of the right 
of i^rivate property ; it might be detrimental, and would certainly 
be in bad faith to other roads already built or chartered. If a 
road was built on the line of and in direct comi)etition with the 
great public work of the State, the canal, the result would be to 
diminish its revenue, injurious to the State, the reversioner, and 
unjust to the bondholders of that work. It was gravely argued 
that no shrewd capitalist would make an investment at all, and 
that all imi>rovements of that character must be arrested, because 
under a liberal general railroad incorporation law a ruinous com- 
petition would inevitably grow up. It was scouted as unworthy 
and insulting to our State pride to contend that the great cities 
of the Mississippi valley could not be built up in Illinois. All the 
railroads from east to west, north of the Ohio river, seeking ter- 
mini with or beyond the Mississipi)i, must pass over Illinois terri- 
tory. Let but these roads be coiupelled, by the statesmanship of 
Illinois, to converge to a point on that river within our border, 
and capital would center there, storerooms and warehouses spring 
up, dealers and commission merchants would be there, produce 
and shipping would gather there whence to seek an outlet to the 
Atlantic seaboard 5 in a word, a great commercial mart and the 
busy hum of a mighty city Avould be there. While the resources 
of the State were being developed, and property generally upon 
the lines of railroads increased in value, at the termini would be 
built up a city to rival in a few years St. Louis, which paid one- 
third of the revenue of Missouri, with debt and tax-ridden Illi- 
nois contributing half to her capital and substance, trade and 
prosperity. 

Again and again were strenuous efforts made to pass an effi- 
cient general railroad incorporation law in accordance with the ex- 
press provision of the constitution : " The general assembly shall 
encourage internal improvements by passing liberal general laws 



FRENCH'S ADMINISTRATION. 5G3 



of incorporation for tliat pnrposej" and again and again did the 
people from that portion of the State whose nearest, most direct 
and best market was St. Louis, petition the legislature to grant 
charters for railroads across the State from Yincennes, Terre Haute 
and other points on the Wabash, to terminate at a point opposite 
St. Louis, but were as often refused, and bill after bill containing 
such charters was invariably rejected. 

At the close of the winter session of 1849 the members of the 
general assembly, to the number of 18 or 20, representing that 
belt of counties across the State opposite St. Louis, mainly affected 
by this exclusive policy, issued a stirring address to their constit- 
uents and all the section immediately concerned, setting forth that 
justice had been denied them by the legislature, and strongly ap- 
pealing to them to send delegates to the number of not less thau 
ten from each county to a railroad convention to be held in Salem 
in June, 1849, to take into consideration their grievances, and 
devise such measures as might be deemed necessary in the emer- 
gency to secure for their section those rights under the constitu- 
tion from which they had been so unjustly debarred. To the north, 
it was charged, nothing had been refused, while to the south 
nearly everything had been denied — but not by northern votes 
alone ! 

The convention met at the appointed time and was attended by 
a large concourse of people; at least 4,000 earnest men w^ere assem- 
bled, and over 1,000 delegates from the counties aggrieved. Ex- 
Gov. Zadock Casey presided. Mr. Wait, of Bond county, pre- 
sented an able address, setting forth in apt language the griev- 
ances of that belt of country across the State through which the 
Ohio and Mississippi railroad would run, pointing out the advan- 
tages of St. Louis as a market, and boldly declaring the interests 
of that section of the State to be identical with those of that for- 
eign city. The exclusive policy of the legislature was rebuked in 
severe terms for denying them the railroad charters which they 
sought for their section ; the governor was requested to convene 
the legislature in extraordinary session, and a general railroad in- 
corporation act, with liberal provisions, was demanded from it ; 
and finally the people throughout the country were recommended 
to assemble in their home districts and take steps to urge these 
measures without ceasing. 

It was generally sui^posed at this time that the governor would 
convene the legislature for the purpose of electing a United States 
senator in place of Gen. Shields, rejected by the senate in March 
previous for want of eligibility. As anticipated, the governor, on 
the 4th of Sept(Mnber, issued his proclamation for a special session 
in October, 1849, inviting action upon several subjects, among 
them the establishment of a general railroad incori)oration law. 

To counteract the influence of the Salem convention, a "State 
policy" meeting was called at Hillsboro, in Montgomery county, 
for the 20th of July, 1849, to consider and take action in reference 
to railroads crossing the State east and west, and terminating at 
suitable points for building up commercial citico and towns within 
the borders of our own State. The convention did not meet, how- 
ever, until October. For the occasion an immense barbecue was 
prepared, and it was said some 12,000 people attended. Many 
public men and politicians i>articipated in the j)roceedings, and 



564 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

much bombast, portraying tbe great question of "State policy" Id 
glowing colors, was indulged. Among the participants may be 
noted the names of Joseph Gillespie, Eobert Smith, Cyrus Ed- 
wards, A. N. Starbird, W. Pickering, Geu. Thornton, W. D. Lat- 
shaw, and others. These names show that the Alton interest Avas 
largely represented. Eesolutions were adopted in favor of the 
"l^olicy;" approving the action of the legislature at its last ses- 
sion in refusing charters to raikoads leading to St. Louis ; con- 
demning the call of the extra session of the general assembly by 
the governor for that month, and asking its immediate adjourn- 
ment after the election of a United States senator, without acting 
upon any other question. 

Here it may be mentioned that the action of the Missouri legis- 
lature contributed not a little to incense the jieople of Illinois 
against St. Louis. That body had, in the winter of 1849, prece- 
ding, passed an act levying tribute upon all pioperty sold within 
the limits of Missouri, being the growth, produce or manufacture 
of any State other thau her sovereign self. The amount of sale- 
tax required to be paid was $4. 50 on every $1,000 worth of mer- 
chandize sold, for njonths from and after the 21st of August, 
1849. Commission merchants in charging this amount back to 
their consignors, were required to make out sworn returns, much, 
it is i^resumed, after the manner of our late government income 
tax. It was estimated upon accurate data, that the commerce of 
Illinois alone, in the market of St. Louis, would yield, by this sale 
tax, $150,000 annually to the treasury of Missouri. It was a 
scheme by which to lift the burden of government and taxation 
from the peoi)le of Missouri, where it belonged, and impose it upon 
tbe people of Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. A law so obnoxious 
to every principle of justice, gave immediate rise to much dissatis- 
faction and clamor among the people, with severe denunciation of 
the ofiending State by the press; it is but just to say, however, 
that the press of St. Louis also contemned the law and its enac- 
tors, charging that the legislature of Missouri was controlled by 
influences outside of and antagonistic to that city, rather than 
promotive of her interests. The law was clearly inimical to the 
constitution of the United States. Such a tax, if at all admissi- 
ble, congress alone has the power to levy, on condition that it be 
made uniform throughout the United States. Subsequently the 
supreme court of Missouri set the law aside. But it may be well 
imagined that it contributed not a little in arousing feeling and 
l)rejudice among our people and law-makers against St. Louis. 
The dike, too, afforded an opportunity to arraj^ i)rejudice against 
that city, and neither was slowly taken advantage of. 

The legislature, at the called session of October, 1849, again re- 
fused special charters to the Vincenues and St. Louis railroad. A 
general railroad incorporation law was however established, but 
so defective in its juovisious that no company could well organ- 
ize or operate under it without further legislation. The subjoined 
declaration of principles of State policy, drawn up by Wesley 
Sloan, of Pope, the sage of Golconda, which i)assed the house, 
Kov. 3, 1849, by 43 to 27, and the senate with only 2 dissenting 
votes, illustrates the animus of the legislature upon the subject 
of railroads, better than anvthina' else: 



FRENCH'S ADMINISTEATION. 565 

"Resolved, 1st. That the geographical position of the State of Tllinois, con- 
sidered in connection with the construction of railroads within her lim- 
its, is one of the greatest natural advantages which, she possesses, and 
which under a juclicious system of legislative policy must be very in- 
strumental in promoting her general welfare as a State. 

"2d. That tlie prosperity of a State or nation consists not only in the 
virtue and intelligence of a brave and energetic people; in the richness 
of her soil and mineral resources, but also in the number and extent of 
her flourishing towns, cities and villages. 

"3d. That any internal improvement, whether constructed under a 
general or special law, tending in its operation to impede the growth 
and prospects of cities, towns and villages within our own borders, 
ought not to be encouraged. 

"4th. That the construction which should be given to the 6th section 
of the 10th article of the constitution is, that the general assembly shall 
encourage improvements tliat are of an internal character and advan- 
tage, and Jiot such as are mainly intended to promote external interests. 

•'5tJa. That a railroad commencing at our eastern boundary, running 
across the State and terminating at a point on the jMississippi river op- 
posite St Louis, and also uniting with continuous lines of railroads ex- 
tending eastwardly through our sister States, either to Cincinnati or the 
Atlantic cities, would be immensely advantageous to St. Louis, at the 
same time 'that it would impede the growth and prosperity of the 
cities, towns and other localities on the Illinois side of the Mississippi 
river. ' 

"6th. That the connection of the Mississippi river by continuous lines 
of railroads with the Atlantic seaboard, is of vital importance to the 
whole Union, and we willingly invite the construction of railroads pass- 
ing through other States, to our eastern boundary, promising to grant 
to them the right of way, and reserving to ourselves only the privilege 
of fixing the termini; a privilege we constitutionally claim, and which 
we are entitled to exercise by reason of our geographical position. 

"7th. That the construction of the great Central Railroad is a subject 
of vast importance to Illinois, and all laws having for their object the 
completion of the same on proper principles, ought to be encouraged; 
provided such laws do not infringe too much upon our natural advan- 
tages growing out of the geographical position of the Stale."* 

The passage of these resolutions by the very decided majorities 
we have noted, was rather alarming. And uowthe iuterual policy 
of the State, to emphatically announced, was attacked without 
gloves by the foreign press, and our own, partly, too. The news- 
papers of St. Louis and Cincinnati, directly affected by the refusal 
of the legislature to grant a charter to the Ohio & Mississippi 
Eailroad Compauj', were nnsparing in their abuse. The State 
policy was denounced as seltish, narrow and contemptible — 
we were re-enacting the fable of the dog in the manger. The 
press of New York chiming in, characterized our '■ State policy" 
as unreasonable, vain and churlish; we would neither help the 
parties affected by it, nor permit them to help themselves; 
to the great railroads pushing their lines from the Atlantic cities 
westward, conferring permanent benelit and untold wealth along 
their routes, when they arrived upon our eastern border we ex- 
claimed in the blindness of our own interests, thus far slialt thou 
go and no farther, because they wanted to go to St. Louis, the 
great commercial centre on the Mississippi. It was urged that 
Illinois stood in the light of her own interests ; that our short- 
sighted policy was proving ruinous to the south and middle parts 
of the State ; that it was the Alton iniluence, as opposed to St. 
Louis, which had produced the conflict between the three sections 

• See laws of Special Session, 1849. 



566 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of the State, but that after all the north was taking advantage 
of it, using Alton to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for Chicago. 

Alton had been ambitious of commercial distinction for many 
years, always waiting, Micawber-like,for some fortuitous circum- 
stances, or involved in some ingenious schemes to accomplish this 
grand object. But these, without energy, labor and capital will 
not alone succeed in building up a great city. It will be remem- 
bered by the reader that the State bank in 1835 was baidvrupted 
within two years after it started,by its efforts to sui)ply the capi- 
tal to monopolize the lead mines of Galena, divert all theui)-river 
trade from St. Louis, and build up Alton, nearly ojjposite the 
mouth of the Missouri, as the emporium of the Mississippi valley. 
The completion of the canal, also, it was fondly hoped, would 
check the prosperity of St. Louis. Canal boats, it was main- 
tained, might with safety and expedition be towed down as low 
as Alton, but the increased diiMculties and dangers in the current 
of the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Missouri, would pre- 
vent their being taken to St. Louis, wiiile freight could at all 
times be brought as cheaply from New Orleans to Alton as to St. 
Louis. 

Thus by the deceptive cry of this grand internal State policy, 
and various combinations formed in consequence thereof, hostile 
legislation was evoked toward that part of the State which by 
nature is not so well adapted to the construction of railroads as 
the great prairie regions of the center and north, and which should 
rather have received the fostering care of friendly legislation than 
the blight of this policy, whose effects are not entirely removed to 
this day. The great northern portion of the State, seeking an 
outlet by railroads to markets on the lake, and mainly within our 
own borders, Avas not inimical to the exclusive policy ; but while 
that region was liberally rewarded with railroad charters for its 
development, it was not without aid, infatuated let us hope, from 
the south to impose the "policy" upon the latter. 

Notwithstanding this withering policy, and the just strictures 
ui>on it by our own and the foreign press, which disseminated a 
knowledge of it far and wide ; and also that the State generally 
had been greatly retarded in her onward career by an enormous 
public debt, without equivalent, weighing her down like an incu- 
bus, there was not, as we approach the close of the decade termi- 
nating with 1850, another State in the Union increasing so rap- 
idly in population, wealth and resources. Not Illinois alone, but 
the entire northwest was settling up rapidly. The whole of this 
vast wilderness in 1820 contained only about 850,000 souls, (being 
less than Illinois had in 1850), while now it numbered 5,000,000. 
The actiou of steam had cheapened and immeasurably increased 
the speed of transportation and immigration. The comple- 
tion of the canal had given an impetus to the agricultural 
resources of Illinois, long lu^eded. It had also been indirectly' a 
means of wonderfully improving her financial affairs. With the 
advent of Gov. Ford's administration, it was officially announced 
that there was not money enough in the State treasury to pay 
postage on a letter. Since then the new loan of .$1,600,000 had 
been made, with which the canal had been completed, yielding now 
an annual revenue in tolls of over $125,000 ; canal lands worth half 
million dollars had been sold, far above the appraisement ; 3-5ths 



FRENCH'S ADMINISTRATION. 567 

■of the 1^ mill tax authorized iu 1845 now x)aid $12 out of every $60 
of annually accruing interest; and if tlie two mill tax authorized 
by the new constitution could have been diverted in tliat way the 
■whole annual interest on the internal improvement debt proper 
<30uld have been paid. Auditor's warrants were worth 95 cents 
on the dollar. Such was our improved condition at this time, 
brought about by a rigid economy in expenditures, a thorough 
system of retrenchment under the new constitution, and a wise 
administration of public affairs under Govs. Ford and French. 

And now came in addition such glad tidings which, but for 
the thorough schooling in the so rigid economies and dearly bought 
experiences, might liave sent us agaiu headlong into a wild course 
of profligacy and schemes of infatuation. This was the magnifi- 
■cent donation by congress of some 3,000,000 acres of land to the 
State, which secured the building the Illinois Central Railroad ; 
also at the same session, the grant to the State of all the unsold 
.swamp lands within her limits, estimated at 1,500,000 acres ; and 
what was also of incalculable benefit to many a family, the act of 
congress granting bounty land to the brave men who i)eri led their 
lives in the but recently closed Mexican war. With these encour- 
.■aging and hopeful aids, joined to an ever thronging emigration 
pouring in uj^on our rich prairies, -stifling legislation could no 
longer retard our march to empire. 

In the fall of 1850, a new legislature, fresh from anew people — 
new in great accessions, and also in that they had cast off their 
garments of despondency, and were full of hope — was elected. 
This body met in January, 1851, and while it did not inconsider- 
ately crowd imi)ortant bills through, performed a great deal of 
labor, giving life to those measures which have become the in- 
struments of an enduring greatness to this empire State, and 
from which, with proper additions since, we behold to-day unfold- 
ing the full glory of a grand future. These instruments were 
mainly important raihoad charters, which iu number Avere even 
then said to mark up the surface of the State into a network of 
these improvements. 

The incubus of "State policy" was not altogether shaken off, 
but a good beginning was made by granting a charter to the Ohio 
and Mississip})! raihoad company. Mr. Douglas, taking a broader 
view than the confines of Illinois, was prompted to address a letter 
from Washington to Uii Manly, of Coles, saying if he were a leg- 
islator he would certiiinly grant a charter for the proposed road 
from Illinoistown to Terre Haute, and also to Vincennes, and to 
other lines across the State when any considerable portion of the 
people desired it. He would give a preference to the towns and 
•cities of Illinois where it could be done without injury or injustice 
to others, but he would never sacrifice the great agricultural in- 
terests for the benefit of a much smaller interest iu the towns. The 
•country was not made for the towns, but the towns for the con- 
venience of the country.* The Hon. Y. E. Young, M. C, also 
wrote to Mr. W. S. Waite, of Bond county, that good faith on the 
part of the legislature required them to charter all cross railroads 
oontemplated, as most probably the Illinois Central railroad grant 
of land would not have been obtained if the delegation iu congress 
had withheld the positive assurance that the State would change 

• Vide IU. Reg., Jan., 1851. ' 



568 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



her policy in relation to cross roads. Tbat such assurances were 
given was also corroLoratedby Mr. Douglas and Col. W.H. Bissell, 
the latter writing that he felt quite sure votes were obtained in that 
way, and that the result showed that they had but very few to 
sjjare in the final trial.* Thus was the legislature induced to yield 
and grant just one cross road leading to St. Louis. But that was 
all. 

And now, to illustrate the bad faith of soulless corporations — 
the many disappointments and heart-burnings which they have 
caused, and the bitter curses they have invited from rising towns- 
and ambitious cities throughout the length and breadth of the 
State, it may here be mentioned in connection with this road^ 
which gave one of the earliest cases of the kind, and which, too, 
will serve as a type of many others whose local history cannot 
well be obtained, that, after being a. suppliant for years before the 
legislature for just the right of way, and in its obsequiousness full 
of the most honorable and humble promises, no sooner had it ob- 
tained its charter than it turned and violated them, becoming per- 
fectly oblivious to everything else except what was expressed in 
that instrument. Belleville, at that day, was an ambitious and flour- 
ishing young city. In the passage of the charter for the Ohio and 
Mississippi railroad company, it is alleged that it Avas distinctly 
understood that the interests of Belleville should not be sacrificed, 
and therefore the naming of that place as a point in the charter 
was magnanimously omitted. This magnanimity that corporation 
failed to appreciate, and grievous disappointment followed. Belle- 
ville thereupon tendered a subscription of $50,000 on condition 
that she be made a point ; she entreated and remonstrated, but a 
deaf ear was turned to all her requests. Belleville was left some 
six miles to the south. She held an indignation meeting and de- 
clared it inconsistent with the honor, interests or duty of any 
citizen to participate in the ceremonies of breaking ground at Illi- 
noistown for that road, February 8, 1852. On that occasion was 
presented the singular spectacle of Cincinnati, Vincennes and St. 
Louis, three foreign cities, taking possession of the soil of Illinois- 
upon which to inaugurate a great improvement, without our coun- 
tenance or approbation , but we were powerless to prevent it. 
Other places in this State, similarly aggrieved by other roads, are 
Uuiontown, Salem, Charleston, Shelbyville, Urbana, &c., &c. 
Verily, in our legislation upon the subject of railroads, and the 
granting to them of valuable franchises, we have gone from one 
extreme to the other. While our action toward them in respect 
of the State policy was entirely too narrow and illiberal, savoriug^ 
too much of proscription, when chartered privileges were ex- 
tended to them it seems that the bars were let clear down, and 
we failed to retain any sufficient control OA^er them. These, to-day, 
giant foreign corporations, some of whom erst begged in a most 
suppliant manner of this sovereign State merely for the right of 
way, now set up their vested rights and defy not only legislative 
but constitutional control. 

The "State policy" maintained its supremacy longer with regard, 
to the Atlantic and Mississippi railroad, known as the " Brough " 
road, from Terre Hante via Vandaliato St. Louis direct, than any 
other. This road was regarded as in direct conflict with the Alton 



Ibid 



French's administration. 569 

iuterest, and a ruinous conipetitiou to the Terre Haute and Alton 
road, tlieu building. Col. John Brougli, a leading i)ublic citizen 
of Indiana, was at its Lead, and showed much deterniiiuition to 
accomplish it. When he w as denied a special charter by the leg- 
islature of 1851, a company was organized under the general laws 
of 1849 ; subscription books to the capital stock were opened in 
New^ York city, capital $2,000,000, shares $50 each; $470,000 were 
speedily subscribed, and Col. Brough, the president, issued his 
bulletin, announcing his intention to build a road ironi Terre 
Haute to St. Louis, not only without, but against, legislation. The 
idea that St. Louis should luive two railroad highways across the 
State of Illinois was simply monstrous to Alton. An Alton news- 
paper of November, 1852, says : 

■'At the close of the last session of our legislature we expressed the 
opinion that Col. John Brough, of ludiaua, would be satisfied with the 
explicit refusal of our State to grant a charter of iucorporatiou to his pet 
project * * and that he would abide by the several times repeated de- 
cision. The citizens of Illinois had reason to suppose that they were 
rid, for all time to come, of this pretended friend, but real enemy, to their 
best interests. It seems, however, that this valiant Indiana colonel is 
determined, notwithstanding his former repulses, to continue his unsoli- 
cited and officious intermeddling with the domestic policy of this State." 

But it was found impracticable to build the road under the law 
of 1849, and api)lication was again made to the general assembly 
of 1853 for a special charter. Col. Brough was personally pres- 
ent ami labored earnestly to succeed, but the State policy party, 
after streiutous opposition, led by Messrs. Wynn, Kuykendal and 
others, were again enabled to defeat the bill. Another bill look- 
ing to the accomplishment of the same result, perhaps, was for a 
cbarter of the Terre Hante and Vandalia railroad, but the jeal- 
ous and watchful State policy part}', regarding this as a i)iece- 
meal resurrection of the " Brough road," promptly defeated it. 
The extension of the Belleville and Illinoistown charter eastward 
across the State, the Terre Hante and Marshall branch, and sev- 
eral others, which looked to approach theMississii)pi at St. Louis, 
all met with signal defeat. The triumph of the State policy party 
was complete, and the press in its interest boldly proclaimed that 
it had Avaxed stronger than ever. 

About this time, too, Chicago was greatly exercised over the Joliet 
Cut-off grievance, a road which would save to the public from the 
east, west or south — not desiring to makethe detour to Chicago — 
60 miles in transportation or travel, going and coming. Yet Chi- 
cago, for some fancied benefit, was anxious that that circuit should 
be maintained and enforced, nolens volens, upon all freight and 
passenger transportation. It is but- just to say, however, that iu 
this there was not entire unanimity. Kotably the Chicago Demo- 
crat became all at once the most ardent advocate of State policj", 
and strongly urged this enforced deviation upon the public, de- 
nouncing Joliet and her citizens prominently connected with the 
steps taken to build a short railroad directly east, in unmeasured 
terms of abuse. 

It M^as at the session of 1853, that Joseph Gillesine, champion 
of the Alton interest, introduced into the senate a bill by which 
all these existing chartered railroad corporations were to be 
protected for ten years against the buildhig of any competing 
roads within 25 miles distance, unless existing corporations first 



570 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

consented thereto. Tliis amazing proposition was a fit climax to 
all the monstrous, absurd and pernicious schemes of the State 
policy party. While many of the other States of the Union, ani- 
mated by a noble spirit of enterprise, were removing legal ob- 
structions and instead adopting broad and liberal railroad incor- 
poration laws, throwing wide open their borders, and inviting 
capital from abroad to build railroads and create comi)etitiou 
wherever it inclined, it was cooly proposed in the great State 
of Illinois, which needed development very badly, to draw a cor- 
don of exclusiveness around her borders, and within to combine 
with soulless corporations in the monopoly of all improvements, 
and hand over to them, bound by the strong cords of the law, 
the people of the State to be fleeced without stint. The bill 
failed to become a law. 

The Salem railroad convention of 1849 having ultimately j)roved 
successful in obtaining a charter for the Ohio and Mississippi rail- 
road, another convention now met at the same place, Kov. 25, 1853, 
to urge upon the governor the calling together of the general as- 
sembly in extraordinary session. The counties of Clark, Cum- 
berland, Effingham, Crawford, Fayette, Jasper, Edwards, Bond, 
St. Clair, Jackson, Monroe, Williamson, liandolph, Clin- 
ton, Jefferson, Periy, Marion, Clay, some 10, all south of the 
Terre Haute and Alton railroad, whose best and most accessible 
market would be St. Louis, were ably represented by their most 
public spirited and enterprising men. The Hon. Zadock Casey 
was unanimously chosen chairman. A committee was appointed 
of which the Hon. Sidney Breese was chairman, to draft an ad- 
dress, setting forth their grievances and urging the governor to 
convene the legislature. Action upon seven nieasures was de- 
manded, but the railroad grievance was the main one. The com- 
mittee say: 

"The special acts and the general law, so-called, for railroad incorpo- 
ration demand action that would alone justify an extra session. Ke- 
strictions upon the accomplishment of useful enterprises might be re- 
moved by an act of ten lines, opening the way to immediate construc- 
tion of works that would bring in capital from abroad and enhance the 
value of real estate to the amount of several millions of dollars. That 
Southern Illinois has a peculiar interest in this important measure, she 
has no disposition to deny. Look at the single fact that in the vast and 
increasing railroad enterprises, which is giving new life to the State, and 
which already exceed 2,000 miles in extent, less than 300 are permitted 
to Southern Illinois." 

A committee of some 20 was appointed to present the address 
in i)crson to the governor. It had the desired effect. The governor 
issued his proclamation, convening the legislature in Feb., 1854. 

This special session was a very busy, and in many respects, a 
most imiDortant one for the State. But we now can only notice 
the subject in hand. The State policy was narrowed down to the 
one object of again defeating the "Brough road," for which pnr- 
l>ose a great eflbrt was made, aided by foreign lobbyists interested 
in the Terre Haute and Alton road. But their eflbrts failed ; the 
liberal policy triumphed, the charter "lecognizing and authorizing 
the construction of the Mississippi and Atlantic railroad" passed 
in both houses by decisive majorities. Exit ''•State policy" — a 
policy whi(;h has done much to hinder and retard the growth and 
development of the southern portion of the State, and whose 
blight has lingered more or less to this day. 



Chapter XL VI. 
THE ILLINOIS CENTEAL EAILROAD. 

Congressional Grant of Land — HolbrooJc Charters — Bondholders^ 
Schemes — The 7 per cent, of its Gross Earnings — Passage of its 
Charter — Benefits to the Company, the State and Individuals — 
Kote : Jealousy of Politicians on Account of its Glory — Corres- 
pondence of Messrs. Breese and Douglas. 



Tbe subject of this chapter marks an era in the progress of the 
State. Tlie grand scheme of connecting, by means of iron bands 
of commerce, Lake Michigan witli tlie great watery highway of 
the Mississippi Valley at the continence of the Ohio, had long- 
been a desideratum with our i)eople. It had constituted part of 
the State internal improvement system of 1837, and some work on 
the line was actually done, but was abandoned with the gen- 
eral collapse of that system. The Central Railroad, from the 
southern terminus of the canal to Cairo, was subsequently revived 
by legislation, procured by scheming brains with an eye to the 
future, but the whole subject lacked vitality until the jiassage of 
the act of congress of September, 1850, granting to the State a 
munificent donation of near 3,000,000 acres of land through the 
heart of Illinois in aid of its completion. This noble tribute by 
the nation had its birth simultaneously with and amidst the 
throes of the great adjustment measures of 1850, whicli, during 
that long and extraordinary session of Congress, shook the Union 
from center to circumference. Twice before had a similar bill 
passed the senate, and twice had it failed in the house, but now it 
was a law, and the State possessed the means to complete the 
great work. The final passage of the measure was hailed with 
demonstiations of great joy by the people and press of our State.* 
Illinois internal improvement bonds made a bound forward of 10 
per cent, in the New York market. At this time the amount of 
railroad completed in the State consisted of a section of the 
Northern Cross Railroad, from Meredosia and Naples, on the Illi- 
nois river, to Springfield; the Chicago & Galena, from the former 
city as far as Elgin ; and a 6 mile coal track across the American 
bottom from opposite St Louis to the mines in the bluffs. 

♦After the adjournment of congrress. Senators Douglas and Shields, on their return 
home, were tendered a public dinner at Chicago in honor of the occasion, but for rea- 
sons of delicacy they declined becoming the exclusive recipients of such attentions, 
awarding to their colleagues of the house — where the final battle was foughtand 
won— Messrs. McClernand, Harris, Wentworth, Young, Richardson. Bissclland Baker, 
the principal merit of its pas«age. The honors for the success of the measure were a 
fruitful source of jealousy among our public men. 

571 



572 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Tlie act granted the right of way for the railroad through the 
public hiuds of the width of 200 feet, from the southern terminus 
of the Illinois and Michigan Canal to a point at or near the 
junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and for branches to 
Chicago and Galena; also the privilege to take from them mate- 
rials of earth, stone and timber for its construction. But the 
main grant to the State was the alternate sections of land desig- 
nated by even numbers for G sections deep on each side of its 
trunk and branches ; for the lands sold or pre-empted within this 
12 mile belt or area, enough might be selected from even num- 
bered sections to the distance of 15 miles on either side of the 
tracks eciual in quantity to them. The construction of the road was 
to be simultaneously commenced at its northern and southern 
termini, and when, completed the branches were to be constructed. 
It was to be completed within ten years, in default of which the 
unsold lands were to revert to the United States, and for 
those sold the State was to pay the government price. 
The minimum price of the alternate or odd numbered sections of 
the government laud was raised from $1.25 to $2.50 per acre. 
While the public lands were thus by the prospect of the building 
of this road rendered more salable at double ]>rice, it followed 
that the general government not only lost nothing in dollars 
and cents, but in point of time was actually the gainer by this 
splendid gift. The land was taken out of market for two years, 
and when restored, in the fall of 3852, it in fact brought an aver- 
age of $5 per acre. The grant was subject to the disposal of the 
legislature for the purpose si)ecitied, and the road and branches 
were to be and remain a public highway for the use of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, free from all tolls or other charges 
for the transportation of any troops, munitions or other i)roperty 
of the general government. This provision, had it a|)plied to 
the rolling stock as well as the use of the rails, would doubtless 
have saved the general government during the rebellion many 
hundreds of thousands of dollars ; but it has been construed ad- 
versely to the rights of the government in this particular. For 
the purpose of continuing the road south to Mobile, all the rights, 
privileges and liabilities, with regard to the grant of the public 
lands and in every respect as conferred on this State, were ex- 
tended to Alabama and Mississipi>i. Such is a synopsis of the 
important provisions contained in this, the first land subsidy made 
by congress in aid of railroads, latterly so lamentably frequent 
as to well nigh despoil the country of its public domain. 

Upon the passage of the bill, Mr. Douglas immediately pre- 
pared a petition, signed by the congressional delegations of all the 
States along the loute of the road from Mobile north, describ- 
ing the probable location of the road and its branches through Illi- 
nois, and requesting the j)resident to order the suspension of land 
sales along the lines designated, whi(;h was immediately done.* 

The act of congress threw upon the legislature of Illinois the 
entire duty of making a prudent, wise and satisfactory disi)Osi- 

•At the same session congress passed an act granting to the State of Akansas the 
swamp and overflowed lands unfit tor cnltivation. and remaining- unsold within her 
borders, the benefiis whereof were extended by section 4 to each of tlie other States 
in wliich there might be such landssituated. Bv this act the State of Illinois received 
1,5(j0,(i00 acres more. These lands were subsequently turned over to the respective 
counties where located, with the condition that they be drained, and for sclioul pur- 
poses. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 57ii 

tiou of the magnificent grant. The point of departure of the Chi- 
cago branch from the main trunk was not fixed by tlie act, and this 
delicate duty the legislature, it was generally expected, would take 
in hand. Before the meeting of that body, in January, 1851, nuich 
contention pervaded the press of the State regarding the location 
of the main trunk, and particularly the routes of the branches. 
Many worthy and ambitious towns were arrayed against each 
other. The LaSalle interest wanted the Chicago branch taken 
off at that point. Bloomlngton, looking to a continuation of tlie 
Alton & Sangamon road (now the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis) to 
that place, wanted the Chicago branch to connect her with the 
lake. Shelbyville, which was a jjoint on the old line of the Illi- 
nois Central, not dreaming- but that she would have the main 
trunk, was grasping for the departure thence of the Chicago 
branch also, and lost both. Another route, which ought to have 
commanded great strength, was proposed on the most direct line 
from Cairo, making the point of connection with the main trunk 
in Pulaski county, and taking off the Galena branch at Mt. 
Vernon, thence through Carlyle, Greenville, Hillsboro, Spring- 
field, Peoria, Galena and on to Dubuque. But of course it was 
to the interest of any company to make the location where there 
was the largest amount of vacant land that could be brought 
within the belt of 15 miles on either side of the road. And this 
proved the controlling influence nltimately, both in the location 
of the main stem and the branches. 

The disastrous failure of only a dozen short years before, as con- 
nected with the Utopia of the internal improvement system by the 
State, was not forgotten; and now when the means of achieving 
great good for developing the State were at hand, the stump and 
press teemed with advice as to the best mode of disi^osing of the 
grant of land, which, it may be added, was seldom free from bias 
or a look to local advantages. Swarms of land speculators and 
town site owners, it was anticipated, would infest the lobbj' at the 
next session of the legislature. The people were ver^' properly ad- 
vised that to guard against the influences and intrigues of these 
sharks they must select their best and ablest men to represent 
them. 

The Holhrooli Charters. — One of the phantoms which loomed 
into public recognition, casting its shadow across the path of bright 
promise for the State, was what was known as the "Holbrook 
Charters," whose incorporators, it was feared, would step in and 
swallow uj) the congressional grant of land under the broad terms 
of their franchises. 

The Cairo City and Canal Company was originally incorporated 
for the purpose of constructing dikes, levees or endjankments to 
secure and preserve Cairo city and adjacent lands against the 
freshets of the rivers. The cutting of a canal to unite the Missis- 
sippi with the Ohio through Cash river, was also authorized. In 
the fall of 1835 the Hon. Sydney Breese, through a well-considered 
published letter, had first called attention to the plan of a central 
railroad, connectingthe southern terminus of the Illinois and Mich- 
igan canal at Peru with the confluence of the Ohio and Mississipj)i 
rivers at Cairo. An effort ^as made at the special session of 
1835-6 to unite this project with the canal, for which an appropri- 



574 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

atioii of $500,000 was tbeu granted. This failing, a charter for the 
raihoad was granted, supplementing this project with the Cairo 
City Company, the corjiorators being Darius B. Holbrook, (who 
was also the president of the company,) Miles A. Gilbert, John S. 
Hacker, Alexander M. Jenkins, Anthony Oliiey and William M. 
Walker. Application was then first made to congress for aid by 
pre-emption. One year later the State entered upon the great in- 
ternal improvement system, and, unwilling to brook a rival, ap- 
plied to the Cairo company to surrender the charter for the build- 
ing of this railroad through the centre of the State, which was 
complied with on condition that the State build the road on a 
route leading from Cairo through Vaudalia, Shelbyville, Decatur, 
Bloomingtou, Peru, and via Dixon to Galena. The State expended 
more than a million dollars, it is said, on this route before the 
"grand system" collapsed in 1840. Subsequently, by act of March 
6, 1843, the road, in the condition that it was abandoned, was re- 
stored to the Cairo company under the title of the Great Western 
Railway Company, with the power to construct the road from 
Cairo via the places named, to a point at or near the south- 
ern terminus of the Illinois and Michigan canal, in such manner 
as they might deem most expedient. The Cairo Company was 
vested with the title and effects of the old Central railroad. All 
the usual fianchises were granted to the Great Western Company 
as part of the Cairo Comi^auy, and in section 18 it was added that 
" all lands that nuiy come into the possession of said comi)any, 
whether by donation or purchase," were pledged and mortgaged 
in advance as security for the payment of the bonds and obliga- 
tions of the com])any authorized to be issued and contracted under 
the provisions of the charter. By act of March 3, 1845, the charter 
of this Great Western liailroad Company was reijcaled ; but by 
act of February 10, 1849, it was revived for the benefit of the Cairo 
City and Canal Company, with the addition of some 30 names as 
incorporators, taken from all parts of the State, many of whom 
were well-known politicians. The company thus revived was au- 
thorized in the construction of the Central Eailroad to extend it 
on from the southern terminus of the canal — LaSalle — to Chicago 
"in strict conformity to all obligations, restrictions, powers and 
privileges of the act of 1843." The governor was empowered to 
hold in trust for the use and benefit of said company whatever 
lands might be donated to the State by the general government, 
to aid in the completion of the Central or Great Western Railway, 
subject to theconditions and provisions of the bill (then pending be- 
fore congress and expected to become a law,) granting the subsidy 
of 3,000,000 acres of land. The company was further authorized, 
to receive, hold and dispose of any and all lands secured to it by 
donation, j)re-eniption or otherwise. There were other details of 
minor importance, but these sufticiently indicate the nice scheme 
entertained by the long-headed speculators. 

But Douglas, though absent at Washington, was not to be 
hoodwinked by these schemes against the best interests of 
the State. At the special session of the legislature in the au- 
tumn of 1849, in his able speech delivered to that bodj , October 
-Jod, he demonstrated that a fraud had been practiced upon it the 
winter preceding in jnocuring from it this charter; and that had 
the bill in congress donating this land met with no delay on this 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 



accouut, tliis vast iiroperty would have gone into the hands of 
Holbrook & Co., to eiiricli these scheming corporators, with little 
assurance, as they represented no wealth, that the road would 
ever be built. Congress had an insuperable t)bjection to making 
the grant for the beniit of a private corporation. The connection 
of these Holbrook companies with the Central railroad, in the es- 
timation of congress, presented an impassable barrier to the grant. 
But this legislature, which had granted the charter, refused to 
repeal it. 

To obviate the difficulty, Mr. Holbrook, president of the com- 
panies, who ardently sought the success of the road, executed a 
promise of release to the governor, December 15th, 1849, a dupli- 
cate of which was transmitted to Mr. Douglas at Washington. 
But the senator did not regard this release as valid or binding upon 
the company, because it Avas without the sanction or authority of 
the stockholders, or even the board of directors. While he did 
not impute any such motive, the company, he believed, was still 
in the condition which would enable it to take all the lands 
granted, divide them among its stockholders, and retain its char- 
tered privileges without building the road. He was unwilling to 
give his approval to any arrangement by which the State could 
possibly be deprived of any of the benetits resulting from the ex- 
pected grant. For the protection of the State, and as an assur- 
ance to congress, the execution of a full and complete release of 
all rights and privileges, and a snrrender of the charters, and all 
acts or parcels of acts supplemental or amendatory thereof, or 
relating in any wise to the Central railroad, so as to leave the 
State, through its legislature, free to make such disposition of the 
lands, and such arrangement for the construction of the road as 
might be deemed best, was demanded. These requirements were 
deemed n(;t unreasonable by the agents of the company at Wash- 
ington, the Hon. John A. Rockwell, of Connecticut, and Mr. G. 
W. Billings, and a few days after a release, in duplicate, was exe- 
cuted in New York, one copy of which was forwarded to the 
governor of Illinois, and one retained by Mr. Douglas, to be used, 
if necessary, in congress, containing these conditions : 

"1st. That the legislature of said State shall, within the period of ten 
YEARS from the 1st of January, 1850, construct and finally complete, or 
cause to be constructed and completed, a railroad from Cairo to Chicago, 
and that the southern terminus ot said road shall be the city of Cairo. 
2d. That the legislature of said State shall, during its next session, elect 
whether to accept or decline this release upon the conditions herein 
stated. 3d. That until said State, through their legislature, shall have 
made their election, this company may with the aj:ip7-obi(/i(m of tJie govo-jtor of 
the stale, proceed in the construction of said road, and if said charter 
shall be released as aforesaid to said State of Illinois, the said State shall, 
within one year from the time of said election, refund to this company 
the amount wliich between that period and the present time, sliall have 
been expended in the construction of said road, witli 6 per cent, interest 
tliex'eon, and shall assume all bona fide contracts here.after made by this 
company in the construction of the same, which shall have been previ- 
ously approved by the governor of said State." 

Noth withstanding this release, after the passage of the bill 
granting the land by congress, there was a doubt in the minds of 
the people of Illinois, which Avas freely canvassed pending the 
election of the legislature which was to dispose of the splendid 
donation to the best interests of the State, regardless of local con- 



57G HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

sideratious or sectional desires, that tbe Cairo company, tlirough 
its president, could aud would repudiate the relinquishment of its 
' charters, or use some expedient to induce the general assembly 
to fail in accepting it according to its 2d stipulation, which would 
enable that concern to resume its former position and grasp the 
large grant of land under the i^rovisions of its charter of 1849. 
The following curious letter, over the name of the president of tlie 
company, which appeared in the Illinois Advocate at Lebanon, 
and floated about cousidei^ably in the public press of the day, 
seems to evince a desire to hold on, and it doubtless gave color to 
the public apiirehensions : 

"New York, Sept. 25, 1850. 
"/yr)«. K 0. Smith: 

"Dear Sir: I can ti'uly say that I am under obligations to those who 
with Gov. Casey prevented the repeal of the charter of the Great West- 
ern Railway Company. It was granted in good faith and under no 
other that the State can now grant. I am happy to say that when I ex- 
plained the bill to Judge Douglas, and that my object was to have the 
road made for the best interest of the whole State, I would return the 
charter rather than have any opposition from the State, he was satisfied; 
and the consequence has been that we have worked together at Wash- 
ington this winter, and have obtained the grant of land from congress 
toward making the road. We are now sure that the road from Cairo to 
Peru, Galena and Chicago will be built. I am now organizing the com- 
pany to commence the work this fall, aud put a large part of the road 
under contract as early as jiossible. We shall make the road on the old 
line of the Central route, through Vandalia, Sbelbyville, Decatur and 
Bloomington. I rejoice with the people of Illinois that this important 
road to the whole State, will now be made. 

"Very respectfully, D. B. HOLBROOK." 

This w^as constiued as a pretension on the part of the presi- 
dent, that the State could not grant any other charter than that 
which his company owned, to complete the Central railroad, im- 
plying a rei^udi-ation of the release. Here was also a claim to a 
share of the glory in procuring the grant from congress, and the 
assertion that his company was ready to resume the work (men- 
tioning the route of the road) indicated that the Cairo company 
was master of the situation. Further, the Chicago Commercial 
Advertiser^ a newspaper in Holbrook's interest, in no very elegant 
language, and not devoid of bitterness, boldly set up for him a re- 
pudiation of his release of the charters, by the following avowal : 

"Judge Douglas has declared the first release of the Cairo company 
illegal and defective, but that he obtained a second one that was legal, 
before he would vote for the grant of land. That will likely be found 
equally so For, although he is an ex-judge, it is doubted if he knows 
enough of law to either dictate or draw a legal release in such a case; 
and his whole concern in the matter may be looked upon as much a 
piece of political trickery as his bragging about it is bombastic, and that 
he had no more influence in procuring the grant than the barking of a 
poodle dog. * * The Cairo Company have neverasked anything 
of the State but the privilege to expend their own money in it, which 
would never injvu-e, but do much good to the State. * * * if 
Breese, and Casej' and Holbroolc can be killed off by the politicians of 
Illinois, look out for more pluudei'." 

These pretensions brought down upon the Cairo companies, and 
particularly their president, the severest animadversions of the 
press and many politicians. But the companies were not without 
friends in the legislature and out of it. It is probable that the 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 577 



lelea.se signed in Jsew York was not authorized by the llliDois 
resident corporators under the revival act of 1849. 

lu November, before the meeting of the legislature, Walter B. 
Scates, one of the new corporators of the Great Western Eailroad 
Company of 1849, addressed a letter of invitation to all his co- 
corporators, duly named, to meet at Springfield, January G, 1851, 
lor the purpose of taking such action as might be deemed expe- 
<lient for the public good by surrendering up their charter to the 
State, or such other course as might be desired by the general 
assembly, to remove all doubts and questions relative to the com- 
pany's rights and powers, and to disembarrass that body with re- 
gard to the disposal of the grant of land from congress for the 
building of the much needed Central railroad. 

With the opening of tlie general assembly there were not want- 
ing wealthy capitalists ready to avail themselves of this munifi- 
cence of the nation, who proffered to build the Central railroad 
and its branches. The following memorial explains itself: 

" To the Honorable ihe Senators and Jiepresentativeti of the State of Illinois, in Gew 
eral Ax.-itmblii cofiveved: 

The memorial ofi Robert Schuyler, George Griswold, Gouverner 
Morris, Jonathan Sturgis, George W. Ludlow and John F. A. San- 
ford, of the city of New York, and David A. Neal, Franklin Haven and 
Robert Rantoiil, jr., of Boston and vicinity, respectfully represents: 

Having examined and considered an act of congress of the United 
States, whereby land is donated for the purpose of ensuring the con- 
struction of a railroad from Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio, to Galena 
and the northwest angle of the State of Illinois, with a branch extend- 
ing to Chicago on Lake Michigan, on certain conditions therein ex- 
pressed ; and having also examined the resources of the tract of coun- 
try through which it is proposed that said railroad shall pass, and the 
amount of cost and space of time necessary to construct the same, the 
subscribers propose to form a company with such stockholders as they 
may associate with them, including among their number persons of 
large experience in the construction of several of the principal railroads 
in the United States, and of means and credit suflicient to place beyond 
doubt their ability to perfom what they hereinafter propose, make the 
following offer to the State of Illinois for their consideration : 

The company so formed by the subscribers will, under the authority 
and direction of the State of Illinois, fully and faithfully jjerform the 
several conditions, and execute the trust in said act of congress con- 
tained. And will build a railroad, with branches between the termini 
set forth in said act, with a single track, and complete the same ready 
for the transportation of merchandise and passengers, on or before the 
4th day of July, which will be in the year of our Lord 1854. 

And the said railroads shall be in all respects as well and thoroughly 
built as the railroad running from Boston to Albany, with such im- 
provements thereon as experience has shown to be desirable and expe- 
dient, and shall be equipped in a manner suitable to the business to be 
accommodated thereby. 

And the said company, from and after the completion of said road, 
will pay to the State of Illinois, annually, — per cent, of the gross earn- 
ings of said road, without deduction or charge for expenses, or for any 
other matter or cause : Provided, that the State of Illinois will grant to 
the subscribers a charter of incorporation, with terms mutually advan- 
tageous, with powers and limitationsas they in their wisdom may think 
fit, as shall be accepted by the said company, and as will sufficiently re- 
munerate the subscribers for their care, labor and expenditure in that 
behalf incurred, and will enable them to avail themselves of the lands 
donated by the said act, to raise the funds, or some portion of the funds, 
necessary for the construction and equipment of said road." 

37 



578 msTOiiY OF Illinois. 

Mr. Eaiitoul, one of the iiu'iiioiialists, was tlie accredited agent 
of the others, with lull power to act. He attended personally at 
Springlield during- the sitting of the legislature, and the above 
proposition, coming from gentlemen of such high financial stand- 
ing, was ver^' favorably received from his bauds, particularly as 
it ofiered the completion of the road and branches in a much 
shorter space of time than was by any one anticipated. He was 
willing to adjust the conditions of the contract so as to render the 
completion of the road certain, and Avithout a possibility of the 
misapplication of the lands, or the bestowal of a monopoly upon 
the company, which was ready to give any guarantee that might 
reasonably be asked to guard the State against loss from defalca- 
tion, both as respected the prosecution of the work aud the ap- 
plication of the proceeds of the sales of lands. The terms gen- 
erally were regarded as highly advantageous, both to the State 
and the company, and they were ultimately made the basis of the 
Central railroad charter. 

But opposition to the gift of land from the nation being turned 
over by the State to a private corporation was not wanting. The 
magnitude of the grant was so overpowering to the minds of some 
persons that they fancied and argued that the State, by proper 
management of the means, might build not only the 700 luiles of 
railroad, but pay off the public debt of many millions besides. If the 
State could have managed its finances and property with the econ- 
omy, sagacity and flexibility of a private (corporation, much of this 
doubtless could have been done. Mr. John S. Wright, of Chicago, 
published a pamphlet, insisting that the State would be everlast- 
ingly dishonored if the legislature did not devise laws to build the 
road and disenthral the State of its enormous debt besides out of 
the avails of this grant. 

Three-fourths of the lands donated, it is true, in quality of soil 
and fertility were unsurpassed, and there was a most excellent 
bargain in them so soon as iron arteries of commerce could be ex- 
tended to them ; but there they lay, and had lain for 25 years, 
free to any purchaser at $1.25 an acre, and recently, with the 
abundance of land warrants thrown upon the market by the sol- 
diers of the Mexican war, they might be had at about 70 cents 
per acre, but they remained unentered. The bargain in them was 
to be imparted to them by the construction of a railroad, aud the 
bringing of them wathin the range of markets. It was a question 
of development, for which large and ready capital was necessary. 
Even if the credit of the State would have commanded the requi- 
site capital to build the road, judging by her experience theu some 
12 years past, it is questionable Avhether she ought to have under- 
taken it. Certainly there was no such disposition on the i:>art of 
the legislature. The shortness of time in which the road was prof- 
fered to be built was a cardinal consideration. The great interior 
of the State, then of no taxable Aalueto the treasury, being almost 
a howling wilderness, would in some three years' time be pene- 
trated by a commercial highway, and brought within ready access 
of the great markets of the world throughout the year. From the 
great lakes aud upper Mississippi on the north, to the extreme 
peninsula of the State on the south, a back-bone of well-settled 
country, pojuilous towns and tiourisliing cities, with ribs extend- 
ing out on either side, would spring into being, and the life cur- 



ILLINOIS CENTKAL RAILROAD. 579 

reuts of commerce and prosperity would speedily flow strong aud 
healthy from the centre to the extremities. 

The bill lingered in the legislature much longer than its ardent 
friends had anticipated, to their no little anxiety. Many amend- 
ments were offered and rejected, such as requiring payment for 
the right of way to pre-emptionists, or settlers upon the govern- 
ment land, the same as to actual owners, though their benetits, 
and the enhanced value of their lauds by the building of the road 
would be 500 per cent. The point of divergence for the Chicago 
branch was strenuously attempted to be fixed, but was finally left 
with the company anywhere "north of the parallel of 39d. 30 
m. of north latitude." Much discussion was had ui)on the location 
of the main stem, what towns it should touch between its termini 
designated in the congressional grant, but all intermediate points 
failed of being fixed in the act except a single one, the N. E. cor- 
ner of T. 21 K, E. 2 E. 3d P. M., from which the road in it course 
should not vary more than five miles, which was effected by Gen. 
Gridley, of the senate, and by which the towns of Decatur, Clinton 
and Bloomiugtou were assured of the road. 

A scheme was also developed, but never yet explained, by which 
it was proposed to place this grand enterprise into the hands of 
the state bondholders, adding a bank. It was known as the bond- 
holders' plan. Early in January the legislature received a vol- 
uminous printed bill for a charter, the provisions whereof, closely 
scrutinized, contained about as hard a bargain as creditor ever 
offered bondsman. It was coolly jiroposed, among other provisions, 
that the State appoint commissioners to locate the road, survey 
the routes for the main stem and branches, and select the lands 
granted by congress, all at the expense of the State ; agents were 
further to be appointed by the govei^nor to apply to laud-holders 
along the routes, who might be benefited by the road, for sub- 
scriptions, also at the expense of the State. 

" All persons subscribing and advancing money for said purpose, shall 
be entitled to draw interest upon the sums advanced, at the rate of — per 
cent, per annum frpm the daj' of said advance, and shall be entitled to 
designate and register an amount of 'New Internal Improvement stock 
of this State' equal to four times the amount so advanced, or of stock of 
this State known as 'Interest Bonds,' equal to three times the money so 
advanced ; and said stock, so described, may be registered at the agency 
of the State of Illinois, in the city of NewYork, by the party subscrib- 
ing, or by any other persons to whom they may assign the right at any 
time after paying the subscription, in the proportion of the amount paid; 
and said stock shall be endorsed, registered aud signed by the agent ap- 
pointed by the governor for the purpose, and a copy of said register shall 
be filed in the office of the auditor of public accounts, as evidence to show 
the. particular stock secured or provided for as hereinafter mentioned." 

The lands were to be conveyed by the State to the managers of 
the road ; to be by them offered for sale upon the comi)letion of 
sections of 60 miles, expenses to be paid by the State ; the money 
was to go to the managers, but the State was to receive certifi- 
cates of stock for the same; two of the acting managers were to 
receive salaries of $2,500 and the others $1,500 — large sums at 
that time; the company, with the sanction of the governor, to 
purchase iron, &c., pledging the road for payment; and the road, 
property and stock, to be exempt from taxation. The bill also 
embraced a bank in accordance with the provisions of the gen- 



580 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

eral free banking law adopted at that session, making the rail- 
road stock the basis. It also provided that if the constitution was 
amended (which failed to carry,) changing the 2 mill tax to a 
sinking fund to be generally applied in redemption of the State 
debt, tJiat then the stock registered under this act should also par- 
ticipate in the i^roceeds thereof. 

Here was a scheme to fasten upon the State treasury a horde 
of high-salaried officials to eat out the substance of the people, 
empowering the company to create additional officers and fix their 
compensation at pleasure ; no limit was fixed for the completion 
of the road ; extended advantages were offered to holders of in- 
terest bonds, then low in market, to control the road to an amount 
of four times their actual outlay, mortgage it for iron, attach a 
wild-cat bank to the enterprise, and strangle it to death. But 
the measure was so preposterous that it received little counte- 
nance.* 

The next apprehensions of the friends of the measure were the 
efibrts interposed early in February, through the Holbrook influ- 
ence, to delay action at the then session of the general assembly, 
Avhich would revive the Cairo city company's charters by the 
terms of their release. To this end a resolution was offered in the 
senate instructing the committee on internal improvements to 
prepare and bring in a bill providing for the appointmentof agents 
to locate the road, with a view to future construction, and to 
select the lands under the grant of congress. It is one of the 
unfortunate features incident to representative forms of go^eru- 
meut that for selfish and partisan ends men will entail large losses 
indirectly upon a tax-ridden community. So now men were not 
wanting who exerted themselves to create a hobby for their future 
political advancement by eftbrts to delay a work which would in 
a short time render the central portion of the State populous by 
pouring into it a flood of immigration, to build towns and cities 
and improve the country-, create wealth and increase by millions, 
annually, the aggregate taxable property of the State — so badly 
needed to relieve her of an oi)pressive debt. For "the State might 
OAvn, in fee simple, many millions of acres of laud and yet be all 
the poorer for it, unless the lands by settlement and improvement 
were rendered capable of yielding a revenue." Such were some 
of the arguments held up to these men. 

It will be remembered that the memorialists, in their proposi- 
tion to the legislature to obtain the charter, offered, among other 
things, to pay the State of Illinois annually a certain per centum 
of the gross earnings of the road, without deduction for expense 
or other cause. The amount was left blank, to fix which, how- 
ever, became subsequently a matter of no little scheming and 
trouble. In the first gush of desire to obtain the splendid grant 
of land from the State, it is said, the corporators would have 
readily consented to fill this blank at 10 per centum of the gross 
earnings. But unfortunately for the tax i>ayers and the treasury 
of the State, as was charged in the press of the day, the shrewd 

*The oria-in of the bondholders'' pliin was involved in mystery. Dr. Holford, the 
largest ot the Illinois bondholders, denounced it, and declared he had no hand in it. 
Mr. King-, of New Jersey, the next largest, also refused to endorse it. It was a ques- 
tion from whom did it emanate ; who was it that wanted to rob Illinois and grind her 
farther in the dust? It whs manifestly an underhanded scheme for purposes of spec- 
ulation. Had the bill become a law. the beneflciaries would doubtless have avowed 
themselves readily enoujrh. 



ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 581 

capitalists employed a gentleman as their attorney — a citizen of 
Illinois and member of congress at the time, than whom none was 
more popular and wielded a greater influence at home— an orator, 
statesman and soldier of renown — who had within the year 
emerged from an aftair of honor with no little eclat, which gained 
him national notoriety — who left his seat in congress and at- 
tended at Springfield in the capacity of a lobbyist for the com- 
pany, and the result was the State conceded a deduction of 3 per 
cent, from that figure, the amount being fixed at 7 per centum, 
and that in lieu of all taxes, State or local.* The State's proceeds 
from that source now amount to about half a million dollars 
annually. jSTo little effort has been made to get rid of the pay- 
ment of this percentage into the State treasury, but since the 
lands turned over to the company have yielded so well in price, 
repaying the cost of the road ]>erha]>s twice over, the people set 
their faces against it, and have been exeicised by no little anxiety 
that this now wealthy corporation would succeed in buying up 
enough members of the legislature at some future session to re- 
lieveit of this percentage. To satisfy the popular clamor a limi- 
tation has been irrevocably fixed in the organic law of 1870, 
which places the subject beyond the control of further legislative 
meddling, and the public anxiety is allayed.t 

In the legislature, after procrastinating action until the heel of 
the session, Mr. J. L. D. Morrison, of the senate, brought in a 
substitute for the pending bill, which, after being amended in 
several important particulars — that by Gen. Gridley has already 
been noticed — was passed finally with but two dissenting votes; 
and shortly after, the house took up the senate bill and passed it 
without amendment, also by two dissenting votes, and it became 
a law February 10, 1851. The law is so accessible that it is unne- 
cessary to give a synopsis of it. The final passage of the bill 
was celebrated in Chicago by the firing of cannon and other civic 
demonstrations in honor of the glorious event. 

But in the spring following, when the surveys of the Chicago 
branch were under way, there arose quite a fever of excite- 
ment in that city, fearing that the branch road Avould be carried 
to the Indiana line to form a junction with the Michigan Central, 
and thus i)ractically become an extension of the latter road to 
Cairo, leaving Chicago northward of this thoroughfare about 20 
or 30 miles. Prominent gentlemen addressed a letter to Mr. 
Douglas, requesting his opinion respecting the power of the com- 
pany to make such a divergence from a direct line. Mr. Douglas 
re])lied at length, denying the power of -the company to do so; 
citing the language of the charter that the Chicago branch should 
diverge "from the nuiin trunk at a i)()int north of the parallel of 
39 deg. 30 min., and running on the most eligible route into the 
city of Chicago;" that one object in the grant of land by Ccnigress 
was to render salable the public land in Illinois which had been 
20 or 30 years in market; that the union with another road nega- 
tived the provision of free transportation of United States troops 

*See Chicago Democrat, Aug. 1853 

+While theSt:itf treasury is doubtless largely benefited by this permanent arrange- 
ment, it is a question whether the company is not after all the gainer in being rid of 
all taxes for State, county, township, school and municipal purposes along the entire 
line of its roads, and whether this is just to the localities concerned.. 



682 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and jiioperty forever fioui Chicago to Mobile — from the lakes of 
the north to the Gulf of Mexico, &c. 

There was some delay iu conmienciug' the work, occasioned by 
the Commissioner of the General Land Oftice at Washin<;ton, 
Justin Buttertield. The company had negotiated a loan of $400,- 
OOOj but before it could be consummated it was necessary that 
there should be a conveyance of the lands from the government. 
The commissioner, who was from Chicago, construed the grant as 
entitling the company to lands for the branch on a straight line 
to Chicago, which would avoid the junction with the Michigan 
Central. But this construction was reversed by the President and 
Secretary of the Interior. In March, 1852, the necessary docu- 
ments of conveyance were finally secured, contracts were let, and 
the work carried forward. The road was completed with little in- 
terruption. 

As an instructive example of how money may quicken other 
property into manifold life, scattering its gains in many unex- 
l^ected directions, the Illinois Central railroad is a subject in point. 
This work was one of the most stupendous and ingenious six'cu- 
lations of modern times. By means of it a few sagacious capital- 
ists became the owners of a first-class railroad, more than 700 
miles long, in full running order, complete in rolling stock and 
every equii)age, and millions of acres of land, Avorth in the aggre- 
gate peihai)s, $40,000,000, without the actual outlay of a cent of 
their own money. This project was among the first to illustrate 
the immense field there was opening u}) in this country for bold 
aiul gigantic railroad operations by capitalists; and as contrasted 
with the State internal improvement scheme of 1836-7, it was 
furthermore an example of the superiority of ])rivate enteri)rise 
over State or governmental undertakings. The State at that time, 
witli a population of about 350,000, mostly small farmers, author- 
ized a loan exceeding $10,000,000, to construct public works. One 
of these was the Central Eailroad, ui)on which a considerable 
sum was expended. Hard times and a general collai)se followed 
in lapid order. Now, with this grant of land from the general 
government, not far short of 3,000,000 acres within a belt of 15 
miles along the route of the roa<l, to aid its construction., these 
gentlemen, backed by credit and capital, stei) forward, propose to 
take the lands and build the road, which is to belong to them 
when built. The State accepts the offer, incorporates the gentle- 
men's scheme by jjerpetual charter, and endows them with this 
munificent domain and all the property and remains of the old 
Central road. After the, road is put in operation, the company 
l)ays the State annually 7 per centum of its gross earnings in lieu 
of all taxes forever. Having acquired a vested right, the State 
has no other than police control over the company, and as it is a 
foreign corporation, disputes betw'een them must be settled in 
fVneign, i. e. U. S., courts. The minimum valuation of the lands 
acquired, so soon as the road should be completed, was $20,000,000, 
exceeding by $0,000,000, the cost of the road, estimated at $20,000 
per mile, which in Illinois, was liberal, because she i)resented the 
most uniform and favorable surface for the construction of rail- 
roads of any other State in the Union. Two-thirds of the land 
Avas stipulated as security for the principal of the construction 
bonds J 250,000 acres to secure the interest fund, and the remain- 



ILLINOIS CENTKAL RAILROAD. 583 

der as a coutiiigent fund. The construction bonds found ready 
sale at par, and built the road. The land sales yielded interest to 
set off in part the accruing- interest on the bonds. The redemp- 
tion of the bonds completed, the road and all its apx)urtenances 
remain tlie property of the fortunate gentlemen who had the sa- 
gacity to see how it could be built without costing them a cent. 

But they did not reap all the developed benefits of this grand 
enterprise. The alternate sections of land reserved by the federal 
government Avithin 15 miles of the route of the road, num- 
bered as many acres as the grant to the State; it had been 
for L'O odd years in nuirket at $1 25 per acre without sale, but 
now when again put in market in the fall of 1852, it was eagerly 
taken up and readily brought from $3 to $7 jjer acre, and more, 
had not settlers and speculators combined not to bid against each 
other. As it was, the sales averageil |5 per acre. The govern- 
ment thus realized a protit of some $9,000,000 by its munificent 
})olicy of giving away half its laiuls in this locality. This was 
indeed casting bread upon the water, which after many days re- 
tiu'ned several fold. The lands in the railroad belt, so long neg- 
lected by buyers, were situated as follows: In the Kaskaskialand 
office district, 23,681 acres, over 30 years on the market ; Shaw- 
neetown, 401,873 acres, over 30 years; Vandalia, 344,672 acres, 
over 25 jears ; Dan\'iile, 345,702 acres, over 20 years ; and in the 
Dixou 465,941) acres, over 10 years. 

But besides the general government, the State too, was at the 
.same time benefited by having its unsettled interior opened up to 
tides of thronging immigrants; its rich soil brought into cultiva- 
tion; population increased, and its resources and taxable wealth 
augmented by many millions of dollars. The products of the 
newly developed region found a ready avenue to the markets of 
1 lie world. Chicago, too, was thus furnished Avith another iron 
tentaculum to reach far into the interior of the State for commer- 
cial food to give increase to her marvelous life. But the greatest 
immediate benefit resulting from tlie building of the road and 
branches, acciued to the lands witliin due and proper marketing- 
distance of the lines, estimated at the enormous amount of 10,- 
000,000 acres in ijrivate hands, selected early because of their 
choice quality, which were directly enhanced at least $4 per acre 
and rendered more salable. Here was an increase of wealth, 
amounting to $40,000,000. 

[Note.] — Reference hsis already been made to the jealousy which the success of ob- 
tLiiiiing- this subsidy from Congress, excited among- some of our public men as to who 
was entitled to the meed of praise for carrying the measure through, and the honor 
of oriffinally suggesting the plan or line of such a railroad. It was a conception and 
labor worthy the pride and ambition of any man. Visions of office, emolument and 
fame were doubtless discovered in it. While some apparently shunned it but to make 
ii sure, others boldly claimed the credit. In this connection we are tempted to ex- 
tr:ict from the piouant correspondence between the Hons. Sidney Breese and S. A. 
Dousrlas. The former had been a senator in congress up to March 4th, 1849, when he 
was succeeded by Gen. Shields. In 18.")0 he was elected to the Legislature. Under 
date of December 23, 18.tO, among other things in leply to tht< Illinois State Register, 
regarding his favoring the '■ Holbrook Chart'rs," he says: 

"The Central Uaihoad has been a controlling object with me for more than lo years, 
and I would sacrifice all my personal advantages to see it made. These fellows who are 
making such an ado about it now have been whipped into its support. They are not 
for it now, and do not desire to have it made because I get the credit of it. This is in- 
evitable. I must have the credit of it, fori orig-inated it in 18;3.5. and, when in the sen- 
ate, passed three ditferent bills through that body to aid in its construction. My suc- 
cessor had an easy task, as I had opened the way for him. It was the argument con- 
tained in my reports on it that silenced all opposition, and made its passage eas.v. I 
e.l.iim thn credit, and no one can take it from inc. ' 



584 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

This fell under the eye of Senator Doug-las, at Washington, who took occasion to re- 
ply on January 5th, 1851, at length, giving a detailed history of all the efforts made in 
congress to procure either pre-emption or grant of land in aid of building this road, 
saying : "You were the champion of the policy of granting pre-emption rights for the 
benefit of a private company [the Holbrook,] and I was the advocate of alternate sec- 
tions to the State." The letter is quite long, but very interesting, and may be found 
in the llUnois State Regifikr. and papers of the State of that period generally. 

Judge Breese rejoined under date of January 25, ISul, through the columns of the 
same paper, at great length, claiming that beside seeking to obtain pre-emption aid he 
also was the first to introduce "a bill for an absolute grant of the alternate sections for 
the Central and Northern Cross Kallroads," but finding no favorable time to call it up, 
it failed. "It was known from my first entrance into congress that 1 would accomplish 
the measure, in some shape, it possible ;" but the Illinois members of the house, he as- 
serts, took no interest in the passage of any law for the benefit of the Centi-al road, 
either by grant or pre-emption. He claims no share in the passage of the law of 1850 : 
"Your (Douglas',) claim shall not, with my consent, be disparaged, nor those of your 
associates. 1 will myself weave your chaplet, and place it. with no envious hand, upon 
your brow. At the same time history shall do me justice, t claim to have first pro- 
jected this great road, in my letter of 1835, and in the judgment of impartial and disiu- 
rercsted men my claim will be allowed. I have said and written more in favor of it 
than any other. It has been the highest object of my ambition to accomplish it. and 
when my last resting place shall be marked by the cold marble which gratitude or af- 
fection may erect, I desire for it no other inscription than this, that he who sleeps be- 
neath It projected the Central Kailroad»" 

He also cited at length his letter of October 10, 1835, to John Y. Sawyer, in which the 
plan of the Central Railroad was first foreshadowed, which opens as follows • "Having 
some leisure from the labor of my circuit, I am induced to devote a portion of it in 
giving to the pulilic a plan, the outline of which was suggested to me by an intelligent 
friend in Bond county, a.few days since." * * 

To this Douglas, under date of Washington, Feb. 22. 1851, surrejoins at considerable 
length, and in lefereni^e to this opening sentence in the Sawyer letter, exclaims, "How 
is this ! The father of the Central railroad, with a Christian meekness worthy of all 
praise, kindly consents to be the reputed parent of a hopeful son begotten for him by 
an intelligent friend in a neighboring county ! I forbear pushing this inquirj further. 
It involves a question of morals too nice, of dt)mestic relations too delicate, tor me to 
expose to the public gaze. Inasmuch, however, as you have furnished me with becom- 
ing gravity, the epitaph which you desire «, ngrossed upon your tomb, when called upon 
to pay the last debt of iiature,you will allow me to suggest that as such an inscription is 
a solemn and a sacred thing, and truth its essential ingredient, would it not be well to 
make a slight moditication, so as to correspond with the facts as stated in your letter 
to Mr. Sawver, which would make it read thus, in your letter to me : "It has been the 
M{ihest object of iini ainhitUm to accompluh the Central Baih-oad, and when my last resting 
place shall be'ni(irl>ia by Ok cold marble xchich gratitude or affection may cre<:t,Idfsi<-e for 
it no other inscriptitm thixri this: He who sleeps beneath this stone voluntakily con- 
sented TO become the putative father of a lovely child, called the Centkal 
Kailuoad. and begotten for him by an intelligent kkiend in the county of 
Bond." We find no further correspondence. See Illinois State Journal, March, 1851. 



Chapter XL VII. 

OUE FEEE OR STOCK BANKS— 1851-1865. 

How a BanTc might he started — Ultimate Security of the Bill holder — 
The Small Note Act — Panic of 1854, — Revulsion of 1851 — Wind- 
ing up. 



Notwithstandiug the State, in 1851, was in the hands of the 
democratic party by an increased majority, and that this domi- 
nant party had for years in its State platforms fuhninated resolu- 
tions against the enormity of banking" as the sonrce of all our 
financial woes, the legislature, also largely democratic, neverthe- 
less passed another general banking- law, authorizing free or stock 
banks. The democratic governor vetoed the bill, but it was 
promptly passed over his objections, and the people of the State, 
notwithstanding their experiences of the disastrous results from 
the banks authorized in 1821 and in 1836-7, and in spite of their 
teachings and democratic majority, approved it by their votes at 
the election of November of that year. As a rule, the masses 
favor any scheme Avhich promises an abundant currency — they are 
naturally for expansion — while capitalists favor contraction. 

Directly after the adoption of the constitution of 1848, the es- 
tablishment of another banking- system was agitated. The project 
advanced was to divide up the State into 3 banking- districts, 
with boards of bank trustees for each. As security, banking 
associations were to deposit United States stoclc and a certain por- 
tion of gold, when circulating- notes as money were to be issued to 
them. The democratic press made a great outcry against the 
whig' scheme, as it was called, to fasten again upon the then once 
more thriving- and prosperous State the withering curse of banks. 
This plan, which proposed but one class of securities — United 
States 6's — was certainly preferable to that adopted two years 
later, which allowed as secuiity the stocks of any or all the States. 
The former presented the advantage of having- a uniform secu- 
rity for all the banks of the country, giving a like uniformity of 
value to their issues all over our broad domain ; while to the lat- 
ter, with bonds of any State, many far from home perhai>s, the 
fluctuationH of a varying market would severally attach. But in 
principle the State stock banks were the forerunners of the pre- 
sent national banking system. 

The banking law of 1851 required as a basis or security for all 
banks operating- under it, the deposit with the auditor of, 1st, 
United States stocks ; 2d, stocks of any other State; 3d, stocks 
of Illinois valued at 20 i)er cent, below the market price. Stocks 

585 



586 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ou wliicli tlie interest -was not annually paid could not be deposited 
except in double amounts. It tbey depreciated in the market, 
further deposits were to be made. The depositors were entitled 
to the interest accruing on the bonds. When the deposit of 
stocks Avas perfected, the auditor was authorized to have engraved 
and issue bank notes to the owners in nearly equal amounts, not 
less than $50,000, to circulate as money. The notes on presenta- 
tion at the bank were required to be redeemed in specie, the 
amount to be kept on hand not being specified, and for refusal 
and after i)rotest it became liable to 12^- per cent damages in lieu 
of interest. On failure of the bank, it was to be wound up by 
sale of its stocks at auction in New York, and the proceeds were 
first to be jiaid out on the circulating notes. If the stocks and 
other effects of the banks proved insufficient, then the stockhold- 
ers became liable respectively to the amount of their stocks in 
tlieir private property, to pay the bill holders. Interest was 
fixed at 7 per cent., and loans might be made on real or personal 
l)roperty. Dealing in real estate was not allowed, other than to 
sell that which fell into their hands as security. The usual bank- 
ing privileges of buying and selling exchange, coin, &c., were ex- 
tended to them, A board of 3 bank commissioners, with power 
of examination into their affairs, was also provided ; and the ofii- 
cers of the banks weie required to render quarterly statements 
to the auditor, under oath, as to their condition. 

With these provisions, it Avas thought that the notes would cer- 
tainly be safe. Indeed the law was first regarded as so strin- 
gent that few would attempt banking under it — certainly mere 
speculators would not. The bill holders appeared to be ultimately 
secure. New York, we have seen, as early as 1838, authorized 
banking on State stocks, and by the time Illinois, which subse- 
quently' copied the New York law, embarked in the project, half 
the States of the Union ran wild after the discovery of the new 
and safe scheme, by means of which the capitalist, contrary to 
Franklin's aphorism, might '' eat his cake and have his cake" — 
invest his money in bonds, deposit them, and from the hands of 
the auditor have his money again and own his bonds too. 

While the banking bill Mas pending before the people, the 
friends of the measure, to secure its adoption, pointed to the fact 
that the State was inundated with millions of the notes of banks 
of foreign States, of the value, solvency, or genuineness of which 
little or nothing was known here ; that by allowing aliens to fur- 
nish us a circulating medium we not only paid tribute to them but 
yielded our State pride ; that it Avas but just to ourselves and to 
our interests to replace this exotic trash by a sound and safe cur- 
rency of our own ; that the basis for banks required by this law 
made them not only ])erfectly secure to the bill holders, but that 
a home currency, within easy reach of the places of redemi^tiou 
and its ready convertibility into specie, would directly drive out 
the foreign bills; that with the greater abundance of money, 
times would become easy, produce would rise in price, lands en- 
hance in value, the influx of emigrants be augmented, and gen- 
eral prosperity would shower its glad smiles upon all our people 
with a profuse hand. Experience shows that the masses are but 
too ready to gmspat a project which i)romises plenty of money 
to-day, although assuied that it will be worthless to-morrow. 



FREE OR STOCK BANKS. 587 

Its opponents argued that uuder the new law, the currency i>ro- 
posed to be introduced was susceptible of multiplication to an in- 
deMnite amount, and if the bill carried, an avalanclie of paper 
money might be thrown into circulation, dazzling and bewildering 
the senses of the people, leading them into a wild, headlong mania 
of si)eculation, the sequel to Avhich, as had ever been the case, 
must be disaster and ruiu. With an inflated currency property 
would attain to unhealthy prices, purchases would be made at 
perhaps half cash, balance on time, secured by mortgages on the 
premises. While the obligations were maturing a contrac- 
tion would take place, stagnation ensue and prices be de- 
pressed below the normal standard ; claims would be pressed 
upon debtors, mortgages foreclosed, and many an unwary i)ur- 
chaser would be stripped of his all under the hammer of the 
sheriff, his vendor buying back the property at less than the 
mortgage claim, leaving- an unsatisfied judgment still hanging over 
him. The bank measure was held to be a project to swell the cof- 
fers of the rich from the labor and necessities of the i)Oor. 

Tliey further showed that the bank securities might be of un- 
stable value, which would rise and fall in the market with the 
operations and machinations of flnanciers; that money based 
upon them would be subject to similar fluctuations f that these 
pledges of stock were as nothing- to the man with this money in 
his hand which he desired to convert. Let but an actual case of 
suspension be contemplated. To sell the stocks and redeem the 
notes required time and was attended by circumlocution. The 
poor or needy cannot wait. Want and exigence press from 
myriad directions. Now the broker steps in, himself perhaps a 
shareholder in the suspended bank, and offers 50 or 75 cents on 
the broken promises. The holder of this money received in ex- 
change for his labor or other equivalent, cannot wait the ultimate 
redemption by the auditor, but is compelled to suffer a shave to 
this depth. The broker, however, is in no such stress; he quietly 
awaits the sale of the stocks, the redemption of the notes with the 
proceeds, and realizes the 25 or 50 per cent, which his thousands 
of victims have lost, and Mith the gains starts another bank. 

The 6th section of the bank bill provided for the association of 
persons "to establish offices of discount, deposit and circulation,''^ 
Avith an aggregate capital stock of not less than $50,000. This 
section served the opponents of the bill a good turn before the 
l)eoi)le. It was deduced thence and asserted that the bill was a 
trick, concealing deceptive phraseology ; that it provided for two 
(;1 asses of banks, one secured by the pledge of public; stocks, the 
other totally irresponsible, allgwing its issues to "circulate" on no 
other basis than pen, ink and paper to write out its articles of as- 
sociation, nuiney encmgh to pay for recording and posting- copies 
thereof to Springfield to be filed with the secretary of state; that 
the former were to catch the votes of the people, but the latter 
concerns were to furnish the currency. The phraseology of this 
section in connection with the word " circulate," it niust be con- 
fessed, was somewhat ambiguous.* 

*The Chicago Pre»s. December, 1852, says it has warned the people that paper would 
be issued not secured by stocks, and there were then various issues of certificates of 
deposit in the similitude of bank notes, signed and subscribed by the officerSj desig- 
nated by the uttcrers to circulate the same as bank notes. 



588 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Notwithstanding tliese arguments against it, tlie people in No- 
vember, 1851, elected the bank bill, and it became the law of the 
State. The vote stood 37,626 for to 31,405 against it. This poll 
was less by 7,000 than half the votes cast at the gubernatorial 
election one year later, being 153,882. 

The constitution provided that no banking law should be en- 
acted except by the sanction of a majority of the i^eople voting 
for it at a general election. A special election, it was doubtless 
thought by the framers, would not call forth a full expression of 
the sentiment of the people upon such a measure. In their haste 
to have the people pass ui)on the bank bill, the legislature 
created a general election for this purpose, by repealing all the 
county treasurers out of office, and ordering a new election for 
those officials at the same time the bank bill was to be voted upon. 
With this action of the legislature, after the election, the defeated 
opponents of the measure found much fault, and it was severely 
denounced. It was claimed that a presidential, biennial election 
for members of congress, or the state legislature alone, were gen- 
eral elections, where the bill would have been fully discussed be- 
fore the people. The spirit of the constitution was doubtless vio- 
lated by the legislature. 

The apprehensions that the law was so stringent that few, if 
any, banks would be organized under it, was speedily' dispelled. 
Within the first year the democratic press cried aloud that the 
country was flooded with paper money to an alarming extent. 
Property rose in price, and a speculative spirit became rife. All 
who could command the means were enlarging the area of their 
territorial possessions and debts were freely incurred. The mania 
of 1836-7, it was urged, would be repeated, and irretrievable ruin 
overtake thousands. Indeed the new ])lan of stock bank- 
ing became very general throughout the Union, and there was no 
little expansion. But in Illinois much of all this was owing to the 
inauguration of the railroad era just at that time, and enhance- 
ments had a solid basis, very unlike the period of 1836-8. 

When the organization of banks under the new loan was com- 
menced, nothing further was heard of the great part the associations 
under section 6 were to play ; no issues were uttered without the 
dei)osit of stocks by any associations. But as the law stood and 
the courts afterwards held, the deposit of $50,000 in bonds was 
a sufficient compliance Avith its provisions as to capital. The 
amount of specie cai)ital to be kept on hand was a question of 
risk for the banks, the law not fixing any amount. This caused 
much of the business of free banking to go into tiie hands of ir- 
resi)onsible and non resident i)ersoni*, who, having no object or in- 
terest fnrther than to get their notes into circulation and leaving 
the bill-holders to take care of them, located their concerns in re- 
mote and inaccessible places, where no legitimate banking busi- 
ness could or was expected to be done, and flooded the country 
with "wild cats." And as such banks did not often keep any 
place of business in the ai)parent location thereof, the power of 
demand and protest was destroyed.* 

Hoic a StocJc BanJc Might he Started — While doubtless many 
of these free baidvs were started with an actual paid u]> capital, 

* See Keport House Committee, 1861. 



FREE OR STOCK BANKS. 589 

and did a regular and legitimate banking business, for the remu- 
neration was ample, it is also true that the following perfectly 
feasible manner of organization under the law was freely recog- 
nized and often approachably put into practice. A few sharp 
operators, hailing from, it mattered little where, with ready money 
enough to meet the expenses of getting up the bills, notify the 
auditor in the proper wa,y, that they have organized a company to 
start the, say '"Absolute Safety Bank of the town of Wildcat, in 
Brush county ; capital $200,000." They now contribute perhaps 
$5,000 for the cost of engraving- the plates, printing the bills and 
other incidental expenses. Having credit they obtain letters and 
next apply to a broker and boirow on short time, say Missouri 6's 
or stocks of other States, to the amount they want. Perhaps -as 
security they hj^pothecate or mortgage other property, either to 
the broker or some well known financier. By the time the notes 
are jirinted, countersigned and registered the bonds are taken to 
Springfield and deposited. The auditor, in accordance with the 
law, tuiiis over to them their nicely executed bright new^ bills, 
representing $200,000, declared bylaw to be money. Appropriate 
and exquisite devices, representing perhaps stacks of money bags, 
out of w^hich a stalwart Indian is jiouring the yellow eagles in 
great heai)s of precious gold, embellish the crisp "promises on 
demand.' The bills are next taken or sent, say to Georgia, or 
some other distant State where a similar banking system is in 
operation, and there swapped for the issues of various banks, the 
more scattered the better, so as to have them from home as far as 
possible. The money received in exchange is now either directly 
paid over for the bonds bought or deposited, or perhaps brought 
home and vested in grain, j)ork or beef, which is shipped east, the 
bills of lading transmitted to the broker, who pays out of the pro- 
ceeds for the bonda advanced, and forwards the residue, perhaps 
a handsome margin besides, to the bankers in Illinois. And thus 
the money is turned. In the meantime the bank at Wildcat is 
ojiened for a few hours each day, but no piles of bank notes aj)- 
pear on its desks, no exchange is bought or sold, no accommoda- 
tions are granted or discounts made. No drearier looking bank 
ever opened its doors. But then in the out of the way jolace of 
its location there is little demand for these ordinary transactions 
of a bank. Notwithstanding the rathersorry looking appearance 
of this concern with its capital of $200,000, the owners are making 
the interest on the bonds deposited, amounting to double the orig- 
inal cai)ital invested in the bank. If the bills are a long time in 
finding the retreat for their reden)ption, it is a good thing for the 
ingenious bankers. To guard against their ready presentation 
for this jjurpose the institution has been located in Brush county, 
where it may be both difficult to find and tedious of access, and 
where a small amount of coin in the vault serves to sustain it 
against failure. Perhaps, by fortunate investments, the bank 
prospers ; the owners add some i>aid up capital, and with th'^se 
means a general banking business is engaged in. Of the banks 
located in cities, or at con veuientl}' accessible points, it was noted 
that the same companies would start several banks with a large 
nominal capital for each, though the actual banking, or the utter- 
ing of their bills, was restricted to the minimum amount allowed 
by the law'. This would enable them, by shifting coin from one to 



590 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



aiiotlier in times of a rim to get along with periiaps half or less of 
the ordinary auiount of specie kept on hands for redemption. Re- 
(lemption of each bill separately was allowable at this time, and 
separate protests were likewise required. In 1857 the legislature 
amended the law so that in presenting notes for payment it was 
not required to receive redemption for each note separately, but 
the whole amount might be presented as a general obligation and 
one payment demanded. 

In the summer of 1859 the Grayville bank sought to restrain 
the auditor from i)ntting it in liquidation, because its bills were pro- 
tested in amounts of $G,000 and $8,400,apon the ground that this 
amendment was null and void, not having been submitted to a 
vote of the people for ratilication like the original law. A readi- 
ness to redeem separately was alleged. In 1860 Willard & Ad- 
sit of Chicago presented a number of bills for redemption to the 
Reaj)ers' Bank at Fairfield. Payment was commenced in dimes 
and half dimes, occupying a whole day in redeeming $150. After 
this trilling, tlie remainder was protested for non-payment and for- 
warded to the auditor, who being about to force the bank into 
liquidation, was enjoined. But Judge Wilson, of Chicago, decided 
that "a bank had no right to throw such obstacles in the way of 
a i^ompt and speedy redemi)tion." But, however, the bonds were 
obtained for baidving purposes, the issues based upon them added 
to the currency of the country and benefited very many people; 
and with a faithful auditor to look after these securities, who, in 
case they dei)reciated in market would promi)tly call on the banks 
affected to make good the margin declined with additional depos- 
its, no ultimate loss could well occur to the bill holder.* Nothing 
would pernuiuently have depreciated these state securities except 
the un[)recedented occasion ottered by the rebellion of 12 States 
of the Union. 

*Ab a good commentiiry on the argument of ultimate security to the bill holder, how- 
ever, upon which much stress was laid at the time bj^ the advocates of the stock bank 
system, and also as illustrating- the manner of hindering and throwing obstacles in the 
way of a ready redemption in specie that might be made use of by bankers, the fol- 
lowing pi- asantly related experience, current at the time, though api)lied to Indiana, 
fitted Illinois as well, and will, we trust, prove not uninteresting to the reader. It is 
the invention of some fertile newspaper genius of the tune, ana first appeared in the 
Cincinnati Commercial ; 

Suppose a gentleman should be so unfortunate as to fall heir to a five dollar note 
upon one of these institutionsand desires to realize upon it specie or exchange, * * 
what is he to do? First, find the bank! that of course ; and that is not always an easy 
matter. Banks in Indiana lurk in out-ot-the-way places. Like the insect hunted by 
the entomological Hibernian, when ygu find them they ar'nt there. They don't affect 
corner lots, but shun the din of crowded cities, nestling close under the lee of prime- 
val forests, marked by an ancient fndian trail or solitary cow path. They are things 
to be found by the bee hunters, are seen far off by the midnight Nimrod in search of 
coons, with the moonlight sleeping upon their shingle roofs and primitive cornices. 
Capital has become modest, and wealth retires from the world into the cloisters of the 
deep old woods, or the holy solitudes of the prairies, conversing with nature — laying 
up its treasures "where ni'itner moth nor rust doth corrupt," and where none [but the 
auditor of state] can find them. 

But suppose that the institution is rcA'ealed, and the monetary anchorite stands con- 
fessed ; suppose that the business hours have arrived, and the shingle whose opposing 
sides give each other the lie, faces the sun with the announcement— "bank open" — 
we see the aforesaid heir, with rapid steps, approach the edifice. He enters; he draws 
his pictorial evidence of a promise from his pocket book; he approaches the counter, 
presents his note to the paying teller, and aooiloiiuy ensues: 

" Can vou give me specie for this?" 

"No." 

" Sight or short time eastern exchange?" 

"Nothing." 

" Why ?•• 

"You are making a run on our institution; this species of presentation we are bound 
to resist. You aretrj'ing to break us, sir— to make us sj,op payment, sir; you can'tdo 
it, sir." 

" But haven't you stopped rayment when you ref u.oie to redeem ?" 

"No, sir; ours is a stock institution. There's your ultimate security, sir, deposited 



FREE OR STOCK BANKS. 591 

" The Foreign Small Note J.c^."— With the meeting of the leg- 
islature, in 1853, a contrariety of opinion obtained among the 
members as to the power to amend, modity or repeal the general 
free banknig law. One view was tbat the original act having 
been submitted to a vote of the people for their sanction, it was 
now their law and beyond the control of the legislature, fixed as 
the laws of the Medes and Persians; that the voice of the people 
had imparted to it its vitality, and it must live to procreate its 
nursling banks until the same mighty voice deprived it of its ex- 
istence; that by the terms of the constitution the people had to 
sanction such law by their vote, first authorized by the legislature; 
and that the same routine had to be undergone with all its amend- 
ments. A "supplemental" banking law without all this routine 
was, however, ventured upon and adopted by the legislature. 
But its reception by the people indicated that the legislature 
might have sx>ared themselves this trouble ; for the want of obe- 
dience to this law was not based upon any technical ground of 
want of power by the legislature. It was probably more a ques- 
tion of convenience. 

This was the well known "foreign small note act," by which to 
foster home banks and prevent the retirement of specie from cir- 
culation, a penalty of $50 was imposed for every foreign bank 
bill of a less denoniinatiou than $5, uttered after the 1st of August, 
1853. It Mas sought to absolutely squelch the foreign small 
trash. Bankers and general dealers, or their employees, guilty 
of this ofiense were to be additionally punished by imprisonment 
iu the county jail; and no suit could be maintained upon any ob- 
ligations the consideration of which was these small notes of 
banks of ahen States. Great latitude in pleadings under the act 
was specially enjoined. 

with the auditor. We can't break, sir; we can't stop payment. Look at the law 1 
Ijook at the (auditor's) circular !" 

"But have you no specie on hand ?'' 

'■Yes, sir; and we are bound to keep it. The law obliges us to keep 12% per cent, of 
specie on hand. If we pay out every time one of you fellows call, how can we keep 
it on iiand ?" 

'• Then I shall proceed and have the note protested.'' 

"Very well, sir. You will find a notary public at Indianapolis, provided he is at 
home, which is only about 140 miles from here. But, sir, you had better ^o home, and 
rely upon your ultimate security. We can't pay specie— find it won't do; but you are 
ultimately secure; you can't lose vour money, though you never get it. Remember 
that." 

We will suppose our gentleman so unreasonable as not to be satisfied with the pre- 
sentation of the paying teller of the great principle of ultimate security. He finds 
his way to Indiacapolis, makes protest in due form, and, note in hand, proceeds to the 
auditor of state, where another dialo^'iie ensues: 

" Sir. I have a note of the Squash Bank, at Lost Prairie, with certificate of protest, 
which I want to deposit in your hands, with a request that you make collection as 
speedily as possible." 

"Certainly, Sir." 

'■ How long before I can expect to realize upon the ultimate securities of the insti- 
tution ? Thirty days, is it not?" 

" Not quite as soon as that sir. I shall give notice to the oflftcers of the Squash Bank. 
If they pay noattention to it, I shall offer its securities in my hands for sale; but in 
discharging my duty to all the creditors of the institution, I shall not proceed to offer 
any of its assets in "this market until after at least 60 days' notice in New York, Lon- 
don and Paris, so as to insure the largest and best price for the securities; and not 
then, if, in my opinion, the ultimate interests of all concerned will be promoted by 
a further extension ! Hem !" 

"But, my dear sir, how long will it be before I can realize upon my demand ?" 

" Can't Seiy, sir; stocks are down just now — may rise in a j'ear or two— depends some- 
what upon the fate of the war in Europe. But never fear, your ultimate securitv is 
undoubted. If you'^should neverget it. you will never lose it; remember that. Rely 
upon your ultimate security and you are safe.'' 

" D-n ultimate security! I want my money." 

" Well, sir, if that's your game, when you get it, please give us the information." 



592 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The exceedirg stringency of the provisions overleaped itself. 
While no law was ever more generally understood, both as 
regarded its provisions and the time when it was to go into 
efl'ect, for the press constantly invited attention to it, urging its 
observance in every particular, so no law was ever more totally 
ignored by everybody, or became a more complete dead letter 
from the start. It was violated throughout the length and breadth 
of the State many thousands of times daily in the multiform busi- 
ness relations of society, without the least attention being paid to 
it. The tloods of foreign small notes continued to infest our com- 
munities and retained their ground. 

The Panic of 1854. — In the fall of 1854 there was, for a short 
time, quite a monetary crisis in the country. Among the 
free banks of especially Ohio and Indiana there were a num- 
ber of failures, and much alarm ijrevailed. Missouri and Virginia 
bonds had been thrown in large amounts ujion the New York 
market, and declined to 95 and 93 cents; though their interests 
had been regularly kept up. Dame rumor, with her many tongues, 
doubtless considerably enlarged upon the facts, and much distrust 
obtained in Illinois. Chicago was flooded with Georgia shin- 
})lasters. Brokers sought to take advantage of the pubhc solici- 
tude to precipitate a panic ; its effects, however, did not extend 
much beyond the city. There, a heavy run was made on the banks 
by bill hoklers and dei)Ositors, and a pretty general suspension 
took place. 

In the meantime, W. B. Fonde^', of the bank commission, coun- 
seled the iieople that the i)anic was a mere brokers' trick, that no 
default had been made in interest jjayments on the depreciated 
bonds, and therefore it could only be temporary', and warned them 
not to part with their money at discount or sacrifice. The mer- 
chants of Chicago had steadily taken the money in exchange for 
goods, and the wholesale dealers, feeling assured of the ultimate 
security of the stock banks, and perceiving no adequate cauise for 
the panic, also lent their support in sustaining the banks, and the 
result was that in a few days they resumed business, and the panic 
only gave them greater confidence with the people. The storm 
Avas successfully weathered, and those banks whose deposits were 
depreciated complied with the call of the commissioners, and put 
up an additional margin of security. 

After this flurry the press took up the subject of revising our 
banking law. The discrimination of 20 per cent, against Ilhnois 
bonds as a banking basis was demanded to be removed. Under 
the law of 1849 private persons might make valid agreements for 
interest at 10 per cent.; not so, however, the banks — thej- were re- 
stricted to 7. In this connection the bank commissioners, ex-Gov. 
A. G. French, P. Maxwell and W. B. Fondey, in their report of 
Dec. 30, 1854, say it had been the custom with banks to loan their 
money to other corporations and associations composed for the 
most part of the same stockholders, to be re-loaned by them as 
individuals at an advanced rate of interest, 10 per cent., and the 
result was that the community had not been enabled to get money 
any cheaper than formerly', while the difference of 3 per cent, in 
the rate of interest obtained in this manner, had induced the 
banks to evade the intention of the law, and pursue a course cal- 



FREE OR STOCK BANKS. 593 

Ciliated to weakeii the coiitidence wliicli tliey should endeavor to 
inspire in tlie community where lo(;ated. It was also urged that 
those banks which wanted to, should be permitted to withdraw 
"their bills from circulation and take up their bonds with the au- 
ditor in sums of $5,000 or $10,000, instead of all but 10 per cent, 
as the law then stood. But the legislature of 1855 disregarded 
all the objections with the single exception of the last, and sim- 
ply allowed banks to surrender to the auditor their bills in sums 
of $1,000 for their securities. 

Two years later, however, another legislature put Illinois -bonds 
on an equal footing with those of other States as a basis for bank- 
ing, all to be valued 10 per cent, less than the market price ; 
allowed banks to discount paper or make loans at the rate of 10 
per cent; forbade the location of banks at places of less than 200 
inhabitants ; made the issues redeemable at the places where 
dated, in packages, to be treated as a single obligation, and which 
might thus likewise be i^rotested for non-payment. 

The Revulsion of 1857. — On the first of January, 1857, the whole 
number of banks which had been organized since the law took 
effect in 1851, was 61, eleven had been closed voluntarily or by 
protest and forfeiture of charter, leaving 50 in operation, with a 
circulation of $6,480,873, on a basis of stock security whose cash 
valuation was $6,663,389 ; and up to the time when the financial 
crash swept the country in September of this year banking capital 
and operations w^ere largely on the increase. 

The period of the existence of the banks up to this time had 
been one of unparalleled prosperity in this State. Its raiiid strides 
to opulence and empire had never been equaled before, nor have 
they since. Our taxable wealth had nearly trebled itself, being, 
for the year 1851, $137,818,079, and for the year 1857, $407,447,367. 
This period being within the railroad era, the increase of wealth 
was either solid or based ui)on a just and reasonable expectation 
of values, though something was attributable to bank exijansions. 
The whole country was prosperous, stimulated greatly by the 
number of free banks then very generally in vogue. It is in pe- 
riods of this sort, when times are good, paper money abundant, 
and confidence strong, that communities incline to the abandon- 
ment of the old, slow but safe pursuits, for the tempting i^rospects 
of realizing large gains on small cai)ital in short times. There 
was an inflation of values throughout the west, which affected 
landed proi)erty in cities, towns and country. Chicago corner lots 
shared in this to a wonderful degiee. A spirit of speculation was 
rife, but it was more intensitied in the east than the west. There 
large amounts of western uni)roductive property had been bought 
purely on speculation, with money borrowed Ironi the abundant 
coffers of the banks at home, depending upon its steady advances 
in quoted values to meet payments as they matured : here pur- 
chases were made, many of them on better time, and the property 
developed and made productive. When the financial storm burst 
ujjon the country its disastrous effects were therefore more severely 
and more lastingly experienced in the east than the west. As 
western lands and lots had been in great part the means, but not 
the cause, of the monetary crisis, so now western industry and 
western products became the medium of unlocking the wheels of 
38 



594 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

commerce and riglitiug the business of the country. The eastern 
currency sent west to move the crops, had been, on the first mut- 
terings of the approaching storm, verj- generally recalled. West- 
ern merchants had bought very largely on time in the east. It 
now became the duty of the western producers to throw their 
staples of grain, pork, beef and other commodities into the market 
on time to release these merchants and debtors, which was nobly 
done. 

In January, 1857, an effort had been made, mostly on the part 
of western brokers, to discredit some of the stock securities of Illi- 
nois banks, which created some alarm. St. Louis merchants issued 
a circular stating that they would continue to receive the notes 
of the discredited banks as heretofore. The determined stand thus 
taken inspired the public with confidence, and the brokers' scheme 
proved a failure. Later, the securities of some of the banks having 
sustained a diminution in value, the bank commissioners, on the 
8th of May, made a requisition on them to file, Avithin 40 days, ad- 
ditional security. All responded but two. By the 27th of July, 
such was the fluctuation of stocks in market, and the signs of the 
impending revulsion, that it became necessary to make a similar 
requisition, this time on 29 banks, being more than half of those 
in the State. They were given 90 days to make good the margin. 
These 29 banks had a deposit of stock securities of $4,500,000, of 
which $2,738,000 Avere Missour^O's. The total number of Missouri 
bonds upon which banking was done in Illinois was at this time 
not less than $4,500,000 ; liotwithstanding which the brokers and 
merchants of St. Louis now refused Illinois currency, causing much 
embarrassment to our people in the central and southern parts 
of the State. One of the bank commissioners visited St. Louis, 
and, before a meeting of her merchants, brokers andbusinessmen, 
made a masterly exposition of our banking (system, and failed not 
to shoAv to those gentlemen that the credit of Missouri, whose 
bonds formed nearly three-fourths of the bases of our banks, was 
also involved in their attempts to bring Illinois currency into dis- 
repute. His action was also seconded by candid and intelligent 
discussions by the newspapers of the city. The whole was crowned 
with the success of restoring Illinois currency to its former stand- 
ing in St. Louis at gold par. This was a noble stand for a for- 
eign city to take, but a severe shock to her commerce. Chicago 
banks and business men arranged a different standard for this 
currency, nominally known as a par standard — par for that city 
— which was neverless than 10, and generally 15 per cent, below 
a leal par representing a specie equivalent. 

Owing to the general prosperity of the country and the public 
feeling of security, many of our banks which desired to do only 
a legitimate business, had been tempted into excessive issues. 
Now the large number of suspensions and failure of banks, in- 
surance and trust companies in other States, carrying down with 
them many of the staunchest mercantile houses in the country, 
created a panic which bore heavily upon our banks, brokers, capi- 
talists and business men generally. The discredited banks 
protested their inability of complying with the requisition of the 
commissioners, but these functionaries were firm in their demand. 
And the banks, notwithstanding their condition and the disas- 
trous monetary crisis prevailing, with but very few exceptions, 



FREE OR STOCK BANKS. 595 

strnggled nobly through the prostrating- storm, aud subsequently 
enjojed a larger share of public contideuce than at any former pe- 
riod* The financial standing of the State among all the private 
and corporate calamities of that period stood unshaken. 

The effects of the revulsion of 1857 were stated as follows : 
Whole number of firms in the U. S. (except California) which 
failed was 204,061; hability $299,801,000; assets $150,021,000; 
total loss $119,780,000, of annihilated commercial wealth. The 
number of firms failing in Illinois was 316, with an aggregate lia- 
bility of $9,338,000. Of these 117 belonged to Chicago, with a 
liability of $6,562,000. The remaining 199 Illinois firms had a 
liability of $2,766,000.t If the losses in Illinois averaged with 
that of the country at large they were about $1,500,000. These 
incredible sums must have been largely speculative. In Chicago, 
legitimate business received only a staggering blow, but specula- 
tion was totally prostrated. The depreciating effects on the prices 
of real estate, with the harassing influence of maturing pay- 
ments, were not checked for 2 years ; and the business of erecting 
buildings, or in some cases finishing those begun, was stojiped. 
Workmen in large numbers forsook the city, improvements lan- 
guished, store-rooms and houses stood vacant, rents declined, and 
vendors and mortgagees received back the property sold, with the 
added improvements, finished or otherwise, aud the forfeiture of 
one or more payments by purchasers besides. 

The revulsion of 1857, unlike that of 1837, involved mostly only 
individuals aud certain speculative and commercial centres. Had 
the State been involved by its connection with the banks, as 20 
years before, the extent of this mad panic torrent upon the en- 
tire peoi^le, with the expanded cretlits and inflated prices of the 
period, is fearful to contemplate. But thanks to the provision of 
the constitutiou, forbidding State connection with banking oper- 
ations. And the collapse coming when our abundant crops 
were matured, with exchange in our favor, the mines of Califor- 
nia pouring their volume of precious metals into the current of 
specie exchange, the panic could not aud did not produce a last- 
ing effect upon the prosperity of the State. Still the taxable 
wealth of the State the second year after the revulsion was re- 
ported $40,000,000 less than in 1857. 

Before 1860 the free banking system had amply demonstrated 
that, however a law might compel a banker to fully secure his 
issues by pledge of State stocks, it was practically impossible to 
engraft upon it peremptory and immediate redemption of issues 
in specie.| The notes of Illinois banks were current only in our 
own State, and to any considerable extent beyond they were at a 
discount of one per cent, or more.|| Before the close of this year 
the banks had increased to 110, with a circulation of $12,320,964, 
which constituted almost exclusively the currency of this State. 
The bank securities on deposit were valued at $13,980,971. Of 
the 14 banks withdrawn from existence up to this time in the 9 
preceding years, some voluntary and others by forfeiture under 
the law, the securities of all save one had been ample to redeem 

• See Bk. Corn's. Report, Jan. 1869. 

+ B. Doglas & Co. '8 Com. Agency, N. Y. Herald, 

t See Report H. Com. 1861. 

II Bissell's Message, 1859. 



596 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

every note, dollar for dollar, in specie; and in the exceptional case 
there was only a loss of 3 per cent.* This demonstrated their ul- 
timate security to the bill holder in ordinary civil times. 

And now with tliis large volume of home currency, based for 
the most part upon the stocks of southern States, in the midst 
of rapid and solid prosperity to this State, was wantonly precipi- 
tated the great and disastrous war of the rebellion. State after 
State shot madly from the orbit of the Union, Confidence in their 
securities was disturbed. Before the close of November, 1860, 18 
banks were already in discredit on account of depreciated securi- 
ties, and were subjected to the call of the commissioners. Eastern 
exchange advanced to 8 per cent. Business men held meetings to 
counsel together and devise ways out of the financial trouble that 
was thickening daily. In the impenetrable political darkness of 
the times, the bank commissioners left the banking interests of 
the State to the correction of the legislature. That body, which 
met in January, 1861, revised the free banking law by restricting 
banks thereafter to be organized, to the deposit of U. S. and Illi- 
nois stocks as security, which would also enhance the salable value 
oi' our State stocks; granted to existing banks 6 mouths' time after 
call in which to make good any margin suffered by the decline of 
their securities in market, before being forced into liquidation or 
their assets could be reached for failure to redeem ; designated 
Chicago and Springfield as general points of redemption, through 
agents of the banks, at a discount of | of 1 per cent., the money 
having for some time been 1 per cent, below par, which was in ac- 
cordance with the recommendation of Chicago business men; 
raised the interest damages on notes protested for non-payment 
from 12|^ to 25 per cent., and allowed the auditor to surrender 
bonds deposited pro rata to holders of noLes protested, or on banks 
in process of liquidation from other causes. If the legislature had 
not thus temporized, but with a due appreciation of that juncture 
in national affairs, rigidly forced every bank in default into liqui- 
dation on 10 day's call, and required the auditor to sell the securi- 
fioQ irnmediately, if the market was a little depressed by the 
abundance of bonds cast upon it, it would have wound up almost 
cv....> uiie, iind the final result would have been better for both 
the bni-holders aud the banks. 

The legislature at this session passed also another general bank- 
ing bill predicated solely upon a specie basis. We will not syn- 
opsize this measure; suflice it, the people, tired of a rotten bank 
currency which the history of the State showed had been fur- 
nished hj every banking system which had ever yet been in oper- 
ation, they, by their votes cast at the November election of 1861, 
rejected it. Besides, a revision of the constitution had been or- 
dered, and it was not deemed advisable to hamper in any way the 
convention soon to meet. 

But besides this legislation, the days of free banking in Illinois, 
as in every other State, were numbered. Secession was on the 
rampage. In the latter part of March, but before open hostilities, 
Chicago brokers threw out the issues of 32 Illinois stock banks. 
Forty odd were now uncurrent. This act was purely arbitrary, 
for the auditor's report showed many of these to stand as well as 
many of those bank-quotable. Perhaps it was shrewdly calculated 

* Gov. Wood's Message, 1861. 



FREE OR STOCE: BANKS. 597 

that the masses, with small amount of uiicnrrent money, would 
sacritice it blindly at the first broker's office. St. Louis continued 
to receive this currency. Prior to this, owing to the general dis- 
trust, in which country shared perhaps more fully than city, large 
amounts of the Illinois issues had accumulated in Chicago, where 
they were current, making trade brisk. Before long the Merchants' 
Loan and Trust Company, anticipating an early heavy deprecia- 
tion, and having perhaps first worked off its supply, refused to 
further take this currency. The other banks, with their coffers 
full of it, attempted to sustain it, doubtless with no other view 
than to gain time to get rid of it. Hence it remained current in 
trade, and large amounts were sent to the country to buy produce, 
which advanced rapidly in price ; but as the country was fully 
infected with the distrust, the money showed evidence of exceed 
ing nimbleness, and would return to the city faster than it could 
be shoved off. Local trade was unusually active. In this strait, 
to keep the stuff up, leading business men and bankers in Chicago 
actually pledged themselves, and signed and issued a circular, to 
take the money at par during the war. But the pledge was broken 
a very few days after. Other distinctions now obtained in 
this currency, such as "Illinois preferred," which the seller of pro- 
duce could 0UI3- obtain at a deep shave. Exchange on New York 
speedily advanced above the "prefeired" to 13 per cent. While 
the farmer thus got a few cents more for his grain, it cost him a 
heavy per centage to exchange for good money, or he paid it out 
in double profit to the merchant. The list of discredited banks 
rapidly increased. All the stock banks, regardless of the State 
stocks which formed their security, shared more or less in the de- 
preciation, but after the breaking out of actual hostilities those 
based upon southern stocks declined directly to 50 cents on the 
dollar. 

With the meeting of the legislature in extraordinary session, 
April, 1861, there were various schemes mooted to have the State 
guaranty the ultimate redemption of this free bank money of the 
Illinois banks. Some plans embraced all of the $12,000,000 of 
circulation, aud others half, selecting those secured by the best 
stocks. In behalf of the latter proposition petitions were freely 
circulated among the people praying the legislature to this end. 
This plan was by a certain portion of the press denounced as an 
invidious distinction. To obviate the constitutional provision, the 
power of the legislature w^as claimed upon the ground of necessity, 
this money in that desperate crisis constituting the sole circula- 
ting medium of the people of the State. There was a senate bill 
guarantying the issues of certain banks, and there was an effort 
made to have the State take this bank currency for its war bonds, 
authorized at that session, but all failed. 

After this the money got into a still more mercurial and unset- 
tled condition. No one knew what his money would be worth on 
the morrow. Of course the wiles aud arts of the brokers added 
no little to this instability, and the perplexity of the people. Be- 
fore June every important city and many different railroads issued 
from day to daj^ their special, and sometimes their exclusive, lists 
of banks whose notes they designated as current. These lists 
were, for the most part, arbitrarj^ Every tradesman, and even 
farmers, carried in their pockets bank lists of this kind, often only 



598 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

to hear of new break-downs and revised lists just after having 
token in some of tlie money. It was a jieriod of annoyance, trial 
and vexation. 

The banks, from their location — often at remote and inaccessi- 
ble points — had earned the not inexpressive sobriquet of "wild 
cats;" and now, since their general depreciation, their issues re- 
ceived the rather inelegant appellation of "stump-tail." To aid in 
hurrying forward the ajiproaching end of their reign, the press in 
many ways lent its powers of ridicule.* 

By the time the rather abundant wheat crop of 1861, notwith- 
standing the devastation of the army worm that season, went into 
the market, the stock banks were driven to the wall, and gold and 
silver sent from the east was paid into the farmer's hand, though 
the prices range<l low — GO to 70 cents per bushel. By 1863 all 
except 17 of the 110 banks were in process of liquidation, with the 
circulation reduced from about $12,000,000 to about $566,163. 
The retirement of this vast circulation was effected mainly by the 
bill-holders voluntarily surrendering the money for the bonds de- 
posited, for which purpose every facility was extended to them by 
the auditor in accordance with the law. Five banks had organized 
under the amended act of 1861, with an aggregate circulation of 
$51,945. By the first of January, 1865, the circulation of Illinois 
banks had dwindled down to $132,436, all secured by Illinois 6's 
— $175,034. Some of the free banks were under tbe act of con- 
gress of 1863 converted into national banks ; and it Mas the 
national banking law, taxing the issues of all other banks 2 per 
cent., which has tinally wholly extinguished them. 

*(One of the banks became the.propertv of the Hon. J. Young Scammon, a weli known 
wealthy resident of Chicag-o, who, to give them currency, endorseci all its notes. Mr. 
Wentworth, of the Democrat, who had fought the "wild cats" with an unflagging will, 
heading his editorials on that subject with a family group of wild oats in various sug- 
gestive attitudes, when this Scammon money came to his hands, which was not slow, 
printed across the back of each note, his favorite family groupof wild cats, and set 
it afloat again. These carricatures, it wassaid, had the effect to greatly stimulate the 
proprietor of the notes to retire them.) 





^^y^y^^^€X^^'tC^^t:^^'^^<£^^ 



Chapter XLVIII. 

1853-1857— ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. MATTESON. 

Democratic and Whig Conventions — SJcetches of the Gubernatorial 
Candidates — Financial Condition and Physical Development of 
the State — Legislation^ 1853-5 — Maine Late and Riot at Chicago — 
Our Common Schools and trials in the establishment of the Free 
School System. 



The Democratic State ConveDtion of 1852, to make a ticket for 
State officers, met in Springfield April 20th. The political out- 
look for that party appeared clear all around the horizon auguring 
an easy Aictory at the coming November election. Hence there 
was no lack of aspirants for place on a ticket of such promise. 
For the position of governor seven names were presented. For 
some time previous it had been confidently expected that the Hon. 
David L. Gregg, then secretary of State, an accomplished gentle- 
man of learning, varied political experience, and great inttuence 
with his party, would receive the nomination. Quite a number 
of counties had instructed for him, the public press in its com- 
ments and surmises had settled on him with a degree of certainty, 
causing the opposition to discharge their batteries at him, as if his 
nomination had been consummated. The attack upon him was 
mainlj- on account of his religion, he being a Catholic. The even- 
ing before the meeting of the convention, a sermon of a political 
bearing, violently attacking Romanism, was preached at the Caj)- 
ital, which was largely attended by the assembled members of the 
convention. Some controversy was indulged afterward as to 
whether the minister was a whig or democrat. One thing, how- 
ever, was certain, it was preached to mfluence the action of the 
convention in the defeat of Mr. Gregg. How much inliuence it 
had we do not say. No sooner had members begun to collect than 
it was whispered about that it would never do to nominate Gregg 
because of his Catholicism; and this objection was industriously 
but quietl}' urged against him in the convention. After his sacri- 
fice there was an effort to smother the matter, but it could not be 
done. Mr. Gregg knew and felt it all the time, but he was too true 
to party to bolt the ticket, and he gave it the support of all his 
power. In a letter to I. N. Morris, scouting the idea that the con- 
vention was governed by such intolerant motives, he nevertheless 
adds, " it is doubtless true that a few men in the convention 
sought to stir up religious prejudices with the view of accom- 
plishing my defeat." Aside from this quiet persecuting intrigue, 
the convention was entirelj' harmonious. 

599 



600 niSTORY OF LLLINOIS. 

The coiiveution was organized witli the Hon. J. A. McCleruaud 
as its permanent chairman. The names presented for the posi- 
tion of governor on the ticket, together with the nnmber of votes 
on the first ballot, were as follows : D. L. Gregg, of Cook, 84 votesj 
Joel A. Matteson, of Will, 56; John Dement, of Lee, 53; F. C. 
Sherman, of Cook, 23; Thomas L. Harris, of Menard, 16; Lewis 
W. Eoss, of Fulton, 7; and D. P. Bush, of Pike, 6. Joel A. Mat- 
teson after\Yards received a majority of the votes cast and was 
declared the nominee of the convention for governor. Gustavus 
Koerner received the nomination for lieutenant-governor; Alex- 
ander Starne, secretary of State; Thomas H, Campbell, auditor, 
and John Moore, State treasurer. 

The platform stood by the compromise measures of 1850, and 
non-intervention ; against meddling with the domestic affairs of 
other States to stir up strife and hatred ; for free homesteads to 
heads of families on the public domain ; and declared in favor of 
Douglas for the presidency — that he " embodied all the elements 
of popularity and success to such a degree as to stamp him 
as the num for the coming crisis." State affairs received no 
notice at its hands, and as the free banking law was in full opera- 
tion, democratic hostility to banks, so strenuously asserted in 1846- 
'48, was not repeated. 

The Whig State Convention of 1852, met also at Springfield on 
the 7th of July. It was but sparingly attended. The regularly 
appointed delegates failed to ai>pear and their places were in part 
filled by proxies taken from the grand and petit juries, litigants 
and witnesses in attendance upon the U. S. district and circuit 
courts then in term. It was organized by the choice of the Hon. 
O. H. Browning, of Adams, as chairman, who in his 
opening speech candidly remarked in effect, that it was not 
expected that the ticket to be by them nominated would carry 
the State, but it would prove important in tending to hold up the 
hands of their party friends in those States where there was hope 
of success for Gen. Scott, candidate for the presidency. 

The ticket was mostly made by acclamation. Aspirants 
for the barren honors were not numerous as in the case of the de- 
mocracy. The Hon. E. B. Webb, of White, was nominated for 
governor; J. L. D. Morrison, of St. Clair, for lieutenant-governor; 
Buckner S. Morris for secretary of State ; Charles Betts for audi- 
tor; and Francis Arnz, a German, then on a visit to Europe, for 
treasurer. Owing to the wide spread disgust in the whig ranks 
regarding the compromise measures of 1850, and the national 
whig platform, which approved them, it was planned on the part 
of the managers that with the endorsement of the nomina- 
tion of Gen. Scott, to show party loyalty, it might be best to 
quietly stop, leaving candidates free to assume such grounds upon 
the slavery question and fugitive slave law, either jjro or con, as 
might be deemed to accord best with the varying sentiments of 
different localities in the State. But tliis plan was sadly deranged 
by Mr. Herndon, of Sangamon, who unexpectedly introduced a 
resolution approving the Baltimore platform. Here was a dilem- 
ma. To refuse to adopt what was clearly their duty as national 
whigs, would be to break their party adhesions and become des- 
pised disorganizers ; to do so, division and estrangement in their 
ranks at home was inevitable. The whig party, in the north of 



JVtATTESON'S ADMINISTRATION. GOl 

this State especially, was largely anti-slavery. Herndou was 
firm, and the resolution passed, it is said, with feelings of melan- 
choly and mutterings of discontent. It was first omitted from 
the published report of the proceedings, but the alert democracy 
promptly called attention to the dereliction, whereupon the official 
proceedings were republished " to correct the many inaccuracies 
of the first report."* 

The abolitionists, who probably expected to gain by the large 
defection in the whig party, also brought out a State ticket with 
Dexter A. Knowlton, of Stepheuson,for governor, and Philo Car- 
penter, of Cook, for lieutenant-governor. 

Mr. Webb, the head of the whig ticket, was a lawyer, deeply 
read in his profession, and of excellent standing in the State. He 
had been for many years State's attorney, and repeatedly repre- 
sented his county in the legislature. He did not possess the gift 
of oratory. In 1836, as a member of the legislature, he opposed 
the adoption of the State improvement system, and spread his 
protest upon the journal, containing language of pro j)hesy, whose 
verification in a few years was but too emphatic. In 1855 he was 
a candidate for the supreme bench against Judge Breese, who was 
elected. While yet a boy his father removed to Carmi, Illinois, 
where Mr. Webb continued to live, and died in 1859. When the 
writer personally knew him in tiie later years of his life, he was 
exceedingly fond of a small social circle of friends with whom to 
discuss the political and other questions of the day, and to talk 
over old times in his peculiar didactic and instructive manner.t 

The whig candidate for lieutenant-governor. Col. Don Morrison, 
was also by profession a lawyer. He had served with acceptability 
in both the State and national legislatures, and as lieutenant-col- 
onel of the 2d Illinois regiment in the Mexican war. He was a 
native Illinoisan; an orator of distinguished manners, daring ad- 
dress, and an ardent whig. He had been very successful in accum- 
ulating a large and valuable landed estate, which he still lives to 
enjoy. Neither of these candidates was tinctured with the grow- 
ing anti-slavery sentiments of the party at that day. 

Beside the disappointment of public expectation in the defeat 
of Gregg before the democratic convention, the nomination of 
Matteson for governor did not at first give general satisfaction to 
the party in all parts of the State. From the south, hostile to aU 
banks, the press indicated the impression to be that the head of 
the ticket had warmly advocated the adoi)tion of the general 
banking law ; that he favored a U. S. bank, or any kind of "wild 
cat system ;" that he had not besides been sound on the Wilmot 
proviso; was against the compromise measures of 1850, and fa- 
vored free soilism. The democratic organ at the capital called on 
the Joliet paper (where Matteson resided,) to give to the democ- 
racy a. "full and explicit statement of [his] views" upon the im- 
portant subjects named. To Koerner was ascribed a position upon 
these questions in perfect accord with the sentiments of the party. 

• See Illinois State Journal. 

[Note— +For his own amusement, unaided by any teacher and perhaps before he 
was aware of his proficiency, he became a most excellent French scholar, without 
being: able, however, to his knowledg-e, to pronounce a word of the language correctly. 
This was done by regularly reading the Courier des Etat Unl% a French newspaper 
printed in New York, for which he was a subscriber. The writer has heard him read 
in English fresh from its columns, time and again, translating with such readiness that 
one would suppose him to be reading from an ordinary American newspaper. 



602 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

It was said that if the ticket liacl been reversed as regards these 
candidates it would have been preferable — "but as it is we adhere 
to it," comniauded the party drill-sergeants. Two short years or 
less demonstrated the fallacy of these apprehensions hy the going 
over of Koeruer to the anti-Nebraska party, and Matteson's sup- 
l^ort of the repeal of the Missouri compromise. 

The campaign of 1852, as might ha\e been expected by the whigs 
giving up the contest in advance, was attended by little excitement ; 
nothing of interest occurred, and upon its close in November, re- 
sulted in an overwhelming victory for the democracy. Joel A. 
Matteson received 80,645 votes, Edwin B. Webb 64,408, and 
Dexter A. Knowlton 8,829. 

Joel A. Matteson was born August 8, 1808, in Jeti'ersou county 
New York, whither his father had removed from Vermont three 
yeiii'S before. His father was a farmer in fair circumstances, but 
a common English education was all that his only sou received. 
Joel first tempted fortune as a small tradesman in Prescott, Can- 
ada, before his majority. He returned thence home, entered an 
academy, taught school, visited the large eastern cities, improved 
a farm his father had given him, made later a tour south, worked 
there in building railroads, experienced a storm on the Gulf of 
Mexico, visited the gold diggings of northern Georgia, whence he 
returned via Nashville to St. Louis aiul through Illinois to his fath- 
er's home, and married. In 1833, having sold his farm, he removed 
with his wife and one child to Illinois, and took a claim on govern- 
ment land near the head of Au Sable river, in the present Ken- 
dall county. At the time there were not exceeding two neiglibors 
within a range of ten miles, and only three or four houses between 
his location and Chicago. He opened a large farm; his family 
was boarded twelve miles away while he erected a house on his 
claim, sleeping, during this time, under a rude pole shed. Here 
his life was placed in imminent peril by a huge prairie rattlesnake 
sharing his bed. In 1835 he bought largely at the government 
land sales. During the speculative real estate mania which broke 
out in Chicago in 1836, and spread all over the State, he sold his 
lands under the intiation of that period, and removed to Joliet. 
In 1838 he became a heavy contractor on the Illinois and Michi- 
gan canal. Upon the completion of his job in 1841, when hard 
times prevailed, business at a stand, contracts paid in State scrip ; 
when all the public woi'ks except the canal were abandoned, the 
State offered for sale 700 tons of railroad iron, which was pur- 
chased by Matteson at a great bargain. This he shipped and sold 
at Detroit, realizing a, very handsome profit, enough to pay off all 
his canal debts, and leave him a surplus of several thousand dol- 
lars. His enterprise next prompted him to start a woolen mill at 
Joliet, in which he prospered, and which, after successive enlarge- 
ments, became an enormous establishment. In 1842 he was first 
elected a State senator, but, by a bungling apportionment, John 
Pearson, a senator holding over, was found to be in the same dis- 
tiict, and decided to be entitled to represent it. Matteson's seat 
was declared vacant. Pearson, however, with a nobleness difficult 
to appreciate in this day of greed for office, unwilling to represent 
his district under the circumstances, immediately resigned his un- 
ex])ired term of two years. A bill was passed in a few hours or- 
dering a new election, and in ten days' time Matteson was re- 



MATTESON'S ADMINISTRATION. 603 

turned re-elected and took liis seat as senator. From his well- 
known capacity as a business man, he was made chairman of the 
committee on finance, a position which he held during this half and 
two full succeeding- senatorial terms, discharging its important 
duties with ability and faithfulness. Besides his extensive woolen 
mill interest, when work was resumed on the canal under the new 
loan of $1,600,000 he again became a heavy contractor, and also 
subsequently operated largely in building railroads.* He had 
shown himself a most energetic and thorongh business man. 

Matteson's forte was not on the stump ; he had not cultivated 
the art of oily flattery, or the faculty of being all things to all 
men. His qualities of head took rather the direction of efiicient 
executive ability ; his turn consisted not so much in the adroit 
management of party, or tbe powerful advocacy of great govern- 
mental principles, as in those more solid and enduring operations 
which cause the physical development and advancement of a State 
— of commerce and business enterprise, into Avhich he labored 
with success to lead the people. As a politician he Avas just and 
liberal in his views, and both in official and private life he then 
stood untainted and free from blemish. As a man, in active be- 
nevolence, social virtues, and all the amiable qualities of neighbor 
or citizen, he had few superiors. His messages present a perspic- 
uous array of facts as to the condition of the State, and are often 
couched in forcible and elegant diction. The helm of State was 
confided to no unskillful hands. 

Gustavus Koerner, the lieutenant-governor elect, was born in 
1809, in the old free city of Frankfort-on-the-Main, German}^, and 
received in his youth the usual thorough common school educa- 
tion of that country. At the age of 19 he entered the University 
of Jena ; in 1832, at Heidelberg he took the degree of doctor of 
laws, and was soon after admitted to the bar of his native city. 
While at Jena the French revolution of 1830 ins]>ired him, like 
many other ardent youths, with the principles of liberty. Thus 
imbued, he could illy brook the decrees of the Germanic diet sup- 
pressing the freedom of the press, and prohibiting public discus- 
sions of political questions, and connected with a political associa- 
tion having for its aim an enlarged liberty and more perfect union 
of the Germanic States, he became implicated in a revolutionary 
movement against the government, which proved a failure, when 
he sought exile. Finding no security in France, then under Louis 
Philippe, in May, 1833, at the age of 24, he embarked at Havre for 
America, and on arrival proceeded to Illinois, and settled in 
Belleville. Here he determined to pursue the practice of the law, 
notwithstanding the obstacles of a foreign tongue, of which he 
had but a student's knowledge, and immediately commenced a dil- 
igent course of reading, attended the Lexington law school, and 
afterward became the law partner of Adam W. Snyder and James 
Shields. He attached himself to the fortunes of the democratic 
l)arty, and took an active part in politics. In 1840 he edited a 
German campaign paper named Messenger of Liberty, and carried 
the electoral vote of Illinois to Washington. In 1842 he was 
elected to the lower house of the legislature, and in 1845 appointed 
a judge of the supreme court, by Gov. Ford, vice Gen. Shields, re- 
signed. In 1848 he was ai)pointed consul to Hamburg, This 

• See speech of D. L. Gregg, 1852. ~ 



604 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

I)lace was procured for him by his political friends, knowing well 
his ardent wishes to revisit the scenes of his youth during the then 
struggle of that country for liberty. But when the effort was 
crushed, and crowds of political refugees fled the oppressed 
fatlierland, Koerner, nothaving started, resigned his commission.* 
In 1854 he went off" with the anti-Nebraska movement, since when 
he has acted with the republican party. He presided over the 
State republican convention in 1858, when Mr. Lincoln was desig- 
nated as a candidate for U. S. senator. In 1860 he was a delegate 
at large to the Chicago con\ention. On the breaking out of the 
rebellion he raised the 43d Illinois regiment, but before it was fully 
organized he was ajipointed a colonel on thestaff' of Gen. Fremont. 
In 1862 he was appointed minister to Spain, which place he re- 
signed in 1865. Since then he has acted in various public capa- 
cities for the State. He was in 1872 the liberal republican and 
democratic candidate for governor, but was defeated. 

The new administration was entrusted with the helm of State at 
a time when she was rising with great rapiditj' from the long and 
gloomy spell of pecuniary- embarrassment following the failure of 
the internal improvement system of 1837. The building of the 
great net- work of railroads Avas just fairly inaugurated, and about 
400 miles of track completed. The first year of this administra- 
tion the increase of taxable wealth in the State amounted to $75,- 
865,328, equal to about 51 per cent. Only a small portion of this 
unprecedented increase was reasonably attributable to the new 
assessment law. The commerce of Chicago, with a iiopulation of 
50,000, had gone beyond $20,000,000, and the trade and commerce 
of the Illinois river and canal amounted to $42,345,000. The State 
debt, principal and interest, on the 1st of January, 1853, Avas $17,- 
398,985.35, which, as the State increased at the rate of 10 per 
cent, and the debt at 6 per cent., was estimated to be extiuguish- 
able in 11 years' time — by 1864. 

In his elaborate inaugural message, indicating that a master of 
finan(;e had cast his eye over the field of State, Gov. Mattesou al- 
luded to her flattering prospects ; how she was in the track of 
empire; the great number of railroads in course of construction, 
and bespoke the liberality of the legislature in granting further 
charters, and affording every proper encouragement to bring new 
fields of labor into market. True to the place of his abode, he re- 
commended the building of a State i)rison in the northern part of 
the State. The Alton penitentiary was then crowded with 227 
convicts. He also recommended the adoption of a free school sys- 
tem, and if that should be deemed premature, at any rate to au- 
thorize a general superintendent of the common schools. The new 
free banking law he did not want to see disturbed by the legisla- 
ture, but those unauthorized institutions still operating under the 
semblance of banks and issuing their notes, sliould be stojiped. 
He also desired a re-submission to a vote of the people the ques- 
tion of changing the distribution of the 2 mill tax ; and such 
amendment of the constitution as would give to the foreigner a 
speedier right of suffrage, out of which, he argued at length, no 
evil could grow. In his view the hard times constitution was too 
parsimonious in the salaries and fees fixed for officers ; the judi- 

*See D. L. Greg-g's speech, 1852. 



MATTESON'S ADMINISTRATION. <nA) 

ciary should be placed above pecuuiary want, upon that higli 
ground which would command the confidence and respect of iiitel- 
hgeut men. He regarded the compensation of members of the 
general assembly so low as to be attended with embarrassments. 
This he desired also amended. The constitution was not amended, 
however, in any of these or other parti(;ulars for 17 years ; and 
these objections, urged from so high a source, doubtless contrib- 
uted to the first feeling and impulse that license taken with its 
rigid jirovisions would not perhaps incur any great public obloquy, 
which was subsequently improved upon until their violations were 
practiced by every department of government in the grossest 
maimer. 

During the legislative session of 1853 was enacted the small 
bank bill law, which was, from the start, as dead a letter as law 
ever became ; also acts to use the surplus funds of the treasury 
in the purchase of State indebtedness ; to condemn the right of 
way for purposes of internal improvement ; to build the present 
governor's mansion ; incorporate the State Agricultural Society ; 
sell the State lands, of which 128,954 acres, valued at 1747, 1«m», 
were still on hand, and granting the right of preemption on 
them; re-enact the law prohibiting the retailing of intoxica- 
thig drinks, fixing the license at from $50 to $300; and, under the 
partisan lash, that inhuman and disgraceful act, preventing free 
negroes and mulattoes from settling in the State, under severe ])en- 
alties, was passed. 

In 1855 was passed that law, more than any other upon our 
statutes fraught with untold benefactions to the youtli of our 
State, to maintain a system of free schools; also an act autliorizing 
the erection of 150 additional prison cells to the Alton peniten- 
tiary. The most important measure bearing upon the treasury 
of the State, at this session, was the act for a settlement of old 
canal claim damages, dating back beyond 1840, in favor of cer- 
tain contractors, &c. The commission appointed for the final ad- 
justment of these claims consisted of S. H. Treat, John D. Caton, 
and Walter B. Scates. By resolution it was ordered that with 
the State census to be taken in 1855 should be separately returned 
the name, residence and postoffic'e address of all the deaf and 
dumb, blind and insane persons in the State. A resolution rela- 
tive to the calling of a convention to alter the constitution was 
also again submitted to the people, to again meet defeat. 

During the 4 years of Matteson's administration the taxable 
wealth of the State was about trebled, being for the year 1851, 
$137,818,079, and for the year 1856, $349,951,272; there weie 
raised and paid out on the public debt, $7,079,198, reducing it 
from $17,398,985 to $12,843,144 ; in the meantime taxation had 
been reduced, and the State had resumed paying interest in iS'ew 
York as it fell due. While the public debt was thus being re- 
duced, the means of its ultimate extinction were rapidly on the 
increase. When Matteson came into office, less than 400 miles of 
railroad were constructed in the State; when he went out, the 
number would vary little from 3,000, " penetrating almost every 
section and filling the country with activity and business." Dur- 
ing his term, the population of Chicago was nearly doubled and 
its commerce more than quadrupled. 



606 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The Maine Liquor Law in Illinois. — In 3855 the legislature 
passed a very stringent prohibitory liquor bill, commonly known 
as the " Maine law" — being a total prohibition of both the sale 
and manufacture of spirituous, vinous or malt liquors, under heavy 
penalties of fines, imprisonments, or both, and destruction of li- 
quors. It contained certain exceptions in favor of the making of 
cider, wines and beer and ale for export. Importers were allowed 
to .sell in the original packages only. The law was not to go into 
efiect unless approved by a majority vote of the people at a 
special election to be held in June of that year. 

In 1851 had been adoj^ted a somewhat stringent act known as 
the "quart law." It was designed to strike at tippling establish- 
ments, in prohibiting the sale of spirituous and mixed (not malt) 
liquors in less quantity than a quart, by forbidding them to be drank 
on the premises where sold or givenaway j and by repealing all laws 
granting license for these i^urposes. The penalty was a fine of 
$25. The law produced a great outcry of popular indignation, 
and was in 1853 repealed. While the legislature was thus bowing 
to low clamor, the friends of temperance w^ere not idle. A State 
temperance convention met at the cai)ital in January. Delegates 
to the number of 200, from all parts of the State, were in attend- 
ance. The leading participants were S. D. Lockwood, formerly 
supreme judge, the distinguished pioneer and divine, J. M. Peck, 
D. D., Hons. B. S. Edwards, S. W. Eobins, Thomas M. Taylor, G. 
P. West, W. C. Vanmeter, Judge Grover, &c. Believing intoxi- 
cating drink to be the great incentive to crime, they sought to re- 
form society by abolishing this terrible temptation. The Maine 
law was undergoing trial in several States at the time. The use 
of the hall of representatives was denied them after a protracted 
debate in the house, by a vote of 33 to 36. The convention drafted 
a bill similar in its provisions to the Maine law, which was pre- 
sented to the general assembly for adoption, but met with speedy 
defeat; some of the strongest temperance members believing that 
moral suasion, and not arbitrary legislation, was the only mode of 
approaching a free, thinking people like the Americans, voted 
against it. At the special session of February, 1854, the friends 
of temperance again assembled at Springfield. The attendance 
was chiefly from the northern part of the State. The j^rohibitory 
bill was again introduced in the legislature, and this time favora- 
bly reported upon by the select conjmittee on temperance. Mr. 
Palmer (since governor,) moved the submission clause as an amend- 
ment, but for want of time no final action was had upon it. 

There were at the time grave doubts as to the constitutionality of 
such a law; but at the June term of the Supreme court, in the 
case of Jacksonville vs. Godard, these were in a measure removed. 
Jacksonville by ordinance had declared the sale of liquors a nui- 
sance, making the offense punishable by fine. It was contended 
by the defendant that liquor was property, and that the right to 
acquire property, and holding, using and disposing of it was both 
natural and constitutioiml, and could not be invaded by any mu- 
nicipality under authority of the State ; the right might be regu- 
lated but not destroyed. The court held that this doctrine as a 
universal principle was not tenable. It depended upon the kind 
of property; its use and disi)Osal. We surrendered both natural 



matteson's administration. 007 

and social rights in the political state, which was necessary and 
paramount for the well being- of society. These police powers de- 
stroyed neither Magna Charta nor any constitution. The act and 
the thing', with its use, must be judged by its effects, and when 
they brought it within the reason and mischiefs of tlie law the 
power of government must regulate them. We had a right to our 
gold and silver, and the disposal of it, yet could not coin it. We 
might labor and rest, yet Avere disallowed to become idlers, va- 
grants or vagabonds. We might dispose of our property, yet had 
no right to gamble it off. And to pnnish the effect we might re- 
move the cause. Judge Scates delivered the opinion of the court. 

The prohibitory bill came again before the legislature in 1855. 
That body was unexpectedly republican, or rather " fusion" l\y 
a combination of whigs and anti-Nebraska democrats. For the 
first time in the history of the State, since the organization of the 
whig and democratic parties, it was not in the control of the latter. 
The bill, after being amended by the senate, passed both houses, 
and under the submission clause went before the people for ap- 
proval. 

It may not be uninteresting to give an idea of the arguments 
advanced for and against the measure. The opponents held that 
drinking men must be restrained, if restrained at all, by (jonvinc- 
ing their judgment that dissipation led to ruin and death ; by a 
conviction that temperance was the way to prosperity, hai)piness, 
health and longevity ; that their sympathies must be enlisted in 
the cause bj^ moral suasion, which was the only effectual lever to 
bear on such a work ; that penal and prohibitory laws had in 
every instance proved a total failure, and were calculated to pro- 
voke resistance. It was hard to establish the belief that liquor 
was not property which men might not defend from destruction, 
and the principle was the same whether ten dollars worth of li- 
quor was destroyed or ten millions worth.* 

The friends of the bill argued that as the people of this State 
were law abiding they would not resist so beneficent a law. Every 
man in society or government had to yield something of his sav- 
age liberty — the liberty of each was circumscribed by the equal 
liberty of all. The effect of intemperance in producing crime and 
pauperism called for taxation to defray and support a double wrong. 
It might destroy a husband or son, in whom the wife or mother had 
a right of support — a form of property. If liquor was property, so 
was iron, yet convert that iron into counterfeiting tools it became 
contraband and lost tlie character of property. All things were 
sacred until desecrated. Man was entitled to j)ersonal liberty, 
yet inebriation would subject him to arrest under police regula- 
tions ; liberty was regulated by law ; governments were instituted 
among men to promote their general welfare, and prevent wrong 
and injury to the rights of persons and property. The general 
good of the people was the object of all law, and whatever stood 
in the way of its attainment should be removed by ai^propriate 
legislation. Finally, it simply resolved itself into a question whether 
intemperance was an evil, and whether intoxicating liquors pro- 
duced intemperance.t 

• Illinois state Regieter, April. 1853. 
+ Journal (111. State,* March, 1835. 



608 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The Hon. B. S. Edwards, a lawyer of ability aud emiueut 
standing, framed the bill, and labored earnestly before the peo- 
ple to secure its adoption ; many others, influenced by philan- 
thropic motives, did the same. The State received a pretty thor- 
ough canvassing by speakers and the press. But politicians, a 
craven set, with an eye ever to the future of their personal ad- 
vancement, stood aloof from it. The opponents circulated gar- 
bled copies of it among farmers, with forged interpolations, for- 
bidding the manufacture and sale of cider. The bill read, if a 
man was found drunk and committed a breach of the peace, he 
should be arrested. From this the words "committing a breach of 
the peace" were omitted. It was further characterized as the great 
abomination of modern times — it circumscribed the privilege of the 
citizen, it outraged his free conscience, and by its adoption liberty 
would be crushed. The bill was defeated before the people by a 
small aggregate majority. The southern counties voted mostly 
against it, and the northern, with the exception of Cook audEock 
Island, for it. 

Maine Laiv Riot in Chicago. — Section 36 of the prohibitory bill 
provided that " all laws authorizing the granting of licenses to 
sell spirituous, intoxicating or mixed liquors shall be repealed 
from and after the date of the passage of this act" — February 
12th. Section 39 read : "The provisions of this act shall take 
effect on the first Monday of July next," provided that if a major- 
ity of the ballots to be deposited were against prohibition then the 
act was to be of no force or effect whatever. Section 39 being a 
later expression of the will of the legislature than the conflicting 
provision of section 36, according to numerical order, ought 
plainly to have prevailed. In Mar(-h the city council of Chicago, 
said to have been Knownothing, required all persons selling- 
liquor to take out license at the rate of $300 a year. Many of the 
saloon-keepers were Germans. These, acting under legal advice 
as to the construction of the State prohibitory law, that the city 
had no legal authority to issue licenses from February to July, 
and that every person choosing to had the right to sell liquor 
within that period according to section 36, refused to comply with 
the requirements of the council, and continued to sell liquors. 
Warrants were issued, and some 30 German saloon-keepers were 
arrested. The question being an important one, it was concluded 
to try them before Judge Bucker. On the day set Germans 
thronged the court room until it was impossible to proceed with 
the trials. The police cleared the room, and the crowd retired to 
the next, from which, on account of their noise, they were also ex- 
cluded. With the beating of drums the crowd now took posses- 
sion of the sidewalk on Bandolph street, excluded the passing pe- 
destrians, and, armed with bludgeons, knives and pistols, speed- 
ily developed into a mob, insulting eveiy one coming within range, 
and bidding defiance to the police. The latter attempted to open 
the sidewalk by force, and a general melee ensued, resulting in 
the death of two poricemen, as many Germans, and the serious 
wounding of a great number. The streets were cleared, and order 
re-established by the aid of the military ; 53 Germans were ar- 
rested and lodged in jail. It was a day of outraged law, disgrace 



MATTESON'S ADMINISTRATION. 609 

and blood for Chicago. Ou the next day (Sunday,) the city was 
put under martial hiw. 

OUR COMMON SCHOOLS. 

Trials Incident to the Establishment of the Free School System. — 
The free school system, entered upon in 1855, marks the turn- 
ing- point in tlie history of common school education of the State. 
The right of the State to maintain such a system is founded upon 
the idea that where ignorance predominates vice and crime are its 
inseparable concomitants, and that by education the masses will 
be elevated, society beneflted, offenses lessened, and good gov- 
ernment promoted. But the main incentive to its establish- 
ment in Illinois was the great necessity that efficiency be infused 
into the cause of education; ajul the awakening of the peoi)le from 
the deep lethargy into \Ahich they had sunk to an appreciation of 
its imiJortance. Keeping in view the wonderful power of money 
upon all the affairs of men, it was invoked in this case to stir them 
up, and a law was devised which offered essentially a premium to 
stimulate them to take hold of those benefits which had been ten- 
dered them for 10 years past under then existing laws, but which 
they had steadily i-efused to fully accept. The main feature of the 
law is bringing the strong hand of government, operating through 
the taxing power, to bear upon the property of the State, and 
causing it to contribute to the education of its youth. To effect 
this was no easy task. Many old and deep-rooted prejudices as to 
taxation for this purpose had to be eradicated ; the judgment of 
men as to its power and rightfulness was to be convinced ; false 
ideas of economy for ten years sedulously pursued by the State, 
wei'e to be unlearned ; ignoiant parents enlightened ; and teachers 
of the requisite qualifications and earnestness obtained. It was a 
problem both difficult and delicate; but indefatigable men labored 
unceasingly for its solution, and it was finally accomijlished ; and 
the law and its results point an instructive lesson in the science 
of government. 

The ordinance of 1787, declared knowledge in connection with 
religion and morality, "to be necessary to the good government 
and happiness of mankind," and enjoined that "schools and the 
means of education shall forever be encouraged." Accordingly, 
congress, in the Enabling Act for this State, April 18, 1818, ap- 
j)roi)riated 3 per cent, of the net proceeds of the sales of the pub- 
lic lands, lying within her limits, for the encouragement of learn- 
ing, 1 - 6th part thereof to be exclusively bestowed on a college 
or university. Two townships, one then and one sometime prior, 
were besides donated for founding and maintaining a seminary of 
learning. The proceeds of the 3 per cent, fund and the sales of 
the seminary lands, were blended in 1835, and borrowed by the 
State at 6 per cent., the interest to be annually distributed for 
scliool purposes. In 1845 the receipts of the j)roceeds of the 3 
percent, school fund were suspended for a time. Owing to the 
embarrassed condition of the finances, this State, like many others, 
had stopped i^aying interest on her public debt, and congress, by 
resolution, ordered the 3 per cent, fund to be withheld from them 
and ai)i)lied toward the payment of interest on bonds held in trust 
bv the general government. This action was denounced at home 
30 



610 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

as a grievous and iiiiwarrauted wrong, but our delegation in con- 
gress raised no voice against it. After the Mexican war the free 
entry of lands by land warrants caused the 3 per cent, fund to be 
materially lessened, and the legislature, in 1849, authorized its 
proceeds to be invested in Illinois bonds, then low in market, 
which would have been a wise expedient for the 8 preceding years 
but now nothing much came of it. The seminary fund received 
additions from time to time, as sales were made, and in 1861 the 
residue of the land was turned over to the agricultural college, 
the principal of the fund being $59,838. The State in 1857 had 
set apart the interest of the college and seminary funds for the 
maintenance of the normal university, except one-fourth for 
the deaf and dumb asylum. In 1837 the legislature added to 
the common school fund the proceeds of the surplus revenue of 
the U. S., distributed to the several States by act of congress, 
amounting at that time to $132,856, the State paying interest 
thereon at the rate of 6 ]ier cent. This fund thus escaped being- 
swallowed up in the vortex of the internal improvement sj'stem of 
that period. The several sums thus derived nuiy be called tlie 
permanent State common school fund, the whole amounting, 
when the free school system was entered upon in 1855, to $951,- 
504, yielding an annual interest of $57,700, one-fourth of which 
Avas distributed to the deaf and dumb asylum. 

But a more important and really muniflcent donation from con- 
gress was the 16th section of every congressional township, or if 
sold, lands equivalent thereto, as contiguous as might be, for the 
use of the inhabitants of such township for school purposes. 
This amounted to 998,448 89-100 acres, which, had it been pro]>- 
erly husbanded and managed, would have given the people such 
an ample school fund as Mould have saved them from local taxa- 
tion. One trouble of most new countries is that immigrants come 
empty-handed and are both averse and unable to pay taxes. Such 
was emphatically the case in Illinois at an early day. To the 
sentiments of a people, law makers, seeking office at their hands, 
will bend, and the result in Illinois was that as early as 1828, 
with an empty treasury and the fear of providing adequate rev- 
enue by taxation, the legislature unfortunately authorized the sale 
of the school lands, and borrowed the proceeds to defray the cur- 
rent public expense. At first the lands were leased and squatted 
on to a large extent. The occupants shortly desiring better titles, 
possessing the elective franchise, and being united by a common 
interest, their influence with our law-makers was sufficient to pro- 
cure the passage of laws to sell them at very low prices, and thus 
this magnificent gift of the nation for the highest of purposes, was 
in great part squandered. The seminary township largely shared 
the same fate. By 1855 the township fund amounted to $1,441,- 
427, yielding then an annual interest of $111,191. In 1868 the 
principal was $4,873,232, varying in different townships from $100 
to more than $100,000, owing to losses and mal-administration in 
the one case, and provident management, a later settlement of the 
districts, and fortuitous circumstances as to location in the other. 

In 1835, as we have noted, the interest on the several school 
funds thus borrowed by the State, was first distributed to the 
counties according to the number of children under 21 years, to 
be paid to teachers at a rate of not more than one-half due them 



matteson's administration. Gil 

for services rendered in tlie preceding 12 niontlis, the overplns, 
if any, to constitute forever a county school fund, a wise i)ro- 
vision, but lost in the subsequent changes of the law. Of course 
there was no county fund made if the distributive share was less than 
oue-half the sums due to teachers ; hence there are some counties 
without this fund. The aggregate county fund in 1855 was about 
$50,000. In 1852 the balance of the swamp and overflowed lands, 
after paying for drainage and levees built to reclaim them, was 
granted to the counties where situate, their proceeds to be equally 
divided among the townships for educational purposes, roads and 
bridges, as might be deemed expedient. In 1853 the tines col- 
lected and criminal forfeitures on bail were further added to the 
school fund and school property was exempted from taxation. 

The first free school system of this State was adoj)ted 30 years 
before the present one. Schools flourished in almost every neigh- 
borhood, and the law "worked admirably well."* Gov. Coles, in 
his message to the legislature of 1824-5, directed attention to the 
liberal donation of congress in lauds for educational purposes, 
asking that they be husbanded as a rich treasure for future gen- 
erations, and in the meantime to make provision for the support 
of local schools. Later during the session, Joseph Duncan, after- 
wards governor, then a senator, introduced the bill for this act. 
The preamble declares that : 

" To enjoy our rights and liberties, we must understand them ; their 
security and protection ought to be the first object of a free people ; and 
it is a well established fact that no nation has ever continued long in 
the enjoyment of civil and political freedom which was not both virtu- 
ous and enlightened. And believing that tl:ie advancement of literature 
always has been and ever will be the means of more fully developing 
the rights of man — that the mind of every citizen in a republic is the 
common property of society, and constitutes the basis of its strength and 
happiness — it is therefore considered the peculiar duty of a free govern- 
ment, like ours, to encourage and extend the improvement and cultiva- 
tion of the intellectual energies of the whole." 

It was provided that common schools should be established, 
free and open to every class of white citizens between the ages of 5 
and 21 ; and persons over 21 might be admitted on such terms as 
the trustees should prescribe. JDistricts of not less than 15 fami- 
lies were to be formed by the county courts upon petition of a ma- 
jority of the voters thereof; ofiicers were to be elected, sworn in, 
and their duties were prescribed in detail. The system was full 
and complete in all particulars. The legal voters were empowered 
at the annual meeting to levy a tax, in money or merchantable 
produce at its cash value, not exceeding ^ of 1 i)er cent., subject 
to a maximum limitation of $10 to any one person. But aside 
from this tax, the best and most effective feature of the law, in 
principle the great stimulant of our present system, was an an- 
nual appropriation by the State of $2 out of every $100 received 
into the treasury, and the distribution of 5-G of the interest arising 
from the school funds, apportioned among the several counties ac- 
cording to the number of white children under the age of 21 years, 
which sums were then re-distributed by the counties am(nig their 
respective districts, none participating therein where not at least 
3 months school had been taught during the 12 months preced- 
ing. In this law were foreshadowed some of the most valuable 

♦ Gov. Ford. 



612 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

features of our present efficient free school sjstem. But it is as- 
serted that the hiw of 1825 was in advance of the times ; that the 
l^eople preferred t# pay their tuition fees, or do without education 
for their children, rather than submit to the bare idea of taxation, 
however it might fall in the main upon the wealthier property- 
holders for the benefit of all ; and the law was so amended in 1827 
as to virtually nullify it, by providing that no person should be 
taxed for the maintenance of any school unless his consent was 
first obtained in writing-, and the continuance of the State ajipro- 
priation of $2 out of every $100 received into the treasury, being 
its very life, was denied. The legislature of 1827, unlike its prede- 
cessor, not onlj' in this but many other respects, was one of the 
worst that has ever afflicted the State. 

After that there were repeated amendments and revisions of the 
school law by the legislature, but for the want of the vital prin- 
ciple of the taxing- power, little efficiency was imparted to the 
cause of education in Illinois. For 18 years, it may be said, the 
darkness of ignorance hung over the land, unrelieved by a ray of 
promise in the right direction. Still, zealous men labored inde- 
fatigably in the cause. In 1844 an earnest common school conven- 
tion met in Peoria, and, after deliberation, Messrs. John S. Wright, 
of Chicago, H. M. Weed, of Lewiston, and Thomas M. Kilpatrick, 
of Winchester, drafted a memorial to the legislature in favor of 
an efficient common school system, which is an able and exhaust- 
ive document on the subject.* To arouse public interest and stir 
up the masses to the necessity of educating their children they 
deemed of prime importance, and to this end pleaded earnestly 
for a State superintendent of public instruction, as a separate and 
distinct officer, M-ith a fair salary, whose duty it should be, among 
other things, to travel into every county and neighborhood in the 
State, deliver lectures to the people, impress upon them the 
importance of education, carefully examine such schools as there 
were, note the ojieration of the existing law, learn the wishes and 
plans of the people, and from sources outside of the State collect 
such valuable information as could be obtained resj)ecting im- 
provements, &c., and report from time to time to the legislature. 
That such an officer would see to it that the public moneys raised 
were rightfully applied and made useful in the highest degree. 
Gov. Ford added his recommendation, saying such an officer 
"must be a rare man, endowed with talents, zeal and discretion 
of the highest order." They further declared education a public 
benefit, indispensable to the welfare of the State, and as much en- 
titled to support from general taxation as the judiciary, or the 
maintenance of public highways; and asked why single out edu- 
cation from all other i>ublic benefits and exempt a man's prop- 
erty from i^aying its expense. Well knowing, however, the then 
crippled condition of the State treasury, resulting from the late 
internal improvement scheme, they asked no contribution Irom 
it, but boldly recommended local taxation, and frankly acknowl- 
edged that their every effort was intended as a lure to draw the 
people into the grasp of the awful monster, a school tax. Let 
them but give permission to use this monster to those so inclined, 
and others, seeing the result, would fall into his embrace. In 

* See m. Reports, 1845. 



matteson's administration. 613 

otlier words, allow such townships or districts as wanted, bj' a 
majority of their legal voters, to adopt this iiietliod of sustainmg 
their schools, the local tax would iucite iiiqiury, and insure the 
faithful use of the public money, both from the State treasury and 
the township fund. 

The legishUure at the session of 1844-5, unable to resist the 
force of this reasoning, yielded its partial assent. Actuated by a 
feeling- of economy, under the pressure of the times, tbe secretary 
of State, already burdened with the business of his office, was 
made ex-ofl&cio State su])erintendent of public instruction ; and in 
reference to local taxation it was requiied that a two-thirds legal 
vote of any district concur in ordering the tax. Considering- the 
influence of large property holders, who were mostly oi)i)osed to 
the assessment of taxes for school purposes, it nuiy well be imag- 
ined that little school revenue was thence derived. Indeed the 
whole of the local school taxes for the years 1846-47 did not 
amount to 1 mill on the $100 of taxable wealth of the State. The 
auditor was to distribute the interest of the State school fund ac- 
cording to the number of children in each county under 20 years, 
based upon the i)receding census, and these distributive shares 
were again to be distributed by the counties to the townships ac- 
cording to the number of chiklren in each, under 21. But if no 
school had been taught for 10 months preceding, the money was 
to be added to the principal of the township fund. Many of the 
features of the law of 1845 are incorporated iu that of 1855. 

As a qualification for teaching, the law required a knowledge of 
reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar and history, 
which, strange as it may now appear, was far too high a standard, 
and many districts were deprived of their distributive shares of 
the State school fund on this account. 

Thus, while the statute books were swollen with school laws, 
this, like many others which preceded it, being most voluminous 
and anything but clear, repelling nearly all from reading it, the 
cause of education was not carried into as vigorous and efficient 
operation as might have been done under the law, and a most la- 
mentable apathy still pervaded the peoi)le. In man^' counties in 
the northern part of the State, and notably iu Cook, the schools 
were in a flourishing condition. But out of the 99 counties in the 
State, the secretary of State, ex-ofiicio superintendent, in 1846, 
was able to obtain reports from 57 only, as to the condition of 
their schools. The county school commissioners received very 
inadequate compensation, and were mostly negligent of their du- 
ties or incompetent. 

In 1847 the standard of the qualification for teachers was low- 
ered, or sought to be brought within the reach of the material that 
existed, by amending the school law so as to allow the granting 
of certificates for any one or more of the before named branches, 
as the applicant might desire ; and the requirement of a § vote 
to levy a local tax was modified to a majority of all the legal 
votes of any district — whence it followed that a simple absence 
could defeat the tax, anr^ as might be expected, great dithculty 
was experienced to induce a sufficient number of voters to assem- 
ble, and efficiency was still in abeyance. In 1849 the qualification 
of teachers was raised to the former grade, subject, however, to 
the will of directors, as to any of the branches, and a certificate 



614 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of that kind was valid. The local tax which might be levied was 
limited to 25 cents on the $100, its purpose to be designated. In- 
corporated towns and cities were allowed to go to 50 cents on the 
$100. In 1851 a majority of the legal voters atteuding at any 
legally convened meeting for the purpose, were allowed to levy 
a local tax not exceeding $1 on ever^- $100 of the taxable prop- 
erty of the district. The taxable wealth of the State at this time ex- 
ceeded $100,000,000, and $1,000,000 might have been raised, which 
added to the State school fund annually distributed, and that of the 
township, would have furnished the people an ample fund for acom- 
plete free school system. But it depended upon their election 
to avail of it, and instead of $1,000,000 and more, we find that 
for the year 1852 the total local ad valorem school tax in the whole 
State amounted to only $51,000, being less than one-twentieth 
part of the limits of the law. Mr. Gregg, secretary of State and 
superintendent of public instruction at the time, says: " I am not 
aware that in a single instance has this been done [that is, the 
full benefit of the law availed of], nor can any motive be assigned 
for the action of the people in this respect, unless it grows out of 
a preference for the system which now prevails." The school law, 
in educational efl'ects, was a dead letter. 

As stated in the outset, the j^roblem remained how to lift pub- 
lic sentiment from the slough of apathy into which it had sunk, 
to the great importance of education. Happily, from many 
imrts of the State the question of a general free school system 
Av as beginning to be agitated. The press, which had long stood 
aloof, took hold and began to discuss the subject in earnest. The 
Illinois Teacher, a publication devoted to the cause of education 
and numbering among its contributors many of the ablest teach- 
ers, exerted a wide influence and did efticient service. The finan- 
cial condition of the State, too, was nndergoing a most desirable 
change. Our rapid increase in i)opulation and wealth was dissi- 
pating the clouds of embarrassment which for 10 years had cast 
their shadow over the land, and the peojile beheld the future 
bright with promise. The railroad era had dawned upon the 
State, a new impulse was given to its development, and its strides 
to emi)ire were unequaled. Gov. Matteson, in his iuangural mes- 
sage, in a forcible manner directed attention to the great impor- 
tance of a broad and comprehensive common school system, free 
to all alike, and supported by a tax ui)on all the property in the 
State, to fit the rising generation in its intellectual capacity for 
the proper direction of the grand future of the State. Still there 
were in the then views of the people many weighty objections to a 
scheme of such extraordinary State dictation, as it was called. 
It was regarded as wholly at war with the property rights of the 
individual, exacting and oppressive to those unable or unwilling 
from various motives, to favorably view or participate in the com- 
mon advantages to be derived from it; and the legislature ad- 
journed without having accomplished anything toward a solution 
of the problem. 

In December, 1853, anticipating an extra session of the legisla- 
ture, two large common school conventions met, one at Jersey ville 
composed of many adjoining counties, and one at Bloomington, 
for tiie whole State. These conventions, whose earnest spirit was 
widely felt, indicated not only a growing dissatisfaction with the 



matteson's administration. 615 

existing- common school system, but evinced a ripened determina- 
tion in the public mind to make a radical change. These move- 
ments, and the very general approbation of their expressions, 
were so emphatic as to produce a decided impression upon the 
general assembly, which met in February following, and took the 
first stej) in the right direction, by the enactment of a law separa- 
ting the office of superintendent of public instruction from that 
of secretary of State, the former being neglected on account of 
the arduous duties of the latter, and creating it a distinct depart- 
ment of State government, the incumbent to receive a salary of 
$1500. Besides other duties, he was required to draft a bill em- 
bodying a system of free education for all the children of the State, 
and report it to the next general assembly. On the 15th of March, 
1854, Gov. Matteson appointed the Hon. N. W. Edwards State 
superintendent of common schools. This most important office, 
at that juncture, was bestowed upon Mr. Edwards on account of 
his long experience in public life, and from the conviction that he 
would carry into effect the hopes of the people and the designs of 
the legislature in creating it. In January following he submitted 
to the general assembly a full rei)ort upon the condition of the 
public schools thi'oughout the State, ably urged the education of 
the children in the State at the public expense, and presented a well- 
drawn bill for a complete system of free schools, which, with some 
alterations, became a law. And thus the great desideratum, long 
sought, was found ; and the earnest and indefatigable men, who 
had labored unceasingly to advance the cause of education, and 
who had never faltered even in the darkest hours of the State's 
finances, were rewarded hy beholding the comi)leted machinery 
prepared for its accomplishment. 

The act bore date Feb. 15, 1855, and embraced all the essential 
I)rinciples now in force. In them, as we said in the outset, is 
evinced something of the science of government. We have noted 
the educational needs of the j)eoi)le, and how they might have 
provided the means under the laws for free schools in every dis- 
trict of the State, but they would not. It remained, therefore, to 
compel them, not by force or the strong arm of the government, 
but in a way whose results would be fully as efficient. And this 
was accomplished by recognizing and enforcing the principle that 
the State has the sovereign right to levy and collect a sufficient 
tax from the real and personal i)roperty within its limits, and ex- 
l)endit in giving its youth a common education. For State pur- 
poses the school tax was fixed at 2 mills on the $100. To this was 
added the interest from the permanent school fund, when the 
whole would be given back to the people, f of it in proportion to 
the number of children under 21 in each county, and the residue to 
tlie townships, whole or fractional. In allowing territory to con- 
trol ^ of the fund, which is unvarying in the distribution, new or 
si)arsely settled counties were stimulated to the establishment of 
schools, which otherwise could not have coped with the denser 
settlements. But before the State fund could be shared in, cer- 
tain prerequisites must be complied with. A free school had to 
be maintained for at least 6 months in the year, and it was made 
imperative upon the directors of every organized school district 
to levy such a tax annually as if added to the public funds would 
be sufficient for that purpose: and, as if fearing that this might 



616 HISTORY OF TLLINOIS. 

not prove successful, it was made collectible tlie same as the State 
aud county tax. Other taxes might still be voluntarily added by 
a vote of the i)eoi)le, to extend the term of schools, build or repair 
school houses, purchase sites, &c. The local tax made thus obli- 
gatory, is, however, the main resource of our free school system, 
which, iu 18G8, aggregated $4,250,079. The public school funds 
having reached the hands of the township trustees, a new rule ob- 
tains as to their distribution among the districts. To encourage 
school atteiulance, half of the funds are apportioned on the ex- 
hibits of the teachers' schedules, and half in proportion to the 
number of children under 21 years old in each district. Such are 
the leading and sagacious combinations of the scheme to bring 
education nearer to the people, and induce them to partake of it. 
This is the force resorted to by government to render the system 
efficient. It is essentially the offering of large yearly premiums 
to every district to establish and maintain a free school for its 
youth. 

The new school system showed directly a marked improvement 
in educational efforts and results. Of the number of children in 
the State, under 21, only about one-third attended any kind of 
school before its establishment, now the average reached nearly 
half; before, the total number of schools was 4,215, now the num- 
ber rose directly to 7,694 ; before, the average monthly wages of 
teachers were $25 for males and $12 for females, now they were 
reported at $45 and $27, respectively; and while for 1854 the 
school fund (interest) distributed was only $37,155, for 1855 it 
was $665,025— $600,809 being the yield of the 2 mill tax. The 
cause of education thus at once received an imioetus which has 
since not only been well maintained but gained velocity, until 
to-day the free school system of Illinois, among the very best in 
the Union, is one of the proudest and noblest monuments which 
she has erected along the highway of her career toward great- 
ness, aud who will dare to raise his ruthless hand to tear it down? 

But now a new feature of opposition to the free school system 
was suddenly developed, which clouded the vision of some of its 
staunchest friends, and threatened its destruction. This grew 
out of the collection and distribution of the 2 mill tax, which acted 
very unequally in the different counties. Thus, from Cook Avas 
collected $30,000 more than she received back as her distiibutive 
share; Sangamon paid into the State treasury $23,132, and 
received back $11,027 ; and from all the wealthier and more popu- 
lous counties, with varying amounts, the same results obtained; 
while others — for instance White — contributed $2,579 as her share 
of the 2 mill tax, aud received back a distributive share of 
$5,409, a gain of over 100 per cent.; Pope paid in $1,055, and 
received $4,239, and Hardin paid $894, and received back $3,417, 
being more than 4 times the sums raised. While the people had 
been gradually brought to view as but right that one man's pro- 
perty might be taxed to defray the expense of teaching another's 
child, the idea that one county should similarly contribute to 
another, perhaps hundreds of miles distant, was regarded as the 
essence of injustice. In many parts of the State their complaints 
were loud and deep, and meetings were held in 1856 severely de- 
nouncing the law, and reqniring of candidates for the legislature 
pledges to favor its moditication or repeal. It was manifest that 



matteson's administration. G17 

a flagraut wrong existed somewhere, and it rested, doubtless, in 
great j)art with the unequal valuations of real and personal 
property in the different counties, as in Sangamon lands were 
valued at $12.54; in Christian, $3.06; in White, $2.52, &c.; but 
equalization of assessments could not wholly remedy it — the 
spirit and cardinal principles of the free school system were that 
the property and wealth of the State should bear the burden of 
educating its youth, no matter in whose hands it was, or where 
situate. The framers of the law had builded better than they 
knew, and with this broad idea, comprehended in its fullest sense, 
the efforts at amendment by the legislature in 1857 proved abor- 
tive. It is the vital principle of the law to-day. 

There being still a great dearth in teachers, and with the view 
also to attain uniformity in the modes of teaching and conducting 
schools, at the session of 1857 the State Normal Univei'sity was 
established at Bloomington. 



Chapter XLIX. 
DUELS m ILLINOIS, AND ATTEMPTS AT DUELS. 
A^airs of Honor and Personal Difficulties. 



The soil of Illinois Las been blood-stained but comparatively a 
few times by the barbarous code duello. Those tierce and implaca- 
ble passions which in controversy know no final argument but mor- 
tal combat have not found congenial culture on the level plains of 
tlie Prairie State. The records and details of the actual duels fought 
are particularly meagre, obscure and unsatisfactory. But we are 
tempted to give what there are. Of the first duel fought within 
the present limits of this State by residents, the names of the prin- 
cipals even are not transmitted. All that we have been able to 
find recorded regarding it may be found in Eeyuold's Pioneer His- 
tory, in the words following : 

" At the time the English troops came to take possession of 
Fort Ohartres, [1765], two young officers, one French and the 
other English, had a misunderstanding at the Fort. This quar- 
rel arose as did the war of the Greeks against the Trojans, on 
account of a lady. These officers fought with small swords early 
on a Sunday morning, near the fort, and in the combat one was 
killed. The other left the fort and descended the river. I was 
informed of the above duel nearly 50 years ago, by a very aged 
Frenchman. He informed me of the details, and said he was i)res- 
ent and saw the combat." Eeynolds wrote this about 1850, and 
he must have received the information when he was barely 12 
years old. 

The next duel of which we have any record, occurred in 1809, 
and may be found in the same book. It proved a bloodless affair 
at the time, but an angry quarrel grew out of it, resulting after- 
wards in the dastardly assassination of one of the principals. 
The duel was arranged between Eice Jones, son of John Eice 
Jones, a Welshman, the first and also one of the ablest lawyers 
Illinois has ever known, and Shadrach Bond, afterwards the first 
governor of the State. Jones, the elder, settled at Kaskaskia in 
1790, but upon the formation of the Indiana terintory, which in- 
cluded Illinois, removed to the capital, Yincennes, where he at- 
tained prominence. The sou possessed a high order of intellect, 
was well educated, and located at Kaskaskia in 1806 to practice 
the profession of the law. He drifted into politics, and by his 
rare ability speedily attained to the leadership of his party. He 
was elected a member of the territorial legislature, which met at 
Vincenues. His talents, prominence and inlluence were distasteful 
to the opposite p;»rty, if they did not arouse jealousy in his own. 

618 



DUELING. 619 

The question of public interest, and no little virulent excitement 
at the time, was the division of the territory by the detachment of 
Illinois. Young Jones and Bond became involved in a personal 
controversy; a challenge and acceptance followed, and the par- 
ties met for mortal combat on an island in the Mississippi, between 
St. Genevieve and Kaskaskia. The weapons were hair trigger 
pistols. After taking their positions Jones' weapon was jirema- 
turely discharged. Bond's second, named Dunlap, Avas disinclined 
to allow it as an inadvertence, claiming that according to the 
code it was Bond's fire next; but the latter, unwilling to take so 
mui'derous an advantage of his adversary, exclaimed that " it was 
an accident," and refused to tire. To conduct so noble the nature 
of Jones at once responded in an amicable spirit. The two prin- 
cipals reconciled their difficulty and quitted the field without far- 
ther conflict. But the ignoble conduct of Dunlap rankled and led 
to a relentless quarrel between him and Jones. Hatred grew 
apace until finally the malignant heart of Dunlap prompted him 
to assassinate Jones in the public streets of Kaskaskia. The lat- 
ter was standing on the sidewalk at the time, conversing with a 
lady, his arms resting on the railing of a gallery, when Dunlap 
crept up behind, unobserved, and with a pistol shot Jones dead in 
his tracks. Thus fell by the hand of a cowardly assassin, through 
a feud engendered by the most foolish miscalled code of honor, in 
the 28th year of his age, perhaps the most promising young man 
of the period. His untimely death, coupled with the manner of 
it, shocked the whole community, which sincerely mourned his 
loss. His murderer escaped to Texas and successfully evaded the 
just punishment due him from an earthly tribunal. In 1810 a law 
was adopted by the governor and judges, to suppress the ])rac- 
tice of dueling, which constituted a fatal result in dueling mur- 
der, making the aiders, abettors or counselors principals in the 
crime. 

Still later, in the same work, giving a sketch of the well known 
and dauntless pioneer Eector family, consisting of 9 sons and 4 
daughters, and recounting the deeds of valor iierformed by some 
of them in the west during the war of 1812, the author records 
that "Thomas Eector, one of the younger brothers, had a duel 
with Joshua Barton, on Bloody Island, opposite St. Louis, and 
was as cool in that combat as if he Avere shooting at a deer on 
the prairie. These young men espoused the quarrel of theirelder 
brothers, and Barton fell in the conflict." No date or other par- 
ticulars further than above quoted, are appended, but it occurred 
probably sometime during the war of 1812. Bloody Island, within 
the jurisdiction of Illinois, Avas more frequently the convenient 
and safe battle ground resorted to by St. Louis or Missouri bel- 
ligerents for the settlement of their personal difficulties by the 
barbarous rules of the bloody code, than Illinoisans, and this is 
said to have given origin to the horrid name by which the island 
was known. 

The next and last duel which resulted fatally between Illinois 
citizens and upon its soil, was fought within the limits of Belle- 
ville, in February, 1819, between Alonzo C. Stuart and William 
Bennett. It grew out of a drunken carousal in which besides the 
combatants, many citizens of St. Clair county i)articipated. 
Stuart and Bennett fell out, and with the view to ha\ ing some 



020 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

rare sport- and making a butt of Bennett, it was proposed among 
the outsiders tluit these two, to settle their quarrel, should light 
a sham duel. Staart was let into the secret but Bennett waskejit 
in the dark. Both parties readily agreed to the duel. Nathan 
Fike and Jacob Short acted as seconds. The weapons selected 
were rities, which were loaded with powder onlj*. The combat- 
ants fearlessly took their positions on the field at 40 paces, and at 
the proper signal, Bennett fired with good aim, and to the horror 
of every one present, Stuart fell mortally wounded in the breast 
and expired almost instantly. Stuart, to highteu the merriment 
against his antagonist, had not fired his weapon at all, but Beu- 
uett, probably suspecting a cheat or trick, and animated by malice 
was proven on the trial to have secretly slipped a ball into his 
ritte. Stuart was a most estimable citizen and his untimely death 
was deeply and generally regretted. 

Bennett and the two seconds, Fike and Short, were arrested and 
imprisoned. In the spring they were indicted for murder. Daniel 
P. Cook was prosecuting attorney, and Thomas H. Benton, of St. 
Louis, appeared lor the defendants. A separate trial was granted 
and the two seconds were acquitted. The transaction was con- 
demned, yet as it clearly appeared that the seconds intended no 
harm, the verdict was generally approved.* Next Bennett was to 
be tried, but having learned that the testimony elicited in the other 
cases was damaging to him, he broke jail and made his escape 
into Arkansas. His whereabouts was some two years later dis- 
covered, and by means of artifice, ("which was not approved," 
says Eeynolds, the judge, Avho sat in his trial), he was taken back 
to Belleville, tried in 1821, at a special term of the court, con- 
victed of murder, sentenced and executed. 

Gov. Bond Avas strenuously and clamorously besieged for a 
considerable time with petitions praying a pardon for the doomed 
man, but without avail. He, who on the field, as we have seen, 
was unwilling to take an advantage of his deadly foe, would not 
yield to entreaty in this case, and William Bennett dangled at 
the rope's end till he was dead, in presence of a great multitude 
of spectators, Avho doubtless took in a great moial lesson. To 
the advocates of the code, his fate must have appeared peculiarly 
hard. They may have well conceived that Bennett, in ignorance 
of the sham intended, by putting a ball into his rifle was but 
doubly assuring his defense against an adversary who was enti- 
tled to an equal chance with him. But fatal dueling was murder 
in the eye of the law, as it ever should be. 

Stone Duel. — Among the motley and heterogeneous collection of 
men at the Galena lead mines in 1829, representing almost every 
nationality of the civilized world, together with a sprinkling of 
Indians, on the holy Sabbath might be witnessed, within the limi- 
ted area of the town, the preaching of the gospel, dancing, all 
manner of gambling and horse-racing under the hill — it was, per- 
haps, not astonishing to them that a duel, exceptionable and 
outlandish in form, should there also be fought. This was nothing 
less than a deadly set-to by the throwing of stones. The chas- 
tisement inflicted by such a combat is something fearful to con- 

• Reynolds' Life and Times. 



DUELING. 621 



template — better be shot into fragments than bruised and mangled 
to death with stones. The name of but one of the principals in 
this tight is recorded — the same Thomas Higgins of whom we 
have already related a marvelous Indian rencontre during the 
war of 1812. A quarrel between him and another was arrangctl 
to be settled by this cruel wager of battle. A pile of stones c;irt'- 
fully assorted, both as to number and size, was placed within 
easy reach of the stand or post of the respective combatanrs. 
who took their positions ten paces apart. The dreadful conflict 
was to open by the hurling of these stones at each other on a 
given signal from the seconds. The stones flew fast and thick 
for a moment, but the battle was of short duration, Higgins ]»ro- 
ving too brave, dexterous and powerful for his adversaiy, who 
fled in great precipitation to save his life.* 

We now api^roach a period of something less than two years in 
the annals of Illinois, exceedingly rife with belligerent bhister. 
The legislative session of 1840-1, attended by much political strife 
and vengeful partisan legislation, was also fruitful of thieatened 
combats and "affairs of honor" between members and other offi- 
cial dignitaries. Indeed, one honorable senator, Mr. Hacker, fond 
of making a good point, improved the occasion to move the sus- 
pension of the dueling law for two weeks, to accommodate all the 
doughty and chivalrous gentlemen with full opportunity to settle 
their personal difficulties. The occasion of this was a personal 
question between two senators, Messrs. E. D. Baker and Judge 
Pearson. The former, smarting under the epithet of "falsehood," 
threatened chastisement to the latter by a "fist-fight" in the public 
street. Pearson declined making a "blackguard" of hinjself, but 
intimated a readiness to fight as gentlemen, according to the code 
of honor.t 

The exciting j)residential contest of 1840 resulted in the defeat 
of the democracy. The chagrin of the dominant party in Illinois, 
which had gone democratic, seems to have imi)elled them to pro- 
ceed to any length to secure absolute control of every department 
of government in the State. The two questions before the legisla- 
ture in 1840-1 to secure these revengeful i)artisan ends, were a re- 
peal of the State bank charters, and the reorganization of the ju- 
diciary. It had been assumed by the democrats that the snpi«'nie 
court, which was composed of 3 whigs and 1 democrat, would 
decide the Galena alien case, pending for some time, against 
the aliens, and against the wishes and interests of that i)arty. To 
prevent this, or to overrule a decision fraught with such dire i-e- 
sults to that party, 5 democratic judges were added to the court. 
The measure, looked upon as a revolutionary one, was resisted 
step by step by the whigs ; the debates incident to it took a wide 
range, were often bitter in personal invective and defiant contra- 
dictions, and threats of combats and affairs of honor were not un- 
frequent. Among others in these debates, the Hon. J. J. Hardin 
shone with unwonted power and brilliancy. In one of his speeches 
the Hon. A. E. Dodge, of Peoria, discovering, as he thought, an 
indignity personal to himself, took exception, and an "affair" 
seemed imminent. The controversy was referred to " friends," the 

•Reynolds' Life and Times. 

+See 111. State Register, Feb. 12, 1841 



622 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

speaker, Hon. W. D. Lee Ewiiig, and Win. A. Richardson acting 
for Dodge, and J. J. Brown and E. B. Webb for Hardin. These 
respective, and we will add, sensible and judicious " friends," re- 
ported as follows : 

"In the matter of controversy and misunderstandingexisting between 
the Hou. J. J. Hardin and the Hon. A R. Dodge, the undersigned (the 
respective friends of the parties,) believe that no cause of quarrel now 
exists ; the Hon. J. J. Hardin disavows the imputation of falsehood as 
applied to the Hon. A. R. Dodge personally — but was and should be un- 
derstood as denying the charge that the whig party was opposed to ex- 
tending the right of suffrage to unnaturalized foreigners ; and to the 
charge in general terms he applied the epithets ''falsehood and calumny," 
and not to Mr. Dodge; the undersigned, on this statement of the case 
and the facts, pronounce the difficulty honorably and amicably arranged 
and settled, and should be so received by those gentlemen. 

Hereunto we set our hands." 

Another " affair" growing out of the same partisan measure, 
which gained considerable notoriety at the time, and w^hich went 
a step farther, was that of the Hon. Theoj)hilus W. Smith, one of 
the supreme judges, and the Hon. John A. McClernand, then a 
young member of the house. McClernand, as we have seen, had 
some two years prior received the appointment of secretary of 
State from Gov. Carlin, but the old incumbent, A. P. Field, a whig, 
refused to yield up the office to him, in which the supreme court 
had sustained him. Much partisan feeling had been stirred up 
against the court in connection with this (;ase. McClernand now 
took a leadiitg and very active part in the passage of the act 
which returned the old supreme judges to the drudgery of circuit 
duty. He nuide an acrimonious s})eech against the whig members 
of the court, charging that a mtyority of that tribunal had opinions 
prepared at one time to decide the alien case adversely to that 
class, and that but recently the whig judges, with the view to in- 
fluence legislation ui)on the judiciary bill, had evaded the consti- 
tutional question in the case, and decided it upon an unimportant 
point. He had this information, it seems, from S. A. Douglas, 
but held himself i)ersonally resjionsible also for the assertion. 
Judge Smith (democrat,) had given currency to these reports 
against his associates, but now, at the request of J. J. Hardin, he 
joined them in a published card denying that such ever was the 
fact. A number of gentlemen in their cards sustained McClernand 
that Smith had given out such re])orts. The issue of fact being 
thus narrowed down against this functiomiry of the supreme 
bench, and placed thus in no very enviable position before the 
public and his associates, he was stung to the sending of a note to 
McClernand by the hands of his "friend," Dr. Meiriman (said to 
have been an old rover of the high seas, and who, we shall see, 
was mixed up in nearly all the "affairs" of that period,) i)enned 
in such discreet language that it might be construed into a chal- 
lenge or not; but the impetuous McClernand promi)t]y accepted it 
as a challenge, holding his second responsible if his princii)al should 
attempt a different interpretation, and, without further parley, as 
the challenged party, named the place of meeting, which was to be 
in Missouri ; the time, early ; the weai)ons, rifles ; and distance, 40 
l)aces.* This meant business, as the phrase now goes. We have 

* The 111. state Journal of Friday, March 5th, 1851, in evident allusion to this case, 
gives the distance at 60 yards 



DUELING. 623 



been unable to obtain a view of the correspondence between the 
belligerents, which was not published, but learn from reliable au- 
thority, that with this serious aspect of the case, Josiah Lamboru, 
the attorney general of the State, lodged a complaint before a jus- 
tice of tlie peace at Springtield, whereupon a warrant issued and 
the i)ugnacious gentlenum of the judicial ermine was arrested and 
placed under bonds to keep the peace. The " affair" being thus 
interrupted. Judge Smith took his departure for Chicago to enter 
upon the duties of his circuit. This unexpected termination of the 
"affair" afforded no little merriment to the old-time wags and 
jokers about the capital. 

Shields and Lincoln. — In the summer of 1842, at the worst pe- 
riod of the hard times, when both the State bank with its branches 
and the Shawneetown bank had finally collapsed with a circula- 
tion of $4,500,000, about the only circulating medium the people 
had ; the notes hardly worth 50 cents on the dollar, gold and sil- 
ver very scarce, business prostrated and the people dejected, 
Governor Carlin, Auditor Shields and Treasurer Carpenter, as 
"officers of State," issued their proclamation, notifying the va- 
rious tax collectors that the revenue would have to be paid into 
tbe treasury in specie or at specie rates, that the State bank 
notes would not be taken at their face value, and that they would 
be held lesponsible for any deficit between their current value 
and specie, whereupon the collectors demanded gold and silver 
or its equivalent from the people in payment of their taxes. This 
was a great hardship at the time. An act of 1836 had authorized 
the collection of taxes in State bank paper, giving discretion, 
however, to the governor, auditor and treasurer to suspend this 
provision of the law and demand payment in specie. The notes 
of the Shawneetown bank were not covered by the law. But 
by another act of 1839, it was declared generally and without re- 
servation, that the paper of both the State banks and Shawnee- 
town bank should be received in payment of taxes — the act of 
1836 not being in terms repealed. These State officers, however, 
took the view that the law of 1836 was still in force, and they 
deemed it their duty to protect the interests of the State by de- 
manding the revenue in specie or its equivalent. They held that 
the law of 1839, allowing payment of taxes in bank i)aper meant 
and intended that that paper should be received only at its actual 
value on a specie standard. This action of the State officials pro- 
voked much feeling and opposition throughout the State. Indig- 
nation meetings were held by the people, irrespective of party, 
for it concerned all alike, the action denounced and resistance to 
its enforcement threatened. It was charged that these officials 
aimed only at securing their fees and salaries in specie from a dis- 
tressed peoi)le. The democratic press, to a certain extent, like 
the whig, characterized it as an unwarrantable assumption of 
authority. The pressure became so great that in a short time a 
sujiplemental pioclamation was issued suspending the collection 
of the taxes of 1842 until the meeting of the legislature. What- 
ever may have been their power to cTiforce the collection of taxes 
in specie, the suspending hf the collection altogether was certainly 
beyond their province. 



624 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Mr. Lincolu, in an article published iu the Sangamo Journal, 
of September 2d, 1842, dated ''Lost Township, Aug. 27," and 
signed "Eebecca," attacked this action of the " officers of State" 
pretty roughly, though done in a jesting style. The form of a 
dialogue is adopted, representing a democratic neighbor of "Aunt 
Becca's," who has "tugged" hard getting out his wheat to raise 
bank paper enough to pay his taxes and a small school debt 
which he owes, and just after he gets his money, in looking over 
the State Register, he is confronted with the proclamation forbid- 
ding tax collectors and school commissioners to receive bank pa- 
per, whereupon he indulges in some intemj)erate language against 
these officials iu general, denouncing them as a hypocritical set 
Avho disgrace their places, which ought to be filled with men who 
will do more work for less pay and take fewer airs while doing it. 
Auditor Shields is especially assailed. He alone had signed the 
supplemental proclamation susijending the collection of the rev- 
enue for the current year. He is called a liar and a fool — dull as 
a " cake of tallow" — for presuming to make an order so illegal. 
But that was not all. Shields was a bachelor, and his appear- 
ance at a fair in the city iscanicatured, his demeanor criticised, 
and he is named a '• conceited dunce." The article is somewhat 
long, cutting and humorous, but al)ounds in such indelicate allu- 
sions generally as to render it unfit for insertion in this work. The 
fanciful idea, as represented by some of the since great man's 
biographers, that it was a poetical effusion of a lady, and that 
when the author was demanded Mr. Lincoln in a spirit of gallan- 
try gave his name, may be dismissed as a delusion. 

The mercurial blood of the Milesian gentleman thus assailed, 
was sent to the top of the tube. He demanded of the editor, 
Simeon Francis, the name of the author, and that of Mr. Lincoln 
was given to him. Having a pre-arranged trip to make to Quiu- 
cy on public business, on his return, in comj^any with Gen. White- 
side as his "friend," he pursued Mr. Lincoln to Tremont in Taze- 
well county, where the latter was attending court, and imme- 
diately sent him a uote, stating that his name had been given him 
by the editor as the author of the Eebecca paper " and requiring 
a full, positive, and absolute retraction of all offensive allusions" 
made to him in relation to his "private character and standing as 
a man, or an apology for the insults conveyed." In the meantime 
Dr. Merriman and William Butler of Springfield, having learned 
the errand of Shields to Fremont, had started a few hours later, 
and by riding all night had preceded Shields and Whiteside in 
their arrival there. They informed Mr. Lincoln what he might 
expect. In the evening of the same day, September 17, Mr. Lin- 
coln answered Shield's note, refusing to offer any explanation on 
the grounds that Shields' note assumed the fact of his (Lincoln's) 
authorship of the article in the Journal, not pointing out what 
the offensive part was, and accompanying the same with menaces 
as to consequences. Mr. Shields on the same day addressed him 
another note, disavowing all intention to menace j inquired if he 
was the author of the article iu question and if so, asked a re- 
traction of the offensive matter relating to his private character. 
Still technical, Mr. Lincoln returned this note with the verbal 
statement "that there could be no . further negotiation until the 
first note was withdrawn." Mr. Shields now sent a uote designa- 



DUELING. G25 



ting: Gen. Whitside as his friend, to which Mr. Lincoln instantly 
replied by nanieing Dr.Merrimanas his friend. This was on Mon- 
(hiy morninji' the 19th of September, 

These two "friends" now secret]^' pledged their honor to each 
other to agree upon some amicable terms and compel their prin- 
cipals to accept them ; and to procrastinate the matter adjourned 
further j^roceedings to Springtield, wiiither all parties repaired ex- 
cept Shields, whose horse was lame — the two seconds, Whiteside 
and Merriman, riding in the same buggy, though part of the time 
Whiteside rode with Lincoln. Merriman says that the " valorous 
g;eneral" beguiled the tedium of the journey by recounting his ex- 
ploits in many a well fought battle, dangers by flood and field, 
doubtless with a view to produce a salutory effect on his nerves 
and impress him with a proper notion of his fire-eating propensi- 
ties. They arrived at Springfield late Monday night, and Mr. Lin- 
coln to prevent arrest, left early on Tuesday morning for Jackson- 
ville, in company with Mr. Butler, leaving the following instruc- 
tions as a guide to Dr. Merriman : 

•' In case Whiteside shall signify a wish to adjust this affair without 
further difficulty, let hhu know that if the present papers be withdrawn 
and a note from Mr. Shields, asking to know if I am tlie author of the 
articles of whicli he complains, and asking that I shall make him gen- 
tlemanly satisfaction if I am the author, and this without menace or 
dictation as to what tliat satisfaction shall be, a pledge is made that the 
following answer shall l)e given : 

" I did write the " Lost Township" letter which appeared in the Jomj-- 
nal of the 2d inst., but had no participation, in any form, in any other 
article alluding to you. I wrote that wholly for political effect. I had 
no intention of injuring your personal or private character or standing 
as a man or gentleman ; and I did not then think, and do not now think, 
that that article could i)roduce or has produced that effect against you; 
and had I anticipated such an effect, would have forborne to write it. 
And I will add that your conduct towards me, so far as I know, had 
always been gentlemanly ; and that 1 had no personal pique against 
you, and no cause for any." 

If this should be done, I leave it with you to manage what shall and 
what shall not be published. If nothing like this is done, the prelimi- 
naries of the figlit are to be : 

1st. lFi;flt/>o?(.<i— Cavalry broad swords of the largest size, precisely 
equal in all respects and such as are now used by the cavalry company 
at Jacksonville. 

2d. Position— A plank ten feet long, and from 9 to 12 inches broad, 
to be firmly fixed on edge, on the ground, as the line between us which 
neither is to pass his foot over on forfeit of his life. Next a line drawn 
on the ground on either side of said plank, and parallel with it, each at 
the distance of tlie whole length of the sword and 3 feet additional from 
the plank ; and the passing of his own such line by either party during 
the fight, shall be deemed a surrender of the contest. 

3d. 2'ime— On Thursday evening at 5 o'clock, if you can get it so ; but 
in no case to be at a greater distance of time than Friday evening at 5 
o'clock. 

4th. P/ace — Within 3 miles of Alton, on the opposite side of the river, 
the particular sjjot to be agreed on by you. 

Any preliminary details coming within the above rules, you are at 
liberty to make at your discretion, but you are in no case to swerve from 
these rules or pass beyond their limits." 

The position secondly prescribed for the combatants on the field 
looks a g©od deal like the cropping out of one of Lincoln's irre- 
pressible jokes, for both would be placed out of harm's way, 
and they might beat the air with their trenchant blades forever 
40 



626 HISTORY OP ILLIJ^OIS. 

aud not come within damaging- reach of each other. But it must 
be remembered that Shields' adversary was wonderfully provided 
with reaching powers. 

These instructions to Dr. Merriman, together with the terms of 
the hostile meeting, M'ere read bj' him to Gen. Whiteside, who, in 
the absence of his principal, declined agreeing upon terms of set- 
tlement until they should meet in Missouri. Besides, Shields and 
Whiteside both held State offices, the latter being fund commis- 
sioner, and to have accepted the challenge would have interfered 
with their oaths of office and the laws of the State. All parties 
now left for the field of combat, Mr. Lincoln (who had gone be- 
fore,) and his party via Jacksonville, where they were joined 
by Doctor Bledsoe, and where they procured the weapons; 
aud Shields, whom Whiteside went to meet, via Hillsboro, where 
they were joined by Gen. Ewing, and at Alton, which they reached 
in advance of the other party, they were further joined by Dr. 
Hope. 

Both parties shortly after, being Thursday, crossed the river to 
Missouri. In the meantime Gen. Hardin and Dr. English had also 
arrived, who now, as the mutual friends of both parties, presented 
the following proposition: 

"Alton, Sept. 22, 1842. 
"Messrs. Wluteside and MeiTvman : As the mutual personal friends of Messrs. Shields 
and Lincoln, but without authority from either, we earnestly desire a reconciliation 
of the misunderstanding which existsbetween them. Such difficulties should always 
be arranged amicably, if it is possible to do so, with honor to both parties. Believing 
ourselves that such arrangement can possibly be effected, we respectfully but earn- 
estly submit the following proposition for your consideration: Let the whole difficulty 
be submitted to four or more gentlemen, to be selected by yourselves, who shall con- 
sider the affair, and report thereupon for your consideration. 

JOHN .7. HARDIN. 
R. W. ENGLISH." 

This proposition was submitted to the respective principals, 
who both signitied a disposition to accommodate the affair, and it 
was accepted with slight modification — Mr. Shields declining to 
settle the matter through any other than the friends he had 
already selected. The following correspondence then took place, 
which ended this most ridiculous controversy: 

"MlSSotTttl, Sept. 22, 1842. 
"Gentlemen.;— All papers in relation to the matter in controversy between Mr. Shields 
and Mr. Linooln, having been withdrawn by the friends of the parties concerned, the 
friends of Mr; Shields ask the friends of Mr Lincoln to explain all offensive matter in 
the articles which appeared in the Sanfjavio Jimrnal of the 2d, 9th aud 16th of Septem- 
ber, over the signature of Rebecca, and headed 'Lost Township.' 

It is due to Gen. Hardin and Mr. English to state that their interference was of the 
most courteous and gentlemanly chacacter. 

JOHND. WHITESIDE, 
WM. LBED. EWING, 
T. M. HOPE." 



"Missouri, Sept. 22, 1843. 
"Oentlemen: All papers in relation to the matter in controversy between Mr. Lincoln 
and Mr. Shields havirig been withdrawn by the frieads of the parties concerned, we, 
the undersigned, friends of Mr. Lincoln, in accordance with your request that an ex- 
planation ol'Mr. Lincoln's publication in relation to Mr. Shields in tim Sangamo Jmir- 
tml ot the 2d, 9th and 16th of September, bfe made, take pleasure in saying that 
although Mr. Lincoln was the writer of the article signed Rebecca in the Jour7uU of the 
2d, and that only yet he had no intention of injuring the personal or private character 
or standing of Mr. Shields as a gentleman or a man, and that Mr. Lincoln did not think, 
nor does he now think, that said article could produce such an effect, and had Mr. 
Lincoln anticipated such an effect he would have forborne to write it; we will further 
State that said article was written solely lor political effect, and not to gratify any 
personal pique against Mr. Shields, for he had none, and knew of no cause for any. 



DUELING. 627 



"Tt is due to Gen. Hardin and Mr. Eng-lish to say that their interference was of the 

most courteous and gentlemanly character. 

E. H. MERRIMAN, 
A. T. BLEDSOE, 
WM. BDTLER.* 

Shields and Butler. — Out of tlie Shields and Lincoln fiasco grew 
directly another ali'air of honor, this time between Gen. Shields 
and Mr. Win. Butler. The latter gentleman had been one of Mr. 
Lincoln's seconds, and says that he was for the fray. Disappointed 
hi this, immediately after the bloodless termination of that affair, 
he Avrote a not very complimentary account of the conduct of the 
belligerents, from Alton, to the Sangamo Journal {vfMch the writer 
has been unable to find after careful search,) in which he thinks 
he bore fully as severely upon his principal as his adversary. 
The latter, however, who again evinced that the blood of Donny- 
brook coursed in his veins, on Butler's arrival home from St. Louis 
at once addressed him a curt, menacing note, by the hands of his 
former friend. Gen. Whiteside, which was promptly accepted as a 
challenge, and the inevitable Dr. Merriman designated as his 
friend, through whom the preliminaries were, without further cir- 
cumlocution, submitted to Gen. Whiteside about 9 p. m. on the 
same day, October 3d, 1842. These were : 

Time — Sunrise on the following morning. 

Place — Col. Robert Allen's farm — (about 1 mile north of the 
State House). 

Weapons — Rifles. 

Distance — 100 yards. 

The parties to stand with their right sides toward each other — 
the rifles to be held in both hands horizontally and cocked, arms 
extended downwards. Neither party to move his person or his 
rifle, after being placed, before the word fire. The signal to be: 
" Are you ready ? — fire ! — one — two — three !" about a second of 
time iutervening between each word. Neither party to fire before 
the word fire, nor after the word three. The word to be given by 
the friend of the challenged partj^ The principals to be attended 
by one friend each, who were to be placed midway between the 
principals, 30 yards back from a straight line between them, to 
the rear of each.t 

These terms were indignantly refused b;^ Mr. Shields' friend, 
claiming that he had waited all day for the answer which now 
came at 9 p. m. while his principal was attending a social party. 
He, as a State ofiicer. had also uniformly refused to violate the 
laws of the State by dueling within its limits to which he would 
not subject his principal, also a State officer. The terms were Siit- 
isfactory with the exception of the place, which he further claimed 
the challenged party had no exclusive right to dictate, and that 
the time should be a matter of agreement. The language used 
was curt and abrupt. It seems that the terms were further unfair 
in the position assigned to the combatants on the field, with their 
right sides towards each other, in that it would give Mr. Butler 
the advantage, he being left-handed, as was alleged. Gen. Wliite- 
side, late on the night of the 3d sought Dr. Merriman at his lodg- 

• Both Gen. Whiteside and Dr. Merriman published cards in the Sanf/amoJoKrnaZ, 
the former in that of Oct. 7, 1842, and thp latter on the 14th of the same month, detail- 
ing, with some variance, all the circumstances of this affair, from both of which we 
have gathered this account. 

t SeeSangamo Journal, Oct. 7, 1843. 



628 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



iugs, to baud in his objection, but did not find bini. IS'o meeting 
took place on the morning of the 4tli. Duiing tlie day, however, 
owing to a rui)ture between the se;;ond.s, Mr. Shiekls addressed 
another note to Mr. Butler, exi)hiining the status of his second, 
cheerfully accepting the preliminaries himself, and offering to go 
out to a lonely place on the prairie to light where there would be no 
danger of interruption ; or, if tbat did not suit, he would meet him 
on his own conditions when ajid where he pleased. This note was 
declined by Mr. Butler, claiming that the affair was closedj and 
this was the end of it. 

Whiteside and Merriman — And now the doughty seconds 
wonnd uj) this series of affairs by one of their own ; which grew 
out of the next preceding one. We have already said that White- 
side's refusal of Butler's terms was couched in curt and abrupt 
language, and that the place of combat could not be dictated to 
him, for it was as much his right as Merriman's, who, if he was a 
gentleman, would recognize and concede it. To this the latter re- 
replied, October 4, 8 a. m : "That the arrogant, dictatorial, rude, 
ami ungentlemanij' character" of this note precluded the possi- 
bility of his communicating farther on the subject to which it 
alluded, which was sent by the hands of Capt. Lincoln, who now 
served his former second in the same capacity of "friend." 
Whiteside then wrote to Merriman : "I have to reijuest that you 
will meet me at the Planters' House, in the city of St. Louis, on 
next Friday, where you will hear from me further." Merriman 
now wrote: "I wish to know^ if you intend that note as a chal- 
lenge; if so, my FRIEND will wait ui)on you with the conditions 
of our meeting." At 4 p. m. Whiteside replied : "You shall have 
a note of the character you allude to when we meet at the Plant- 
ers' House, on Friday next, at St. Louis." Merriman rejoined, de- 
nying Whiteside's right to name the time and place for the 
adjustment of their difficulty, but proffered to meet him on that 
day atLouisiana, Mo. When this last note was ju'esented to Gen. 
Whiteside, he replied verbally : "Lincoln, I cannot accept any- 
thing from him now\ I have business at St. Louis, and it is as 
near as Louisiana." *On the .5th of October, Gen. Whiteside ad- 
dressed another note to Dr. Merriman, which was delivered by 
Gen. Shields, offering to accept the proposition to meet at Louisi- 
ana, Mo., but the doctor, deeming the affair closed, now declined 
to re-open it, and the matter was dropped. t 

It seems that out of all these bellicose manifestations one en- 
gagement or one hostile pass at least might have been had. But 
it was better that they all terminated pacifically, as they did. 

Drs. Hope and Price had a duel in Texas during the Mexican 
war. Dr. Hope was a well known gentleman from Alton. We 
have seen his name connected with the Shields-Lincoln affair as 
one of the seconds. The 1st and 2d Illinois volunteers. Colonels 
Hardin and Bissell, were encamped at San Antonio, two miles 
from the Alamo. Dr. Hope w^as surgeon to the 1st regiment. The 
difficulty grew out of Dr. Price's repeating a conversation having 

•Sangramon Jour. Oct. 7, 1842. 
+111. State Reg. Oct. 14, 1842. 



DUELING. 629 



occuned iu Dr. Hope's tent. The latter, feeling' himself ag- 
grieved, flogged the former iu the streets of San Antonio, where- 
upon Price sent him a challenge. Major Cross, of the United 
States army, acted as the second of Dr. Price, and Capt. Williams, 
of the Kentucky Life Guards, acted for Dr. Hojje. The engage- 
ment was fought September 14, 1846, and Price was badly 
wounded in the abdomen.* 

Pratt and Campbell. — The next affair of this sort was the occa- 
sion of fixing in the constitution of 1848 the stringent clause re- 
lating to dueling. During the sitting of the convention, in 1847, 
which framed that instrument, when the question of alien suf- 
frage was under consideration, Mr. O. C. Pratt, from JoDaviess, 
a democrat, opposed foreigners enjoying the elective franchise 
until they were naturalized. His colleague, Thompson Campbell, 
also a democrat, who favored great leniency in this respect to 
aliens, attacked and taunted him with having obtained the votes 
of foreigners for his position (to which he was elected by onlj^ 9 
majority) on pledges to them that he would require no more than 
a year's residence and a declaration of intention, citing an occa- 
sion where some 60 or 70 foreigners were at work on some public 
works. Pratt denied this, attributing his colleague's mistake to 
the presence there of a barrel of beer and a kegof whisky. Camp- 
bell denounced the insinuation as unqualifiedly false, and that if 
he (Pratt) was a man he would notice it, and settle it personally. 
On the same day, Wednesday, Pratt sent him a note requesting 
his presence at the Planters' House, St. Louis. Campbell ans- 
wered that he would be there on Monday following, but repaired 
thither immediately, putting- up at the Planters' Hotel. His 
"friend" in St. Louis was Col. Perd. Kennett. Late on Saturday 
night Pratt also arrived, with his "friend," taking lodgings at the 
Monroe House. But the business of the belligerents, "on bloody 
deeds intent," who thus sought a foreign jurisdiction to arrange 
their jireliminaries and settle their difficulty by the duello, had 
leaked out; indeed it was well known, and oue Blennerhassett, 
an alderman, made afiidavit to the fact, and late on Saturday 
night both parties were arrested and placed under heavy bonds to 
keep the peace. This plan of giving an "affair" notoriety ought 
to be effective in these days of telegraph and newspaper enterprise 
to gain a name for bravery, and at the same time by judicious 
arrests run no danger of sustaining personal injury. It is a won- 
der that it is not more improved. These gentlemen now returned 
and resumed their seats in the convention. 

By the old law of this State the penalty for dueling, when the 
issue was fatal, was death, the same as in case of murder, but for 
these "affairs" it was disability from holding office of honor, trust 
or emolument, and small fines after conviction. The law was 
without restraint; there never had been a conviction for this lesser 
offense, because parties always evaded the law by going beyond 
the jurisdiction of the State to carry out their purposes. The 
facts and circumstances of the Pratt-Campbell affair, as well as 
the repeated evasions of the law, well known to the members of 
the convention, stimulated them now to effectually circumvent and 

•See IllT state RckT Oct. 16, 1846. 



630 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



break ui) the practice, more couimou among officials and political 
aspirants, as will iiave been noticed, than others. Hence they 
devised and framed an oatli of office, and incorporated it in the 
constitntion, so broad in its terms of disfrancliisement and the 
structure of its language as to cover not only Illinois, but all the 
world besides. Not perhaps that Illinois could punish the per- 
jurer, who, having committed an offense of the kind outside its 
jurisdiction, should he take this oath of office, but rather to ap- 
pall the conscience of those public men who would be most likely 
to yield to such murderous practices. The mischief aimed at was 
the suppression of the outrageous practice of dueling, without 
respect to place, circumstance or time, save only that the offense 
should date since the adoption of the constitution. 

The oath may be found in the constitution of 1848, article 13, 
section 26. Mr. E. B. Servant, of Randolph, introduced and 
moved its adoption. It passed the convention by 74 yeas to 44 
Days — neither of the above combatants voting. Among the nays 
appears the luime of Gen. Whiteside, who, it might thence be in- 
ferred, notwithstanding the fiasco with which we have seen his 
name connected, still believed in the code of honor. 

Harris and Henry. — The Mexican war, which jjroved such a God- 
send to democratic x^oliticians that a noted and witty whig, whose 
party was out in the cold, shortly after its close announced him- 
self in favor of the next war, was also fruitful of personal difficul- 
ties. During the election campaign of 1848, Dr. A. G. Henry, in 
a speech at Beardstown, charged Major Thomas L. Harris, one of 
the truest and noblest men of Illinois, then running for congress, 
with "skulking at the battle of Cerro Gordo ; that he could prove 
this, and would repeat it to his face the following week." Here 
was a good opportunity' for an "affair." When Harris arrived at 
Springfield he asked an interview with the doctor. But that gen- 
tleman answered : "I have no business with Major Harris, and 
do not desire a jjersonal interview." Harris then demanded that 
he make good his Beardstown statement. The doctor now denied 
having uttered exactly this language ; disclaimed wanting to do 
Harris knowingly an injustice, but that he could not be deterred 
from saying what he believed to be true; offered to refer the mat- 
ter to John Calhoun and James Barrett, of Harris' party, and at 
their instance would make a public apology, adding thathe would 
leave town the following morning to meet his speaking appoint- 
ments. Major Harris then proved by four good citizens, who pub- 
lished their card, that the doctor had made the statements refer- 
red to at Beardstown, and in the words given, whereupon he de- 
nounced him to the world as a liar, a scoundrel and a coward — 
and that was the last of this a-ffair.* 

Davis and Bissell. — After the constitution went into operation, 
no other duels or attempts at duels have been engaged in or had 
an origin within the jurisdiction of Illinois, to the knowledge of 
the writer ;t and there were only three outside of its limits to 

•See ni. state Reg. Get. 6,1848- 

+0f coursG this does not mean to include the duels of parties outside the State, who 
found in Illinois a safe and convenient rendezvous tor the settlement of their per- 
sonal difficulties. Various islands in the Upper Mississippi within the jurisdiction of 
Illinois — notably Bloody Island— have been the scenes of these barbarous frays be- 
tween citizens or residents from neigliborinfr territories and States, the latest being 
between B. Gratz Brown and Gov. Keynolds, of Missouri. 



DUELING. 631 



wliicli our citizeus were parties. Two of these resulted fatally,* 
and the other attained national celebrity and was no little source 
of pride to Illinoisans at the time ; and as it was subsequently 
the occasion of much political and personal censure and abuse, in 
connection with the constitutional oath of office, we here insert it. 

During the long and angry contest in congress over the adjust- 
ment of 1850, southern members, more than ever, indulged their 
gasconade in vaunting southern chivalry, defending slaverj^ and 
portraying the beauties and advantages of disunion. To dispar- 
age northern courage and exaggerate southern valor, the then 
late Mexican war was dragged in as proof and illustration. Mr. 
Seddon, of Virginia, encouraged by other southern gentlemen, 
went further and attempted, in commenting on the battle of Buena 
Yista, to award the entire credit of saving the fortune of the day 
at a very critical period of that battle to a Mississippi regiment, 
of which Jefferson Davis had been the Colonel, for the i)urpose 
of maintaining the southern boast that there was more personal 
bravery and prowess in that section than in the north. 

Mr. Bissell was a new member, with a good record in that war 
as the colonel of the 2d regiment of Illinois volunteers. Shocked 
at these utterances, and tired with the disgrace attempted to be 
cast upon his section, he on the 31st of February, 1850, essayed a 
reply to these ceaseless tirades of braggadocio, which proved to 
be one of the keenest, most incisive and brilliant speeches ever 
spoken in the halls of congress, not only in vindication of his own 
section, but in pricking the vain assumption of the other. This 
speech stamped Bissell at once with national distinction and fame. 
The chivalry were touched to the quick ; and failing to answer 
him in debate, it was sought to crush him in another way. The 
following passage was ostensibly claimed to be the offensive por- 
tion, and the since well-known chief of the southern confederacy 
was put forward to test Bissell'g mettle: 

"This proneness, however, [to underrate the bravery of others and 
vaunt their oM^n,] is not always harmless," exclaimed Bissell, "and I 
must now refer to a subject which I would have gladly avoided I al- 
lude to the claim put forth for a southern regiment by the gentleman 
from Virginia, [Mr. Seddon,] of having met and repulsed the enemy on 
the field of Buena Vista, at the critical moment wlien the Indiana 
regiment, through an unfortunate order of their colonel, gave way. 
Justice to those living, as well as those who fell on that occasion, de- 
mands of me a prompt correction of this most erroneous statement. And 
I affirm distinctly, sir, and such is the fact, that at the time the 2d In- 
diana regiment gave way the Mississippi regiment, for whom the claim 
is gratuitously set up, was not within a mile and a half of the scene of 
action, nor yet had it fired a gun or pulled a trigger. I affirm further, 
sir, that the troops which at that time met and resisted the enemy, and 
thus, to use the gentleman's own language, 'snatched victory from the 
jaws of defeat,' were tlie 2d Kentucky, the 2d Illinois and a portion of 
the 1st Illinois regiments. It gives me no pleasure, sir, to be comj^elled 
to allude to this subject, nor can I seethe necessity or propriety of its in- 
troduction into this debate. It having been introduced, however, I 
could not sitin silence and witness the infliction of sucli cruel injustice 
upon men, living and dead, whose well-earned fame I were a monster 
not to protect. The true and brave hearts of too many of them, alas, 
have already mingled with the soil of a foreign country ; but their 
claims upon the justiceof their countrymen can never cease, nor can my 
obligations to them be ever forgotten or disregarded. No, sir, the voice 

*Both in California— Ferguson aod Lippincott being the Illinoisans— the former was 

killed. 



632 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of Hardin, that voice which has so often been heard in this hall, as 
mine now is, though far more eloquently, the voice of Hardin ! aye, and 
of McKee and the accomplished Clay — each wrapped in his bloody 
shroud — their voices would reproach me from the grave had I failed in 
this act of justice to them, and the others who fought and fell by my 
side. 

"You will suspect me, Mr. Chairman, of having warm feelings on this 
subject. Sir, I have; and have given them utterance as a matter of 
duty In all this, however, I by no means detract from the gallant 
conduct of the Mississii^pi regiment. At other times and places on that 
bloody field they did all that their warmest admirers could desire. But, 
let me ask again, why was this subject introduced into this debate? 
Why does the gentleman say 'troops of the north' gave way, when he 
means only a single regiment?* Why is all tliis but for the purpose of 
disparaging the north for the benefit of the south? Why, but for the 
purpose of furnishing material for that ceaseless, never-ending theme 
of 'southern chivalry ?' " 

As soon as it transpired that Davis, iipoD this slender pretext, 
and as if he conld vary a historical fact by a duel, had cliallenged 
Bissell, all Washington was on the qid vive. Tbe queiy ran from 
mouth to month, "will he accept — will be stand fire "?" Tliose who 
knew the man were emphatic in their answers that he would. It is 
said that Daniel Webster came over to the hall of the house for 
an introduction to this northern man who proposed to meet the 
southron in his favorite method of settling a dispute, saying, "I 
wish to look him in the eye." Bissell was called and the two 
grasped hands heartily. As Webster withdrew with an elastic 
step and a kindling eye, he observed to a high dignitary of the 
government who understood the object of his visit, "He will do» 
the south has mistaken its man," which was the fact. Bissell 
promptly accepted the challenge. He left the preliminaries to his 
friends, except weapons and distance, these he determined ui)on 
himself, selecting the common army musket, to be loaded with a 
ball and tliree buck-shot ; the combatants to be stationed at 40 
paces, with liberty to advance to 10. This evinced a cool and de- 
termined purpose to fight to the death, and the fire-eaters stood 
amazed. Davis had designated S. W. Inge as his friend, and Bis- 
sell named Major Cross, of the U. S. army. The meeting was to 
take place on the following day, Feb. 28th, the rendezvous being: 
understood. 

But at a late hour in the evening another effort at reconciliation 
was made by the mutual friends who had been of counsel in the 
affair. Judge Dawson, of Georgia, and Col. W. A. Kichardson, of 
Illinois. After further conference it was agreed that the challenge, 
and all correspondence therewith connected, should be treated as 
withdrawn, and that Col. Bissell add to his first letter, to be in- 
serted after the word regiment in the last paragraph, "but I am will- 
ing to award to them the credit due to their gallant and distin- 
guished services in that battle." The reconciliation thus effected 
was satisfactory to the parties immediately concerned, and a source 
of gratification to their friends. 

In the meantime it was said that President Taylor, the father in- 
law of Col. Davis, having been apprised of the arrangements for 
the hostile meeting, accompanied by Col. Bliss, his i>rivate secre- 
tary, had instituted legal proceedings to check the intended hostile 

•The 2dlndiana, Col. Bowles. 



DUELING. 633 



event, but prior to this interference, which was after midnight, the 
foregoing' amicable understanding had ah-eady been arrived at. 
We subjoin the memorandum and correspondence : 

"[Memoranda No. 3.] 

"Met Gen. Shields and Major Cross at 8 o'clock p. m., to arrange terms 
of combat. Before entering upon business Judge Dawson, of Geoi'gia, 
and Major Ricliardson, of Illiuois, entered, and proposed submitting to 
us a proposition which they lioped would obviate a meeting. We con- 
sented on both sides to hear it, and the folio-wing proposition was then 
submitted : That all correspondence be withdrawn subsequent to Col. 
Davis' first letter, and that Col. Bissell add to his- first letter a statement 
(to come in afcer the word regiment, at tlie foot of the first page,) as fol- 
lows, to-wit : ' But I am willing to award them the credit due to their 
gallant and distinguished services in that battle.' This being in sub- 
stance the same proposition offered by me (embraced in memorandum 
No. 1), of course I expressed my willingness to accept it. After consult- 
ing, Gen. Sliields and Major Cross expressed their willingness to make 
the addendum, which was accordingly done. By mutual consent, 
all correspondence subsequent to Col. Bissell's amended letter was with- 
drawn, and thus the ditficulty was adjusted. 

S. W. INGE." 
"Washington, D. C, Feb. 27, 1850." 

The matter being adjusted on this basis, the following appeared 
in the Union, of Feb. 158, 1850 : 

"Washington, Feb. 24, 1850. 
"GeJitZcmen: In order to remove any erroneous impression which may have been 
made o the public mind, by the surmises of letter writers, in relation to a correspon- 
dence which has passed between Col. Davis and Col. Bissell, we take the liberty of re- 
questing: you to publish the following' correspondence, which will show that the mat- 
ter has been most honorably adjusted to the gratification and entire satisfaction of 
the mutual friends. 

JAMES SHIELDS, 
S. W. INGE." 

After which follow the first two letters subjoined, Bissell's be- 
ing amended by the words inclosed in brackets in the 2d para- 
graph : 

"Washington, D. C, Feb. 22. 

"Sir : I am informed that in yesterday's debate you asserted that at the time it was 
claimed for the Mississippi reg-iment, on the field of Buena Vista, to have passed 
through the scattered flies of the 2d Indiana regiment, and to have met the Mexican 
forces, who had routed and were pursuing that regiment, the Mississippi regiment 
was not within one mile and a half of that particular spot. Not having been able to 
find a "report" of your remarks, and being the proper person to answer anj' charge 
which a responsible man ma.y make against the Mississippi regiment referred to, I 
take this mode of asking whether the information I have received is correct. 

" Yours respectfully, JEFF. DAVIS." 

"Hon. Mr. Bissell." 



"Washington, Feb. 22. 

"Sir: In your note of this date, you inquire whether I asserted in yesterday's de- 
bate that 'at the time it was claimed for the Mississipr)i regiment, on the field of 
Buena Vista, to have passed through the scattered files of the 2d Indiana regiment, 
and to have met the Mexican forces, who had routed and were pursuing that regiment, 
the Mississippi regiment was not within one mile and a half of the spot." 

"The best answer I can give to j^our inquiry is to state what 1 did say, which was this, 
that "at the time the 2d Indiana regiment gave way, the Mississippi regiment was not 
within a mile and a half of the scene of action.' This subslafitially, was all T said in 
reference to the Mississippi regiment. 1 also said that the 2d Kentucky regiment, the 
2d Illinois and a portion of the 1st Illinois regiments, were the troops that at that 
time met and repulsed the advancing column of the enemy. In my remarks, I re- 
ferred to what occurred 'at that particular spot' at that particular time. 

Havintr answered your inquiry, I deem it due in .iustice alike to myself and the 
Mississippi regiment to say that I maile no charge against that regiment, [but I am 
willing to award them the credit due their gallant and distinguished services in that 
battle]. My onl.v object was to do justice to the character of others, living and 
dead, whose conduct fell under my own observation on that occasion— a duty im- 
posed upon ine by remarks previously made in the course of the same debate. 

Very respectfully, yours, &c., W. H. BISSELL." 

"Hon. Jefk Davis.'" 

• Illinois State Journal,- March 2, 1850. 



634 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Lane and Douglas. — In the spring of 1856, sliortly before the 
National Democratic convention, ther^ was an evident attempt 
made to chafe and provoIi:e Mr. Donglas iuto an affair of honor. 
There were doubtless many anxious to thus embroil Illinois' great 
senator at that particular juncture of his public career. The 
occasion of this was the presentation to congress of the Topeka 
constitution, accompanied by a forged memorial, i:)raying admis- 
sion into the Union. The genuine memorial took the high, not 
to say revolutionary', ground, that congress had no power to es- 
tablish governments for the territories, and that the Kansas Ne- 
braska act was unconstitutional and void; that the i^eople owed 
no allegiance to them, and that they asserted their inherent right 
to overthrow the territorial government without the consent and. 
in defiance of the authority of congress. Gen. J. H. Lane had 
been chosen one of the senators, and naturally desiring to take his 
seat as such, perceived that this document would probably not 
tend to further his chances to that end. A forged copy, couched 
in more obedient phraseology, was therefore presented to congress. 
The trick was disclosed, however, and Mr. Douglas, as chairman 
of the committee on territories, denounced it in unmeasured terms, 
as was his right and duty, as a fraud and forgery, and it was re- 
jected. The quidnuncs and Washington letter writers hostile to 
Mr. Douglas, immediately sniffed a battle from afar. Humors be- 
came rife of an expected hostile meeting according to the code of 
honor, between the tierce border general and the great champion 
of popular sovereign tj'. A determination seemed to be evinced 
to intensify the affair in ever^' way possible. The time and min- 
utest details of the expected hostile event were carefully an- 
nounced. Mr. Douglas, however, was not deceived. He divined 
the purpose to be to give the matter notoriety, provoke the send- 
ing of a hostile message, get arrested, and come out of the affair 
with a name for bravery. When the message of Gen. Lane, there- 
fore, under date of April, 1856, finally came, asking "for such 
an explanation of your language as will remove all imputation 
upon the integrity of my action or motives in connection with 
that memorial," Douglas answered, reiterating in scathing 
phrase, all the facts of the case, and concluded — " My repl}" is 
that there are no facts within my knowledge which can remove 
all imputation upon the integrity of your action or motives in 
connection with that memorial."* After that there were no fur- 
ther rumors of a duel, but Gen. Lane, sixty days later, published 
an abusive card in the Washington j^apers, which injured the 
author more than Senator Douglas. 

* See 111. State ReRlster, May 8, 1856. 



Chapter L. 

1852-1856— ORGA:j^IZATIO]^r OF THE REPUBLICAI^ PARTY. 

The Illinois Wilmot Proviso — Dissolution of the Whig Party — Be- 
peal of the Missouri Compromise — Intense Political Feeling — 
Douglas denied Free Speech in Chicago — Know Nothingism — Dem- 
ocratic and Republican Conventions o/1856 — Result of the Cam- 
paign — Lincohi's Plea for Harmony at the Chicago Banquet. 



After the Missouri compromise of 1820, the question of slavery, 
ever an angry one, did not agaiu attain national prominence for 
something like 30 years. The cause of its revival grew out of the 
annexation of Texas and the acquisition of territory from Mexico. 
The object for which the former was sought and secured — involv- 
ing a war with Mexico; the avowed purpose of the most active 
friends of the movement, the annexation of Texas being a para- 
mount issue of the national campaign of 1844; the influences 
which prevailed in securing the administration to the south ; and 
the overt aim and official declarations of its supporters, although 
foreign to the purpose of this work to either trace or analyze, all 
point to the extension of slavery. 

Slavery was distasteful generally to the north, but particularly 
so to a large portion of the whig party at this time. It was more 
generally obnoxious in an early day of the government than at a 
later period, but it did not become a question of party fealty until 
efforts were made to extend its area ; and had slavery not become 
aggressive for territorial expansion, it would have taken a long 
time probably for the anti-slavery party to have risen above the 
coutemi)t with which it was generally regarded in its early days. 

In August, 1846, ijending the deliberations of congress to ap- 
propriate 12,000,000 for the executive to prosecute negotiations 
with Mexico, looking to the acquisition of territory, Mr. Wilmot, 
of Penn., moved the celebrated i)roviso (almost in the words of 
the 6th article of the ordinance of 1787) : '^Slavery, or involuntary 
servitude, except as a punishment for crime, shall be forever i^ro-. 
hibited in any territory which may be acquired from Mexico." 
When this amendment came up for action in the house it pre- 
vailed by a majority of 6, the only names from non-slave-holding 
States recorded against it being from Illinois, viz : Messrs. Doug- 
las, Ficklin, Hoge and M(;Clernand — a fair counterpart to the 
tiction of the Illinois senators on the admission of Missouri a 
quarter of a century before, Mr. Douglas, subsequently, in the 
senate, moved a substitute for the "proviso," prohil>iting slavery 
in the acquired territory north of 36d. 30m., which was lost. 

635 



636 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

To sliow that the sentiment of the north was averse to the ex- 
tension of slaveiy, and that the northern democracy was not yet 
wholly ill the grasp of the slave projiagandists, the legislature 
(largely democratic), at its regular winter session of 1849, passed 
joint resolutions instructing our senators and representatives in 
congress to use all honorable means in their power to procure the 
ena(;tment of such laws for the government of the territories of the 
U. S., acquired by the treaty of peace with Mexico, as should con- 
tain the express declaration that "there shall be neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude in said territories otherwise than in 
punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
victed." The "Wilmot proviso" had had much odium cast upon it 
by this time, and this modification of it by omitting the word "for- 
ever" would apply to territorial conditions only, leaving States to 
be formed out of it free to establish or exclude slavery — a vastly 
different thing! The discovery of this nice distinction, practically 
without a difference, it was thought by no means recognized the 
odious " i)roviso," fast becoming a party test. A jjortion of the 
Illinois democracy at the time held that congress had no constitu- 
tional right to either establish, prohibit, or in anywise interfere 
with slavery in the territories. 

The proceedings in both houses incident to the passage of these 
resolutions of instiuction were exciting and protracted, and the 
debates, in which all the leading members shared, exceedingly 
able and not without acrimony. They were adopted in the house 
by 38 to 34, all the whigs (24) and 14 democrats voting for them, 
while the 34 noes were all democrats ; in the senate the vote stood 
14 to 11, all the whigs (7) and 7 democrats voting aye, the 11 noes 
being all democrats. 

There was some question at the time as to whether our delegates 
in congress would obey these instructions. Pending the comjiro- 
mise measures of 1850, a mass meeting in Chicago called upon 
Senator Douglas to obey the resolutions in their spirit as well as 
technical letter, or resign. Douglas had ever opposed the Wil- 
mot proviso. Now, having written the compromise bills and re- 
ported them from the committee on territories without the pro- 
viso, an amendment was offered in the precise language of the 
Illinois instructions. He believed in the right of instruction, but 
rather than resign his seat and knowing that it would not prevail 
even with the vote of Illinois, he denounced it in severe terms, 
and then in obedience to instructions, voted for it. 

At the session of the legislature in 1851, the so-called Illinois 
Wilmot proviso resolutions were rescinded. It was further re- 
solved to sustain the executive of the U. S. in his determination 
to enforce the fugitive slave law; and as the adjustment measures 
passed bj' congress, comprising the admission of California, the 
establishment of territorial governments for Utah and New Mex- 
ico upon the principle of non-intervention, the settlement of the 
Texan boundary, amendment of the fugitive slave law of 1793, 
and abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, Avere 
eminently calculated to remove all controversy and restore peace, 
quietude and confidence between the two sections of the country, 
they met their hearty concurrence. Our delegation in congress 
was further instructed to resist all attempts to disturb or unsettle 
them. The resolutions were adopted in the house by a vote of 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 637 

49 to 11, and in the senate by 22 to 2. The democratic press con- 
gratuhited the people upon the removal of this stiynia from the 
State, which indicates the advance the question of slavery was 
making as a party issue. lu rescinding- the resolutions, both dem- 
ocrats and whigs largely participated, while but two years prior 
every whig in both houses had voted to adopt them. In the mean- 
time the agitations incident to the great adjustment measures of 
1850, Avhich shook the Union to its centre, had taken place and 
been fraternally settled, and this action of the legislature was 
an earnest of its acceptance in good faith, and a hearty acquies- 
cence in the national compromise of that period by both whigsaud 
democrats. 

Under this fraternal feeling the national election of 1852 re- 
sulted in favor of the democratic party by an OAerwhelming- ma- 
jority. This was hardly exi>ected. They had cast their represen- 
tative men overboard and selected Mr. Pierce, at the instance of 
the South (Virginia bringing- him forward in convention) on ac- 
count of availability, while the whigs had for their candidate a 
soldier chieftain of renown, who had carried our Hag to victory 
from Canada to the City of Mexico, in the person of Gen. Scott. 
While many whigs had labored with patriotic zeal in the adoption 
of the adjustment measures of 1850, there was still a very large 
anti-slavery element in that party throughout the iSforth, which 
gave but a sullen acquiescence to the com])romise; many of the 
leaders spit upon the Baltimore platform. Besides, in the election 
of Taylor in 1848, the whigs had swerved from principle for per- 
sonal considerations, and while crowned with success, forfeited 
the confidence of the country. With the overwhelming- defeat in 
1852, and the northern disaffection in its ranks, symptoms of dis- 
solution in that grand old party were now everywhere manifest. 
It was pronounced in articulo mortis by its leaders, and its aban- 
donment daily advocated. 

In Illinois the democracy were in such ascendency in 1852 that 
when the whig- State convention assembled to put forth a ticket, 
it was candidly stated by the chairman in his opening speech, that 
they had no hope of success, but it Avas highly important to make 
a decent show, and thus encourage and uphold their friends 
abroad. 

After the accession of President Pierce democracy was not 
without its mutterings of discontent. In the election the Van 
Buren breach of 1848 was bridged over, it seems largely by the 
" cohesive power of public plunder"in prospect, but disapi)ointment 
in the division of the loaves and fishes now caused a wide and 
deeper hostility than ever, in many portions of the country. The 
troubles of a country emanate from uneasy and ambitious politi- 
cians, its safety rei)oses in the tranquil masses.* 

During a period of dead calm in general politics, the opposition 
for the October contest in Ohio in 1853, sought to fuse all the va- 
rious party factions and unite them against the party in power, 
and the Eepublican party was in a manner foreshadowed by their 
l)latforni of princi])les: opposition to the fugitive slave law and 
the further extension of slavery; freedom of the public lands; 
equal taxation and the suppression of intempeiance. This was 
known as the Giddiugs ukase. The movement met with defeat. 

• Benton. 



638 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The various party elementR released bj' the dissolution of the 
whig- party, together with other disaffected elements, were at this 
period driftiug hither and thither, ready and eager to catch or 
cling to this rock or that vine, to crystallize about any strong ob- 
ject wliich offered them a hopeful opi)osition to the party in power; 
but they were as yet unwilling to embrace uiuidulterated aboli- 
tionism. A large portion of the whigs were still conservative and 
disinclined to give in their adhesion to a new party. Blind to the 
plain purposes of the South, they reasoned justly that to base a 
party on geographical boundaries in one section of the country, 
rather than upon the broa<l constitution for the whole, was to jus- 
tify the same in the opposite section, in utter disregard not only 
of the solemn injunction of Washington's faieweir address, but 
revolutionary in spirit and result, if not intent, and utterly sub- 
versive of all fraternity of avAion in the nation at large. Eepos- 
ing confidence in a continuance of the tranquility aflbrded by the 
compromise of 1850, they saw no exigency which justified the 
saQntice of the peace and harmony of 25,000,000 people for the 
imaginary benefits to result to 3,500,000 Africans in our coun- 
try.* 

Some great question to convulsfe the tranquility of the country 
and awaken the slumbering sentiments of the masses to a new 
conflict of political opinion was therefore required ; and to crys- 
tallize their first horror and astonishment into a new partj' was 
the duty of the hour. Expectants did not have to wait long. At 
the session of congress of 1853-4, the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
promise, by the organization of Kansas and Nebraska into terri- 
torial governments, presented an ample field for the arts and skill 
of party disciplinarians, and the opportunity was well improved. 
The Missouri compromise, since 1820, had inhibited slavery from 
that vast and temperate region which faced the turbulent river 
of that name for 500 miles on the west, and extending south- 
ward to the line of 30 d. 30 m. All this extensive and supposed 
fertile territory was thus opened to the introduction of the blight 
and curse of slavery, otherwise so well adapted for rwillions of 
free and happy homes. The fact was regarded as an uni)aralleled 
outrage, and the excitement thioughout the north was extraordi- 
nary ; nor was the public mind at all appeased by the fact that it 
was tendered the south by northern men. 

Mr. Douglas, as chairman of the committee on territories, was 
the author of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, yet the supererogatory 
amendment (according to his view), which, in express terms, re- 
pealed the restriction as to slavery, was offered by Mr. Dixon, of 
Kentucky, a whig. Mr. Douglas promptly accepted it, feeling 
that he could not consistently do otherwise, for his original bill, 
drawn in accordance with the principles of non-intervention, re- 
cognized in the compromise measures of 1850, of which he was 
the real author, rendered the inhibition in effect nugatory. While 
such was the case with regard to the organization of Utah aiul 
New Mexico, it is also true that the Missouri restriction was not 
expressly repealed; nor was it ever intimated during the pro- 
tracted discussions in congress, in 1850, that such would be tlie 
effect. 

• Resolutions of Whig Convention. 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 639 

The measure was of such absorbing interest that long before it 
became a law the people in public meetings gave expression to 
their indignation in many parts of the country. Early in Febru- 
ary, 1854, when it was apparent that' the bill would become a law, 
a large meeting was held in Chicago, to place the ban, as was said, 
upon the movements of Senator Douglas. It was composed of 
citizens of all parties, but more largely participated in by former 
prominent supporters of the senator than others. Speeches con- 
demnatory of his course were made by R. S. Blackwell, S. S. Hays, 
E. C. Larned, T.L.Dickey, Mr. Mauuierre, Mark Skinner, and 
others. Of the resolutions adopted we subjoin the following: 
"That the passage of the [Nebraska] bill for the repeal or moles- 
tation of the Missouri compromise, will destroy the harmony which 
now exists between the north and the south, create sectional dis- 
turbances and perpetual agitation of questions which have hereto- 
fore been regarded as settled by the unanimous consent of the 
nation." The immediate action of the legislature, then in extra- 
ordinary session, was invited to the subject, and instructions de- 
manded for our congressional delegation to vote against the bill." 

The question speedily got into the legislature, which was largely 
democratic, and hardly required the Chicago invitation. Two sets 
of resolutions were introduced, one known as the Gillesi)ie, 
strongly condemning the purposed action of congress, and the 
other by Mr. Omelveny, approving the Nebraska bill as but an- 
other application of the principles of adjustment of 1850. After 
a protracted debate, in which Messrs. Logan, Snyder and Sin- 
gleton (whig) took a leading part in advocacy, the Omelveny res- 
olution passed in the House by 30 to 22 — 3 whigs and 27 demo- 
crats for, and 11 democrats and 11 whigs voting against. 

Mr. Douglas was the champion of the measure in congress. 
This drew upon him mucb of the public resentment. The excite- 
ment invaded the portals of the church. Twenty-six ministers 
of the gospel at Chicago addressed him a letter on the iniquity of 
repealing the Missouri compromise, to which he replied in admi- 
rable temper, ()!)jecting to the use of the Sabbath as a day for elec- 
tioneering, or converting the j^ulpit into a i)lace for stump speecbes ; 
"the purity ol ihe christian church and our holy religion, and the 
preservation ol our free institutions require that church and state 
be separate, that the preacher on the Sabbath day shall find his 
text iji the Bible ; shall "preach Jesus Christ and him crucified ; 
shall preach from the holy scriptures, and not attempt to control 
the political organizations and political j)arties of the day." 

After the passage of the measure, the indignation vented by an 
enraged people did not abate, and the brunt of it continued to 
fall u[)on its gifted champion. Illinois' great senator was de- 
nounced as a traitor to his section and the cause of human lib- 
erty, from New England to California; the press of the north 
teamed with abuse and censure; he wa;s burnt in effigy along his 
route home, and in the chief city of his own State denied the 
right of free speech in Aindication of himself by a tumultuous 
mob. 

Bmif/las Denied Free Sj^eecli in Chicago. — Four years before, 
when the city council passed resolutions denouncing' the compro- 

*See House Jour. Feb. 22, 1854. 



640 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



mise measures as a violation of the laws of God and the con- 
stitution, enjoining tlie city police to disregard tlie fugitive slave 
law, and allgood citizens to disobey it, Mr. Douglas, in a speech 
of great force and convincing eloquence, attacked this action with 
such effect as to re\ olutionize the sentiment of the people, and 
the next day the council reconsidered the resolutions by 12 to 1. 
His power in vindication of himself was now justly dreaded. It 
was sought to squelch him. Before his arrival the opposition press 
cried out: "We have pretty good reason for believing that Sena- 
tor Douglas will arrive in the city to-day or to-morrow. If so, 
it will be seen that the renegade is endeavoring to sneak home 
quietly, and avoid the odious public demonstration which, he must 
know, awaits him. The people are ready for him."* And after 
his arrival we hnd the following language : 

"Had Douglas dared to come to Chicago soon after the passage of the 
Nebraska infamy, when the sting of the wound was yet rankling fresh 
in the hearts of his insulted constituency, and when their blood was yet 
boiling at the treachery of their servant, to whom they had entrusted so 
much, he would have been met with a storm of indignation, and scorn, 
and retribution, which might have swept him from the eartli, and re- 
lieved the world of the disgrace and sufTeriiig which he may yet entail 
upon it, * * Stephen A. Douglas has no claims upon the cour- 
tesy or kindness of the people of Chicago, but he has the deepest reasons 
to fear their detestation, their abhorrence, their rebukes, and their ven- 
geance. He has betrayed us ; he has disregraded us ; he has insulted 
us ; he has disgraced us ; he has injured us in our reputation, our fair 
fame, our honor, and our pecuniary interest. * He is now in our 
midst. If he is content to remain in the obscurity into which he has 
sunk, we shall not pull him forth. * * But if, in his madness 
and his folly, he attempts to get up wliat he calls a 'vindication' of his 
crimes * it will not be our fault if he arouses a lion which he can- 
not tame. Let him add no more insults to those which he has already 
heaped upon us. There is a point beyond which the people will not en- 
dure." 

We give these extracts to show the hight to which political feel- 
ing was aroused. 

Douglas, however, nothing daunted, caused an announcement 
to be made that he would address the people in vindication of the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill on Saturday evening, September the 1st. In 
the meantiuR^ rumors were rife on the streets regarding the eflbrts 
making to prevent; his speaking, and others, that he should have a 
hearing at any cost ; that thousands of 6-shooters would be on the 
ground to enforce the freedom of speech. His friends openly in- 
dulged in the taunting remarks that his opponents would be si- 
lenced and "made to crouch at his feet like whipped curs," and the 
like. On the afternoon preceding the speaking, one of the oppo- 
sition newspapers issued an inflammatory hand-hill, asserting that 
an "Irish body guard" had been organized to x>revent Americans 
participating in the meeting. Knownothingism was beginning to 
make a show in the land, A threatening letter was sent to Doug- 
las from the secretary of an organization formed since his arrival, 
which required him to leave the city or remain silent; '"if he dis- 
regarded the notice the organization was pledged, at the sacrifice 
of life, to prevent his being heard." Shortly after noon the flags 
of all the shipping were displayed at half-mast ; and at a quarter 
past 6 p. m, the city bells began to toll, and continued to till the 

•Tribune, Aug. 1854. 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 641 

air with their mournful tones for over an liour. The subject was 
sought to be impressed with an air of mourning'. 

At the appointed hour of meeting in tlie evening the vast space 
in front of the North Market Hall was thronged with men. Crowds 
of visitors from a distance, some as far as Detroit and St. Louis, 
had arrived by every train, desirous to hear him. 

On the appearance of the senator on the open balcony, when, 
after a suitable allusion to the excitement of the occasion, he at- 
tempted to launch out into the subject of his address, he was at 
once greeted with hisses and groans followed by a wild tumult of 
shouting and outrageous noise. He folded his arms across his 
breast, and with a silent determination calmly surveyed the angry, 
seething multitude around and beneath him. Anon, upon the 
cessation of the din, he stretched forth his hand to resume his 
speech, only to have his voice drowned by a redoubled uproar, 
and there, fearlessly above that surging and maddened mass of 
men, stood the "Little Giant" for four hours, essaying time and 
again to speak only to be overpowered by the hooting and demo- 
niac yells of the infuriate multitude of ten thousand. The most 
opprobrious epithets Mere hurled at him, and the most insulting 
words were shouted and bandied back and forth by the crowd. Ip 
vain did well known gentlemen circulate among the throng and 
counsel order — but there was no order. It was an intolerable out- 
rage offered to a distinguished citizen and a man of towering in- 
tellect. No violence or collision occurred, however, as had been 
feared. It was said that Douglas' manner tended to add to the 
^ tiame of passion already high. Inspired by a conscious feeling of 
excelling power, he appeared rather as a master than a servant 
of the people. This peculiarity has frequently been observed of 
him — doubtless it was hightened at this time. An opposition pa- 
per, describing the scene, says of him : "Dictator Hashed from out 
his eye, curled upon his lip, and mingled its cold irony in every 
tone of his voice and every gesture of his body. At this, as in 
water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." Many 
of the opposition felt deeply mortified that Mr. Douglas had not 
been permitted to speak. 

Prominent among the early mass meetings in Illinois, irrespec- 
tive of party, but in which leading democrats acted a controlling 
part for the purpose of sinking all previous party predilections, 
and pledging themselves to unite in the organization of a new 
party to make common cause against the extension of slavery, 
either by the abrogation of the Missouri comi)romise or the annex- 
ation of more territory for the use of slavery (the acquisition of 
Cuba then being in the public eye), was held at Freeport in the 
spring of 1S54. Many other meetings of a similar character, all 
showing how earnestly the people took this matter to heart, were 
held during the summer of 1854, mostly in the northern portion 
of the State. We subjoin a summary of one held in Kane county 
August 19, 1854 : 

"We, the people of Kane county, in mass conveutiou assembled, irre- 
spective of party, iu view of the long-continued encroachments of the 
slave power, culminating at last in tlie repeal of the law of freedom in all 
the hithertounorganized territories of the Union, will co-operate with the 
friends of freedom throughout the State in an effort to l)ringthe govern- 
ment back to just principles ; to restore Kansas and Nebraska to the po- 
41 



642 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Bition of free territories ; to repeal the fugitive slave law ; to restrict slav- 
ery to the States in whieli it exists; to prohibit the admission of any 
more slave States into the Union ; to exclude slavery from all the terri- 
tories over which the general government has exclusivejurisdiction ; re- 
sist the acquirementof any new slave territory, and" the rejDeal of the in- 
human and barbarous black laws of this State." 

These were tlie sentiments of the people to a large extent. 

The Tazewell Mirror (whig) proposed a "State convention of 
all parties and divisions of parties op])Osed to the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise, to be held at some convenient place in the 
State early enough in point of time to make arrangements for the 
fall elections of 1854." But this i)roposition did not meet with 
geueral favor. While the old whigs in Illinois stood almost as a 
unit in opposition to the re[)eal of the Missouri compromise, tbey 
were yet unwilling at that time to lose their identity to accomplish 
one single object which it was supi»osed would prove transitory, 
and it was ai)prehended that when the Nebraska matter was dis- 
posed of the disatiected democrats would do as they had done in 
the election of Pierce in 1802, after supporting Van Buren in 1848. 
The whigs argued that as their antagonism to the Nebraska swin- 
dle was well known, all that the disaffected democrats and free- 
soilers had to do was to join them, and unitedly place the seal of 
condemnation upon it. 

lu the north part of the State, however, in every congressional 
district, and a^lso that of Madison in the south, anti-Nebraska or 
fusion candidates were brought out, anti-Nebraska platfonns 
adopted (a notable one at Bloomhigton), and the M'higs may be 
said to have been fully merged with all the opposition elements. ' 
But in the central or capital district it was otherwise; there, while 
the whigs had a large majority, and Mr. Yates, their idol, had 
taken extreme ground upon the question in congress, they yet 
dared not adopt an anti-Nebraska platform for fear an abolition 
plank would drive off* the national whigs ;. and if the whigs should 
adopt a national platform the fre^e-soilers and abolitionists would 
be driven off". The whigs there inclined more to know-uothingisu). 

On Tuesday, October 3d, 1854, however, a small anti-Ne- 
braska or fusion State convention, which assumed the name of 
Eepublican, met at Springfield. It was attended by some 2G dele- 
gates, and chietiy managed by leading and ever ardent abolition- 
ists — Mr. Lovejoy, of Bureau, Ichabod Codding (the Tom Corwin 
of Illinois), of Cook, Erastus Wright, of Sangamon, &c. The con- 
^■ention was held at arms length by the great body of anti-Ne- 
braska democrats and whigs, both on account of insignificance in 
point of numbers and t^;ie political status of its fuglemen. It 
has never been generally acknowledged as the first State republi- 
can convention. There was, besides, but one State officer to elect, 
the treasurer. It concluded its labors on the 5th by nominating J. 
E. M'Clun of M'Lean, for that office. The Hon. John Moore, the 
old incumbent, was the democratic candidate. McClun's name 
was in a few days after withdrawn, and that of James Miller, a 
whig of the same county, substituted. A platform of principles 
was adopted, as follows: 

Whereas. The present congress by a majority of the members elected to the house, 
has deliberately and wantonly re-opened the i ontroversy respecting- the extension of 
slavery under our national jurisdiction, whicli a majority of the people had under- 
stood to be closed forever by the successive compromises of 1830 and 1850 ; and 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 643 

Whereas, This congress, aided and impelled by the federal executive, has by the act 
currently known us the Nebraska bill, designedly subverted so much ot the compact 
commonly termed tiie Missouri Compromise, as excluded slavery froiji ^hat vast re- 
gion of our continent stretching from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, and 
from the parallel of 36 d. 30 m. to the northern boundary of our Union, the State of 
Missouri alone excepted; therefore, 

Resiilved, That the State of Illinois affirms and maintains the right and the duty of 
the general g-overnment to prohibit and preclude the extension, establishment or per- 
petuation of huiflan slavery in any and every territory of the T) . S. and in any terri- 
tory, possession and country over which this country now has or may hereafter acquire 
exclusive jurisdiction. 

Bcsolved, That the doctrine affirmed by the Nebraska bill, and gilded over by its ad- 
vocates with the specious phrases of non-intervention and popular sovereignty, is 
really and clearly a complete surrender of all the ground hitlu-rto asserted and main- 
tained by the federal government, with respect to the limitation of slavery, is a plain 
contession of the right of the slave-liolder to transfer his human chattels to any part 
of the public domain, and there hold them as slaves as long as inclination or interest 
may dictate ; that this is an attempt totally to reverse the doctrine hitherto uniformly 
held by statesmen and jurist;^, that slavery is the creature of local and State law, and 
to make it a national institution. 

Resolved, That as freedom is national and slavery sectional and local, the absence of 
all law upon the sub.iect of slavery presumes the existence of a state of freedom alone, 
•while slavery existed only by virtue of positive law. 

Rcs'jlvcd, That slavery can exist in a territory only by usurpation and in violation of 
Jaw, and we believe that congress has the right and should prohibit its extension into 
such territory, so long as it remains under the guardianship of the general govern- 
ment. 

Resolved, That we willingly concede to neighboring States all the legal rights on our 
soil included in the sacred compact of the constitution, but we regard the trial by jury 
and the writ of habeas corpus as safeguards of personal liberty so necessary that no 
Interests of any citizen of our own State everare or can be permitted to suspend them; 
and therefore no citizen of other States can fairly ask us to consent to their abroga- 
tion. 

Resolped, That we recognize no antagonism of national interests between us and the 
citizens of southern States, nor do we entertain any feelings of hostility toward them, 
but we .recognize them as kindred and brethren of the same national family, having a 
common origin, and we hope a common and glorious destiny. 

Resolved, That in that fraternal spirit we call upon them to aid us in restoring the 
action of government to its primitive usage, under which we have so long enjoyed 
prosperity and peace, as the only guarantee of future harmony, and a certain, if not 
the only, means of perpetuation of the Union. 

Resolved, That the river and harbor improvements, when necessary to the safety and 
convenience of commerce with foreign nations, or among the several States, are ob- 
jects of national concern, and it is the duty of congress, in the exercise of its constitu- 
tional power, to provide for the same. 

Sesolved, That we heartily approve the course of the freemen of Connecticut. Ver- 
mont, Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine, postponing in- 
disregarding their minor differences of opinion or preferences, and acting together 
cordially and trustingly in the same rause of freedom, of free labor and free soil, and 
we commend their S|irit to the freemen of this and other States, exhorting each to re- 
nounce his party whenever and wherever that party proves unfaithful to human free- 
dom 

The following- State central committee was designated : Judge 
David J. Baker of Madison, Maj. U. D. Coy of Knox, Is". C. 
Geer of Lake, A. Gt. Throop of Cook, Edwiirs. Leland of La- 
Salle, M. L. Dunlap of Cook, Hon. A. Lincoln of Sangamon, 
H. M. Sheets of Stevenson, Z. Eastman of Cook, J. F. Farns- 
wortli of Cook, J. B. Fairbanks of Morgan, Icbabod Codding of 
Chicago.* 

We cannot forbear to relate an episode which occurred during 
the sitting of the convention, wliicli, by its brilliancy, donbtless 
aided to cast tliat body in the shade. On the 4th day of Octo- 
ber a mass meeting, by previons appointment, was held at Spring- 
field, at which Mr, Douglas, Gen. Singleton and Major Harris 
(running for congress against Yates,) were to speak. A large as- 
semblage of people had gathered from far and near, in conse- 
quence. It was also the occasion of the first State fair at Spring- 
field, which had drawn a large attendance from all over the State, 
and was a great success. It had been rumored that Judges Breese 
and Trumbull, anti-Nebraska democrats, both looking to Shields' 
place in the United States senate, would be present to answer 
Douglas. Mr. Lincoln, too, looking forward to that exalted posi- 
tion, had carefully prepared for the occasion, and the two former 

• See Chicago Tribune, Oct. 7, 1854. 



644 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

failiug to appear at the ap])oiiitefl time, lie divided the time and 
discussed the all-absorbing question of the day with Mr. Douglas. 
This was the first occasion that these great rival champions, who 
have occupied so large a share of i)ublic attention, and whose 
just fame has sunk deep into the j^atriotic heart of the nation, 
measured their strength in debate 5 and the intellectual efforts of 
both, carrying the assembled multitude alternately by storm, are 
spoken of in the highest of terms by their respective friends. 
The meeting, on account of the weather was held in the hall of 
representatives. 

Mr. Lincoln spoke first, occupying two hours. He (whig) 
claimed to be national in his views; was opposed to disturbing 
slavery where it existed in the States; would sustain an efficient 
slave law, because of the clear grant of power in the constitution 
for the recovery of fugitives from labor ; believed that congress 
had the power, and should exercise it, to prohibit slavery in the 
territories, citing the ordinance of 1787. He also took the broad 
ground derived from the declaration of independence, that the 
white man had no right to imi>ose laws upon the blacks for their 
government without their consent ; and conckided with a vigorous 
attack ujjon Douglas personally, taking as his text the celebrated 
apostrophe of that gentleman in 1849, that the Missouri compro- 
mise was canonized in the hearts of the American i)eople, which 
no ruthless hand would dare to be reckless enough to disturb. He 
spoke with singular power, and being deeply moved himself, car- 
ried his audience with him step by step in wrapt attention to his 
eloquence, until his argument broke like a sun over their under- 
standing. *Mr. Lincoln's speech was heartily endorsed by the 
convention. 

Mr. Douglas, in answer, showed that the principle of legislation 
in the adjustment measures of 1850, supported by patriot whigs 
and democrats alike as a finality, was x>ifcisely the same as that 
embodied in the Kiinsas-Nebraska bill, and that the insertion of 
the words declaring the Missouri line inoperative and void by a 
southern whig, was mere surplusage, and did not change the 
legal effect at all ; that aside from those words the act was the 
same in its grant of legislative powers as that of Utah and New 
Mexico, which had met the approbation of all i)arties exce^^t ultra 
abolitionists. The argument of his adversary, his friends claimed, 
was met, point by point, repelling his assaults and exposing his 
sophistry in a scathing and triumphant manner, as only the Little 
Giant, with his ready powers of debate, of all men in America 
could have done, carrying conviction home to the minds of his 
hearers until their pent up enthusiasm, knowing no bounds, burst 
forth in ringing Jipj^lause from a thousand throats. 

The closing hours of the convention were also graced by the 
presence of Messrs. Breese and Trumbull, who had been heralded 
to answer Douglas, but failed to arrive until the day after the 
great debate. The hour of their speaking was deferred till 4 p. 
m. for the convention to close its labor, when Mr. Breese made 
the opening speech of about an hour's duration, in which he de- 
nounced the repeal of the Missouri compromise, declaring he 
would have suffered his right arm to be cut off' rather than have 

•See 111. Jour. Oct. 1. 1854. 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 045 



voted for that measure, bad he been iu the seuate.* lu the absence 
of Doughis, John Calhoun (of subsequent Lecompton constitu- 
tion notoriety',) took the privilege to repl}', saying that with re- 
gard to the personal dislike to Mr. Douglas which appeared to 
animate Judge Breese, he had nothing to do; and then proceeded 
to show that the comjiromise of 1850 superseded the Missouri com- 
promise, by establishing the principle of non-intervention, to 
Avhich both national whigs and democrats were committed ; he 
taunted the speakers with not meeting Douglasathisappoiutment, 
but waiting until the enemy had departed, and then, Parthian-like, 
discharging their jioisoned arrows after him. Calhoun had few 
equals in point of ability, but he lacked energy and was the slave 
of the cup. In the evening- a very large audience assembled in 
representatives hall to hear the very able argument of Judge 
Trumbull, and doubtless also to hear the self-appointed and inim- 
itable Calhoun in reply. Trumbull made the '' one question of 
the repeal of the Missouri compromise the text," scouting the idea 
that he was ever either a whig or abolitionist, t McClernand's 
position was the same. Indeed, those who had affiliated with the 
democratic party rebelled ostensibly only against Xebraskaisin 
being made a party test or tenet, because it revived slavery agita- 
tion ; and they studiously masked all api^earauces of, and dis- 
claimed all sympathy with, anti-slavery sentiments in the sense 
of abolitionism. 

The weeks' discussion at Springfield, as it was called, did not 
result in establishing a unity of position, or cause a full espousal 
of a new party organization by all the opposition ; the convention 
was not openly subscribed to, and the whig press feared to ap- 
prove or notice it ; but in all the trimming of the period there 
was entire unanimity in thorough opposition to the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise. 

The incii)ient republican party of Illinois made a vigorous and 
spirited campaign. Messrs. Chase and Giddings, of Ohio, lent it 
their aid, and sjjoke words of cheer and encouragement to the 
new and untried party in many counties of our State ; the result 
was the development of a strength in the election astounding to 
the democracy, gratifying to themselves, and unexpected to all. 
They emerged from their first political conflict, in 1854, in a man- 
ner triumphant. The only State officer to elect was the treasurer, 
and the tried and incorruptible veteran incumbent, honest John 
Moore, it is true, was re-elected, but what was far more imj)ortant 
in a political jioint of view, five out of the nine congressmen were 
republican, viz : Washburne, Woodward, Knox, Norton and 
Trumbull. Yates, personally popular, but forsaken by the pro- 
slavery whigs, was lost. The straight Nebraska democracy were 
in a minority in the general assembly, lost the organization of 
both houses and the election of a United States senator. Thus 
closed the first contest in Illinois between the incipient party of 
freedom, though sectional, and the old democratic party, Avhich, 
to hold in its grasp a united south, was leaning too much to 
slavery-. In Illinois the scepter of power had departed from the 
hands of the democracy. 

♦See 111. Reg. Oct. 12, 1854. 

tSee his Letter Oct. W, 1854, in 111. Register. 



646 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



THE KNOW-NOTHING, OR AMERICAN, PARTY. 

The curious student wlio will take the trouble, may easily trace 
something' of a connection from the old federal party doAvn to the 
know-nothingism of half a century later. Tlie former culminated un- 
der the elder Adams in disaster and disgrace, by the enactment of 
the alien and sedition laws and its final overthrow in the election of 
Mr. Jefltersou. From that time, however, nativist organizations 
existed more or less in the larger cities of the Union, where their 
contests were mostly personal and local, meeting with varying 
success and failure. Later, in State and national elections they 
mostly co-operated with the whig- i)arty, and occasionally sought 
to commit it to their narrow doctrines. Upon the diss^olution of the 
whig party this element devised a new secret organization more 
subtle in its operations, and by its mysterious ways enticing the 
young and unwary (for the human mind loves a mystery) with 
principles proscrij)tive of foreigners and intolerant of catholics. 

The dark ceremonies of the order, conducted with mysterious 
secresj", were i^eculiarly impressive. In admissions to member- 
ship much solemn parade was made, sacred oaths adnunistered, 
and horrid penalties required to be underwritten by candidates 
for violating any behest of the order; and to all inquiry the mem- 
ber was to "know nothing." They were bound by their oaths to 
deny that they belonged to the order. In this feature of the in- 
stitution is found the meaning of the name "Know-nothing." It 
was significant of their obligations. The local organizations were 
denominated lodges, the meetings of Avhich were usually held un- 
der cover of night, as if their deeds were evil, by aid of dark 
lanterns, in lonely and unfrequented places, in the recesses of 
forests, prairie hollows, deserted or untenanted buildings, unfin- 
ished attics, &c., repairing thither stealtliily, though none pur- 
sued — conduct most unbecoming pixti'iotic citizens of a free coun- 
try. Lodges sent delegates to the council which nominated can- 
didates, designated other delegates to other councils or conven- 
tions, issued orders, &c., all of Avhich the members had solemnly 
sworn to implicitly support and obey, under j)enaltyof expulsion, 
proscription, personal indignity if not outrage. 

At first their nominations were made from the other political 
parties, and by their secret and united weight they would gener- 
all}' turn the scale as to them seemed meet. Thus emboldened, 
the operations of the order were extended and finally its own dis- 
tinctive nominations openly announced for either local or other 
offices. Advancing with clandestine and raj)id strides, it attained 
political supremacy in several States, and cast a large vote in 
many others. Still aspiring, in ISoO a j)residential ticket wasj^ut 
forth. But it may be said tliat the Know-nothing order lost 
power so soon as it ojtenly made separate and distinct nomina- 
tions from its own party and quit secretly esi)Ousing the nomina- 
tions of other parties. While many of the pretensions of all 
j)arties are hollow — advanced to make political cai)ital among the 
masses — the cry of "Americans to rule America" by the ostracism 
of foreign-born citizens and i)roscription in leligion, the two cardi- 
nal tenets of the party, was both unrepublican and unconstitutional 
— unrepublican, because in conflict with the Declaration of Inde- 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 647 

peiuleuce, which chai^ges the King of Enghuidwith "eiuleavoriug 
to prevent the popuhitiou ofthe.se States; for that purpose ob- 
,strnctiiig' the laws for the naturalization of foreigners, refusing to 
pass others encouraging their emigration hitlier;" unconstitu- 
tional, because that instrument says : " No religious test shall 
ever be required as a qualification to any oftice of public trust un- 
der the United States." Further, the constitution not only per- 
mits but fosters the freest discussion. With frequent appeals to 
tlie people, a tribunal than which none is higher, with the duty of 
the citizen to arraign and investigate the conduct of government, 
and scrutinize tlie operation of the laws, what can justify politi- 
cal organizations which avoid tlie open day meet in darkness and 
seclusion, which offer no ground to open coml)at, whose princi- 
ples are a sealed book, and whose adlierents, under sworn 
obligations, " know nothing ?" It tended to segregate foreigu- 
born and Catholic residents into communities distinct in feeling 
<ind in political and religious interests, and to excite in their breasts 
the animosities and hatreds of race by fastening upon them po- 
litically the brand of Helots. Every consideration of expediency 
no less than justice demands that this large and valuable element 
be in every way encouraged to amalgamate freely with the masses 
in order that its character and impulses may be rendered homo- 
geneous with the vast aggregate of American society. 

At lirst the order had no clearly defined jsosition upon the 
slavery question. It sought to ignore it for a time; but that 
all-absorbing subject wliich enlisted both the sympathy and cu- 
pidity of men, and excited them as no other ])ublic question has 
ever done, would not down at the bidding of the secret cabal. It 
had to be met and it iiltimately proved its ruin. 

In Illinois the order was not early developed, neither did it take 
deep root. In combination with the whigs of central and south- 
ern, and the free soilers of northern, Illinois, it fused and entered 
with its strength into the contest of 1854. Perhaps its most deter- 
mined effort was then made on W. B.Archer for congress iu the 
7th district, which, singularly, resulted iu a tie vote, though Allen, 
was said to have had one majority. In 1855 it presented the most 
disjointed issue, and made the largest effort ever essayed by it iu 
Illinois. In the si)ring of that year the State council, which met 
in Chicago, endorsed for supreme judge of the central division the 
Hon. Stephen T. Logan, and for clerk S. A. Corneau, both of San- 
gamon ; and the conclave issued its secret edict to the members of 
the lodges requiring obedience to its behests. In the council, it is 
said, the contest for the control of its organization was warmly 
waged between the open anti-slavery members and those who 
sought to dodge that obtrusive issue. 

Judge Logan (probably not personally identified with the order, 
it being its j)ractice to support Ciindidates irrespective of their 
personal connection with them,) was known far and wide as a deep 
read lawyer and able jurist, and had been a whig leader for a long 
time.* The democratic ticket for the same offices was composed 
of O. C. Skinner, of Adams, forjudge, and W. A. Turney, of Mor- 
gan, for clerk. Mr. Skinner was comi)aratively a young man for 

• In the constitutional convention of 1847 Judge Lo^an had advocated a proposition 
requiring 15 j-ears citizenship (20 years residence,) from a foreigner as a qualitication 
for the office ol {,'overnor. 



648 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

a place on the supreme beiicli ; uot generally known, but of good 
ability. Under the circumstances Lt)gan's election was conlidently 
expected ; but he met with overwhelming defeat, being beaten some 
10,000 votes. In ISTovember before Sangamon had sent him to the 
legislature by 800 nmjority; now he was repudiated in his own 
county by 1,100 majority. This was but further proof that the 
embittered slavery question dominated every other political tie, 
however oath-bound. It was a maniiestation of the old Avhig pro- 
slavery sentiment which felt that Logan had been too closely 
allied in the legislature the winter before with the anti-slavery fu- 
sion which elected Mr. Trumbull to the U. S. senate, aud which 
now broke its old adhesions and went en masse to the democracy, 
where it may be found to-day in central Illinois. 

The national K. ]S^. council, after a protracted and stormy ses- 
sion at Philadelphia, February, 1856, nominated Filmore and Don- 
aldson and adopted a platform recognizing the principles of the 
Kansas-Nebraska act, whereupon the northern members bolted 
the convention and repudiated the platform. Thus the overshad- 
owing question of slavery ruptured and overthrew know-nothing- 
ism, tliongh the organization was kept up, both State aud national, 
for some time after. 

On the 6th of May, 1856, the know-nothing State council of Illi- 
nois convened at Springfield. The attendance exhibited a porten- 
tous falliug off in numbers. The deliberations were conducted 
with closed doors. On the part of many of the managers who 
played with the order oidy for republican purposes, a, strong eftbrt 
was made to defer proceediugs until after the meeting of the State 
republican conveution on the 21)th inst. But this scheme was de- 
feated, aiid the following ticket was brought out: For governor, 
W. B. Archer, of Clark ; for lieutenant-governor, M. L. Dunlap, 
of Cook ; for secretary of State, A. Thornton, of Shelby ; for treas- 
urer, James Miller, of McLean ; for auditor. Dr. Barber, of Wash- 
ington ; and for superintendent of public instruction, E. Jenkins,, 
of Fayette. Mr. Danenhower, of Cook, and Joseph Gillespie, of 
Madison, were appointed senatorial electors. The Philadelphia 
K. N. platform, totally at variance with republicanism, was 
adopted, and the noiuination of Filmore and Doiuxldson ratified. 

Mr. Archer, who was at Washington contesting the seat of J. 
C. Allen in congress, refused to accept, and subsequently partici- 
pated in the national republican convention which nominated 
Fremont. Buckner S. Morris, of Cook, was substituted. Others 
refused to accept, aud T. B. Hickman, of Fayette, was substituted 
for Mr. Dunlap; W. H. Young, of Logan, for Mr. Thornton. James 
Miller, of McLean, without accepting his nomination, received the 
same place on the ticket of the Bloomington convention a few 
days later. Indeed, it is said that numy members of the council 
went direct to Bloomington, and that some received places on the 
republican ticket. At the November election of 1856 the K. N. 
ticket polled about 20,000 votes, and this was about the last effort 
of the order in Illinois. 

Besides know-nothing, the American party was also designated 
" Sam," from " Uncle Sam " or U. S., the initials of United States, 
The i)ersonally figurati^^e representative of slavery was often 
spoken of as " Sambo," denoting, in concrete, the anti-slavery 
party. Hence the slavery question in the K. N. council was spoken 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 649 

of as a set-to between " Sam " and '•Sambo." At Philadelphia 
" Sam " carried the day, but the victory was dear as defeat. The 
terms of reproach applied to the party were Hindoos or Thugs, the 
latter an association of robbers and murderers of India. This, 
from the fact that its course was marked by riots and the destruc- 
tion of life and property. These, it will be remembered, were 
fearful in the years 1854—5 in many of our large cities — Baltimore^ 
Louisville, St. Louis, Cincinnati and other places. 

It is well that such organizations, from the condition of enlight- 
ened societ}^, must ever prove short-lived, as did this. Their ten- 
dency is to diffuse distrust, suspicion, hatred, insincerity; they 
disturb the order and quiet of society, poison confldence, and 
eventuate in mobs and crimes. This order taught men to think 
lightly of the principles of liberty as set forth in the Declaration 
of Independence, and of treason by administering oaths in viola- 
tion of the constitution ; it profaned religion by appeals to the 
weak prejudices of bigotry and fanaticism ; and i^lanted the seeds 
of riot, arson and blood-shed, by arraying the people of one race 
or nationality in deadly hostility against the other. Its name 
should be anathema. 

During the year 1855 the republican organization gave renewed 
evidences of vitality and increasing strength. In Ohio, Mr. Chase 
was elected by a large majority. The democracy of Illinois felt 
impelled to look to their position, and immediately after began to 
prepare for the great contest, nearly a year ahead. A stirring 
address, dated December 1, 1855, was issued by the State gene- 
ral committee, of which the Hon. J. A. McClernand was chair- 
man, directing the appointment of delegates to the State demo- 
cratic convention, to be held at Springfield, May 1st, 1856. A 
portion of the address, which, by its terse, argumentative diction, 
reveals the author in the chairman of the committee, is here quo- 
ted, as portraying in a manner the intense and acrimonious party 
feeling of that day : 

"The malcontents, the intolerants, and the religious bigots of the 
country, havedetermiued upon making a desperate effort to seize the 
reins of government. Their only wish and hope is to excite popular 
passion and upon it ride into office and power. They have raised their 
black flag, with "Abolition" upon the one side, and 'Disunion' upon 
the other, surmounted Avith the know nothing death's head and cross 
bones, and with hideous outcries are rallying their motley forces for the 
coming struggle They pretend to be the peculiar friend of the negro, 
while they would make slaves of white men ; they pretend to be the 
friends of freedom, yet murder men for exercising a plain constitutional 
right ; they pretend to love liberty, while they denounce the constitu- 
tion as a ' league with hell ;' they make loud professions of policy while 
they persecute others for difference of religious opinions, and slander 
and belie all who entertain sentiments different from their own. One 
day they profess to be charmed by ' that rich Irish brogue and that 
sweet German accent,'* and the next they shoot down, burn and mur- 
der men, women and children for not being born in the same country 
as themselves; they illustrate their principle of 'Americans ruling 
America' by mobbing tlie elections, breaking up the ballot boxes, and 
destroying the votes ; they urge their own will as higher than the con- 
stitution, "while they deny to the people of the territories the right to 
have any will at all ; they seek to revolutioidze government by violence 
when its acts conflict with their own ; they resist the constitutional acts 
of congress by armed mobs, which is treason by the law. Devoid of po- 

*Gen. Scott'b speech while a candidate tor president. 



650 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

litieal principle themselves, they are for fusion with men of every shade 
of political principle, and men of no political principle, ho they can 
'vote a vote,' and add strength to their political organization. In bold 
contrast and aloof from all this confusion stands the democratic party."* 

The convention met according to the time and place designated, 
and nominated the Hon. W. A. Richardson, of Adams, as their 
candidate for governor, on the 3d ballot ; the old treasurer, John 
Moore, being his strongest opponent, and leading him on the first 
ballot 23 votes. The nomination of Richardson was not unex- 
pected. It was foreshadowed by a little circumstance that took 
l)lace the preceding summer. A company of Chicago militia 
made Senator Douglas a complimentary visit at his residence ou 
the lake shore, below the city, and during the afternoon's enter- 
tainment, in their hilarity, nominated Col. Richardson for gover- 
nor. He, more than perhaps nuy other member from the free 
States had proven himself the firm and reliable friend and sup- 
porter of the senator in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill 
through the lower house of congress. The fusion press, which 
constantly taunted the democracy with the dictatorship of Doug- 
las^ took this circumstance of a social occasion and settled upon 
Richardson as the candidate with whom the State convention had 
nothing else to do but to confirm ; in wliich they proved to be 
correct. Col. R. J. Hamilton, of Cook, was nominated for lieuten- 
ant governor ; W. H. Snyder, of St. Clair, for secretary of state ; 
honest John Moore, of McLean, the old incumbent, again for 
treasurer ; Samuel K. Casey, of Jeflerson, for auditor, and J. H. 
St. Matthew, of Tazewell, for superintendent of public schools. 

In the platform the convention afitirmed that congress had no 
rightful authority to establish, abolish or prohibit slavery in the 
States or territories ; approved mjn-interveution and popular sov- 
ereignty, the compromise of 1850, and declared that the restora- 
tion of the Missouri restriction would be a flagrant violation ot 
the constitution and the principles of self-government; asserted 
the national right of all men to religious freedom, declaring their 
opposition to i)roscription of foreign born citizens; and instruc- 
ted the delegates to the Cincinnati national democratic convention 
to vote for Stephen A. Douglas for president. 

During all this time, it may well be imagined, the leaders of 
the new party, which had met with unexpected success in 1854-5, 
were not idle. While they were sanguine, they were also cautious 
in taking extreme or advanced anti-slavery grotmd. They sought 
to form a coalition of all the various factions, odds and ends 
outside of the democratic party opposed to the Nebraska meas- 
ure, with a view rather to success than the espousal of rad- 
ical principles. The democracy' characterized this coalition as the 
^'speckled progen}' of many conjunctions." But success, it was 
well reasoned, would do more to confirm lukewarm friends than 
unanswerable arguments. In this connection we quote the apt 
language of the Chicago Tribune at the time : 

"The BiiOOMiNGTON Convention. — Only two weeks will intervene be- 
tween the present time andtheday fixed for holding the anti-Nebraska 
State convention at Bloomingtou. But, though the time is short, we 
wish to correct one misapprehension that has gone abroad in relation to 
the proposed gathering. It is this: that the convention is to be exclusive- 

•See 111. Re^.. Dec. 4, 1855. 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 651 

ly republican. Such is not the case. Tlie republicans, so far as we arein- 
formed, consent to be represented there purely as anti-Nebraska men, 
and if there is anything in their political creed which points to more 
radical measures than old line whigs and anti-Nebraska democrats can 
consent to, they have exjjressed their willingness, without dissent, to 
put such things in abeyance, and unite ujjon the platform upon which 
all northern men, who are not avowedly pro-slavery, ought to stand. As 
one of the organs of republican opinion, we have no hesitation in say- 
ing that we advise our friends throughout the State to such a course of 
action. We say further, that we know of no man whois identified with 
the republican party who desires or would accept a nomination from the 
convention, for any place whatever. The republicans of the north wish 
to testify their sincerity by taking the places of privates in the ranks, 
reserving the right to do battle wherever the fight is fiercest. They ex- 
pect that the nominee for governor will possibly be a man who differs 
with them upon some matters connected with national politics, but they 
do not demand uniformity of belief — do not expect it. We know not 
who may be on the ticket with Col. Bissell, and we do not care what 
they are called, or what may be their political antecedents, so that they 
are men of personal and political integrity, who may be depended upon 
to carry out the views that they will announce. The republicans ask 
nothing." 

On the 22d of February, 1856, au aiiti-ISrebraska editorial con- 
vention had met at Decatur, with Paul Selby as cbairmau, aud 
W. J. Usrey as secretary, which gave a free airing to its political 
views, both State aud national, as editors are wont to do. They 
demanded, iu a set of resolutions, the restoration of the Missouri 
compromise; opposed the demands of slaYer3' for territorial ex- 
pansion as inconsistent with freedom: declared there was an ur- 
geut demand for reform in the State administration ; stood to the 
free school system; and asked all who concurred in their views of 
national questions to drop all party differences upon other issues 
and unite iu a common effort to give these prai^tical effect. For 
this purpose they recommended a delegate State convention to be 
held Thursday, May 29, at Bloomington. They designated a 
State central committee, one from each congressional district, to 
make the call, fix the latio of representation, and take such other 
steps as would secure a full representation from all i^arts of the 
State. We name the committee in the order of the number of 
their respective districts: W. B. Ogden, Chicago; S. M. Church, 
Eockford; G. A. D. Parks, Joliet ; T. J. Prickett, Peoria; E. A. 
Dudley, Quincy; Wm. H. Herndon, Springfield; E. J. Oglesby, 
Decatur; Joseiih Gillespie, Edwardsville; D. L. Phillips, Jones- 
boro. Gov. Koerner aud Ira O. Wilkinson were designated for 
the State at large. 

Accordingly tlie republican State convention of 1856 met at 
Bloomington, in Major's Hall, May 29th. Out of the 101 counties 
nearly one-third Avere unrepresented, namely : Alexander, Pulaski, 
Massac, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Saline, Gallatin, Hamilton, 
White, W^ayiie, Wabash, Clay, Crawford, Jasper, Effingham, Cum- 
berland, Clark, Douglas, Fayette, Shelby, Brown, Jefferson, Frank- 
lin, Williamson, Jaclcson, Perry and Monroe, nearly all iji the 
southern part of the State. . The Hon. John M. Palmer of Macou- 
pin, was chosen iiermanent (chairman. The following were chosen 
as vice presidents : J. A. Davis of Stephenson, Wm. Eoss of Pike, 
James McKee of Cook, J. H. Bryant of Bureau, A. C. Harding of 
Warren, Eichard Yates of Morgan, H. O. Jones of Piatt, D. L. 
Phillips of Uuion, Geo. Smith of Madison, J. H. Marshall of Coles, 



652 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

J. M. Kuggles of Masou, G. A. D. Purks of Will, Jolm Clark of 
Schuyler. Secretaries: H. S. Baker of Madisoii, C. L.Wilsoii of 
Cook, John Tilson of Adams, W. Bushuell of LaSalle, B. J. F. 
Haiina of llandolph. 

The ijroceediiigs of the convention were harmonious. The nom- 
ination of the Hon. W. H. Bissell of St. Clair, who was simply an 
anti-N'ehraska democrat, had been generally agreed upon before 
the convention met, by the i)ress and people. The Belleville Ad- 
rocate had first brought forward his name in connection with this 
oftice, in March preceding, which was shortly seconded by the 
opposition press generally and in meetings of the people. He was 
very popular, but his health had been imj^aiied by jjaralysis of 
his lower extremities and there was apprehension as to his ability 
to make a vigorous canvass. But in a letter to Geo. T. Brown of 
Alton, dated May 24, he wrote that he was recovering from his 
infirmity, and hoped for entire restoration ; that his general health 
and capacity for business were as good as ever ; and while he 
might not be able to engage in an active canvass he would not 
decline the nomination if tendered him. After the reading of this 
letter to the convention, public exj)ectation was confirmed by his 
unanimous nomination. Francis Hoffman of DuPage, a German, 
W'as also unanimously nominated for lieutenant governor.* 
O. M. Hatch of Pike, was nominated for secretary of State, the 
Hon. Jesse K. Dubois of Lawrence, for auditor, and James Mil- 
ler of McLean, for treasurer. These last named gentlemen were 
charged with being members of the know-nothing order, which 
was doubtless the fact; that the two former had attended every 
State council of that order since its organization, and been dele- 
gates and prominent leaders in its late State convention held at 
Spring-field on the 0th inst.t At the same know-nothing- 
convention, we have seen that Mr. Miller had been hon- 
ored with the nomination for the same i)lace on the ticket 
at Bloomington. But to the nominating- committee at the 
latter place he stated that he had not nor did not intend to 
accept the place on the know-nothing- ticket. W. H. Powell of 
Peoria, was nominated for superintendent of public instruction. 
These latter names were selected by a committee of 9, one from 
each congressional district, apjiointed by the chair. They were: 
S. W. Lawrence, Cyrus Alden, W. W. Orme, J. D. Arnold, A. 
Williams, A. Lincoln, T. A. Marshall, Thos. McCluken and Ben. 
T. Wiley, named in the order of their respective districts. The 
candidates selected by them were confirmed by the convention. 

The following- is the platform adopted: 

Resolved, That foreg-ointr all former differences of opinion vipon other questions, 
we pledg'e ourselves to unite in opposition to the present administration and to the 
party which upholds and supports it, and to use all honorable and constitutional 
means to wrest the government from the unworthy hands which now control it and 
to bring' it back in its administration to the principles and practices of Washington, 
Jefferson, and their great and jinod compatriots of the revolution. 

Eesolved, That we hold, in accordance with the opinions and practices of all the areat 
Statesmen of all parties for the tirst 60 years of the administration of the government, 

* This gentleman found during the canvass that he was ineligible for that office— not 
having been naturalized 14 years, a qualitication prescribed by the constitution, and 
he resigned his place on the ticket. The convention subsequently met again and 
substituted the name of John Wood of Adams, an old whig. B. S. Edwards, at the 
same time, received 20 votes. Dr. Egan 17, J. M. Ruggles 10, Joseph Seifhger 8, S. M. 
Church 11, and Leonard Swett, 8. 

+ We have it from undoubted authority that the candidate for auditor not only re- 
fused to come into the convention but cursed it for its abolitionism while he accepted 
the place upon its ticket. 



THE EEPUBLICAN PARTY. 653 

that under the constitution congress possesses the power to prohibit slavery in the 
territories ; and that whilst we will maintain all constitutional rijihts ot the south, we 
also hold that justice, humanity, the principles of ireedom as expressed in our declar- 
ation of independence, and our national constitution and the purity and perpetuity 
of our government require that that power should be exerted to prevent the exten- 
sion of slavery into territories heretofore free. 

Besolved, That the repeal of the Missouri compromise was unwise, unjust, and inju- 
rious; an open and aggravated violation of the plig-hted fanh of the States, and that 
the attempt of the present administration to force slavery into Kansas agaiiJSt the 
known wishes of the legal voters of that territory, is an arbitrary and tyrannous vio- 
lation of the rig-hts of the people to govern themselves, and that we will strive by all 
constitutional means to secure to Kansas and Nebraska the legal guaranty ag'ainst 
slavery of which they were deprived at the cost of the violation of the plighted faith 
of the nation. 

Resolved, That we are devoted to the union and will, to the last extremity defend it 
againsttlie efforts now being made by the disunionists of this administration to com- 
pass its dissolution, and that we will support the constitution of the United States in 
all Its provisions, regarding it as the sacred bond of our union, and the only saleguara 
for the preservation of the rights of ourselves and our posterity. 

Jrtesolvcd, That we are in favor of the immediate admission of Kansas as a member 
ot this confederacy, under the constitution adopted by the people of said territory. 

liesotird. That the spirit of our institutions as well as the constitution of our coun- 
try, guaranties the liberty of conscience as well as political freedom, and that we will 
proscribe no one, by legislation or otherwise, on account of religious opinions, or in 
consequence of place of birth. 

Eesolutioiis approving of the course of Senator Trumbull, and 
condemning that of Senator Douglas were also adopted ; one by 
Mr. Wentworth,in favor of an economical administration of the 
affairs of the State; and one by O. H. Browning, that the pro- 
ceedings of the convention be signed by all the officers, and 
published. The State central committee appointed consisted of 
J. C. Conkling of Sangamon, Asahel Gridley of McLean, B. 0. 
Cook of LaSalle, and C. H. Eay and N. B. Judd of Cook. 

It will be observed that the platform omits to demand the repeal 
of the fugitive slave law, omits to assert the right of trial by jury 
for the captured slave, and omits to claim the writ of habeas cor- 
pus m hi i>heha\f', nor is the institution of slavery denounced as 
the sum of all villainies. The Hon. Owen Lovejoy, an original ab- 
olitionist, who had vainly endeavored in the legislature, in 1855, 
to commit the new party to a declaration against the admission 
of more slave States into the Union and in favor of the repeal of 
Itlie fugitive slave law, which, by the way, received a large vote in 
that body at the time, now in the convention strove to have a 
plank inserted in the platform which would reflect a more ad- 
vanced position for the party, but was defeated. But with a keen 
insight into the future, he observed that while he would like to 
have inoculated them with the virus more thoroughly at the time, 
he didn't care much ; for having been exposed to the infection 
they would all take the disease in the natural way, and break out 
all over with it before the campaign was ended anyhow — which 
was the case. 

The. personnel of the republican ticket thus made showed that 
the Chicago Tribune, bespeaking for advanced republicanism a 
subordinate part — the post of honor as i)rivates in the battle — 
was taken at its words, for not a pure and simple republican re- 
ceived a ])lace on the ticket. It was a coalition which tlie repub- 
licans were content to support with the hope of future reward. 
They did not reckon without their host. Success, the touchstone 
of all human undertakings, attended them, and cemented all these 
various elements into one great and homogeneous party, leading 
to the most radical results. With success, all the halting, the timid 
and the doubting ones, now perhaps beholding the reward of office 
in the future, became immediately the most pronounced and un- 
yielding, if not radical, partisans. 



Ooi HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

It Las been siii)i)()sed tLat tlie Avliig and kuow-riothiiig parties 
were wholly ab.soibed by tlie republican party. Siicb is only partly 
true. It is true in the northern i>art of the State, perhajis, but not 
in the central and southern i)arts. In the latter, ^vhile the denio- 
cratic party contributed largely toward its raid<s, it received back 
a greater number of whigs. The Gernnins, AAholly democratic in 
Madison and St. Clair counties, went over almost in a body, but the 
whigs of Sangamon, Tazewell, Morgan and Adams largely joined 
the democracy, where they are to this day. 

The repeal of the Missouri compromise was both a party blunder 
and mistaken statesmanshij). The south, with a sectional institu- 
tion in its midst, ought to have broadly appreciated the great noith 
with its giant steps toward empire, its teeming millions, its innu- 
merable work-shops, skilled laborers and vast industries. In the 
face of this, while it had jnactical control ot the government, its pol- 
icy was to excite into being the party whose principles, however 
they maybe said in the abstractto have been national by ai)proxi- 
mating to the landmarks of the fathers, Avere sectional, because it 
opposed the spread of an institution which was itself sectional ; and 
it became national only through the operation of a war madly pre- 
cipitated by the south. The party which ostensibly sought only to 
restrain the sectionalism of the south, has accomplished greater 
and mightier deeds than the most ardent abolitionist of 25 years 
ago could have dreamed. And what it has done it has done so 
thoroughly that it can never be undone. It has abolished slavery ; 
raised more than 5,000,000 of negroes to citizenship, and enfran- 
chised them — all this by constitutional i)rovisions. 

W. H. Bissell was elected governor by a plurality of 4,729 votes 
over Col. Eichardson ; Morris, K. N., receiving 19,241 votes for the 
same office, while Buchanan's plurality over Fremont Avas 9,164; 
Filmore, K. jST,, receiving 37,451. The legislature was democratic. 
The democracy had thrown no obstacles in the w ay of the oi)posi- 
tion dividing upon Filmore, but rather encouraged it; but tht? 
main reason why Buchanan carried the State and liic-hardson failed 
was owing to the former's want of identitication with the repeal of 
the Missouri compromise, though he liad accepted the Cincinnati 
platform and dilated upon the beauties of popular sovereignty. It 
was, in spite of this, believed that in his convictions and policy he 
would be apart from its principles, and break faith with itscjevoted 
friends — an oi)inion which proved prophetic within the year of his 
installation. The Missouri Democrat^ while it espoused republi- 
canism and supported Bissell, by a strange inconsistency, labored 
even with republicans to separate Buchanan in the puldic mind 
from the outrage of the repeal of the Missouri compromise. 

We close this chapter with the concluding portion of Mr. Lin- 
coln's speech made after the election at the repubhcan banquet 
in Chicago, Dec. 17, 1856 : 

"All of us who did not vote for Mr. Buchanan, taken together, are a 
majority of 4(10,000. But in the late coutest we were divided between Fre- 
mont and Filmore. Can we not come together for the future ? Let every 
one who really believes, and is resolved, that free society is not, and shall 
not be, a failure, aud who can conscientiously declare that in the past 
contest he has done only what he thought best — let every such an one 
have charity to believe tliat every other one can say as much. Thus let 
by-goues be by-goues. Let past differences as nothing be, and m itn steady 



THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 655 

eyeou the real issue, let us re-inaugurate the good old 'central ideas' of 
the republic. We can do it. The human heart is with us — God is with us. 
We shall again be able not to declare that 'all States, as States, are equal,' 
nor yet that 'all citizens, as citizens, are equal,' but to renew the broad- 
er, better declaration, including both these and much more, that 'all men 
are created equal.'" 



y^ 



Chapter LI, 
1857-1861— ADMINISTRATIONS^ OF GOVEEis^OR BISSELL. 

Life and Character of the Governor — Gross Attack upon him in 
the Legislature on Account of his Dueling Affair — Turbulence 
of Party Strife and icant of Official Courtesy— Diagraceful 
Action in Organizing the House — Apportionment Bills of 1857-9 
— The Canal Scrip Fraud — The McAllister and Stebbins Bonds. 



Aside from the general excitement incident to our quadrennial 
political campaigns, that of 1850, owing to its sectional character, 
was more than ordinarily bitter. The contest for State and local 
offices in Illinois, where the new republican party had deveIo])ed 
unexpected strength two years before, was unusually acrimoni- 
ous and personal. Of the candidates for governor, Richardson 
canvassed the State thoroughly, but Bissell, owing to his physical 
ailment, was unable to do so, and made but one speech, whicli 
was to his old neighbors at Belleville. But his character through- 
out the campaign was the target of vindictive assaults, som(i of 
which he felt himself impelled to deny as utterly untrue. In let- 
ters addressed to the Quincy Herald and Springfield Begister he took 
occasion to repel the charges that in 1851, as the paid attorney for 
the capitalists who sought the incorporation of the Illinois Central 
Railroad, he had been authorized to offer 10 i^er cent, of the 
gross earnings of the road for the charter, or that he had from 
his knowledge of public men in the legislature, labored as a lob- 
byist with Mr. Rantoul to obtain the reduction to 7 yev cent, to 
the lasting detriment of the treasury of the State. 

Ul)ou Richardson was concentrated and poured out all the pent 
up rage of the ox)position. He, it was urged, as a northern man, 
next to Douglas, had advocated in congress with determined 
zeal, persistence and effectiveness the disturbance of the Missouri 
comi)romise, and was joint author in opening the Pandora's box 
to precipitate the evils of slavery agitation ui^ou the entire coun- 
try, and a border war upon the ill-fated territory of Kansas, to 
crush out her freedom for the purj^ose of enlarging the area of 
human bondage. These imi^assioned appeals told with effect 
upon the people — Bissell was elected by a plurality of 4,729 votes 
over Richardson. The legislature, nearly balanced, was politi- 
cally opposed to the governor elect. The senate stood, 13 demo- 
crats, 11 republicans and 1 American (K. ~N.y, house, 37 demo- 
crats, 31 republicans and 6 Americans, besides a contested election 
case from Peoria, which was the occasion of a fierce i)artisau 
struggle, as we shall see. 

656 





"if^ 



'-y^^S^.^.^^^^z^^^. 



z^ 



bissell's administration. G57 

William H. Bissell was l)oni April 25, 1811, in the State of 
New York, near Painted Post, Yates county. His parents were 
obscure, lionest, God-fearing peojde, who reared their children un- 
der the daily example of industry and frugality, as is the wont of 
that class of eastern society. Young Bissell received a respecta- 
ble but not thorough academical education. By application he 
acquired a knowledge of medicine, and in his early manhood came 
west and located in Monroe county, Illinois, where he engaged in 
the practice of that profession. But he was not enamored of his 
calling; he was swayed by a broader ambition, and the mysteries 
of the healing art and its arduous duties possessed no charms for 
him. In a few years he discovered his choice of a profession to 
be a mistake ; and when he approached the age of 30 sought to 
begin anew. Dr. Bis-sell, no doubt unexpectedlj* to himself, dis- 
covered a singular facility and charm of sj)eech, the exercise of 
which acquired him ready local notoriety. It soon came to be un- 
derstood that he desired to abandon his profession and take np 
that of the law. During terms of court he would spend his time 
at the county seat among the members of the bar, who extended 
to him a ready welcome. 

It was not strange that he should drift into public life. In 1840 
he was elected as a democrat to the legislature from Monroe 
county and made an efiBcient member. On his return home he 
qualified himself for admission to the bar and speedily rose to 
front rank as an advocate. His j)owers of oratory were captivat- 
ing: with a pure diction, charming and inimitable gestures, 
clearness of statement, and a remarkable vein of sly humor, his 
eiforts before a jury told with almost irresistible effect. He was 
chosen by the legislature j^rosecuting attorney for the circuit in 
Avhich he lived, in which iiosition he full}' discharged his duty to 
the State, gained the esteem of the bar, and seldom failed to con- 
vict the offender of law. In stature he was somewhat tall and 
slender, and with a straight, military bearing presented a distin- 
guished appearance. His complexion was dark, his head well 
poised, though not large, his address pleasant and manner win 
ning. He was exemplary in habits, a devoted husband, and kind 
and indulgent parent. He was twice married, the first time to 
Miss James, of Monroe county, hj whom he had 2 children, both 
daughters, now living in Belleville. She died soon after 1840. 
His second wife was a daughter of Elias K. Kane, formerly 
United States senator from this State. She survived him but a 
short time, and died without issue.* 

When war was declared with Mexico, in 1846, he enlisted and 
was elected colonel of his regiment, over Hon. Don Morrison, by 
an almost unanimous vote — 807 to 6. For his opportunities he 
evinced a high order of military talent. On the bloody field of 
Buena Vista he acquitted himself with intrepid and distinguished 
ability, contributing with his regiment, the 2d Illinois, in no small 
degree toward saving the wavering fortunes of our arms during 
that long and fiercely contested battle. 

After his return home, at the close of the war, he was elected 
to congress, his opponents being the Hons. P.B. Foukeand Joseph 
Gillespie. He served two terms in congress. He was an ardent 
politician. During the great contest of 1850 he voted in favor of 

•Letter from the Hon. Joseph Gillespie. 

42 



658 nisTOEY OF Illinois. 

tLe adjustment measures, lioldiiig the followmg language on the 
doctrine of non-iuterveutiou : "It is a principle, sir, upon which I 
have always stood, and from which I have no idea of departing, " 
a principle maintained and cherished by my constituents, and one 
which' they will be slow to surrender." But in 1854, when tlie 
same principle was sought to be applied to the organization of 
the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, invohing a repeal of the 
Missouri compromise, he opposed that unnecessary assault upon 
the domain which for 30 years had been consecrated to freedom, 
and upon its consummation became identified with the organiza- 
tion of the republican party. 

On account of exposure in the army, the remote cause of a ner- 
vous form of disease gained entrance to his system, and event- 
ually developed paraplegia, affectinghislower extremities, which, 
while it left his body in comparative health, deprived him of loco- 
motion, other than by the aid of crutches. While he was generally 
hopeful of ultimate recovery, this mysterious disease pursued him 
Avithout once relaxing its stealthy hold to the close of his life, on 
the ISth of March, 1860, over 9 months before the expiration of 
his gubernatorial term, at the early age of 48 years. He died in 
the faith of the Roman Catholic church, of which he had been 
a member since 1854. When it is remembered that William H. 
Bissell, in the short period of 16 years, without early educational 
advantages, abandoned at the mature age of 30 years one profes- 
sion by casting aside his pharmacopoeia, his vade mecum and arma- 
mentumchirurgicum— quitting the dull and laborious routine of a 
c(>untry doctor, and resolutely turning his attention to the profes- 
sion of the law, as affording him a M'ider field for his active im- 
agination and aspiring ambition ; attained speedily at the latter 
eminence as an irresistible advocate ; distinguished himself as a 
soldier ; as an accomplished orator took front rank in the halls of 
the national legislature ; and as the standard bearer of a new 
party marching toward national freedom, was elevated to the first 
position of his State by the partiality of a grateful and confiding 
peojile, his life may be considered a brilliant success.* Yet, in 
the annals of this State, as will be seen, no public man was ever 
subjected to contumely so gross, abuse more harrowing, or pur- 
sued with malice more vindictive ; and that these cruelties caused 
liim many a heart-pang, casting a shadow over his exalted posi- 
tion, or embittered his closing days, is not a foreign inference. 

It was during his first congressional term, before he was stricken 
with paralysis, that his high sense of gallantry was deeply wounded 
by an effort on the part of the southern chi\alry, through Mr, Sed- 
don, of Virginia, to depreciate the valor of northern troops at Bu- 
ena Vista, while the victory upon that field — "snatched from the 
jaws of defeat" — was attributed solely to southern troops, and par- 
ticularly claimed for the Mississippi Eitles, a regiment commanded 
by Jefferson Davis, the late rebel chief. The discussions in con- 
gress, growing out of the acquisition of territory, of a character to 
bode dissolution to the Union for a time, were attended by unu- 
sual explosions of turbulent passions. Personal insults and mena- 
ces to northern members, with a view to their intimidation, were 
frequent. These insults and the braggadocio of swaggering dis- 
unionists to overawe the north, which were submitted to in many 

*Gov. Palmer's funeral oration, May, 1861. 



BISSELL'S ADMINISTEATIOK. 659 

instances with a meekness to cause one even now to blusli with in- 
dignation, Bissell's ardent nature could not brook, and the vile 
slander of Seddon was repelled in a speech replete with facts, 
stinging rebuke and moving eloquence, which acquired for him 
national fame, and was a source of pride to his section and State. 
Such bold utterances in such accomplished orator^' was more than 
the vaunting chivalry could bear. Pie was challenged by Jefferson 
Davis to mortal combat. Bissell had indulged in honorable de- 
bate, warm, it is true, but in terms decorous withal, and in man- 
ner courteous, yet his life was sought. It was explicable onl.y on 
the ground that the challenge was addressed to the entire north. 
It could not change or vary the fact of history connected with the 
battle of Buena Vista. But when Bissell coolly accepted the chal- 
lenge, without unseemly parade, evincing not only his individual 
intrepidity but an earnest of a deliberate intention to fight, which 
won him the admiration and gratitude of the country, the matter 
was accommodated. 

But the constitution of Illinois, besides the regular oath of office 
prescribed the following in addition : 

"I do solemnly swear that I have not fought a duel, nor sent or accepted 
a challenge to fight a duel, the probable issue of which might have been 
the death of either party, nor been a second to either party, nor in any 
manner aided or assisted in such duel, nor been knowingly the bearer of 
such challenge or acceptauce, since the adoption of the constitution ; and 
that I will not be so engaged or concerned, directly or indirectly, in or 
about such duel during my continuance in office : so help me God." 

The democracy, which had indulged confident expectations of 
success in the election of 185G to the very last, when they found 
the scepter of power, so long wielded by them in Illinois, pass 
from their grasp, their chagrin and mortification knew no bounds. 
During the canvass their press and stump orators had not been 
silent on BisselPs disability on account of this affair with Jeff". 
Davis, and after the election, the pressure and onslaught in this 
direction was furious and unintermittent. The disease-smitten 
man was pursued with a bitterness and ghoul-like spirit painful to 
read, using the circumstance of accei)ting the challenge, er«t a 
source of such pride to every citizen, as a means now to prostrate 
him. Their press teemed with comments upon the deliberate in- 
tention of so distinguished, exalted and honorable a personage as 
the governor of this great State committing the dark and fearful 
crime of peijury. 

But these assaults, that they should have no deterring effect 
upon their object, were met by the republican press, politicians 
and orators, at meetings and banquets celebrating the great vic- 
tory, in various parts of the State, by every known art of encour- 
agement, legal soi)histry, and assurances that the governor elect 
could and w^ould without hesitation, take the oath of office pre- 
scribed by the constitution. It would not do to lose the fruits of 
a great victory on account of a i)altry oath of office. The consti- 
tution, it was exclaimed, by the simplest rules of law could not 
and did not have any extra-territorial jurisdiction, wherefore he 
could not perpetrate an infraction of it where it did not exteinl — 
he was a rectus in curia in this res])ect. Bissell himself published 
a letter in the Alton Courier^ in which he went over the whole legal 
grounds apj)licatle to the question, resting upon the fact that he 



600 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

was beyond the legal jiuisdictiou of the constitution of Illinois. 
He furthermore regarded the objections so vehemently urged as a 
political persecution of himself, the result of njortihcation conse- 
quent upon democratic defeat, and announced his determination 
to take the required oath. In this he Avas ai)i)laude(l by his pjirty, 
declaring that he was right, that the people looked to and relied 
ui)on him, that his incorruptible integrity avms above reproach, 
and that he would take no step or do aught which his conscience 
could not fully justify. 

He further, it seems, took counsel froui and fortitied himself 
with the opinions of the best legal talent of the State among his 
political friends. At tne time of Bissell's election as governor he 
had been an invalid exceeding three years, his jjai-aiysis rendering 
him for much of the time i)hysically hel])less, and it is not in ac- 
cordance with physiological law that the mind connected with 
such a body should maintain its wonted vigor, strength of puri)ose 
or independence of will the same as if the system was unimpaired ; 
and though he himself wrote at the time of the meeting of the 
Bloomington convention that his intellect knew no abatement of 
its vigor and strength, " it was manifest to his friends that his ac- 
tive career was ended."* A man smitten with incurable disease 
leans ui)on the support of his friends, and is then more than ordi- 
narily influenced by them. Did they not, therefore, assume a 
culpable responsibility in putting him forward for this i)]ace, and 
after election further impel a step which exposed him to the en- 
venomed shafts of an implacable political enemy, if not fraught 
with serious consequences to the peace of his conscience? Demo- 
crats derisively avowed that his moral constitution was not si)ared 
b3' the blow which prostrated his nervous system. 

In January, 1857, Governor-elect Bissell and family arrive<l by 
the Chicago and Alton railroad at the seat of government. Gov- 
ernor Matteson met them with his carriage at the depot, and con- 
ducted them to the elegant mansion to which they had been in- 
vited by the flattering jjartiality of the people of this great State. 
On the loth inst., at. 2 p. m., the two houses of the general assem- 
bly, which had been in session since the 5th inst., preceded by 
their respective officers and escorted by Capt. Hoi)kins' artiller}- 
and a large concourse of citizens, proceeded to the executive man- 
sion in pursuance of a joint resolution to witness the installation 
of the governor-elect. The oath of office having been taken, and 
the ceremonies and congratulations over, the two houses returned 
to the hall of the house of representatives, the lobby and gallery 
of which were crowded. Lieutenant-Goveinor-elect Wood was 
then sworn in by Chief Justice Scates, and the inaugural message 
of Governor Bissell received and read to the two houses, after 
which the senate retired to their chamber, wheie Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Wood delivered a neat and appropriate address. 

Governor Bissell's inaugural message was short and a very or- 
dinary document, noticeable onl^' in that it stei)ped out of the 
usual course in "distinguishing" the incor2)orators of the Illinois 
Central railroad company, " that our i)eople in future may never 
forget to whom they are mostly indebted for the gieat work of 
that road." For the handsome grant of land that those gentle- 
men got from the State, m-ore than enough to build and fully 

• Palmer's funeral oration, May, .1871. 



BISSELL'S ADMINISTEATION. GGl 

equip tliat road, one would sui)pose that the people did not owe 
tlieni iiiucli either in debt or yratitude. But the jjortion of this, 
message particularly oflfending to the democratic majority was a 
cursory view and discussion of the all absorbing slavery question 
as connected Avith Kansas. Now in this thei'e was perhaps noth- 
ing unusual, but the out-going governor, Mattesou, in his com- 
plete and admirable valedictory message, theu a week old, had 
studiously avoided the subject of politics in any phase whatever, 
and had invoked harmony in couucil with his distinguished suc- 
cessor. This, then, was the fire-brand for an explosion, doubtless 
but too gladly received, and a most extraordinary debate, both 
as to character and duration, sprung ui). 

In the house, Mr. I. N. Arnold, upon the conclusion of the 
reading of the message, made a motion to have the usual number 
of L'(),000 copies printed. This was the signal for attack. Mr. 
Logan (now senator in congress), moved to amend by inserting 
1(J,000, and followed up his motion by a speech of two days dura- 
tion, which in severity of language excels perhaps anything that 
that gentleman has ever uttered. It shocked the better sense of 
all considerate men not wholly devoured by partisan malignity, 
and must have deeply wounded the sensitive feelings of Bissell's 
high strung nature remlered more acute by a long entailed, en- 
feebling nervous disorder. To many democrats the speech w as no 
suijrise Due i)rei)aration, participated in by some of the party 
leaders, had early been made. Material for evidence to cover the 
entire ground had been carefully collected, and an orator to exe- 
cute the unfeeling task selected with skillful penetration. In 
August ])receding. Col. Richardson had written to Jefferson Davis 
for a copy of the correspondence between the latter and Col. Bis- 
sel, connected with their dueling affair. In the published corres- 
pondence the challenge and its acceptance, or the memorandum 
of final settlement had never appeared. Davis had to write to 
California to Mr. Inge for it, and it had noAv arrived to be used to 
<*,onvict Bissel of i)erjury. Major Harris had written from Wash- 
ington, stating he knew Bissell had accepted a challenge from 
Davis, for he had copied it. The Hon P. B. Fouke, who 'was 
'ircsent in Springfield, fjurnished a written statement that Bissell 
in the canvass against him in 1852, for congress, had urged his 
acceptance of this challenge in his own favor, because he was ineli- 
gible to any State office on account of the constitutional oath of 
ohice. Col. John Crain said he had heard Bissell state the same 
in a s])eech at Nashville in 1851. The Hon. W. E. Morrison wrote 
that Bissell during the late canvass for governor, had said in his 
hearing, that he did accept the challenge from Jeff" Davis, &c.; all 
these letters are i)aradedin the speech of Logan, Jan. 13-14, 1857. 

Thus fortified, Logan exclaimed: " If corruption enters into 
high ])laces, it is my duty as a faithful public servant, to drag it 
from its polluted den and expose its hideous deformity to public 
criticism and contempt." He would "demonstrate to the world 
a degree of moral turpitude without parallel in the history of the 
State. No governor of Illinois has ever sought retirement to 
take the oath of office" — the oath was taken at the executive man- 
sion, as we have seen. " We might infer from this, that a guilty 
and bleeding conscience had sought seclusion rather than stand 
ere(;t upon this floor and pass the fiery ordeal. The secliuled 



662 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and miusal place at wliicli it was taken may afford gronndsfor an 
inference as to the workings of a mind goaded to desperation by 
a weighty conviction of moral turpitude." That the executive 
had said "he must commit perjury to hold the oftice of governor; 
and then hear of his taking the very oath which he said wonki 
amount to periury ; I am lost in amazement — standing before 
the people with falsehood upon his lips, and averring his own 
guilt of a reckless disregard of all that can inspire confidence in 
man ; * * the moral sense of a million and a half of the 
people has been shocked hy that fearful oath. Truth, sir, has 
been crushed to earth. The high standard of moral rectitude has 
been broken. The votaries of virtue and honesty have been van- 
quished, and one universal wail, from Chicago to Cairo, has been 
heard in consequence of the prostration of the executive chair by 
the hands of a man whose lips are quivering with falsehood. * 
The constitution of my beloved State lies prostrate in the dust — 
bleeding and mangled. * * j warn young men and old 
against the examj)le set. I pray God that we may never again 
witness such an occasion; Virtue and Truth bereft of all their 
charms, while the hideous and hateful gods of vice hold dominion 
over the people." Such are only a few salient extracts from this 
long- speech.t 

The array of able names, both democrat and republican, as 
members of the house at this session, is excellent. Much party 
feeling had been already elicited, as we shall see, in the first eflbrts 
to organize the house, and the debates incident to this question, 
nominally upon the printing of the governor's message, were not 
only generally participated in but were protracted, exciting and 
exceedingly acrimonious. We cannot do more than to state that 
the position of the friends of the governor, in defense of him, was 
generally the same as has already been indicated — that the locus 
delicti was the District of Columbia; that he had oHended no law 
of Illinois, either statutory or organic, for neither could have legal 
jurisdiction beyond the State; wherefore his excellency might 
safely and trulj' swear that he had not accepted a challenge to 
fight a duel since the adoption of the constitution. And Mr. De- 
nio, in the debate, asserted that Davis " to this day declares to 
Gov. Bissell, through Senator Trumbull, that he did not consider 
the notes exchaTiged between them equivalent to a challenge." 
But the documentary evidence shows this to be untenable. 

The locus delicti, which the governor and his friends set up and 
used as a defense, was not in question. That the offense commit- 
ted in the District of Columbia was defined as an offense by our 
statutes is true, but that it was not i)uuishable here is equally 
true. It was circumstances and evasions of that character, how- 
ever, that the constitutional oath sought to compass and prevent. 
The intent of the law may be gathered from the circumstances of 
its passage. To mark the popular abhorrence of the duello, and to 
impose upon its votaries the disability of holding oftice in si)ite of 
their constant evasions of its punishments by going beyond the 
confines of the State, was the aim of its framers, and it has failed 
of efficacy in only two instances. The offense now and here was 
not in accepting a challenge in Washington, but in swearing at 
this time, in Illinois, that he had not. The reasoning in the one 

* See 111, State RcHister, Feb. 1857. * 



bissell's administration. 663 

case does not appear to fit the other. Was Bissell then only a de- 
facto governor "? 

The courtesy of i^rinting the usual number of copies of the 
message was denied. Attacks on the private character of his ex- 
cellency continued throughout the session. ISTo annoyance or em- 
barrassment that could be inflicted was spared him. In the pas- 
sage of the bill establishing the northern or Joliet penitentiary, 
recommended in his message, his customary imvileges as a co-or- 
dinate branch of the law-making power were encroached upon, 
and the appointment of the commissioners taken from him. The 
dignity of official position, and the courtesies and amenities inci- 
dent thereto, were, to a great extent, sunk out of view. 

In the senate, which contained a democratic majority of one, no 
discourtesy was shown to the governor by a refusal to order the 
printing of the usual number of copies of his message. In that 
chamber, besides, general harmony and good feeling prevailed 
throughout the session, and business moved along with acceptable 
dispatch. Lieutenant-Governor Wood, a gentleman of fine, com- 
manding personal appearance, i^resided in an impartial manner, 
a.nd his conciliatory deportment, meting out to all the senators 
the same courtesy, was received and met in return by a like mark 
of respect and cordiality. 

'the house, notwithstanding its many able and talented members, 
was the theatre of much turbulence and partisan strife through- 
out the session. It was said to have opened as a mob and closed 
in a rout. In political complexion it stood, democrats 38, republi- 
cans31, and Americans 6. There were, however, two contestants 
to this democratic majority, and in the Peoria case of Eastman, 
republican, against Shellabarger, democrat, it would seem that 
Eastman was justly entitled to the seat. A few votes cast for 0. 
L. instead of C. M. Eastman had been thrown out, and the certifi- 
cate awarded to Shellabarger, whereas had they been counted the 
former would have had the majority. 

In the first effortto effect a temporary organization of the house 
was enacted one of those unseemly squabbles, which, while they 
are not unfrequent in this free country, are nevertheless a dis- 
grace to any deliberative body. The republicans were primarily 
in fault. By uniting the 6 Americans with their 31 members they 
had planned to secure the organization of the house in accordance 
with the usages of the lower house of congress and the British par- 
liament. For this purpose Mr. Bridges, clerk of the house for the 
preceding general assembly, a republican, wa^ on hand to call the 
house to order and temporarily organize it ; to act as temporary 
speaker, and in that caj)acity exclude all contestants from voting, 
which would leave the republicans in a majority, and throw its 
permanent organization into their hands. But the democrats were 
on the alert, and the trick was suspected. The moment the old 
clerk essayed to call the house to order, F. D. Preston nominated 
John Dougherty for speaker j^^'o tern. A scene of unparalleled 
confusion and uproar, mixed with personal menace, now ensued, 
Preston, in stentorian tones and with much firmness, putting 
Dougherty's nomination to vote and declaring it carried, and 
Bridges, persistent in his right to organize the house, calling the 
roll for this purpose, and many members answering in recognition 
of his right. Mr. Latshaw was declared secretary 2>;'o #em. in the 



664 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

same maimer that Douglierty had been chosen speaker, and he 
also was calling- the roll of members. Above the din a motion was 
now made for the sergeant-at-arms to eject the old clerk, Bridges. 
Amid the great uproar it was deckued carried, and at once exe- 
cuted with a rush, by his forcible removal, in which quite a num- 
ber of the honorable gentlemen volunteered their assistance. The 
greatest confusion prevailed, muscle was triumi)haiit and order 
was restored. The victory was with the democrats ; Shellabarger^ 
one of the Peoria contestants, was retained in his seat, which gave 
them a clear working majority and the organization of the house. 
As there were many able members in the house, this Peoria con- 
tested election case, as well as the question of printing the gover- 
nor's message, elicited their full power of debate, and many fine 
and eloquent speeches from both sides were made during the ses- 
sion. 

Early in the session an apportionment bill, based upon the 
State census of 1855, was introduced into the house by the repub- 
licans. The population of Illinois, in. 1850, Avas 851,470, and in 
1855, 1,300,251 — an increase of 447,781 — about 50 i)er cent., or 
one-third her entire population in 5 years. This gain was two- 
thirds in the northern parts of the State, the main republican 
strongholds. Tlie bill was therefore at once spurned bj' the dem- 
ocrats, who oflered a substitute which was provocative of the 
most stubborn parliamentaiy resistance at every step by the re- 
publicans. Such measures are nearly always passed in the interests 
of the dominant party. Both bills souglit to secure ascendency' 
in the next legislature, when a United States senator was to be- 
elected to Douglas' place. 

The constitution required districts to be composed of contigu- 
ous territory, bounded by county lines. The substitute was 
claimed to be unconstitutional, in fact a perfect libel on the theory 
of equal reiuesentation, in that it "gerrymandered" the State into 
all sorts of deformity, the niere cornering of counties in many in- 
stances being deemed a sufficient contiguity of territory for the 
formation of districts ; in one district 3 votes were made equal to 
4 in another; in another 5 were made to equal more than 9 in still 
another; and that in a certain contingency one county would 
be without representation at all. With much show of rea- 
son, doubtless, the opposition regarded the substitute as a most; 
villainous piece of party legislation, and they exhausted every^ 
parliamentary eflbrt and device to defeat it, but failed. The bill 
Avas passed toward the heel of the session. It now went to the 
governor for his signature. That functionary, it was confidently 
expected, would veto it; the surprise, therefore, was simply as- 
tounding when his secretary, on the last day of the session, with 
other bills reported his approval of it to the house. 

And now eveiything was bustle, there was hurrying to and fro> 
His excellency was confronted by disappointed but determined 
political friends, and within an hour he sought to recall his mes- 
sage of approval, alleging it to have been made by mistake. Some 
rei)ublicans openly boasted that they had compelled the recall and 
the veto. An informal note explanatory of the circumstances 
was sent to the house, followed afterwards by his veto and return 
of the bill. The (;hagrin and mortification was now changed from 
the republican to the democratic side. The house, where it origi- 



bissell's administration. 665 

iiated, refused to receive back the bill, or allow the veto message 
to be read or entered upon the journal, as the constitution re- 
quired, and both were taken to the office of the Secretary of State, 
and there filed. It was held that after the governor had an- 
nounced his approval of the bill it became a law, and passed for- 
ever beyond his control, and the only way to reach it would be 
by repeal. 

The republican members signed a protest, which was spread 
upon tlie minutes, as was the undoubted right of any two or 
more. But now that i)arty feeling was thoroughly aroused, the 
protest was not allowed to stand. On motion, it was expunged 
from the journal. This conduct, both with reference to the rejec- 
tion of the veto message and the expunging of the i^rotest, was 
contrary to the constitution, revolutionary and most reprehensi- 
ble. With these partisan acts, and amidst the greatest uproar, 
without indulging the ordinary courtesy of passing a resolution of 
thanks to the speaker, the hour of the sine die adjournment hav- 
ing been postponed by stopping the clock, this deliberative body 
finally, late in the night, adjourned in a rout. 

Some democrats having confidence in the legality of the point 
upon which the house acted, that the governor could not recall 
his approval, the act was by mandamus carried up to the su- 
preme court to test its validity. But the oi)inion of that tribunal 
was adverse. The constitutionality of the objectionable provi- 
sions of the bill were not passed upon, but whether the forms of 
legislation which it followed rendered it valid or not. Judge 
Caton, delivering the opinion of the court, held that while a 
bill is in the possession and control of the executive, within the pe- 
riod limited by the constitution, it has not the force of law, and 
he may exercise a veto power, and so return to the house where it 
originated, with his name erased, notwithstanding he had once 
announced his appi'oval of it. 

Apportionment Bill of 1859. — Two years later, at the close 
of the session, another bedlam, more outrageous and undignified 
than the foregoing, was enacited by the legislature. The occasion 
was again an apportionment measure. The democracy, through 
the herculean labors of Douglas in his senatorial canvass against 
Mr. Lincoln, were in a small majority in both houses, although 
the popular vote of the State was against them. Seeing the 
close of their rule approaching, probably in the next election as 
it proved, they sought to perpetuate their power, and possibly 
with the view to elect a democratic successor to the then hated 
Trumbull in the United States senate, in 1861, by so shaping the 
senatorial and representative districts as to give them the gen- 
eral assenibl}' and accomplish the ends in view. 

The bill, it seems, was indeed a most unfair gerrymander, looking 
solely to partisan ends. Counties separately entitled to rei>resen- 
tatives were grouped with others, and large districts formed whose 
aggregate democratic vote would overbalance their small republi- 
can majorities, and thus force upon them reijresentatives they did 
not want. Instead of forming districts out of contiguous and 
compact territory, they were stretched over two degrees of lati- 
tude. To the rei)ublican counties of the State, whose population 
was stated at 646,748, were accorded 33 representatives, while to 



666 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

» • 

the democratic counties, with a population of 477,678, were given 
41 represeutatives. 

The bill was introduced the third week of the session and the 
democratic uiajority forced it along in its order. The republicans 
who were ably represented, particularly in the house, fought it at 
every step. Thus all the legislation behind this bill was held in 
abeyance on its account. The 42 days contemplated by the con- 
stitution as the limit of the session, were frittered away in reso- 
lutions, parliamentary contention, and buncombe speeches. When 
it tiualiy passed, first the lieutenant-governor, whose signature 
was required to it, was said to be absent during the 
night session, and refused to sign it except at the capital. 
Kext Gov. Bissell retained it a week before he sent in his 
veto. In the meantime everything of importance was delayed. 
The enrolling clerks, in obedience to orders it was said, retarded 
their labors. Chairmen of the engrossing committees had their 
pockets crammed with bills, which they would neither report them- 
selves nor disgorge for others to do it. Private bills of friend 
and foe M'ere kept back, so great was the feeling of determination. 
Confident of veto, it was determined to repass the bill over it be- 
fore any other business should be transacted. It was the main 
appropriation bill, through non-action upon which the ends of the 
majority were sought to be accomplished by failing to provide the 
means for carrying on the government and administering the laws 
during the coming two years' interregnum. The republicans sought 
to ijass it out of the regular order but failed. It was well un- 
derstood that Avith the passage of this bill they would leave all else 
in the liu'ch, stampede, and break a quorum to defeat the hated 
apportionment. 

Finally the governor sent in his veto. The house had met at 
9 A. M. Immediately after prayer, the Hon. L. S. Church an- 
nounced the governor's i)rivate secretary, and as he commenced to 
read a violent tumult ensued. Tlie democrats almost in a body 
sjirang to their feet, vociferating fiercely, while above the din 
rapped the speaker with his gavel, crying " silence — older — there 
is no quorum present. No communication can be made to the 
house in the absence of a quorum ! Doorkeeper put that man 
out" — meaning the secretary. Others shouted ''Knock him 
down," " Kick him out," &c., with other threats and imprecations. 
The door-keei^er started to execute the speaker's order, but by 
this time the secretary had lead the veto message, and deli^^ering 
it and the bill to a ])age, turned to depart. As the page started 
to the clerk's desk, the speaker ordered the papers to be returned 
to the secretary, and Mr. Green of Massac volunteered to execute 
the order. He snatched them from the boy's hand, i)iusued the 
secretary into the lobby and thrust them at liim. Upon refusal 
they Av ere violently cast on the floor. Mr, Church gathered them 
up, folded them together, walked leisurely u^) the aisle and laid 
them carefully on the speaker's desk. That gentleman, with a 
contemptuous exjjressiou, briished them off. They were examined 
bj" several members and thrown back, when Mr. Green picked 
them oft" the floor and thrust them in his pocket, with the remark 
that he had as much right to them as anybody and he would as- 
sume the rt'si)onsibility ; meanwhile the wildest disorder prevailed. 




(^^/C^-T^ e^ 



V^-'irg^ 



BISSELL'S ADlvnNISTRATION., 007 

Wlieu quietude was restored, a call of the house showed only 42 
members present, less thau a quorum, and the house adjourned. 

The objections of the governor to the apportioment bill were 
that its effect would be to continue the control of the general as- 
sembly in the hands of a minority of the people ; that the new 
county of Ford was placed wholly within both the 9th and 18th 
senatorial districts ; that in the matter of giving' excess the 
10th section of the 10th article of the constitution was dis- 
regarded ; that there was an unnecessary departure from sin- 
gle districts — a glaring instance being the 32d, composed of the 
counties of Champaign, Piatt, DeWitt, Macon, Moultrie, Shelby 
and Effingham, to which 3 representatives were given, when the 
census showed that the 7 counties would divide neatly into 3 sep- 
arate districts, &c. 

Messrs. S. A. Hurlbut, A. W. Mack, L. S. Church, Leonard 
Swett and J. A. Davis, republicans, offered a i^rotest against the 
action of the house in its rejection of the veto message, setting 
forth in scathing language the conduct of the house and the 
speaker, as detailed ; quoting also the governor's message to make 
ir appear of record. The speaker, Hon. W. E.. Morrison, doubt- 
ing the necessity of receiving the protest without the house 
first passing upon the propriety of its language, held it for ad- 
visement, but subsequently, with the modification of some of its 
allusions to individual members, not himself, he admitted it, and 
it was spiead upon the journal. The democrats spread a counter 
protest against receiving the first protest upon the journal. 

In the meantime the not unexiDected republican hegira took 
place — a few being left behind to attend to the protest and look 
after things generally. The quorum was broken, the re-passage 
of the api)ortionment bill over the governor's veto prevented, and 
all the unfinished business brought to a dead-lock; involving hun- 
dreds of bills, both public and inivate, including tlie general ap- 
propriation bill necessary to keep the wheels of government in 
morion. The result was not so bad, however, as was at first 
anticipated. The appropriations for the northern penitentiary 
and the asylums at Jacksonville had been gotten through early in 
the session, as also for the i:)ayment of the semi-annual interest 
on the State debt; and the judges, by a law of 1849, could draw 
their salaries on vouchers certified from the governor to the 
auditor. The conduct of the rej)ublicaus in leaving was revolu- 
tionary, and the whole proceedings not only undignified but dis- 
creditable to the State. If the minority, not appreciating that in 
their capacity as legislators they acted for the whole State and the 
entire people, sought only to discharge i)artisan duty to their con- 
stituents, then they should have defeated the re-election of Doug- 
las, and, indeed, they might in the same way have altogether pre- 
vented legislation. After waiting two days for the return of the 
delinquents, the democrats adjourned the general assembly sine 
die. 

Upon the death of Gov. Bissell, March 18, 1860, the Lieut. Gov., 
John Wood, by virtue of his ofiice, became governor for the unex- 
pired term of near 10 months time. Bissell was the only execu- 
tive of the State who died in that office. 



668 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



THE CANAL SCRIP FRAUD. 

Ill the winter of 1859 was brought to light the most stupeudous 
individual fraud ever peri)etrated upon the State of Illinois. It 
was greatly intensified in that all the attendant circumstances 
pointed to a gentleman as tbe peipetrator, who but a short time 
before Lad been honored with the most exalted station in the gift 
of the i^eople of the State, and who carried into his retirement 
their confidence and esteem. The fraud consisted in the re-issue 
of $21{4,182. 66(>f DO days redeemed canal scrip, dating back some 
30 years. Owing to the pecuniary necessities of that period, the 
canal trustees had issued |2Go,237 ninety-day checks, dated May 1st, 
and $123,317, dated August 1st, 1839. Much looseness had been 
observed in the original issue of these checks as well as in their 
redemption, they having been put aside without being cancelled. 
A superabundance of them had been prepared (not knowing how 
many might be needed) all signed and executed except filling in 
the name of the treasurer. They remained unregistered and un- 
trimmed until detached and 'signed, when the amount of the dif- 
ferent denominations was entered in a book, which served as a 
memorandum of the actual amount in circulation. These checks 
had been put in circulation in 1839 for a temporary x>urpose from 
the canal oflHce at Lockport, and were redeemed partly by the 
State bank branch at (Uiicago, in payment for dues to the canal, 
and otherwise. It appears from the rejtorts of the canal officers 
to the legislature, in 1840, that all of both these May and August 
issues had been redeemed, except $822, and in 1812-3 only $323 
remained outstanding. 

During the session of the legislature, in 1859, Gen. Jacob Fry, for 
many years canal trustee, called at the auditor's ofidce and showed 
Mr. Dubois, auditor, one of these old canal checks, which had been 
offered for sale in Springfield, and cautioned the State ofdcers 
against receiving such scrij), exi)laining how it was long since re- 
deemed, and that what was then in circulation must be fraudu- 
lent. He was referred to the fund commissioner's office — the gov- 
ernor having been ex-oflicio fund commissioner since 1843-^ where 
he learned to his amazement that scrip of that description to a 
very large sum had been funded, and that new bonds of the State 
under the funding acts had been issued therefor. The checks 
were duly signed W. F. Thornton, juesident, and countersigned 
by Jacob Fry, commissioner, and by those gentlemen, and also 
Mr. Joel Manning, recognized as the same $50 and $100 checks 
issued b}' them in 1839, and redeemed and carefully packed away 
in a box, but now doing service again, after exchange as free- 
bank deposits. With this revelation consternation became rife in 
every State department, in which the legislature participated, 
the people generally shared, and the newspaper press fairly 
reveled. Nor was this lessened when it also transpired that the 
whole of this scrip thus fraudulently converted was presented by 
no less a personage than ex-Gov. Matteson. 

In the State senate, Mr. Marshall of Coles, introduced a resolu- 
tion, which was ado])ted, instructing the finance committee to 
inquire into certain State stocks said to be issued and based on 
counterfeit or spurious scrip, empowering them to send for per- 



bissell's administration. 669 

sous and papers, and to report to the senate tlie result of their 
iuvestigation. This coniniittee consisted of S. W. Fuller, chair- 
man, B. C. Cook, A. J. Kuykeudall, Z. Appliugtou, S. A. Buck- 
master aud Silas L. Bryan. They report : 

"It appears that m December, 1856, just before the close of his term 
of office, about $13,000, in amount, of the checlvs above described, were, 
by Gov. Matteson, presented to Enoch Moore, secretary of the fund 
commissioner, and new (State bonds issued therefor. That during the 
year 1857, about $93,500 additional of the same checks were, by Gover- 
nor Matteson, presented to the same officer, who issued new bonds for 
that amount — and that at divers times there has been paid to Governor 
Matteson, from the State treasury, an amount of money, for principal 
and interest, to make, with the bonds so issued to him, the sum of $223,- 
182. 66, on account of the canal checks so pi'esented by him. The greater 
part of the checks are recognized by Gen. Thornton, Gen. Fry and 
Mr. Manning as the genuine $50 and $100 checks of May 1st and Au- 
gust 1st, 1839, by them issued and redeemed, and as part of the 
redeemed checks packed by Mr. Manning and Gen. Fry in the box de- 
posited in the bank at Chicago, in the year 1840. There are also found 
among the checks funded by Gov. Matteson, two packages of the checks, 
dated August 1st, 1839, amounting to $10,500, which are fresh in appear- 
ance, have the edges untrimmed, but fully signed by the commissioner 
and secretary of the canal commissioners, and used by the treasurer of 
the board, but wanting the name of the treasurer filled in upon their 
face, and lying upon each other in consecutive numbers." 

It appeared also in testimony before the committee that Gen. 
Fry, treasurer of the canal board, and Joel Manning, secretary, 
in the fall of 1840, counted and packed in a large sealed box the 
checks redeemed and other evidences of canal indebtedness, aud 
they believe some of the partially executed checks ; that Mr. Man- 
ning took the box to Chicago and deposited it in the Branch State 
Bank, where it remained undisturbed until 1848, when it, with 
other boxes and packages left there by the canal officers, was re- 
moved to the canal office in Chicago. This box and other divers 
packages of redeemed canal indebtedness, were receipted for by 
successors to predecessors from time to time as changes in that 
office occurred. And none of these 90 day checks were seen in cir- 
culation from 1840-1 down to 1859. Gen. Hart L. Stuart testified 
that for years after 1847 he bought altogether near half a million 
dollars worth of all kinds of Illinois canal indebtedness, adverti- 
sing therefor in Chicago and New York, but among all his pur- 
chases he saw only about $100 of the 1839 canal checks. 

In 1853 Gov. Matteson appointed Josiah McEoberts State canal 
trustee, Avho went to Chicago to receive from ex-Lieut.-Gov. J. B. 
Wells the assets of the canal office, among which was this sealed 
box, corresponding to the above description. He received also 
another box with a loose lid or cover, containing broken packages 
of canal indebtedness, defaced with a canceling hammer, but on 
counting the contents they were found to be short in many instan- 
ces of the amounts noted on the wrappers. He also found divers 
packages of canal indebtedness in the office, partially broken, and 
part of the contents missing. And "he was advised by Gov. 
Wells, his predecessor, in substance, that the vouchers and affiiirs 
of the canal office would not hold out, or prove correct, but such as 
were there then of the papers, vouchers and furniture of the office, 
he received from Gov. Wells." 

McEoberts then advised Gov. Matteson that the books, vouch- 
ers, &c., of the canal office had been turned over to him, among 



670 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

which there was much useless matter which should be disposed of; 
and by the governor's direction he packed all the evidences of 
canal or other indebtedness received from Wells in a trunk and a 
box (an ordinary shoe box,) for transmission to Springfield. In so 
doing he tried to put the same sealed box "into the trunk and 
shoe box, but it was too large, and he broke it open and packed 
the contents either in the trunk or shoe box, or a part in each, 
which, he cannot certainly state. After packing the trunk and 
shoe box, he locked and sealed the trunk and box," directed 
them to Gov. Joel A. Matteson, at Springfield, Illinois, put them 
on board the railroad at Chicago, and came with them to La- 
Salle, with Gov. Matteson, and there left them in charge of Gov. 
Matteson, who directed them to be sent to the Central Eail 
road depot at Li\Ba\\e, en route for Springfield, Illinois, in charge 
of Gov. Matteson, who was then going to Springfield. 

"There is no distinct evidence before the committee that the shoe 
box has ever been seen since, but the trunk was found during the 
course of this investigation in a basement room of the capitol at 
Springfield. It was opened (there were upon it some appearances 
of having been sealed twice, as if opened and sealed again), and 
the contents found to consist of a great variety of evidences of 
canal indebtedness, some complete, that had been in circulation 
and redeemed and cancelled, and some unfinished scrip, also can- 
celled with a hammer, the whole contents counted to near $2,300,- 
000, of all sorts, although Mr. McRoberts stated in his report to 
Gov. Matteson, in 1853, that the contents of the trunk and box de- 
livered by him to Gov. Matteson, in the spring of that year, were 
only estimated to amount to $680,000." The uncancelled checks 
were not found in the trunk, and no trace of the box was ever dis- 
covered. 

Thus the box and trunk, which the evidence and attendant cir- 
cumstances all show contained the redeemed and unused canal 
checks of 1839, were directly traced into the custody of the gov- 
ernor ; he subsequently appeared with the identical bonds in his 
possession, and had them exchanged or funded for new State bonds 
by the secretary of the fund commissioner, to the amount of $'223,- 
182.66 ; and he appeared further as the sole beneficiary of their pro- 
ceeds. A2)n7na facie GAse was thus strongly made out against the 
ex-governor, and the onus probandi was shifted to him to relieve 
himself of the charge. 

Under this grave state of the case, it was only shown in defense 
that the governor, after his retirement in the winter of 1857, took 
rooms at the St. Nicholas Hotel in Springfield, where he bought 
largely of the public indebtedness of the State— $380,000 of all 
sorts, other than canal checks of 1839. Mr. Mies testified that 
$200,000 of this sum was funded for and on account of Clark, 
Dodge & Co. "Messrs. R. E. Goodell (a son-in-law of the govern- 
or), Wm. Smith and Mr. Nesbitt, swore that Gov. Matteson re- 
ceived from the Merchants' and Drovers' Bank, at Joliet, from 
December 12, 1856, to about the first of May, 1857, a little over 
$200,000, which Mr. Smith understood was to be used in buying 
State or canal indebtedness. Mr. Goodell states he knew that Gov. 
Matteson was about that time buying public indebtedness ; and 
Mr. Nesbitt, that he brought to him packages of money, which he 
delivered to him at his room in the St. Nicholas Hotel." Gen. I. B. 



bissell's administration. 671 



Ciirraii and A. H. Moore testified "that tl^ey, each, at different 
times, were in his I'ooms at that hotel, and saw him buying of per- 
sons unknown to them, and apparently strangers in the town, canal 
scrip and checks, to an amount, on some occasions, of about $o,- 
000, which he paid for in cash at the time, except in one or two 
instances he was noticed to give a check." Currau thought pur- 
chases were made occasionally at 75 cents on the dollar for princi- 
pal, to which was added the accrued interest; and he also thought 
that he obser\'ed purchases to the amount of $30,000 to $50,000, 
and that some of these were 90 day checks. Moore swore that he 
thoughthe had observed the governor pay from $1.20 to $1.30 for 
principal and interest of public indebtedness due. A letter from 
Governor Bissell stated that shortly after his accession he was 
frequently applied to by letters and persons, strangers to him, 
desiring to dispose of evidences of State indebtedness, and he uni- 
formly referred them to Gov. Matteson as dealing in such evidences. 

Thus while the trunk full of cancelled and worthless evidences 
of State indebtedness was readily found, no successful effort ap- 
pears to have been made to show what became of the box con- 
taining the uncancelled and unused canal scrip ; and while Mat- 
teson obtained the new State bonds and money, lie failed to show 
where he got the 90 day canal checks exchanged for them, 
shown to have been in the lost shoe box. 

From the time the exchange was effected in 1S57, up to the time 
of its detection in 1859, Jieither Gov. Bissell, although ex ofticio 
fund commissioner, nor any other State officer, the fund commis- 
sioner's clerk, Mr. Moore, who had also been Matteson's clerk, 
alone excepted, knew anything of the transaction. Governor 
Matteson was not personally examined before the committee of 
investigation. Messrs. Grimshaw, Browning and Koerner were 
present on behalf of the State, and Messrs. Stuart and Ed- 
wards of Springfield, as counsel for Gov. Matteson. The exami- 
nation was reported in detail, and may be found in full in the 
weeklv Illinois State Journal of April 27, and Mav -Ith, 11th and 
ISth, 1859. 

The committee forbore to express any opinion of the guilt or 
innocence of any party concerned, and were ai)i)arently glad that 
Gov. Matteson had saved them "the necessity of determining 
many embarrassing questions arising out of the foregoing state- 
ment of facts, by offering to indemnify the State against all loss 
or liability by reason of moneys paid him, or bonds issued to him 
on account of said canal checks." The governor's letter to this 
effect, dated Si)ringfield, February 9th, 1859, appears with their 
report. This letter, notwithstanding its fair language that he had 
"unconsciously and iimocentlybeen made the instrument through 
whom a gross fraud upon the State has been attempted," and his 
"earnest desire for the preservation of [his] own reputation jiure 
and spotless, rendered [him] unwilling to retain these bonds, 
although purchased by and issued to [him] honafide and for a val- 
uable consideration," was commonly regarded as a confession of 
the transaction. 

These funded bonds were on deposit with the auditor of State 
as security for the State bank (so-called) located at Shawnee- 
town, a free or stock bank owned by Gov. Matteson. To indem- 

•See 111. Reports 1859, vol. 1, 644. 



672 HiSTOHY or Illinois. 

nify the State agaiust, loss by these securities thus fraudulently 
obtained for the caual scrip, the governor and his wife, under 
date of April 21, 1859, mortgaged his Quiucj' iiroperty to the 
State.* 

The committee asked leave to sit during vacation for fnrtiier 
investigation, which was granted, and in 18(51 tliey uiade a volumi- 
uous report, embracing' a general examinatiou into the different 
classes of iudebtedness of the State. They found in the course 
of their investigation additional frauds upon the State j)eil>^tra- 
ted during- the i)eriod in question, with various kinds pf scrip, 
amounting in the aggregate, estimating principal and interest up 
to January 1, 1861<, to $105,340. 

To pay otf a claim of $38,214.44 to Mr. Kenedy, authorized by 
the legislature in 1840-7, Gov. French had commenced to reserve, 
undefaced, internal iuii)rovementscrii) paid in for State lands sold, 
but as this was slow in coming in, he, in September, issued bonds 
to Kenedy, which paid him off. In the meantime $4,501.64 of the 
land scrip had accumulated, and the governor caused a descrij)- 
tive list of it to be made and hied away, which was found by the 
committee; but the scrip was fraudulently funded May 14, 1857, 
amounting then, principal and interest^ to $0,050. 79. In Decem- 
ber, 1841, Gov. Carlin placed in the hands of the canal commis- 
sioners 298 bonds of $1,000 each, 195 were paid out, 101 returned, 
and 2, Nos. 105 and 100, reserved in blank for Messrs. J. G. and 
D. L. Iloberts, who never called for them, and they were never 
paid out to any one. The bonds were dated July 1, 1841, and 
fully executed except inserting the name of the payee. The com- 
mittee now found the two bonds in the auditor's office cancelled. 
'' The evidence before the committee tends to show- that the name 
of J. Cratty, tbe payee of bonds Nos. 105 and 100, aforesaid, is 
in the handwriting of Joel A. Matteson ; that while 19 bonds, 
numbered consecutively from 120 to 144 inclusive, were paid out 
to Cratty by the commissioners, these two never were, but were 
reserved as above stated." The loss to the State, as we have 
seen, was estimated at $105,340, besides the $223,182,00, based 
upon the uncancelled canal checks of 1839, total $308,528. 66. 
The committee conclude: "Whether this scrij) thus fraudulently 
caken from the State was the scrip which was in the box and 
truidt above mentioned cannot be determined, because no des- 
criptive list of the scrip was kept. The only facts in evidence 
before us tending to tlirow light upon that subject are above 
stated." 

In tlie spring of 1859 the offense was brought to the attention 
of the grand jury of Sangamon county by three of the State 
ofiBcials, Messrs. Dubois, Hatch and Miller, who by their letter 
of April 27th, furnished that body a list of witnesses in va- 
rious parts of the State, all of whom had been before the 
senate committee. Tlie witnesses were subpoenaed, and the evi- 
dence elicited was such that the grand jury, by a vote of 10 to 7, 
determined to indict; but on the next day their action was on 
motion reconsidered. The inquiry was extended, but nothing 
new being elicited they again determined to hnd a true bill, only 
to be again reconsidered. And now sundry members of the jury 
began to falter in their determination, and when they again bal- 

• See Book N. of Mortgages, pp. 550-23, Adams Co. 



bissell's administration. 673 

loted the bill was refused by a vote of 10 for to 12 against — 5 
having reversed their opinions. Many rumors and surmises, both 
of a political and financial character, gained currencj' in connec- 
tion with these "backings and fillings" of that body. 

A grand jury's investigations are ex parte. It is not their prov- 
ince to inquire into the defense. The attorneys of the accused 
governor planned a letter, which reached the jury through the 
prosecuting- attornej^, suggesting (besides some witnesses who 
had testified favorably to Matteson before the committee) the 
names of Capt. O. H. Pratt of LaSalle and Dr. A. R. Kuapp of 
Jersey ville, as parties who would make important disclosures. 
According to the rumors of the period, which were exceedingly 
numerous-, the captain and the doctor mentioned were expected 
to shift the brand from the governor, and fix it upon ex-Lieut. 
Gov. J. B. Wells, then deceased, who, we have seen, when he 
yielded up the canal offlce to his successor, McEoberts, had re- 
marked "that the vouchers and affairs of the canal ofiice would 
not hold out." But the scheme failed; though these rumors 
promptly brought to the capital of Illinois Judge Wells, of Mas- 
sachusetts, his brother, who unwilling that the imputation rest 
longer on idle and mischievous rumors, demanded that the charge 
be avowed and the grounds distinctly set out — when they im- 
mediately ceased.* 

The sum subsequently recovered by the State, under decree len- 
dered in the Sangamon circuit court against Matteson, was $255,- 
500. On the 27th of April, 1804, the master's sale of the ex-gov- 
ernor's property took i)lace at the door of the court house in 
Springfield, to satisfy the decree. The property sold realized 
8238,000, leaving a deficit to the State of $27,500. The State 
became the purchaser of the larger share of it. His splendid man- 
sion and grounds at Springfield, which cost $93,000, brought only 
$40,000. This property was afterwards redeemed, and for a num- 
ber of years after remained in the possession of the family, the ex- 
Governor making his home there till near the time of his death. 
Never did a governor retire from office in Illinois with more respect 
by the people of both parties ; with more general confidence in his 
integrity or administrative ability ; with prospects for future politi- 
cal preferment of exceeding high promise ; but the disclosure of 
these frauds upon the State, prostrated as by a single blow all these 
cherished hopes, and to-day there are doubtless many people in 
Illinois who even do not know that such a man ever was in life 
among us.t 

THE MACALISTER AND STEBBINS BONDS. 

Attempted Stvmdle by Funding them in 1859, — And now at the 
very hight of the great hue and cry of corruption, theft, robbery, 
&c., raised in connection with the canal scrip fraud, over which 
the republican pi'ess fairly gloated with demoniac delight, and 
while in the full tide of'its onward career, a shadow was suddenly 
thrown across its track by a dark cloud replete with ominous por- 
tent, implicating the existing State government in an attempted 

* The fuH proceedings of the grand jury are published in the weekly l\\. State Jour- 
nal of July 13, 1859. 
+ The ex-governor died in the winter of 1872-3 at Chicago. 

43 



674 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

swindle upon tlie treasury of the State, amouutiug to $244,208, by 
the refandiug- of the Macalister and Stebbiiis bonds, so-called, 
which struck consternation into the ranks of the leaders. The 
democratic press, which had stood almost dumb under the revela- 
tion of the canal scrip fraud and meekly received the vehement 
blows of its adversary, was not slow to avail itself of the oppor- 
tunity thus aftbrdedto off-set the former, and it rallied to the ou set 
with a will. While the two wrougs did not make one right, it 
was nevertheless a great relief (such is human nature) for the lat- 
ter to find grounds to charge the former equally with culpability. 
In 1841, June 17tb, JohnD. Whiteside, fund commissioner, re- 
ceived an advance of $261,460 from Macalister & Stebbins, bank- 
ers in New York, for a short period, and as security hypothecated 
with them 804 State bonds of $1,000 each, beariug 6 per cent, in- 
terest from May 1, 1841. Eight days later he delivered to them 
30 $1,000 6 percent, internal improvement bonds; on the 1st of 
July following he gave them an orderon i^evins, Townsend «&Co., 
of New York, for a further batch of 41 bonds of $1,000 each, 
which they received: and ou the 27th of October following, they 
received from Michael Keuedy $38,215. 44 in canal scrip — the 
whole aggregating $912,215. 44 of Illinois interest bearing indebt- 
edness, which that firm received to secure their advance of $261,- 
460 to the State. The receipt of these sums they acknowledged 
in their account current rendered in 1842, during the session of 
the general assembly, beiug28 64-100 cents on the dollar of secur- 
ity in their hands. Upon the bonds and obhgations received by 
them, after the first 804, they had agreed to make further advances 
to pay the State's July interest for 1841, if it was found necessary, 
but the State stopping her interest payments, the advance was 
never made ; and under her then finaucial embarrassments, the 
$261,460 advanced was not repaid ; the hypothecated bonds, ac- 
cording to the contract with the fund commissioner, became for- 
feit, and Macalister & Stebbins claimed their full redemption in 
money. But it was answered that this contract was made in vio- 
lation of law ; that it was the duty of the lender to have inquired 
into the fund commissioner's legal authority to hypothecate these 
obligations, and as he had manifestly been overreached b}' the 
arts and cunning of money jobbers, the State, at the bar of con- 
science, would only repay the amount actually received with the 
interest agreed to be paid. But these just terms of settlement 
were refused, after which the pledged securities were known as 
the " Macalister & Stebbins bonds." 

In 1847 (Feb. 28th,) the legislature passed ''an act to authorize 
the funding of the State debt." By its provisions the Macalister 
& Stebbins bonds were specially excluded from its operation. The 
new "certificates of indebtedness" authorized by it were desig- 
nated "New Internal Improvement Stock of the State of Illinois," 
of $1,000 each. "Certificates" for matured interest of over 6 years 
were to be issued, not to draw interest till after 1857, being with- 
out coupons, as the interest was stipulated in the body of the cer- 
tificates. A "transfer agent" was to be appointed in New York to 
attend to the funding of the complicated Illinois indebtedness. 

Three days after a supplemental act was passed to authorize a 
settlement with Macalister & Stebbins, by the provisions of which 



bissell's administration. 675 

36 cents on tlie dollar was offered, iu new bonds, on the amount 
hypothecated; the bonds to bear upon their face the words, "liqui- 
dation bonds," which, it will be observed, would have made two 
classes of Illinois funded bonds. Hy its terms the law expired on 
the 4th of Julj, 1847, and as the holders of the bonds refused to 
surrender them, or settle according to its jnovisions, nothing more 
was done. 

Subsequently better counsel prevailed, and at the session of the 
legislature iu the winter of 1849, Wm. H. Bissell, then a member 
of congress from Illinois, was sent by Macaiister & Stebbins to 
Springfield to make as good a bargain with the State as he could 
for the redemption and settlement of these secnrities. "An act" 
was passed "to prevent loss to the State on the Macaiister & 
Stebbins bonds." It was enacted that upon surrender of the bonds 
and scrip hypothecated with Macaiister & Stebbins, amounting in 
the aggregate to $913,215.44, together with the interest coupons, 
the governor was to settle and pay the amount of money originally 
advanced,with 7 per cent, interest thereon from the date of deposit 
to the time of settlement, in $1,000 bonds due after 1865, bearing 
6 per cent, interest, payable semi-annually in New York, pro rata 
out of the interest fund, the old bonds to be surrendered in such 
amounts at a time as $20,000 of the new bonds would settle ; and 
all heretofore surrendered to be credited in full at 26 cents on the 
dollar of the 804 bonds first hypothecated. The new bonds, like 
those provided for in the act of 1847, were to bear upon their face 
the words "liquidation bonds." Hence no "new internal improve- 
ment stock" could legally be issued for these bonds; these liquida- 
tion bonds were a distinct class. The greater portion of the 
Macaiister & Stebbins bonds were funded under this act at the 
rate offered, but not all — 114 having passed out of their hands. 

During the session of the general assembly in 1857, Dr. W. W. 
Eoman, member from St. Clair, introduced a bill which became a 
law, entitled "An act to fund the arrears of interest accrued and 
unpaid on the public debt of the State of Illinois." It authorized 
the governor to take up all arrears of interest due and unpaid, and 
to issue to the holders thereof bonds of $1,000 each, the same as 
those authorized by the funding act of 1847; for old bonds with- 
out coupons, interest certificates were to be issued to the holder, 
for which new bonds were to be issued upon presentation ; and 
"any holder of canal or internal improvement scrip holding less 
than $1,000 may present the same with interest certificates enough 
to make $1,000 or more, ami the governor shall issue a bond as be- 
fore stated for such amount." 

After its passage it was apjjrehended that the law was broad 
enough in its terms to include the outstanding Macaiister & Steb- 
bins bonds. To prevent such a construction, a joint resolution 
was promptly passed: "That no bonds or certificates for arrears 
of interest upon the Macaiister & Stebbins bonds, held by lien, 
shall be issued by the governor to the holders of the aforementioned 
indebtedness, to their agents, or to any person or persons claiming 
under them." 

The outstanding 114 Macaiister «& Stebbins bonds of $1,000 each 
had passed into the possession of other parties in New York, who 
alleged that they had purchased them some 16 years ago at public 
auction without the knowledge that the State refused to pay them 



676 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

at par. They now, mider the law of 1857, made applicatiou to the 
governor to have them funded at par, which was refused. They 
next ajiplied to the supreme court for a mandamus to compel the 
governor to fund them, but the writ was also refused, the court 
holding that the executive is a co-ordinate and independent branch 
of the government, and that they had no power to command him 
to do an official act. No opinion was expressed relative to the 
power of the governor, under the law, to issue the bonds ; but 
Judge Breese, in delivering the opinion of the court, added : "If 
the governor asks our opinion on the point of duty, we will cheer- 
fully give it ; but we refer him to the high tribunal of his own 
conscience and the public judgment." 

But notwithstanding the refusal of Gov. Bissell at this time to 
fund them, and apparently in the face of the joint resolution above 
quoted, he subsequently changed his mind, signed the requisite 
number of new bonds in blank, as did also the treasurer. Miller, 
and sent them on to New York to be filled up, as was the repre- 
hensible custom of the time. In 1859 he further ordered the State 
transfer agent, Edward Bement, resident in New York, to fuiul 
the old Macalister & Stebbins bonds at their full value, principal 
and interest, in the "New Internal Improvement stock" of 1817, 
authorized by the funding act of that period, which in express 
terms forbade the funding of these bonds. The principal, $114,000, 
was accordingly funded, February 5th, 1859, leaving $78,000, the 
arrears of interest, still unfunded. The bonds were held at the 
time by the New York Bowery Insurance Company, $85,000 ; the 
Mechanics' Banking Association, $26,000 ; and Morris Ketchum, 
$3,000. Under the existing laws of the State, the governor had 
no i^ower to settle with these parties upon any other terms than 
those proposed by the law of 1849, at 28.64 cents on the dollar ; 
and the just liability of the State on these outstanding Macalister 
& Stebbins bonds, including interest, was less than $45,000, 
whereas by this action it would have been directly $192,683, and 
ultiniately'$244,268— a loss of near $200,000. 

The transaction seems to have been kept a profound secret. 
But at this time the canal scrip fraud having transpired, a bill 
was introduced into the legislature abolishing the funding agency 
in New Y^ork, and ordering the books of the office, containing the 
evidences of this transaction, to be forwarded to Sj)riugtield — and 
now on "a more careful examination of the law [the governor] be- 
came doubtful of his authority in the matter, and immediately 
telegraphed Mr. Bement to stop funding, which was done at once."* 
Immediately after this the governor informed the auditor 
of the fact. "I was for blowing it at once," said that function- 
ary, "but he [the governor] insisted that that would lessen his 
chances of having the bonds returned, and I reluctantly consented 
to keep still for a time."t A correspondence was immediately 
opened by the governor with Mr. Bement and the holders, to 
negotiate with them for their surrender, which did not at once suc- 
ceed. In May the books of the New York funding agency were 
brought to Springfield. The auditor, professing now to derive 
his information from them, broke the subject to the treasurer, 
who was already apprised of it. These gentlemen, before the 

•See Dr. Mack's letter to the Chicago Journal. July 12, 1859. 
tSee Dubois' letter, 111. State Jour., July 20, 1859. 



eissell's administration. 677 

treasurer started to New York to pay the July interest on the 
State bonds generally, agreed and determined positively between 
themselves "that nothing should ever be jjaid upon the bonds of 
either principal or interest, while [they] were in the offices." With 
this resolution on their part, the closure of the transfer office in 
New York, and the fact that the new bonds issued under the law 
of 1849 were inscribed bonds — not transferable except upon the 
books — they could not be used or placed ui^on the market at any 
price; nothing could be done with them, and as neither principal 
nor interest had been jiaid to any considerable extent, the State 
could not be, and was not, financially, harmed. The scheme was 
nipped in the bud ; though before the transfer agency was closed 
in New York Mr. Ketchum succeeded in having his three new or 
funded certificates of $1,000 each transferred on the books to a 
Mr. Graham. 

"The plan embraced the funding of the 114 bonds under the 
general law of 1847, which expressly prohibited its being done; 
to issue for them 'New Internal Improvement Stock,' to the credit 
of which new stock was to be placed, the aggregate of pro rata 
interest which the State had paid in cash on its bonds since 1847, 
amounting on these $114,000 of 'stock' to $37,298, whicli sum would 
be payable on the 1st of July, 1859, the first interest pay day after 
the funding of the bonds, (the bonds being funded on the 5th of 
February, 1859); in addition to which two sums there were issued 
certificates for interest due from date of the original bonds sur- 
rendered, up to the passage of the law of 1847 under which they 
were funded, amounting to $41,388. 83 ; and the holders were en- 
titled to the further sum of $41,382, being the balance of the 12 
years' interest remaining un credited to the 'new stock,' for which, 
under Dr. Soman's law of 1857, thev would be entitled to certifi- 
cates"*— making a total of $244,268.83, or just about $200,000 
more than the State justly owed. 

During the summer of 1859, Dr. Mack was sent to New York to 
negotiate for the surrender of the refunded bonds. As the hold- 
ers found they could not make them available — being inscribed 
bonds they could not be sold without transfer on the books — 
the State department unwilling to recognize them or pay interest 
on them either accruing or in arrear, they were finallj", in Octo- 
ber, 1859, surrendered. The holders were unwilling, however, to 
settle by the law of 1849. Six years later, at the session of 1865, 
the legislature passed a law compelling the surrender of the Mac- 
alister and Stebbins bonds, under penalty of a forfeiture of inter- 
est after July, and principal after January following, 1860. The 
amount allowed to be paid by this law on each $1000 was $248.13. 

The action of Gov. Bissell in ordering the funding of the M'ac- 
alister and Stebbins bonds is difficult to explain. He apparently 
disregarded the Dr. Eoman resolution, misremembered the man- 
damus proceedings in 1857 to compel him to do what he now did, 
and violated the law of 1847, under which riie funding was done, 
which exj)ressly forbade it ; while even if he had been legally au- 
thorized to pay their full value of principal and interest, as only 
about 28 cents on the dollar had ever been received for them by 

Letter of "Investig'ator" to Chicag-o Times, Aug. 1S5<>. 



678 HISTORY OF Illinois. 

the State, it was plainly contrary to the justice aud equity of the 
case, aud jjopular opiuion would have sustained him iu a refusal, 
for the i^rotection of the treasury of the State.* 

Note — 'When the transactiou gained the light, during the height of the canal scrip 
fraud investigation, Bissell's enemies, stimulated doubtless to additional partisan 
feeling, or influenced by personal animosity, put the very worst construction possible 
upon It, and the most corrupt motives ot combining with New York sharpers to rob 
the treasury were attributed to his excellency. A long letter from New Fork to the 
Chicago Times, dated August 20, 1859, signed "Investigator," evinces a "working up of 
the case" with apparently damaging effect to his excellency. From it, it seems, that 
an old Belleville acquaintance of Bissell's, through letters of introduction from him, in 
18.')8, gained credit enough in N"ew York to buy 111 of the bonds, with their accrued in- 
terest of $120,000 besides, for S8.j,000. He brought an installment to Illinois to get 
funded, but owing to a quarrel as to how the i)rofits were to be divided between him 
and his confederates, the sale was rescinded, and after some threats with the law, the 
bonds were given back. Next, the New York owners, one of whom was Morris Ketch- 
ura, a close friend of the governor's and one of the original Illinois Central Railroad 
incorporators, having also resigned the State transfer agency, his partner. Bement, 
being appointed in the place, all with a view to the consummation of this fraud, It is 
hinted, tried their skill and ultimately succeeded, as we hare seen, in having the bonds 
partially funded; and with all these efforts, Bissell, who had the power to fund the 
bonds, is sought by letters, con.jectures and deductions, to be connected as a corrupt 
sharer in the profits of the transaction. . The letter is the careful, elaborate and able 
argument of a legal prosecutor, who manifestly has much personal feeling in the mat- 
ter. It contains a complete history of the Macalister and Stebbins bonds, and many 
of the points against the governor appear to be well sustained by his own correspond- 
ence. At the meeting of the democratic State convention at Springfield, in January, 
1860, Hon. J. L. Don Morrison avowed himself its author, and in a speech supple- 
mented ills charges against his excellency by the production of a number of letters 
from him to the New Yoi-k parties and his Belleville acquaintance, t 

Prior to Morrison's convention speech, Bissell had been under many inflictions; but 
this was too much and in the Illinois State Journal o£ .January 11,1860, he published a 
stinging reply, evincing the rekindling of his old flame of scathing invective. He 
attributes the causeless attack upon him to the envy and jealousy of his assailant, as 
the key to all his malice ; they were neighbors, both living in Belleville— one, obscure, 
had been honored with office repeatedly; the other, wealthy and conspicuous, had met 
with constant disappointment in this respect. He denied receiving one cent during 
his long official career that did not properly and legally belong to him; pronounced 
the "Investigator" letter "a tissue of vile assumptions, inferences, deductions and 
downright lies;" accused Morrison of dishonorably suppressing a letter of his to Pen- 
seneau [the Belleville friend) rejecting a dishonorable proposition in reference to the 
funding of the Macalister and Stebbins bonds, which would have "blown his pitiful 
cobwebs sky-high," and by way of counter charges, proceeds negatively to intimate his 
assailant's connection with many dishonorable acts, overreaching widows and orphans, 
&c., to obtain titles to lands, prompting the Old Ranger to exclaim : "If that man 
keeps out of the penitentiary 20 years he will be the richest man in Illinois." 

tSee 111. State Register, Jan. 10, 1860. 



Chapter LII. 

OUE SENATOES rS COKGEESS. 

Their Lives and Characters — Senatorial Contest between Lincoln 
and Douglas in 1858. 



Edwards and Thomas. — Upon the meetiug of the first State 
legishiture in October, 1818, Niiiian Edwards, who had been the 
able and popukir territorial governor np to that time, and Jesse 
B. Tbomas, one of the federal jndges during tbe entire separate 
territorial existence of Illinois, were elected as senators to con- 
gress ; the former on the first ballot by a large majority, 32 out 
of the 40 votes, and the latter on the M ballot by 21 out of the 
40 votes cast; Leonard White receiving 18, and Michael Jones 1. 

The full term of a senator is 6 years, or 3 congresses. The con- 
stitution of the U. S. divides the senators into 3 classes, one going 
out with the expiration of each congress. Upon the admission of 
a State the new senators draw lots for classes. Edwards drew the 
3d class, being- the existing 15th congress which expired with the 
3d of March, 1819, and Thomas the class which expired with the 
17th congress on the 3d of March, 1823. Both were re-elected for 
full terms. Edwards in 1819, till March 4th,1825, and Thomas at 
the session of 1822-3 till March 4th, 1829. 

Of Edwards we have already spoken fully, as governor. 
Thomas, as a federal judge, had borne himself with much dignity 
upon the bench, but it is recorded that he did not apply his 
talents to the mastery of the law. By nature he was rather a poli- 
tician, an avocation which absorbed his better abilities through 
life. Without talent as a speaker, he exhibited shrewdness and 
tact in the management of men and questions. We have already 
noted the manner of his election as a delegate to congress by the 
Indiana territorial legislature in 1808, his pledge being that he 
would procure the separation of Illinois from Indiana, a valuable 
public service to us, which he fully discharged. Both senators 
actively supported, in 18"20, the admission of Missouri as a slave 
state. Mr. Thomas gained considerable notoriety for originally 
suggesting the line of 36d. 30m., known as the Missouri compro- 
mise. With this proviso the Missouri bill passed the senate, 24 to 
20 ; the senators of all the slaveholding States, with one from Indi- 
ana and two from Illinois, the last admitted State in the Union, 
voting for it. Mr. liandolph, the leader of the ultra southern fac- 
tion in the house, indignantly characterized the compromise as a 
"dirty bargain," und the northern men by whose co-opera- 
tion it was carried as "doughfaces," Avhich was the origin of -that 
appellation. Thomas was the intimate friend of Mr. Crawford, 

679 



680 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

advocating his election to the presidency in 1824, but after the suc- 
cess of Adams, came over to the support of his administration^ 
During the convention struggle he advocated the engrafting of 
slavery' upon our constitution. After the expiration of his last 
senatorial term he removed to Ohio, where he died in 1853. 

John McLean. — In 1824 Edwards resigned the senatorship to 
accept the mission to Mexico tendered him by President Monroe. 
On the meeting of the legislature in November of that year, John 
McLean was elected to fill the unexiiired term of Edwards, the 
latter having thrown up the Mexican mission, being his competi- 
tor. McLean is said to have been in many respects the most 
gifted man of his period in Illinois. He was born 1791, in North 
Carolina. At the age of 4 years his father's family removed to 
Logan county, Kentucky, where he received such limited educa- 
tion as the new country atibrded. He studied law, and in 1815, at 
the age of 23, came to Illinois and settled at Shawueetown, with 
little means and less credit, but endowed with great natural tal- 
ents and swayed by a lofty ambition. He speedily became con- 
spicuous at the bar and in political life. Three years after, he 
became a candidate for congress, Daniel P. Cook being his oppo- 
nent. The contest was one of the most animated and vigorous^ 
ever made in the State, characterized throughout by a high-toned 
courtesy, which eminently distinguished both competitors. They 
were young men of rare promise and alike won the esteem of the 
people. McLean was elected by a small majority, but at the next 
election Cook succeeded over him and continued to hold the place 
until 1826, when Duncan beat him. McLean was frequently a 
member of the legislatui-e and speaker of the house. 

He looked the born orator; with a large symmetrical figure, fine 
light complexion, a frank, magnanimous soul, he exercised that 
magnetism over his auditory which stamped him as the leader of 
men. Possessed of strong common sense, a lively imagination* 
a pleasant humor, ready command of language, his oratory flowed 
with a moving torrent, almost irresistible to the masses of his 
day. With these native attributes and a compass of intellect 
exceedingly great, consciousness of power caused him to rely 
perhai)S too much upon them to the exclusion of that discipline, 
constant and i)ainstakingstudy,whichmake the profound scholar. 
He was twice elected to the U. S. senate, the last time, December 
6th, 1828, unanimously, as the successor of Jesse B. Thomas, for 
a full term; but he only served the first session, and after coming 
home died at Shawueetown in 1830, in the very prime of his man- 
hood, at the age of 39 years. His death was a great public loss, 
and the legislature, as a fitting testimonial to his memory, named 
the large, fertile and now populous county of McLean in honor of 
him. 

EUas Kent Kane — was elected a senator in congress Novem- 
ber 30, 1824, for the term commencing March 4, 1825, and termi- 
nating March 3, 1831 — to the place of McLean. The latter, at the 
time of his election, 7 days before for the 3 months unexpired term 
of Edwards, was also a candidate for the long term, and, not 
doubting his choice, immediately departed for Washington ; but 
a new candidate apj)eared in the field, and after a protracted 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 081 

strugjile, he failed becoming liis own snccessor, andElias K.Kane 
was elected. This was on the 10th ballot, when Kane received 
28 votes, and Samuel D. Lockwood, the next highest, 23. Mr. 
Kane was a native of New York ; had received a thorough educa- 
tion, being a graduate of Yale College, studied law, and in 1814, 
when quite young, sought the south and west, and located finally 
at Kaskaskia. He was possessed of a strong, clear mind ; was a 
close reasoner, a profound lawyer, an agreeable speaker, a lucid wri- 
ter and attained eminence in his profession as well as in public life. 
When the wheels of the new State government were put in mo- 
tion, in October, 1818, Gov. Bond appointed him secretary of State. 
Afterwards he was a State senator. December 11, 1830, he was 
re-elected, on the first ballot, to the U. S. senate for the full term 
from the 4th of March following, J. M. Eobiuson, his principal 
opponent, receiving 6 votes ; but before the expiration of his 2nd 
term, his health, which had long been feeble, gave way, and he 
died at Washington, December 12th, 1835. He was a man of 
purity of character, honesty of intention, amiable and benevolent 
in disposition, and very generallj^ esteemed. The legislature 
named the county of Kane in honor to his memory. 

David Jeivett Bal-er — was, November 12th, 1830, appointed by 
Gov. Edwards to fill the unexi)ired term of John McLean, deceased; 
but the legislature, between which and his excellency there was 
little accord, meeting shortly afterwards, refused to sanction the 
executive choice, and on the 11th of December, 1830, elected John 
M. Eobinson instead. Baker was born in Connecticut, in 1792, 
and after receiving a collegiate education, and studying law,in 
1819 with his young bride removed to Illinois, and located at Kas- 
kaskia. He was a studious, painstakinglawyer, and attained a 
standing with the ablest of the Illinois bar. He was long probate 
judge of Randolph county. He eschewed politics, except in 1824, 
when he actively, both with pen and tongue, opposed the intro- 
duction of slavery into Illinois. For his warm utterances, the 
then chief justice of the State, Thomas Reynolds, afterwards gov- 
ernor of Missouri, attacked him with a bludgeon in the streets of 
Kaskaskia. During his short stay in congress he originated the 
measure for disposing of the government lands in tracts of 40 acres, 
-which facilitated the settlement of the State — the law up to that 
time not permitting the entry of less than 100 acres. In 1833 he 
was appointed by Jackson U. S. attorney for Illinois, and re-ap- 
pointed in 1837 by Van Buren. In 1840 he united with the whig- 
party. In 1848 he was defeated for supreme judge by Mr. Trum- 
bull, in the 3d grand division. In 1854 he helped to organize the 
republican party. He died at Alton, August 10, 1809. * 

John 3f. Robinson — had the following opponents : Theophilus 
W. Smith, Thomas Mather, R. M. Young, J. Kitchell and ex-Gov. 
Bond, but his strength increased at every ballot, and on the 5th 
obtained a majority. Gen. Robinson was a Kentuckian by 
birth, with a liberal education and a lawyer by profession. While 
still a young man he came to Illinois and settled at Carmi, where 
he married, and continued to make his home; a member of his 

•See Weekly Illinois State Journal, Aug. 11, 1869. 



682 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

family — a daughter, the only survivor — still resides there. He was 
tall aud erect iu stature, well proportioned, of light complexion, 
with large head, pleasing countenance and winning address— a 
fine specimen of manly beauty. A distinguishing trait of his char- 
acter was sociability; indeed, his convivial disposition carried him 
into frequent excesses. His title of general was derived from a 
connection with the militia organization of the State. He was re- 
elected to the U. S. senate December 20th, 1834, on the first ballot 
by a vote of 47 to 30 — R. M. Young being his opponent — for a full 
term, which expired March 3d, 1841. In 1843 he was elected one 
of our supreme judges, but within two months after, Ai)ril 27th, 
died at Ottawa, away from home, whither his remains were taken. 

William. Lee I>. JEwing — was elected December 29tl?, 1835, to 
serve out the unexpired term of Elias K. Kane, deceased. This 
election was a protracted struggle. His competitors were James 
Semple and E. M. Young, both of whom led him on the first ballot, 
the vote standing, Semple 25, Young 19 and Ewing 18. On the 
8th ballot Young was dropped, the 9th and 10th stood a tie, but 
on the 12th Ewing received 40 to Semple 37, aud Avas elected. 
Gen. Ewing was a gentleman of culture, a lawyer by profession, 
and had been much in public life. He had been receiver of the 
public moneys at Vandalia and lost a $1,000 deposit by the rob- 
bery of the State bank in 1823. He was speaker of the State 
senate in 1834, and by A^irtue of that position had been acting 
governor for 15 days. His title of general was of militia origin, 
and he attained some distinction in the Black Hawk war. He was 
a Kenfcuckian, above medium hight, and of heavy build, with 
auburn hair, blue eyes, large-sized head and short face. He was 
genial, social, friendly and affable, with fair talent, though little 
originality. Under Gov. Ford he was elected State auditor. 

Richard M. Yoicng — succeeded to the seat of Gen. Ewing, and 
served out a full term from March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1843. He 
was elected December 14, 1836, on the 3d ballot, Samuel McEob- 
erts being his principal opponent; Archie Williams and Gen. 
Ewing also received some votes, the former 21 and the latter 13. 
Judge Young was gifted with fine colloquial powers, and his inter- 
course with men was managed with an urbanity, smoothness and 
address well calculated to impress them with his excellence and 
worth, in which lay the secret of his success, rather than force or 
energy of character, or vigor and compass of mentaT endowments. 
His talents, which were respe(;table and above mediocrity, derived 
additional lustre from these amiable attribittes. He was a Kentuck- 
ian, of spare build, rather tall, educated, and a lawyer by profes- 
sion. In 1824 he was elected by the legislature one of the 5 circuit 
judges, and assigned to the 2d circuit. During his senatorial term 
in 1839, he was appointed by Gov. Carlin one of the State agents 
in connection with ex-Gov. Eeynolds, to negotiate the $4,000,000 
canal loan, for which purpose they repaired to Europe, and their 
advances of $1,000,000 in Illinois bonds to the house of Wright & 
Co., of London, proved a heavy loss to the State. Still, under 
party operations, before his senatorial term expired, he was made, 
February 3d, 1842, a su])reme judge, a position which he held 
until 1847. He died at Washington, in an insane asylum. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 683 

From this time on the caucus system was resorted to by par- 
ties to deteriniue their choice of caudidates for ofiBces, including 
that of United States senator, aud aspirants to that exalted posi- 
tion were no longer distracted with the whims of individual legis- 
lators. The scheming or party pipe-laying was now all with the 
view to secure the favor of leaders and the manipulators of the 
caucus. Whom king- caucus designated as the party nominee no 
one was to gain say. The system was adopted by the minority as well 
as the majority party, but it is to be noted that Illinois never had 
a whig senator throughout the existeuce of that party. The first 
democratic senatorial caucus resulted in the selection of per 
hai)s the most uncompromising party man in the State. 

Samuel McEoherfs — the first native lUinoisan ever elevated to 
the high office of a United States senator from this State, was born 
April 12, 1799, in what is now Monroe county, his father residing 
on a farm. He received a good English education from a compe- 
tent private tutor, Edward Humphrey, and attained also some 
proficiency in latin, but his naturally' strong mind inclined him to 
mathematics. At the early age of 20 he was appointed circuit 
clerk of Monroe county, a position which aiforded him opportu- 
nity to become familiarized with forms of law, which he eagerly 
embraced, pursuing at the same time a most assiduous course of 
reading. Two years later he entered the law department of Tran- 
sylvania University at Lexington, Ky., where, after 3 full courses 
of lectures, he graduated with the degree of bachelor of laws. He 
commenced the practice of law in competition with such men as 
Kane, Eeynolds, Mills, Mears, Blackwell, Star, Clark, Baker, Eddy, 
McLean, &c. In 1824, at the age of 25, he was elected by the 
legislature one of the 5 circuit judges. As judge he first publicly 
exhibited strong partisan bias. In 1824 he had been aAiolent 
convention advocate, and now, in defiance of a release by the leg- 
islature, he assessed a fine against Gov. Coles for settling his 
emancipated.slaves in Madison county, without giving bond that 
they should not become a public charge ; he also removed a circuit 
clerk in the same county, and appointed another in his place, 
from partisan inotives, which caused a great outcry at the time 
and contributed largely to the repeal of the circuit court system 
in 1827. In 1828 he was elected a State senator; in 1830 appointed 
United States district attorney for this State ; in 1832 receiver of 
the public moneys at the Danville land office, and in 1S39 solicitor 
of the general land office at Washington. When the State banks 
of 1837 passed into whig control by their organization, Judge 
McEoberts, with others, opi)osed them, aiul they were refused the 
land office moneys as deposits, to aid in crippling them. Ou the 
16th of December, 1840, Samuel McEoberts was elected United 
States senator for a full term, commencing March 4th, 1841. He 
received on the first ballot 77 votes, Cyrus Edwards, the whig 
nominee, 50, and E. D. Baker, 1. He died March 22, 1843, at Cin- 
cinnati, at the house of his old friend. Judge James Hall, formerlj^ 
of Shawneetowu, on his route home from Washington, in the 
vigor of intellectual manhood, at the age of 44 years. 

Judge McEoberts was a little above medium hight, sparely 
built, of a nervous-bilious temperament, and had a good head.* 

•He had a detect iu one eye. 



684 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

He was swayed by a stubborn will, a high ambition, and 
unbounded energy. His mind was clear,strong and precise, and 
he was a deep-read lawyer. He was ever a voracious student, 
given to over-exertion. While he exerted a cogent influence over 
his party, he was yet without the smooth and oily arts of the 
ordinary politician. He governed by the power of will rather 
than address aud blandishment. 

Sidney Breese — succeeded E. M. Young to the United States 
senate for a full term, from March 4, 1843. He was the democratic 
caucus nominee and was elected December 17, 1842, on the first 
ballot, by 108 votes, to his opponent's Archibald Williams, 49. 

He was born about the close of the last century, in Oneida 
county, N. Y., received a collegiate education and graduated with 
distinction from Union College. He had been the school-fellow 
of Elias Kent Kane, who was his senior. After the latter was 
appointed secretary of State, in 1818, he wrote for young Breese 
to join him, which he did by the close of the year, aud read law 
with him. Aside from the ability of his preceptor, this gave him 
the advantage of forming a wide acquaintance in the new State. 
In 1820 he essayed the practice of the law in Jackson county, but 
met with failure in court before a jury, and, overwhelmed with 
mortification, resolved to abandon his profession. The next year 
he became postmaster of the ancient town of Kaskaskia. In 1822 
Gov. Bond appointed him circuit attorney, in which position Gov. 
Coles retained him, but Edwards did not. In 1831 he prepared 
and published "Breese's Eeports" of our supreme court decisions, 
being the first ever published in the State. The next year he 
took part in the Black Hawk war — being a major. On the 
establishment of the circuit court system, in 1835, he was chosen 
judge, in which capacity the McClernand-E'ieid case came before 
him — an exciting political question — concerning the power of 
the governor to remove the incumbent of the office of secretary 
of State, which he decided with an elaborate opinion in favor of 
the relator, but which the supreme court reversed. Upon the re- 
organization of that court, in 1841, resulting in great part from 
this question, he was elected one of the five democratic supreme 
judges. 

As senator, he occupied the seat of his old school-mate and 
friend, E. K. Kane. Upon the expiration of his term he was 
elected, in 1850, to the legislature, and was made speaker of the 
house. In 1855 he was again elected circuit judge, and two years 
later, on the resignation of Judge Scates, again elevated to the 
supreme bench, where he remained until his death, which occur- 
red June 28, 1878 ; and here it is, by his numerous and able opin- 
ions, that he has made a lasting record in the annals of this State, 
being a finished scholar and profound jurist. 

In congress he favored the annexation of Texas, our title to 
Oregon np to rhe line of 54d. 40m., and carrying the war 
with Mexico into the heart of that country. To his connection 
with the land grant for the benefit of the Illinois Central 
railroad we have alluded — his original jdan being a pre-emption 
m stead of a grant. He procured the passage of acts for the sale 
of the mineral lands at Galena and other places, and the repeal 
of the 5 years exemption from taxation of the pubhc lands in tMs 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 685 

State, wbicli were valuable aids to the State at that juncture of 
her financial distress. He made also an able report in favor of a 
grant of land to a railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific. 

James Semple — was appointed United States senator by Gov. 
Ford, in 1843, as the successor of Samuel McEoberts, deceased, 
and after serving for one session as such appointee, the legisla- 
ture, December 11, 1844, confirmed his appointment hy electing 
him for the unexpired term of his predecessor, by a vote of 102 
to John J. Hardin 47. In politics Semple was a democrat, and 
the caucus nominee of his party, as was Hardin of the whigs. 
He had been much in public life. He was speaker of the house 
in 1836-7, when the State Internal Improvement measure was 
passed ; afterward Charge de Affairs to ISTew Grenada and judge 
of the supreme court. Gen. Semple was a fine looking man, and 
detested the plots and intrigues of politicians. Manj^of the older 
residents of Alton and Springfield will remember him as the pro- 
jector of the "steam wagon" which lay for years a wreck on the 
prairie south of Springfield. He wrote an elaborate history of 
Mexico, which has never been published. 

Steplien Arnold Douglas — became the successor of Semple. He 
received the Democratic caucus nomination and was elected De- 
cember 14, 1846, on the first ballot, by 100 votes to Cyrus Ed- 
wards, the whig nominee, 45. Douglas was not unknown in the 
national legislature, having already served i^arts of 3 terms in 
the lower house. With the advent of this remarkable man, whom 
we do not hesitate to call great, into the U. S. senate, Illinois 
took at once high rank in that august bodj', redounding not only 
to her glory, but solid advantage such as no State before nor since 
has received from the hands of congress. We allude to the pro- 
curing of the Illinois Central railroad laud grant, a herculean 
task, in which he received the earnest support of his colleague and 
the entire delegation in the lower house. Douglas, though young 
in years, was directly acknowledged the peer of the great states- 
men, Clay, Webster and Calhoun, with whom he served his first 
term. After his death, Trumbull for eighteen years maintained 
a high position for Illinois. Douglas became his own successor 
in 1853, and again in 1859 ; but we defer a more extended sketch 
of bis life and character to an account of the celebrated senatorial 
contest between him and Mr. Lincoln, in 1858, contained in this 
chapter. 

James Shields — was chosen to succeed Sidney Breese for a full 
term, from March 4th, 1849. He was the caucus nominee of the 
democracy, largely in the ascendancy in Illinois. The contest — 
an exciting one — was over the caucus nomination. Breese strove 
earnestly to become his own successor, and John A. McClernand, 
ambitious for the exalted seat, was also in the field. Both were 
greatly the superiors of Shields in ability and probably in art and 
address, but the latter had the advantage of military glory, be- 
fore which mere civil services, however valuable, have ever paled. 
Neither was he a novice in civil official experience. Born in coun- 
ty Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810, he emigrated to the U. S. in 1827, and 
settled in Illmois 3 years later. In 7 years' time, without being 



686 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

naturalized, Jie was sent to the legislatmefrom Eandolph county. 
Gov. Carlin appointed liim auditor, and in 1843, he was elected a 
supreme judge. Under President Polk he was commissioner of 
the general land office at Washington. In the, Mexican war he 
entered b}- favor of the president as a brigadier-general and was 
afterward breveted major-general for gallant services. He was 
a fortunate soldier. Borne from the field of Cerro Gordo shot 
through and through, and reported at home as killed, he recovered 
in time to take a. conspicuous part in the triumph of our arms len- 
der Scott in the valley of Mexico. In this latter campaign such 
was his soldierly conduct that the State of South Carolina voted 
him a handsome and costly sword, inscribed with the battles of 
Oherubusco and Chepultepec, and the following sentiment : 

"FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 

"TO GENERAL SHIELDS. 

''In testimony of her admiration of gallantry in the Mexican war, and 
as a tribute of gratitude for his parental attention to tlie Palmetto 
reginient." 

From Mexico, after the fall of the capital of that country, had 
first come the announcement by letter that the gallant soldier 
would be a competitor for senatorial honors before the ensuing 
legislature of 1849. On his way home, at Washington, a public 
dinuer was tendered him and Gen. Quitman, at which, in a speech 
Shields spoke incautiously in glowing terms of Gen. Scott, then 
under ban with the administration. Breese foreseeing in this 
soldier of renown a formidable competitor for his place, did not 
attend the banquet. Before long Shields was ordered to Tampico, 
but on his route thither, at New Orleans, a dispatch from the 
War department ordered him back to Washington, to testify in 
the trial of Gen. Pillow. The order to return to Tampico was not 
renewed, and Shields came to Illinois and moved about among his 
friends. Now he was appointed governor of remote Oregon, which 
created the impression upon the public mind that the object of the 
administration, which did not relish his fearless praise of Gen. 
Scott, was to banish him beyond being a competitor against 
Breese for the senate, but he did not accept the governorship of 
that remote post. 

In the senatorial canvass it was urged against Breese that he 
differed with his colleague on a subject of vital importance to the 
State, the procuring of the Illinois Central railroad grant of land ; 
against McCleruand it was objected that his principles of democ- 
racy were so thoroughly Jacksonian that consistency would lead 
him to oppose the vital interest of the west, the improvement of 
rivers and harbors ; and against Shields, that he was ineligible, 
because, as a foreigner, he had not been naturalized long enough 
to entitle him to a seat in the U. S. Senate, the constitution of 
the U. S. requiring a citizenship of 9 years. Shields having been 
naturalized in October, 1840. These valid objections failed, and 
he was elected. 

Shields repaired to Washington to take his seat on the 4th of 
March following. And now this most impulsive son of Erin, 
committed a most foolish blunder, to call it no worse, as public 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS 687 



men are wout to do when they write letters. To overcome the 
question of his ineligibility, which would jn'obably be raised 
against his tailing a seat in the senate, he addressed Mr. Breese 
a letter under date of February 23, 1849, charging him, among 
other "meannesses " toward him, with propagating this in Illinois, 
saying : "Had I been defeated 1)3" you on that ground, I had sworn 
in my heart that you never should have profited by your success ; 
and depend upon it, I would have kept that vow,' regardless of 
consequences." But that being past, he denurnded of him then a 
letter, acknowledging, in effect, that in 1840, when he (Shields,) 
talked of going to Canada in case of war, that he (Breese) as 
circuit judge, offered to give him something in the shape of a final 
naturaliza tion certificate to take along, to simplify proof in case of 
difficulty ; adding, "and refuse this request, I here give you fair 
warning — let the consequences fall on your own head — I shall hold 
myself acquitted both before God and man for the course I shall 
feel bound to pursue toward you." 

But Breese did not scare as well as it was evidently hoped. He 
refused compliance with the demand, which he construed as a 
threat of assassination, publishing his refusal, together with 
Shields' letter, in the newspapers. Shields, in a subsequent letter, 
attempted to explain this away. When his credentials were pre- 
sented in the senate on the 5th of March, objections to his eligi- 
bility were promptly interposed ; Douglas, however, succeeded in 
having him sworn in, which enabled him to participate in the 
debate. After due investigation, a resolution Avas reported that 
Mr. Shields was not eligible at the commencement of the term for 
which he was elected, and that his election was void. Before its 
adoption he tendered his resignation, and thus addressed the 
senate : "To my own State, sir, I shall appeal, and hear what she 
has to say ; and if she deserts me now, if my State shall not an- 
swer to the appeal I am about to make to her, I will say further 
that it is my intention (though I have endeavored to prove my 
fidelity to my country by every act of my life,) never to offer 
myself again for ofSce in the United States." As his resignation 
should have been tendered to the governor ratherthan the senate, 
the resolution was adopted. 

The question at home now was as to the flower of the governor 
to fill the vacancy thus occasioned. The constitution of the U. S. 
says if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, daring the 
recess of the legislature of any State, the executive thereof may 
make tem[)orary appointments until the next meeting. Was this 
such a vacancy as the constitution contemplated that the governor 
liad power to till by appointment, and thus save the expense of a 
called session °? The question was thoroughly discussed in the 
public press, and by letters from public men, both for and against. 
Mr. Douglas, perhaps fearing a new election before Mr. Shields 
would become eligible, held that the governor had the power ;* but 
that functionary, in a long letter published, disclaimed the power,t 
and finally, in September of that year, issued his proclamation, 
convening the legislature in extraordinary session, October 22, 
1849, to elect a U. S. senator, including in his call a number of 
other subjects for legislative action. Under the decision of the 

•See his letter in 111. State Register, Aug. 30, 1849. 
+ Ibid, June 21, 1849. 



688 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

TJ. S. senate Gov. French had it in his power to cut off Shields 
from this position, but he convened the legislature for a time just 
after Shields would be rendered eligible by being- 9 years natural- 
ized. 

After the call the canvass waxed exceedingly warm. The whig 
press openly espoused the cause of Shields, ci-ying out persecution, 
and charging that those democrats who usually controlled the 
party in the State had determined to sacrifice the gallant soldier, 
and that to attain their ends wicked means were being" employed. 
Breese, McClernand and Shields were again the candidates, and 
the friends of the respective aspirants were exceedingly active. 
The contest was again for the caucus nomination. The friends of 
McClernand, fewest in number, supposing that such a state of 
hostility existed between the respective adherents of Breese and 
Shields, that neither would yield in caucus, but would finally as a 
compromise concentrate upon their candidate, proved very tena- 
cious. 21 ballotings were had ; on the first Shields received 28, 
Breese 21, and McClernand 18; on the last, Breese 20, McClernand 
12 and Shields 37 — a maiority. The highest for Breese was on 
the 7th ballot, 29 ; the highest for McClernand on the 2(1, 19. 
Shields Avas again elected senator, and thus ended the very bitter 
struggle. 

Lyman TrumhuU — succeeded to the seat of Senator Shields for 
a full term from the 4th of March, 1855 ; and became his own 
successor in 1861. Since the first organization of the democratic 
party, and dating beyond that to 1824, when it was in its forma- 
tive stage, those who afterwards constituted it never failed of 
electing men of their political views and i)rinciples to the TJ. S. 
senate from this State. Their defeat now was attended by a 
bitterness and depth of feeling unprecedented. The occasion we 
have already traced to the repeal of the Missouri compromise, 
resulting, unexpectedly to all parties, in this State going auti-^N'e- 
braska at the election of ISTovember, 1854. 

At the meeting of the legislature the choice of a U. S. senator 
was to be the political event of the session. The exact political 
status of that body after the election was not at once fully realized, 
and while the democracy were apprehensive they yet hoped to 
prevail. But upon its assembling in January, 1855, it became 
speedily apparent that by a fusion of all the anti-l!^ebraska mem- 
bers the democracj" were in a minority. The house, on the 2d 
day, was organized by the election of anti-Nebraska ofiicers : Thos. 
J. Turner, of Stephenson, being chosen speaker by 40 votes over 
J. P. Eichmond, of Schuyler, deniocrat, 24. The senate acted 
more tardily on account of the conduct of Messrs. Jaruigan and 
Morton, ISTebraska democrats, representing anti-Nebraska districts, 
in absenting themselves. The fusionists, however, prevailed, and 
organized both houses. 

Alarm now seized the democracy. Their press cried out to the 
fold: the wolf is on his walk — let the old party awaken to the 
danger which threatens it from the allied isms; traitors are con- 
spiring to stab deep into its vitals ; nefarious schemes are concocted 
and combinations of an unholy ambition formed, moved thereunto 
by a deep-seated antipathy against the truest and best men 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. GS9 

of tlie State.* Anon intimidation and cajolery were both tried 
upon the disaffected wanderers from the democratic fokl. They 
^Yere denounced us malcontents avIio illy requited the past favors 
bestowed ui)on them at the hands of the democracy by their base 
attempts to disrupt the old jjarty — ingrates, prompted by malice 
and jealousy to rule or ruin. Tliey were apprised that the peoi)le 
were vigilant and would narrowly scrutinize their every act, arti- 
fice and departure from principle, and would not fail to visit signal 
retribution upon those who braved, defied and trampled ujion the 
popular will. The name of Douglas — a tower of strength, and 
dear to the democratic heart — was invoked ; it was necessary that 
his colleague should be a man who would uphold his hands to 
battle for the success of those great principles of non-interven- 
tion which were founded in justice, and which by the magic of his 
genius would eventually triumph and overwhelm all its opponents 
with confusion. t 

All this was preliminary to the senatorial election. The contest 
was tardily approached and was not finally readied until the 8th 
of February, owing partly to a snow blockade which kejit many 
members from the capital beyond the time of the temporary 
adjournment. James Shields, the regular democratic caucus 
nominee, was placed in nomination by Mr. Graham 5 Abraham 
Lincoln, the idol of the old whigs and strongly anti-Nebraska, 
by Stephen T. Logan; and Lyman Trumbull the nominee of the 
less than half a dozen anti-Nebraska democrats, by John M. 
Palmer. Archibald Williams, W. B. Ogden, Joel A. Matteson, 
Cyrus Edwards and W. B. Kellogg were also put in nomination. 
51 votes were necessary to a choice on joint ballot. On the first. 
Shields received 41, Lincoln 44, Trumbull 5, and the others named 
each 1. On the 7th ballot Shields was out of the field and Mat- 
teson being substituted, received on the 8th 46 votes, the utmost 
strength of the democracy. On the 10th Mr. Lincoln's name was 
withdrawal and the whig vote being concentrated on Mr. Trumbull, 
he received 50 votes direct, and before the result w as announced, 
Mr. Sullivan changed from Williams to Trumbull, electing him by 
just the requisite number. 

Neither persuasion nor menace could move or intimidate the 
Trumbull phalanx of five. Mr. Lincoln, though ambitious of 
senatorial honors, for he had been elected a member of tlie same 
legislature, but supposing he could be elected senator, had resigned 
shortly after; now when it became apparent that he could not suc- 
ceed, he pressed hisfriends to support Mr. Trumbull, which was ulti- 
mately done, (with tears by his old friend. Judge Logan, it is said), 
not that they loved him less, but the cause of freedom demanded 
it. Governor Matteson, though he was not the caucus choice of 
his party, not being in full accord with Douglas on the question of 
harbor and river improvements in the Avest, the levy of tonnage 
duty for this purpose, &c.,the democracy boasted (as was done by 
Mr. Moulton ui)on the floor of the house, notwithstanding their 
knowledge of an anti-Nebraska majority,) that in the last resort 
enough members, influenced by a high regard of personal consid- 

♦ See 111 State Keyister, Jan. 1855. 
+ See the press of the period. 

44 



690 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



eratiou for his excelleucy, would rally to his support and triuiiiph- 
antly elect him. But tliey reckoned without their host.* 

Mr. Trumbull, at the time of his election to the senate of the 
U. S., was about 43 years old. He was born in Connecticut, where 
he received a good education. Subsequently he turned his atten- 
tion to the law and later settled in Illinois to practice his profes- 
sion, which he did with marked success, speedily attaining dis- 
tinction as an able lawyer. In 1840 he was elected to the legisla- 
ture. WhenBougks was elected a supreme judge in 1841, Gov. 
Carliu, resisting legislative dictation, appointed Trumbull to the 
vacant office of secretary of State, over McClernand, but he came 
near being defeated in the senate by the efforts of the latter and 
his friends, out of which grew some ill-feeling. At the opening of 
Gov. Ford's administration, he incurred the displeasure of that func- 
tionary by opposing his policy toward the State banks, causing his 
dismissal from office. The same year and the following one, he 
sought the congressional nomination in the Belleville district, 
but failing, upon the meeting of the legislature he aspired to 
the senatorial nomination against James Scrapie, the governor's 
appointee, and failed again. In 184G his name appears among the 
candidates for governor, but failed through the intluence of Gov. 
Ford, and on account of his opposition to the canal. He imme- 
diately sought and obtained the candidacy for congress in the 
Belleville district, but was defeated by over 2,000 majority, though 
the district was largely democratic. As a politician Trumbull 
lacked that hearty and cordial geniality of manner which wins 
popularity among the masses. His intercourse with the people, if 
not formal, left the impression joH reserve, and his nature was re- 
pellant rather than magnetic. But no such disadvantage obtained 
with him in regard to politicians — over such as might be reached 
by the force of intellect he ever exercised a large intluence. How- 
ever, after these repeated trials for place, in 1848 he was elected 
one of the supreme judges under the new constitution, which 
office he resigned July 4, 1853, on account of insufficient salary. 
By nature, study and habit he was admirably titted for thebench; 
with a miud strong, clear and penetrating, which, while it inclined 
to detail, never lost its broad grasp of principle — here he was 
capacitated for great eminence. He was an able, searching and 
comprehensive constitutional pleader. He was ever a strenuous 
and ultra democrat, but in 1854, unable to brook the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise, he opposed his party upon that question, 
and was in November elected to congress as an anti-Nebraska 
democrat, which place he resigned to accept the senatorship. 

His record in congress, which is national, and not our province 
to give, stands veryhigh. He was for many years the able chair- 
man of the judiciary committee, and few congressional acts of 
importance but what bear the impress of his lar i^eaching mind. 
As an orator he was dej^'oid of imagery and ornateness of diction, 

* The whigs for a long- time felt sore over the defeat of Mr. Lincoln and the forcing 
of an obnoxious candidate upon them by the arbitrary conduct of only 5 men. In 
1856 the Hon .J. H. Matheny, a whig, in a Filmore speech at Petersburg-, using: most 
scathing language toward Mr. Trumbull, boldly charged a pre-arranged bargain be- 
tween all the anti-Nebraska elements to the effect that Trumbull was to he elected to 
consrress, which was done : that the abolitionists were to have the offices on the con- 
venTng ol the legislature, which they got; and that the whigs were to have the U. S- 
senator, which they did not get. The charge was denied at the time by a brother-in- 
law of Mr. Trumbull, and in 18.58, Mr. Lincoln, during his senatorial canvass with Mr 
Douglas, in his speech at Charleston characterized it as a " cock and bull story." 



SENATORS IN CONGEESS. 691 

but as a close, clear, compact and systematic thinker, with an 
excellent memory, a wide acquaintance of public affairs, and an 
extensive knowledge of the law, he was the niost formidable de- 
bater of the august senate. As a practical expounder of the 
principles of his party, he eclipsed Mr. Seward. He ever bad 
been a hard student, but notwithstanding his mental labor, until 
his retirement he bore his three-score years well.* 

DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN. 

Senatorial Canqmiffn of 1S5S. — The contest between these gen- 
tlemen for a seat in the U. S. senate is not only the most memorable 
in the annals of Illinois, but involving great national issues at the 
time, assumed a scope beyond the mere personal success of the 
contestants, and an importance which arrested publi« attention 
from all parts of the Union. Douglas was the leading representa- 
tive man of the democracy, and Lincoln being pitted against him, 
became the same for the republican party. It was called the battle 
ot the giants, and results grew out of it, both as relates to the men 
concerned and the principles involved, the most momentous to the 
nation since its foundation was laid in the blood of the Eevolution. 

To appreciate this contest fully we are compelled to i^resent a 
short view of the status of parties at the time. 

The all-absorbing political question was that of slavery. Since 
the day that Whitney invented the cotton-gin, slave labor had 
gradually become so profitable that the whole south favored the 
enlargement of its territorial area, and so far as the south, acting 
as a unit, could control the democratic party, it was pro-slavery. 
To this was arrayed in sectional antagonism the new republican 
party, which, while it professed to be anti-slavery only as to ex- 
tending the territorial area of slavery, had through sympathy 
swept into its ranks as co-workers all the old abolition element of 
the country. Between these two, thus presenting a dangerous 
sectional issue, it was attemi^ted to interpose the broad national 
doctrine of non-intervention, or as it was called, popular sovereignty', 
of which Mr. Douglas was the acknowledged champion. This prin- 
ciple, honestly apx)lied to the organization of the territories, and 
fairly carried out, offeied the oidy peaceable solution for the fierce 
sectionalism of the period. But this plausible theory was practically 
subjected to the grossest abuses. Kansas and ifebraska had been 
organized ujion it, but no sooner done than emigrant aid societies 
were formed throughout the north sending thither men armed with 
Sharp's rides to locally organize the territory in the interests of 
freedom, while the slaveholders of the south with their emissaries 
pressed over the borders to effect the first organization in the in- 
terests of slavery. Two parties with totally opposite views thus 
strove for supremacy in a new country where there was no legal 
restraint imjiosed upon them, and it is not strange that collision and 
an actual border war followed. 

[* Gov. Matteson refused Mi*. Trumbull his certificate of election as senator ia 
1855, because the constitution provided that " the judges of the supreme and circuit 
courts shall not be eligible to any office or public trust in this State or the United 
States during- the term for which they are elected, nor for one year thereafter." 
But the senate of the U. S., when the question was raised, held that it was the judge 
of the qualification of its members, a right which no State law, either organic or statu- 
tory, could take away or circumscribe.] 



692 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

While the south viewed poi^nlar sovereignty as the short cut to 
all the ends of abolitionism, the democratic party, of which, by its 
unity it was the controlling party at Cincinnati in national conven- 
tion assembled, solemnly afltirmed it as its creed. Mr. Buchanan, 
its nominee, in his letter of acceptance said "that the people of a 
territory, like those of a State, shall decide for themselves whether 
slavery shall or shall not exist within their limits." The nation 
gave its confidence to these fair promises only to be deceived. 
After Buchanan's accession to power, with a cabinet mainly of 
southern 'men about him, he threw off the mask, and in his mani- 
festo to the i^ew England memorialists, said : "slavery- existed at 
that period — when the Kansas-Nebraska bill was passed — and 
still exists in Kansas under the constitution of thelJ. S. This point 
has at last been decided by the highest tribunal known to our 
laws [alluding to the Dred Scott decision]. How it could have 
been seriously doubted is a mystery." 

During the summer of 1857 was concocted in Kansas the infa- 
mous Lecorapton constitution. After the election of the pro-slavery 
delegates — the free State men not voting — and when the character 
of their work was well anticipated, rumors were current that the 
president would sustain it ; and after the adoption of its iiro- 
slavery Clause by a largely fraudulent vote, in which all the great 
historic names of the country, from George Washington down, 
were recoi-ded in its favor — the free State men not voting at all, 
because the constitution proper, which also recognized slavery, 
was not submitted — upon the meeting of congress he boldly and 
in shameless defiance of his previous pledges to the country, urged 
the admission of Kansas under this fraud.* He made it the test 
of pa^ty fealty, and brought to bear in its favor the full power of 
his official patronage. Douglas, in a speech at Milwaukee, in 
1860, says : 

" If you look into the Lecomptou constitution you will find that the 
original document made Kansas a slave State, and tb(m the scliedule 
submitted another slavery clause to the people to vote for or against ; if 
they voted for it, Kansas was a slave State, and if they voted against it 
still it was a slave State. When I reached Washington, three days before 
the meeting of congress, I went directly to the president, and had a talk 
with him upon this subject, in which I informed him, as a friend, not to 
send the constitution into congress for acceptance. I told him that it 
was a violation of every jjledge we liad made to the people ; a violation 
of the fundamental principles of the democratic part}-, and a violation 
of the principles of all parties in all republican governments; because it 
was an attempt to force a constitution upon an unwilling people. He 
begged me not to say anything upon the subject until we should hear the 
news as to how the vote stood on the slavery clause. The vote, you re- 
member, was to be taken on the slavery clause on the 21st of December, 
three or four weeks subsequent to this convention. I told the president 
that if he would withhold his recommendation until the vote was taken 
on tiiat clause I would witlihold my speech against the measure. He 
said lie must recommend it in his message, and 1 replied that if he did, 
I would denounce it the moment his message was read. At last the 
president became somewhat excited upon the subject, and he arose and 
said to me : 'Mr. Douglas, I desire you to remember that no democrat 

* "My political life has no greater error to atone tor than my neglect to crush this 
reptileof Penusylvania when I had him in my power. He was the cause of a bitter 
war between two men of this republic (Clay and Jacljson,) who should not have been so 
estranged. His representations caused the charge of 'bargain and sale.' and when 
brought home to him he meanly left me to face it. Friends interfered to save him from 
being exposed, and I listened to them."— Jackson's opinion of Buchanan, expressed 
to Moses Dawson in 1837. See Washington Republic. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 093 

ever yet differed from an administration of liis own clioice without being 
crushed.' Then he added : 'Beware of the fate of Tallmadge and Rivers.' 
I arose and said : 'Mr. President, I wish you to remember tliat General 
Jackson is dead, sir.' From that day to tliis he and I have been trying 
the question wlaetlier General Jackson is dead. And one thing is certain 
— the people of Illinois decided in 1858 that James Buchanan was not 
General Jackson." 

At the opeuing- of congress in the fall of 1857, the slave propa- 
gandists, assured of the powerful aid of the executive, proclaimed 
loudly that Kansas must be admitted under the Lecompton con- 
stitution unconditionally, supplemented with their oft repeated 
threats of disunion. But the great champion of popular sover- 
eignty, unwilling to do this violence, both to the laAV of his country 
and the pledges of his party, now promptly stepped forward and 
fought the battle of freedom for Kansas, almost single-handed of 
his party Id the senate, but well seconded in the house by the 
democrats of the Illinois delegation, ably led by the lamented 
Thomas L. Harris. In disregard of old and dear party ties, the 
popular sovereignty democrats stood side by side with the repub- 
licans in congress, and the recreant president with his disunion 
allies were defeated dn their outrageous scheme to force slavery 
on the unwilling people of Kansas. 

From a volume entitled " Our Living Eepreseutative Men," by 
John Savage, we copy a few graphic sentences describing a mem- 
orable scene in the United States senate, on the occasion of Mr. 
Douglas delivering his celebrated anti-Lecomptou speech, March 
22, 1858. Besides citizens from all parts of the Union and mem- 
bers of the house, the dignitaries and representatives of foreign 
courts at Washington were in atendauce : 

"If the immense mass of people who crowded the galleries, the 
lobbies, the stairways and the ante-rooms of the senate is any evidence 
of interest in the question of debate, then Kansas is the most interest- 
ing topic of the day. * * Senator Douglas entered the chamber just 
after a fainting lady had been carried out of the gallery. * * He was 
congratulated by men of all parties, and soon was engaged in an earnest 
confab with Green, upon whose spirits, liowever, the Little Giant did 
not seem to make any especial change. * * * * 

"Gwin and Seward rose simultaneously and moved to admit the ladies 
to the floor of the senate, and a perfect flood of beauty poured into the 
chamber. The appearance of Senator Douglas was the token for a round 
of applause. The sigiit must have been as deeply gratifying to him as 
it was entrancing to that mother and daughter, Mrs. Douglas and her 
mother, who, from the reporters' gallery, looked upon the scene with 
that anxious pleasure which tells the physiognomist that they, of all 
the gay and brilliant crowd, had the deepest interest in it. For three 
hours Senator Douglas spoke— he warmed up by degrees, lifting the 
head and heart of the multitude with him, until one almost felt as if 
he were in Europe during the revolutions, listening to some powerful 
tribune of the people expounding their riglits and inspiring them to 
such action as made America a republic. He went througli his public 
coui'se. The period embraced some of the most prominent and vital acts 
in tlie history of American politics. He showed — not as a defence, but 
in a proud, manly, and almost defiant spirit — what his acts had been ; 
he echoed his own words ; he was proud of his deeds — deeds and words 
which were recognized portions of the policy of the democratic party. 

"As he proceeded, with emphatic and measured dignity, to define his 
position in the present crisis — what the duty of a senator from a sover- 
eign State was, and the responsibility he owed to the people whose voice 
culminate in him — he held the multitude chained with that peculiar 
eloquence which, based on common sense and the rights of man, reaches 
its destination without the aid of winged rhetoric. Such eloquence 



694 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

does not dazzle, it convinces; it does not stretch the fancy, but solidifies 
the head ; it does not hold the breath, but makes one breathe freer, for 
it cheers the heart. 

"The great burst of applause which broke from the galleries and rolled 
over the chamber was a nobler testimony to the principles enunciated 
by the eloquent senator than might be written. He was there the 
defender of the people, the representative of the State, and not the 
vassal of the executive, nor the valet of the administration, to do its 
bidding without consulting their own judgment or the intei'ests of the 
people. He stood forth as the champion of State sovereignty. He 
grew in enthusiasm with the progress of his subject, and the effect was 
electric." 

Thus was conveyed a lesson which should have taught the chief 
magistrate of this uation that there may be poi^ular leaders more 
powerful than the executive, with all bis enormous patronage at 
Ms back ; but bis perception was blinded by mortification, and 
he looked only to revenge, and for this purpose pursued Douglas, 
who looked forward to a renewed senatorial term at the ensuing 
session of the legislature, with all his ofiticial power and patronage, 
into Illinois. 

The adherents of the president in this State, the federal officers 
and appointees, and other recipients of his bounty and favors, 
joined by the broken down politicians and place hunters, whose 
future depended not upon the preservation but rather the de- 
struction of the democratic party, and also those moved by envy 
or hatred of the "Little Giant," were rallied and thoroughly organ- 
ized. A few democratic newspapers yielded to subsidy, but more 
were directly established ; and itinerant orators were employed to 
perambulate the State through its length and breadth. The adher- 
ents of the president weie designated as Danites. A secret 
politico-militarj^ order in Kansas, of whose fearful oaths and 
frightful doings, horrid accounts had been published, was 
denounced in congress by Mr. Douglas, and characterized as an 
imitation of a cut-throat Mormon band, called Dauites. One of 
the reputed leaders of the Kansas order was employed in Illinois 
as a general post office agent, in which capacity he traversed the 
State constantly, notoriously doing more to organize the adminis- 
tration opposition against Douglas, by threats of dismissal or intim- 
idation, than ferreting out government delinquencies. 

The democracy of Illinois met in convention at Springfield, 
April 21, 1858, to nominate candidates for State treasurer and 
superintendent of public instruction, and j)articularly to declare 
its status with regard to the great question of variance between 
the president and Senator Douglas. In 97 of the 101 counties 
resolutions had already been passed by the democracy, approving 
the course of the IHinois delegation in congress upon this Lecomp- 
ton question. Two conventions met at the appointed time and 
place, both claiming to represent the true democracy of the State, 
one sustaining popular sovereignty and approving the course of 
our delegation in congress during the Lecompton struggle, the 
other endorsing the administration and repudiating Douglas as 
affiliating with republicans. The latter was but sparingly attended, 
the representation being from 24 counties, and its proceedings 
were somewhat spiritless. John Dougherty (since lieutenant 
governor) presided. Ike Cook, a Chicago postmaster, was chief 
manager, and Dr. Leroy, John L. McCounel, E. B. Carpenter and 
B. F. Blackburn were the speakers. As it was partly composed 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 695 

of seceders, uo ticket was made, and au adjournment till tlie 9tli 
of June was Lad, wlien it met again with a somewhat larger 
attendance. John DougLerty was iioniinated for treasurer, and 
ex-Gov. John Eeynolds for State school sui)erintendent, both by 
acclamation. The "nationals" met with much encouragement 
iVom the republicans, but now, in their long platform of priuci- 
l»les, they paid their resi)ects to them as follows: We deem the 
principles and policy of the black lepublicans as utterly o^^posed 
to the spirit in which the Union was formed, and the success of 
that party would be disastrous to its prosperity — which was not 
so palatable to the latter. The i)resident was very much dissat- 
isfied with these meagre and spiritless affairs ; county meetings 
and district conventions were therefore held, and administratiou 
legislative tickets were generally put in the field with the hope of 
diverting votes enough to carry the State for the rei)ublicans. 

The regular democratic convention was largely attended, 84 
counties being fully represented, embracing more of the eminent 
and distinguished men of the State than was common on such 
occasions. Ex-Lieut. Gov. John Moore presided. The ticket 
made was W. B. Fondey for treasurer, and ex-Gov. French for 
superintendent of public iustructiou. While the resolutions of 
the cou^■entiou were firm in their tone, they did not openly and 
decisively mention Douglas by name and applaud his course, nor 
did they condemn the president in direct terms. It was sought 
rather to avoid an open rupture with the administration. A reso- 
lution offered by Judge Drummond, '-That this convention view 
M'ith regret the course pursued by the present administration in 
removing good men from office for the expression of opinions upon 
any given proposition," was, upon motion of Judge O. C. Skinner, 
prompt!}' laid on the table. This looks like a piece of arrant 
truckling to an arbitrary and recreant president. It was hoped 
that the Kansas troubles would prove evanescent and that party 
unity would be preserved. The convention did not nominate or 
recommend Mr. ])ouglas as the senatorial candidate, as did the 
rei)ublicaus Mr. Lincoln, some time after. But his candidacy was 
generally conceded. There were other aspirants in the demo- 
cratic ranks, but when it was perceived what herculean blows 
were requisite in the fight, the field was left by common con sent to 
the Little Giant. 

But with the efforts and exceptions mentioned, the democracy 
generally, both press and people, sustained Senator Douglas. 
During the darkest hour of the Lecompton struggle, the republi- 
can press, layiug aside party, heartily praised the course of Doug- 
las and his colleagues of the house for their noble stand in vindi- 
cation of law and popular right, against the slave oligarchy, with 
a treacherous president at its head. During the canvass Mr. 
Greeley, a warm admirer of the character of Douglas, however he 
Nvarred against his political principles, held the following language 
in the Kew York Tn&t<?ie regarding his or Mr. Lincoln's success: 

"There is a coutiugency iu which even he [Mr. Liucoln] might be 
-elected, that would cause such election to be viewed with regret by 
republicans in other States. * * We allude to secret coalition between 
republican leaders and the little faction of postmasters, tide-waiters and 
federal office seekers, who, for the sake of their dirty jxiddiug, present 
and hoped for, pretend to approve the Lecompton fraud, and are now 
hounding on the track of Senator Douglas. Any conspiring or conniv- 



696 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

iug with this pack on the part of republicans of Illinois, no matter by 
what name glossed, under what pretext veiled, would be regarded by 
republicausln other States with jDrofound disfavor." 

Of Douglas, lie held the following language : 

"They have seen him separate himself from a triumphant and almost 
invincible administration, which had honors to dispense and millions 
to disburse, braving the denunciations of party organization and party 
progress, which have for 20 years borne him onward from triumph 
to triumph, and from indigence and obscurity to opulence and dis- 
tinction — they have seen him incur the deadly and unquenchable 
hatred of the slave power, blasting in a moment all the reasonable hopes 
of obtaining the presidency through the machinery and spell of the 
derriocratic party. * * When a statesman so high in position, in power, 
in hopes, separates himself from a triumphant majority to fight a 
momentous hattle on the side of a minority, to whom he had always 
stood in deadly opposition, it is scarcely reasonable to attribute that 
change to any motive which does not honor his conscientiousness and 
his courage. And it seems to us particularly ungracious in those to 
whom he has lent the weight of his powerful arm to unite with his 
and their implacable enemies, in disparaging his motives, belittling his 
influence, and paralyzing his exertions. * * However pointed may be 
our future differences, we shall never forget that in the Lecompton 
struggle he proved faithful, in defiance of great temptation, not to our 
principles but to his own. * * If this course was taken, the conse- 
quences braved by Mr. Douglas, solely upon the strength of his convic- 
tions of right, and of the moral weight of the pledges given in the 
Nebraska bill and the Cincinnati platform, no public man in our day 
has evinced a nobler fidelity and courage." 

But this out-spoken approval of Douglas' course by the republi- 
can press outside of the State was bitterly and defiantly resisted 
in Illinois. The administration organs had read him and his fol- 
lowers out of the democratic party, and the reflection had been 
indulged that he might find a lodging place in the republican, but 
the press of the latter party, knowing well the man, scouted this 
as an egregious fallacy. Their political hatred of their old foe was 
revived with all its former animosity, and they proclaimed that 
there was no conflict into wiiich the republicans of Illinois entered 
so heartily, so thoroughly, so unitedly as this. They desired to 
be avenged on him with an intensity not to be appreciated by 
outsiders, and for the purpose in hand asked to be let alone in 
the fight by the sentimental philosophers and enthusiasts abroad.* 
The feeblest efforts, sayings and purposes of the Buchanan men, to 
divide the democracy of the State, were greedily taken up, paraded 
before the public and heralded abroad in a magnificent form. 
The strange anomaly was exhibited of a most persistent praise 
and flattery bestowed by the republicans upon the slave party^ 
while those who had in congress stood side by side with them in 
the defeat of the Lecompton iniquity, received only their abuse 
and slander. All this to promote the schism in the democratic 
party, and redound to the benefit of their own. 

The State reiniblican convention met at Springfield, June 15,1858 
and was organized by selecting ex-Lieut.-Gov. Koerner as president. 
It was largel.y attended, 87 counties being represented, and much 
enthusiasm was exhibited. James Miller, the then incumbent, was 
re-nominated for treasurer without opposition. For the candidacy 
of the office of superintendent of public instruction ten names 
were presented. The second ballot showed the contest to lie be- 

*See Chicago papers of June, 1858. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. G97 

tweeu W. H. Powell, the then iiicnmbeiit, and Newton Batemau, 
of Morgan, who on the third ballot received the nomination. 

In their declaration of principles they "disclaimed all intention 
of attempting', either directly or indirectly, to assail or abridge the 
rights of any of the members of the confederacy guarantied by the 
constitution, or in au}' manner to interfere with the institution of 
slavery in the States where it existed." They denounced the ad- 
ministration ; differed with the decision of the U. S. supreme court 
in the Dred Scott case ; maintainetl the right of congress to pro- 
hibit slavery in the territories, and its duty to exercise it; approved 
the then recent decision of the supreme court of Illinois declaring 
that property in persons was repugnant to the constitution, and 
that slavery was the creature of local or municipal law. Charles 
L. Wilson offered a resolution, which was unanimously adopted 
amidst shouts of applause : " That Abraham Lincoln is the first 
and only choice of the republicans of Illinois for the U. S. senate, 
as the successor of Stephen A. Douglas." 

Douglas and Lincoln. — These two most eminent and illustri- 
ous men of Illinois and of the nation deserve at our hands some- 
what more extended biographical sketches than are generally 
given in this work, which we deem it proper to make before pro- 
ceeding to detail their great contest for senatorial honors. 

Stephen Arnold Douglas — w^as born April 23, 1813, at Brandon, 
Vermont, "a good State to emigrate from," as he has said. His 
father, who died when Stei)hen was an infant of 3 months, was a 
physician of considerable eminence, and a native of New York. 
His grandfather was a Pennsylvaiiian, and a soldier in the Revo- 
lution, being with Washington at Valley Forge and at Yorktown. 
His great grandfather was also native born, but the remote ancestry 
was from Scotland, and, it has been said, traceable to the blood of 
the Douglas. In youth Stephen received the ordinary school 
education of his native State, and was an apt and diligent pupil. 
At 15, unable to gratify an ardent desire to prepare for college, 
owing to his mother's straightened circumstances, he apprenticed 
himself to the cabinet trade. In 18 months afterwards, finding it 
too hard for his coustitntion, he abandoned it and entered the 
academy at Brandon. The following- year, his mother having 
married a Mr. Granger, whose son had previously nmrried his 
eldest sister, the family removed to Canandaigua, N. Y. Here 
Stephen resumed his academical course, and also commenced to 
read law. At the age of 20 he started west to seek an eligible 
location. At Cleveland he was long detained by sickness. Kecov- 
ering, he went to Cincinnati, and thence by river to St. Louis, 
finding his way, late in the fall of 1833, to the village of Winches- 
ter, Scott county, Illinois, whither he walked from Jacksonville, 
in quest of a school to teach, his excheqner being reduced to 37^ 
cents. His first work was clerking at a vendue, which yielded him 
$6, but he obtained, shortly after, a school of 40 pupils at $3 a 
quarter. He kept up his law studies meanwhile, and the following 
March was admitted to the bar by the supreme court sitting at 
Vandalia. He now betook himself to the practice of the law, and 
speedily won distinction in his profession. Within a year of his 
admission to the bar, before he was 22 years old, he was chosen by 



C98 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tbe legislature attoruey general of the State. In 1836 be was 
elected to the legislature from Morgan county, being the youngest 
member in that tjody. At this session the internal improvement 
folly of the State was entered upon. In 1837 he was appointed by 
Van Buren register of the land office at Springheld. The same 
year he was nominated for congress, and at the election of August, 
1838, came within 5 votes of an election out of 30,000 cast, his op- 
ponent being the Hon. John T. Stuart, whig. He now devoted 
himself assiduously to his new profession, and i)roved himself an 
able lawyer and successful advocate. His tact and skill in the 
examination of witnesses was unrivaled. In 1840 he entered with 
gieat ardor into the exciting presidential campaign, canvassing 
the State thoroughly, by addressing 207 meetings in faA or of Van 
Buren. Upon the meeting of the legislature in December of that 
year, he was appointed secretary of State by Gov. Carl in, who was 
unable to withstand the pressure in his favor. During the session, 
from partisan motives, the supreme court was reorganized, in 
which Douglas took an active part through ]obl)y addresses, &c., 
and was also elected to a seat upon the bench, rendering the 
court democratic. The supreme judges had to perform circuit 
duty, Douglas being assigned to the Quincy district. 

In the 4th volume of the "Law Reporter," Boston, 1842, may be 
found a letter from a lawyer, who had enjigrated to Illinois, giv- 
ing the following description of him on the bench : 

"The judge of our circuit is S. A. Douglas, a youth of 28, who was the 
democratic caudidate for congress in 1838, in oppositiou to [J. T.] Stuart, 
the late member. He is a Vermonter, a man of considerable talent, and, 
in the way of despatching business, is a perfect 'steam engine in breech- 
es.' This dispatch is the only benefit our circuit will derive from the 
change. He is the most democratic judge I ever knew. While a case is 
going on he leaves the bench and goes among the people, and among the 
members of the bar, takes a cigar and nas a social smoke with them, or 
often sitting in their laps, being in person say five feet nothing, or there- 
abouts, and probably weighing about 100 pounds. I have often thought 
we should cut a queer figure if one of our Suffolk bar should accidental- 
ly drop in." 

But Douglas' manners upon the bench were unexceptional. He 
was studious, clear, comprehensive and expeditious, and it maj- be 
said that a more popular judge never wore the ermine in this 
State, notwithstanding his youth and slight tigure. 

In 1843 he was first elected to congress by a majority of about 
400. He was twice re-elected, his majority being increased each 
time — the last time to 3,000; In the lower house he is said to 
have been cautious and sparing of debate, studious and closely 
observant, and when he did arise for a sjieech it was apt, forcible, 
and to the purpose. His early education was not so thorough and 
scholastic as it might have been, as he well knew, but this fact 
could never have been gathered from his speeches. Ashamed to 
be either ruiinformed or misinformed, he was a studious toiler 
throughout his busy and boisterous political life, amidst all its 
engrossing cares and unceasing occupation, and a wide and varied 
reader of history and its kindred of i^olitics and law. Contact 
with i^ublic aifairs gave scope to his understanding and depth to 
his judgment, and his knowledge became vast, comjDlete and 
accurate. One of his first masterly efforts in congress to attract 
national att«4ition, was his speech on the bill to refund to Gen. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 099 

Jackson the fine imposed upon bini for ijlaciny ISTew Orleans under 
martial law at the time of the battle in its defence on the 8th of 
J / S' January, 1812, The venerable hero of that glorious event subse- 
quently thaii"ked Douglas for this able vindication, saying; *'I knew 
when I proclaimed and enforced martial law that I was doing 
right 5 but never, until I read your speech, could I express the 
reasons which actuated my conduct." 

lu 1847 Douglas entered the senate, which was the arena of his 
herculean labors. His name, young as he was, became speedily 
associated with the great national issues which affected the des- 
tiny of this people. He moulded and gave them direction in pub- 
lic affairs. Between the aggressions of the south and the resist- 
ance of the north over the angry subject of slavery in our terri- 
tories, it has been said that there is no escape from the conclusion 
that the genius of Douglas offered the only peaceable solution of 
a common national ground upon which all could meet in the theory 
of territorial sovereignty. To it, through his labors, the demo- 
cratic party was committed in 1856, gained a triumph at the polls 
and then was basely betrayed by Buchanan and the south. But 
Douglas was true and faithful to it to the last and defended it 
whenever and wherever assailed. And while he was personally 
pursued by bitter, implacable, open i^olitical opponents, his dar- 
ling idea, which was empire or ruin with him, was most grossly 
betrayed by perfidious friends w^ho rode into power upon it. 
The most striking peculiarity in the physique of Mr. Douglas 
' was his stature, which was greatly below the medium higlit — not 
above 5 feet. His trunk was ample, compact and erect, with full 
chest and square, well defined, though not broad shoulders; but 
his extremities were disproportionately short. In the latter years 
of his life he grew stout, though not obese. His figure would have 
been fatal to the divinity of the Apollo Belvidere. While his 
diminutive stature would arrest attention, his facile and natural 
dignity of manner, not to say grace, with an air as if born to 
command, w^ould cause idle curiosity in the contemplation of his 
person to pass into speedy forgetfulness by the respect and 
attention which he inspired. His splendid head, covered with a 
heavy suit of dark hair, nicely poised upon his shoulders and 
connected by a short neck, was massive in its brain development, 
conveying, "under animation, the impression of almost infinite 
power. The ample forehead was squarely built up over the wide 
arches of his heavy brows, under which rolled a pair of large, 
restless, deep-set, dark blue eyes, capable of shooting out glances 
of electric fire, when under the impulse of the powerful brain 
battery back of them. His nose was broad and short, with flaring 
nostrils, denoting coolness and courage. At its junction with the 
projecting forehead it left a peculiar transverse crease. His mouth 
was ample, cleanly cut, with lips finely arched, the whole evincing 
decision, and by the depressionat the angles conveying a mingled 
idea of sadness and disdain. His chin, backed by a firm jaw, 
squared well to the general outline of his face, indicating ardor, 
strength and vigor. He wore no beard, but presented smoothly 
shaven cheeks and handsome throat with slight double-chin. The 
general contour of his face was regular, and its muscles wonder- 
fully mobile, giving a pleasing and winning countenance; his 
complexion, though somewhat dark, with his usually good health, 



700 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

was clear ; the exuberance of bis animal spirits was extraordinary. 
He- was of the vital temperament. Such is a brief physical 
description of the "Little Giant."* 

As an orator Douglas possessed the peculiar magnetism of 
imi)arting to his auditory the hue of his sentiments and views — 
swaying their will or directing their sensibility at pleasure. He 
affected no senatorial airs, betrayed no aristocratic spirit, but 
naturally and easily identified himself with the democracy. He 
had been the genial comi^anion of mayy an early pioneer, and his 
intimate knowledge of the people and sympathy with them, 
enabled him on the stump to convey to their common understand- 
ing, in their own accustomed vehicles of thought, his reasoning 
upon the i)olitical questions of the day, often enlbrcing and clinch- 
ing an argument to those who remembered the frontier times by a 
peculiar border figure, carrying conviction to their minds as 
evinced by a spontaneous outburst of applause at frequent inter- 
vals. But his most inseparable attributes were rapidity and bold- 
ness of thought, and his dexterity in debate — of which he became 
a consummate master — cropped out in early life, giving i^romise 
of unequaled power in his first efforts on the stump. He had the 
faculty of summoning all his mental resources with a promptitude 
which served admirably the occasion, even if required instantly 
in reply to a powerful antagonist in the senate. Therefore, while 
his forte lay to a certain extent in his matchless power upon the 
hustings, he swayed a no less power in the caucus or the august 
senate. His manner of treating a subject was bold and inde- 
pendent, always striking the hard and strong points. To halt- 
ing friends he appeared at times to be overbearing; and there 
was a vein of cold irony in his nature which, with a defiant tone 
in his remarks, a haughty manner and a curling of the lip, sunk 
deep into the heart of an enemy. Energy and activity, courage 
and fortitude, were of the essence of his nature. The assaults 
that would excruciate some men only excited a smile of derision 
on his intrepid face. Elastic in both body and mind, he was capa- 
ble of performing an incredible amount of political labor in the 
open field. Thus with sagacity as if inspired by genius, a mind 

* This sobriquet originated verj- early in his public life. In 1833 President Jack- 
son added to his refusal to recharter the U. S. Bank, the removal of the deposits. 
Great was the consternation of the people, and a general panic prevailed. Party feel- 
ing ran extremely high, the president's supporters were unsettled in their views and 
thousands differed with him on these measures, Douglas had just located at Jackson- 
ville and opened a law ofHce in a room in the court-house. The whigs of Morgan 
county, from their number and standing, were arrogant and audacious in their denun- 
ciation of the administration. Douglas mingled freely with the people, who usually 
crowded the county seat on Saturdays, and among them, was outspoken in his appro- 
bation of the acts of the administration. He and the editor of the democratic paper 
at Jacksonville, deeming it advisable to rally the undecided, effect an organizntion of 
the administration party, and define its position, in opposition to the views of many 
friends, called a mass meeting, and prepared a set of resolutions endorsing the bank 
policy of the administration. On the day of the meeting the court house was thronged 
with people of both parties. Douglas being comparativel.v a stranger, declined to offer 
the resolutions, but as it soon became apparent unless he did it would not be done, 
he boldly advanced and read them, following with a few brief explanatory remarks. 
Immediately upon his conclusion, Josiah Lamborn, a whig of great influence and 
oratorical powers, attacked the resolutions and their reader in a severe and caustic 
manner. The blood of Douglas was up; this was his first political effort, but he met 
his antagonist with such arguments, so vehement and effective, that the excitement 
of his friends" reached the highest point of endurance; they cheered, seized, and bore 
him aloft through the crowd and around the pulOic square, in gratitude and admira- 
tion, applying to him such complimentary titles as "hisrh-combed cock,'' "little giant" 
&c., which last, by its peculiar appropriateness, adhered to him to the last. His effort 
that day, in a measure, changed the political destiny of Morgan county. It was long 
remembered, and the old veterans of Morgan always held that Douglas never equaled 
this speech of March, l^i. —Sheahan's Life of Doiiylas. 



SENATORS IN CONaEESS. 701 

matured by careful study, a judgment clear and decisive; a cour- 
age which shiauk from no danger, amounting at times to apparent 
audacity, yet always tempered with discretion; a will to yield to 
no ditiiculty, and unai)i)alled by any obstacle; appreciation of the 
people and the rare faculty to lead them, Douglas was a states- 
man of the very first order.* 

Douglas' speeches contain few rhetorical flourishes. But they 
are models of exact language, orderly and systematic in thought, 
full and comprehensive in grasp. There is never a strained effort 
at mere beauty of word painting. The architecture of his sen- 
tences, as well as the ideas, are solid, massive masonry, with 
broad foundation laid on firm rock, and the details and working 
plans so accurate as to be perfect in their adaptation, with noth- 
ing amiss or foreign and no surplus or waste material. So well 
and thoroughly are his sentences woven together that it is diffi- 
cult to extract from his speeches any separate sentence con- 
veying, text-like, a summary of the whole. While they are complete 
they yet seem parts necessarily connected with the whole. His 

*Rev. W. H. Milburn. 

Note— To further illustrate Douglas' power among' the people, we subjoin a chatty 
but graphic sketch by the editor of the Newburyport (Mass.) Herald (republican), who 
was a fellow passenger in the cars with Mr. Douglas through Illinois on occasion of 
opening the Ohio & Mississippi railroad, and afterwards: 

'That man with a big-, round head, a brow almost as broad as Webster's, and a quick, 
active eye that rolls under the heavy projecting brow, watchingevery other man, and 
not allowing a motion to escape him— with arms too short for his body, which is full and 
round as though it never lacked the juices that supply life; and with small duck legs, 
which, had they grown as thick as his back-bone (and they would, probably, if Provi- 
dence had not foreseen that he would want back-bone more than legs in his battle of 
lite,) would have made him of respectable stature.— that little man is no less than the 
great politician of the west, who has attracted more attention in the last four years 
than any other man of the nation, and done more to give direction to public atfairs 
than even the president, with a million and a half of voters at his back, and the army, 
navy and treasury of North America at his command. It is the 'Little Giant,' Stephen 
A. Douglas, with whom we parted company at Vincennes, and who has slowly come 
along, feeling the public pulse to learn the political health of the 'Suckers' up to 
Springfield, the capital of the State. 

'The means of success in Senator Douglas are very apparent. First, he is really and 
intellectually a great man. Eastern people who view him only as a low politician, 
should disabuse their minds in relation to one who is to exercise a wide influence in 
the affairs of the country, and very probably, for he is yet young, to be the head of the 
republic. He is massive in his conceptions, "broad and comprehensive in his views, and 
in a good measure is endowed with all those powers of mind that make a statesman. 

But he is greater still in energy of character. There are tliose that think that a 
defeat of him next year would be his death in politics ; but the man who sprung from 
a cabinet-maker shop in Vermont, and without father or friend worked his way to an 
honorable place upon the bench of judges, who entered Illinois with less than aO cents 
in money, and not odc cent in credit, and has acquired great wealth, and the highest 
station and influence, is not ready to be whipped out. But if he is great in mind, and 
greater in energy, he is greatest in those winning manners for which the world calls 
him a demagogue. Scarcely a man, woman or child in the cars escaped his attention, 
or passed by unspoken to. At one moment he talks with the old, stern visaged politi- 
cian, who has been soured by a thousand defeats and disappointments : in the next, to 
that well formed and genial Kentuckian, who has just sought a free State ; now he sits 
down with the little girl approaching her teens, and asks of her school studies ; and lie 
pats the little boy on the head, and in presence of his mother and proud father (what 
father is not proud to see his boy noticed '?) says a word of his mild eyes and glossj' 
locks. Again the lady is approached with a fair word and a bland smile, and goes home 
pleased to tell her father how he looks, and then half a dozen are about him, all stand- 
ing together. He can talk religion with ttie priest as well as politics witli the states- 
man; he can congratulate the newly appointed Buchanan office-holder, who has sup- 
phinted his friend, tell the displaced friend of the good time coming, when his wing 
shall be up; and at every station, more regularly than the conductor, Mr. Douglas is 
upon the platform with a good-bye to the leaving, and a welcome to the departing 
traveler— a shake of the hand with one man that stands at the depot, and a touch of 
the hat to another. Ho knows everybody; can tell the question that affects each 
locality : call the name of every farm owner on the way; tell all travelers something 
of the homes they left, that they never knew themselves, and suggest what place 
they deserve in heaven. Now, such a man as that, in contact with everybody, know- 
ing everybody, and at the bottom wrapped up with the one idea of preferment, power 
and dominion among men is not easily to be put down : and his opponents might as well 
believe at once, that when they fight him they fight a strong man— a little giant indeed. 
He would be popular in Boston or anywhere else, and half the "three thousand clergy- 
men' he denounced would have their hearts stolen If he could speak to them a half 
hour. 



702 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



arguments succeed each otliev like the weighty blows of au enor- 
mous triphauniier, shaping the subject in hand ^Aith irresistible 
power, flattening the points opposed to him, and possibly the 
adversary under its mighty tilts. 

In the circle of Washington life, Douglas, with the honors of 
a senator, appeared with a natural grace and dignity rarely 
excelled. At the social board or iu dinner table conversation. 
Col. Forney in his sketches of public men, says : "Douglas was 
almost unrivaled. His repartee was a flash, and his courtesy as 
knightly as if he had beeen born in the best society."* 

Abraham Lincoln. — The life of one who has become so exalted in 
American history as Abraham Lincoln, must ever possess a charm 
to the reader in its minutest detail. But the great acts with which 
his name is associated are national, and it is foreign to the scope 
of this work to give more than a cursory glance at the man as he 
appeared in Illinois. We desire rather to speak of his meagre 
early life, his attributes of person, character and mind — his qual- 
ities of head and heart — as they appeared here, than the great 
events with which he was subsequently connected, however the 
latter may have flown from the former. His broad executive ca- 
pacity, so suddenly developed under great trials, constituting the 
sublimest events iu our history; his fidelity to the right, and his 
courage and firmness which grew out of that, it may here be said, 
were not without astonishment to those who knew him best iu 
Illinois, and who imagined that they comprehended all that was 
to be learned of his character.! Possibly it was so to himself. The 
great lesson of man — know thyself — is ever least understood. 

The most striking contrast between Mr. Lincoln and his antag- 
onist for senatorial honors, was in their physical appearance. It 
would be difficult to find two men with the requisite capacity for 
so exalted a position, more opposite in physical development than 
these. Mr. Douglas, as we have seen, was low of stature, scarce 5 
feet, erect, with trunk large and rotund, and extremities unduly 
short. Mr. Lincoln, on the other hand, was tall, exceeding 6 feet, 
spare, angular body, with a slight forward inclination, extremities 
long and lank, the upper terminating in huge hands and the lower 
in large feet. His shoulders, of medium breadth, drooped slightly 
forward, giving him the appearance of being hollow-breasted. As it 
is a fact, it is not derogatory to say of him that his appearance was 
somewhat ungainly. He was of the nervous bilious temperament. 
His head, covered with thick nmsses of dark hair, was large, with 
a receding but ample forehead, well and prominently developed 
at its base, and under the arched and projecting brows rolled his 
clear, dark-blue eyes of more than medium size, with a mild and 
benignant expression, speaking the sympathetic soul within. His 
nose was his most prominent facial organ — high, thin, straight, 
neither long nor short, — a fine nose, expressive of even force of 
character. His ample mouth, while it indicated enough of decision 
and strength of will, was totally devoid of anything like disdainful 
expression. It would have been difficult for Mr. Lincoln, capable 
as he was to express in his face inimitable grotesqueness, to have 
curled his lip in contempt, defiance or disdain. His chin, mostly 

•Wa«tiington Sunday Chronicle , 1872. 

+See Gov. Palmex-'s funeral address at the reburial of Bissell's remains, May 31, 1871. 



SENATOKS IN CONGRESS. 703 

covered with whiskers, was of fair prominence; though it kiclced 
that squareness which gives a full and agreeable development to 
the lower face, while at the same time it is indicative of ardency and 
combativeness — it was not the military chin. His cheeks were gaunt, 
and the general outline of his face, as has been aptly said, was that 
of craggy grandeur. It wore a habitual expression of sadness ; 
yet his countenance could beam with a kindliness of heart which 
gave license for the approach of the humblest, and revealed a large- 
ness of soul replete with a charitable and forgiving disposition. 
His health, though never apparently robust, was uniformlj- good, 
and he was capable of great physical endurance. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in La Eue (now Hardin) county 
Kentucky, about 2 miles south of the village of Hoginsville, Feb- 
ruary 12th, 1809. (He was thus the senior of his competitor by 4 
years.) Here his father had taken up a land claim of 300 acres, 
rough, broken and i)oor, containing a tine spring, known to this 
day as the "Linkum Sj)ring." Unable to pay for the unproductive 
laud, the claim was abandoned, and the family moved froin place 
to place in the neighborhood, being very destitute. These removals 
occurring while Abraham was scarcely more than an infant, has 
given rise to different statements as to the exact jjlace of his birth. 
It is said that in that part of Kentucky four places now claim the 
honor. In 1816 the family started westward, following the Ohio 
river, and settling in Spencer county, Indiana. Two years later 
the mother died, and also an only sister; tiie thriftless father 
married again, and Abraham worked in the neighborhood on 
farms, and in clearing away the dense forest underwent the sturdy 
discipline of toil. He received the meagre education which the 
new country afforded, but his boyhood had few advantages of 
culture, and he was emphatically self-made.* "I have not a fine 
education ; I am not capable of entering into a disquisition ui»on 
dialectics, I believe you call it" — he hinjself complained in his 
Chicago speech in answer to Douglas at the opening of the sena- 
torial canvass in 1858. He was of, and grew up among, the com- 
mon peoi»le, the hard-handed yeomanry of toil. His warm and 
benevolent lieart was thus early taught to sympathize with labor, 
and later his brain appreciated the importance of its freedom. 

He grew to manhood rapidly, and such were his qualities of 
head that before he attained to majority he was employed as 
supercargo to take a Hat-boat Iwad of produce to ISTew Orleans, 
which he did giving full satisfaction. In 1830 the family removed 
to Illinois, settling on the south side of the north fork of the San- 
gamon river, 10 miles southwest of Decatur, in Macon county. 
Here young Lincoln spent his first winter in Illinois, during which 
he aided in building for the famil}" a cabin, stables and other 
buildings; mauled and split rails, cleared and fenced in 10 acres 
of ground. From this place the rails which played so important 
apart in the campaign of 1860 were procured.t The ibllowing 
* it is asserted tliathe learned to cipher on a smooth clap board by thelig-htof a 
cabin fire after g'ettiug tlirouirh with the day's labor, M'hile worlvoig on the Crew farm 
inlndiana. When the board was written over with flg-iires, recourse was had to a draw- 
ing knife to shave it down, and with the clean surface thus presented it was ready 
for further use. The boolvs that he could get to read were very few, but the Bible 
was evidently one of them. 

+One Charles Hanlis, a cousin on the mother's side, who had all the time lived within 
two and a half miles of this place, published in 1860 a letter saying, that 5 years after- 
ward the entire fence was burned up, and that he helped to build a new one; but hia 
brother John maintained the genuineness of the rails. See Decatur papers 1860. 



704 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



spring, beiug now of age, he aided in conducting a flat-boat down 
the Sangamon, became acquainted with the country, and later 
found emi)loyment as clerk in a country store, at a village on its 
west bank named New Salem, a mile from the present Petersburg, 
whither its tenements were finally removed. Lincoln, with a 
partner, succeeded his employer^ the stock of goods probably not 
large and the purchase being made on time. The merchants, as 
merchants are wont to do, speedily failed. Lincoln now turned 
his attention to snrveying, but when the Black Hawk war broke 
out, in 1832, he volunteered and was elected captain of his com- 
i:)any. He served three months but was in no engagement with 
the enemy. The same year he became a candidate for the legis- 
latm-e but was defeated. He was an Adams man, the whig party 
not yet having assumed its name. He now pursued surveying 
and occupied his spare time in reading law. In 1834 he again 
offered for the legislature and was elected as a member for San- 
gamon, the village of bisresidence, since Menard county, was then 
still in Sanganjon. He was for four successive terms re-elected 
from the same county, but after his first session, by the advice 
of a friend, to whomhe ever felt grateful, he gave up the businessof 
surveying, settled in Springfield and thenceforward gave his atten- 
tion wholly to the law. Duringhis 8 years in the legislature he was a 
serviceable member, belonging to the minority party all the time, 
and attained some distinction. He was twice the whig candidate 
for speaker, which was a compliment but an empty honor. In 
1837 he sustained the visionary scheme of the State Internal 
Improvement system, which nearly bankrupted the State, doubt- 
less like all others, with the best, but mistaken intentions. Still 
it is to be remembered that as one of the ''long nine" from San- 
gamon, who acting constantly as a unit, artfully contrived many 
combinations during that eventful session, always with an eye 
single to removing the capital from Yaudalia to Springfield. Out 
of all the reckless schemes of that session, the constituents of Mr. 
Lincoln in Springfield were the only ones who ever derived any 
permanent benefit from any of them. He was a vigorous opponent 
of the partisan reorganization of the supreme court in 1841. 

He now (1842) devoted himself exclusively to the practice of his 
profession, in which he attained a high standing as a lawyer, and 
particularly as an advocate. Before a jury he had few equals 
eitber in originality, humor or pailios. His most effective oratory 
Avas of the i)ersuasive order. While he sought to lead a jury by 
the force of logical reasoning and striking similes, whatever his pos- 
tulate, he seldom attempted to drive them either by intimidation 
or the power of detailed argumentation, to awaken perhaps their 
obstinacy or tire them into listlessness. He would contrive to put 
them in good humor by apt and original turns on his antagonist, 
his inimitable manner and complete acting being his most effective 
aids for this purpose ; gain their favor ; enlist their interest ; then 
touch their sympathies by the power of his pathos, and wring from 
them a verdict. His most effective weapons with which to assail 
or demolish the arguments of opposing counsel, either of attack or 
defense, were his powers of ridicide, originality and quaint logical 
reasoning. To the beginner at the bar he was kind, indulgent 
and ever ready to render assistance without ostentation. He was 
full of humor, overflowing with anecdote, and loved a neat, harm- 



SENATOES IN CONGRESS. 705 

less practical joke. With rare capacity for treasuriu gup anecdotes, 
lie liad a fund to aptly illustrate almost every circumstance in 
life. Many were origiual with him, as he had an eye constantly 
on the look-out for the humorous or grotesque in everything, and 
a good point never escaped his attention, nor suifered in the ren- 
dering. Among the older members of the Illinois bar his humorous 
sayings, oddities, and pointed anecdotes are yet current. 

During the presidential contest of 1844, Mr. Lincoln canvassed 
the State for Henry Clay, the beloved chief of all the old whigs. 
In 1840 he was elected to congress, taking his seat in the lower 
house at the same time that Douglas entered the senate. He was the 
only whig in the Illinois delegation, and in common with his party, 
op[)osed the iMexican war. He introduced a set of resolutions sliortly 
after, proposing an inquiry as to the exact spot upon Texan soil 
where American blood was first spilled by the Mexicans. These 
resolutions gained some notoriety for their quizzical and witty cliar- 
aeter, and have been generally known as his ''spot resolutions." He 
supported the "Wilmot proviso" attached to the bill appropriating 
$3,000,000 for tliewar — being the same which Mr. Douglas moved 
to amend by prohibiting slavery from all acquired territory north of 
36d. 30m., but whicli was lost. Mr, Lincoln declined the candidacy 
for re-election in 1818. In 1819 he first received the complimentary 
vote of his party forlJ. S. senator. He was again their candidate 
in 18o5, but through the obstinacy of a handful of anti-Nebraska 
democrats, Mr. Trumbull was elected, as we have seen. 

Mr. Lincoln was truly great in many traits of his character. 
Chief among these may be mentioned his fidelity to the right, 
firmness to principle, fortitude to duty, honesty and tenacity of 
purpose, and moral courage, united to such amiable attributes as 
kindness of heart, forbearance for others;, enduring patience, mod- 
esty and gentleness of disposition. All these virtues he possessed 
in an eminent degree. Some of his old, intimate and loving 
friends* say that he was ambitious, but his ambition was so tem- 
pered with patience, that it never would, as it did not, overleap 
itself. 

His opposition to slavery was grounded ui^on its inherent moral 
wrongfulness — that it was a great evil, socially, politically, aiul 
materially-. His conscience revolted at its injustice, its degrada- 
tion and cruelty. His heart naturally sympathized with the op- 
pressed. Douglas, born and reared in free States, while he 
doubtless regarded slavery as a clog and hindrance to the material 
advancement of a people or State, never disclosed by any expres- 
sion, either written or spoken, his conception of its moral enor- 
mity. The refrain of his speeches was ever to let the people decide 
it in their own way — "I do not care whether slavery is voted up or 
down." 

Mr. Lincoln's speeches and writings bear the stamp of strong 
individuality — peculiarly Lincolnian — which crops out in nearly 
every paragraph. They abound in short pithy sentences, separate 
and distinct in themselves, api^roaching to ai)horisms. Many of 
them are stamped with immortality. They are sublime conceptions 
of great truths, clothed in few l)ut ample Avords, which will live in 
the remote cycles of time, when his more painstaking sentences 
and carefully-studied arguments may be lost under the moldering 

• Hon. J. K.Dubois. 

45 



706 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

dust of ages. '-Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man's 
nature — opposition to it in the love of justice," be exclaimed at 
Peoria in 1854. "Repeal the Missouri compromise — repeal all 
compromises — repeal the Declaration of Indei)endence — repeal all 
past history — you still cannot repeal human nature. It still will 
be in the abundance of man's heart that slavery extension is Avrong^ 
and out of the abundance of his heart his mouth will continue to 
speak." Evidently he was deeply read in the book of books, the 
Bible, as the last sentence above shows, and he possessed the 
happy faculty of weaving its sublime sentiments with his own 
thoughts and exjiressions. His speeches bore abundant testimony 
to this. Politicians should ever bear in mind this broad text from 
him, that ours is a "government of the people, for the people and 
by the people." But time and circumstances considered, it will 
be difficult to find sentiments outside of the inspired book more 
touchingly beautiful than the closing paragraph of his last inau- 
gural address : "With malice toward none, with charity for all, 
with firmness in the sight as God gives us to see the right, let us 
strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, 
and care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for Ins 
widow and his orphans — to do all which may achieve and cherish 
a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." 

To fully appreciate Mr. Lincoln as an orator he must be both 
heard and seen— he conveyed so much meaning by gesture and 
manner. And even then many of his sentiments were so terse 
that it was imj^ossible to do him justice ; nor can this be done by 
a casual reading after him. He seemed to be aware of this him- 
self, for in preparing his early writings or speeches for the press, 
understrokes for italics and capitals were freely resorted to, to 
give them power and emphasis. 

Botli these senatorial candidates used simple, ]dain but exact 
language, and eschewed mere word-painting. They sought to 
reach the understanding of the common i^eople, and indulged little 
in the sweeping roundness of grand oratory. The best speeches 
of Mr. Lincoln's life are said to have been made four years prior to 
this contest, AA^heu the Missouri compromise was first repealed, in 
answer to Douglas, who sought to justify himself before the peo- 
ple. Mr. Lincoln was looking forward at the time to become the 
successor to Shields in the senate. One made at Peoria October 
16, 1851, is recorded, and is a chaste and ])owerful argument. It 
received a wide circulation. The one made 12 days before at 
Springfield, in debate with Mr. Douglas, being the first time that 
these champions measured their strength, is not recorded. It is 
said to have greatly exceeded the former in boldness of sentiment, 
force of argument, beauty and moving eloquence. It was made 
in the representatives hall in presence of the first State republi- 
can convention, when that party was in its chrysalis state, and a 
great throng of people from all parts of the State attending the 
first State fair. A contemporary writer describing it says : Every 
mind present did honm-ge to the man who took heart and broke 
like a sun over the understanding ; he shivered the Nebraska 
iniquity as a tree of the forest is torn and rent asunder, by hot 
bolts of truth.* 

• See 111. State Journal, Oct. 18, 1854. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 707 

Such is our brief summing up of the lives and characters of these 
great representative men, upon whose contest in Illinois for the 
senatorship rested the eager e^es of the entire nation, so important 
were the political issues for which they contended. The combat- 
ants were not unacquainted with each other's strength, for as we 
have seen they had previously crossed their trenchant blades of 
argument, logic and debate iu the political arena.* 

THE CANVASS. 

We have seen that the State republican convention in June de- 
clared Mr. Lincoln the lirst and only choice of its party for the 
senatorial seat of Mr. Douglas. Mr. Lincoln was not unprepared 
for this action of the convention. The choice of Trumbull over 
him in 1855 had gained him the sympathy of his party, and he was 
thence tacitly looked forward to as the successor of Mr. Douglas 
four years later. This he appreciated himself. When Douglas, 
(who well understood this also,) therefore, in June, 1857, during a 
lull in political excitement, found, or created, an occasion, through 
the invitation of the U. S. grand jury sitting at Springfield, to air 
his political views and possibly forestall public opinion, Mr. Lin- 
coln was on the alert, and after some time for preparation, two 
weeks later answered Douglas' speech from the same stand, and 
had it also published. The convention now (June 16, 1858,) took 
a recess until 8 o'clock in the evening, when Mr. Lincoln addressed 
them in a carefully prepared speech, whose opening sentences — 
truly Lincolniau — afterwards attained so much celebrity, we sub- 
join: 

"If we could first know ^L'h(re we are, and u'hHher we are tending, we 
could then better judge what to do, and how to do it. 

"We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with 
the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery 
agitation, 

"Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not 

ceasfd, but has constantly augmented . 

"In my opinion it mil not cease until a crisis shall have been reached 
and passed— 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' 

"I believe this government cannot endure permanently half s/aw and 
half /rte. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect 
the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will 
become «// one thing, or oil the other. Either the opponents of slavery 
will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind 
shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction ; or, 
ita advocates will put it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all 
the States, oWas well as new — )tortk as well as soutk. Have we no tendency 
to the latter condition?" 

— proceeding to argue that we had under the Nebraska doctrine 
and the Dred Scott decision. t 

These at the time bold and advanced political sentiments were 
uttered 4 months i>rior to the enunciation of Mr. Seward's cele- 

*The following' figure, to illustrate the relative merits of the contestants, current at 
the time, views this civil battle from a military standpoint. We leave the reader to 
estimate its fairness: Douglas marshals all his facts with the view to concentrate 
them with terrible and irresistible onslaught upon a given point of his adversary's line 
Of battle, and with great power and energy attempts to rout the enemy from his 
strongest position. Lincoln in his argument breaks out all along his entire battle line 
in sudden charges, unsurpassed in brilliancy of e."yrecution, affording subjects for the 
poet's pen to live in heroic verse for perhaps countless ages. 

*See ni . State Journal, June 18, 1858. The above is from a draft made by Mr. Lincoln 
himself, italics and all. 



708 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

brated "irrepressible conflict" doctrine, which rendei-ed that states- 
man the coiumou target for ail the opposition political shafts 
throughout the laud. Mr. Lincoln's had not only precedence, but 
they were mote comprehensive and direct ; and is it any wonder 
that political sentiments so axiomatic dwelt in the hearts of the 
people, and subsequently turned the nation's eye upon the man 
whose mind conceived them "? But they also furnished Mr. Doug- 
las a handle with which to ring upon his opponent, with incessant 
repetition, all the changes of detested abolitionism, disunion and 
civil war with its horrid concomitants, until they told with deep 
effect upon the masses. 

The republican press demanded for Mr. Lincoln, with frequent 
iteration, a free political tight, which was no less freely tendered 
by Mr. Douglas, who, before he left Washington, matured his 
preparations for a vigorous and thorough stumping canvass, to 
embrace the ample field of the entire State. Notwithstanding his 
open rupture with the administrati(m, which was pursuing him 
into Illinois, the grudging support of the State democratic con- 
vention at its meeting in April forced him into a plan of cam- 
paign somewhat conciliatory toward the administration, but war 
to the knife against the anti-slavery heresies, as he called them, 
enunciated in the platform of i^rinciples adopted by the State 
republican convention, and i3articularly against the advanced anti- 
slaA ery position of their senatorial nominee. The republicans, to 
promote the schism in the democratic ranki*;, encouraged the Buc- 
hanan followers in various ways by favorable notices of their 
meetings, publishing their proceedings, flattering their efi^brts, &c. 

Douglas, on his arrival from Washington, Avas received at Chi- 
cago by an immense concourse of people with shouts and huzzahs, 
amidst the roar of cannon, music from bauds and the escort of a 
blaze of fire- works. He entered directly upon the campaign by 
addressing his first speech from the balcony of the Trem out Hotel 
to a perfect sea of human faces upturned in the thronged street 
below. He re-aftirmed his doctrine of })Opular sovereignty with 
great force, stootl by the platform, and acquiesced in the Dred 
Scott decision while it remained the law. He then paid his 
respects to Mr. Lincoln, who was present on the balcony, taking 
for a text his convention speech, that a house divided against 
itself cannot stand — that the government could not endure half 
slave and half free, which he assailed with a logical power and 
vehemence unsurpassed in his generation, leaving a deep and 
abiding impression upon his auditory. He further denounced the 
unholy alliance of the republicans with the unscrupulous pro- 
slaver}' Buchanan office-holders to compass his defeat, as unnatu- 
ral, declaring his purpose to fire his broadsides, as the Russians 
did at Sebastopol, regardless of which were hit, Turk or Christian. 

At the conclusion of his speech, loud calls were made by the 
crowd for Mr. Lincoln. He declined speaking, but made an 
appointment for the following evening, when he replied to Mr. 
Douglas from the same stand. A larger, denser and more enthu- 
siastic crowd, if that were possible, greeted the republican chief- 
tain, the windows and balconies of the houses on both sides of 
the street and the street itself being literally packed with men 
and women. Procession after procession with bands of music 
arrived on the ground amidst a brilliant pyrotechnic display. Mr. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 709 

Lincoln on bis appearance was hailed with a storm of applause. 
He denied the charge of an alliance between the republicans and 
the federal office-holders, but the former would certainly do noth- 
ing" to i^revent the democratic schism, and reminded Donglas that 
if he was the "rngged Russian bear," it was a very suggestive 
circumstance that the "'allies" did take Sebastopol — which was 
ver^' happy. He declared Douglas' great doctrine of squatter 
sovereignty as old as the Declaration of Indei)endence itself 5 that 
governments derived their just powers from the consent of the 
governed ; but ridiculed the idea of its compatibility with the 
Dred Scott decision, which held slavery to exist in all the territo- 
ries by virtue of the constitution, with which neither congress nor 
the territorial legislature could interfere. Hence no man could 
consistently stand both by that decision and the Cincinnati plat- 
form, which declared the sovereignty of the territories absolute 
as that of the States. He maintained the power of congress to 
exclude slavery from the territories, notwithstanding the decision 
of the supreme court. 

But Douglas' great assault upon his convention speech, that a 
divided house could not stand, that the government could not 
endure half slave and half free — had the effect to throw him upon 
the defensive, from which he did not recover during the canvass. 
He plead — "I did not say that I was in favor of anything in it. 
I only said what I expected would take place. I made a predic- 
tion only; it may have been a foolish one perhaps." 

Mr. Lincoln had taken bold and advanced ground. We who 
have lived to see his words fulfilled cau hardly appreciate their 
full import as applied to those times. The striking deductions 
that Douglas made from them, apparently irresistible in their con- 
clusions then, and which have become history since, tended to 
drive their author into the then detested ranks of the abolition- 
disunionists, hated of nearly all men, and need we wonder at Mr. 
Lincoln's shrinking from the position thus logically assigned to 
him, or at the defense of himself, as we have quoted f Douglas 
did not intermit his blows upon this point during the canvass, but 
hammered and battered away at it continuouslj". It was his 
stronghold, and under it he crowded his antagonist unceasingly. 
Lideed some republican papers got to denying tliat Lincoln ever 
uttered the sentiment. It lost him the senatorship then, but 
its unceasing iteration placed him prominently before the country, 
and two years later it gained for him the presidency. A prophet 
is not without honor save in his own country. 

And now blazed forth in full splendor that remarkable canvass 
all over the State. The prairies seeemed animated with political 
fervor and discussions. The people did or talked little else. The 
business of railroads increased enormously. Thetrains were alive 
with the people and excursions were the order of the day. In 
attendance upon the great leaders were swarms of politicians, 
replaced from time to time as rapidly as they dropped off", besides 
journalists, reporters and others drawn by the excitement of the 
occasion. The ladies not unfrequently met the trains containing 
the leaders and attendants and spread for them bounteous repasts. 
Indeed creature comforts were occasionall\' furnished on the cars. 
Up and df)wn the State and through its length and breadth, by 
rail, by carriage, raged the great ijolitical battle of the giants. 



710 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The people seemingiy were aglow with the fire of their respective 
party leaders. The contest was the most excitiug iu our history. 

As ail illustratioii of what was kept up all over the State,- both 
on occasion of the joint debates and the separate discussions, we 
will describe Douglas' first trip, made on the Chicago & Alton 
railroad to Springfield, Mr. Lincoln being also aboard. Douglas 
and a party of friends left Chicago Friday morning, June 10th. 
The train, although it was the regular passenger, was tastily dec- 
orated with flags and banners, inscrrl3ed with the name of the 
senator, appropriate mottoes, such as "champion of the people," 
"poj)ular sovei-eignty," »&c. At Bridgeport a numerous body of 
laborers quit their work to cheer the senator as the train swept by. 
At Lockport a moment's halt was made, and hearty greetings 
were exchanged with the assembled friends, amidst the handker- 
chief wavings of welcome from numerous ladies. At Joliet its arrival 
was announced by the booming of cannon, and upon the senator's 
appearance the thousands assembled rent the air with their cheers. 
He had only time to thank them for their cordial welcome. A 
numerous party of friends here joined tliem for Springfield. A 
platform car was attached to the rear of the train, carrying a can- 
non to herald their approach at every station along the route. 
At Wilmington the salute of a 6-pounder was answered by this 
piece on board. A large concourse of people had assembled, and 
as the train drew up a fine band played "Hail to the Chief!" fol- 
lowed, on the appearance of the senator, by air-splitting cheers 
from the crowd, men swinging their hats, and ladies waving' their 
handkerchiefs, making a scene of indescribable enthusiasm and 
joy. Tender greetings and kindly expressions were exchanged 
with the representative of the great principle of self-government. 
At every station these glowing scenes were repeated. 

At Bloomington, where it was appointed for Douglas to speak, 
suitable arrangements for his welcome had been made. The day 
was inauspicious, but the people had gathered in large numbers 
through rain and mud. The Bloomington Guards in full uniform, 
citizens, mounted, on foot and in carriages, formed into line as an 
escort to the civic hero. A salute of 32 guns was fired on the ap- 
proach of the train, and the appearance of the senator was followed 
by the usual expressions of enthusiasm greatly augmented. Doug- 
las entered a carriage and a i^rocession was formed which moved 
through the principal streets, lined on either side with dense 
masses of i>eople, the windows and balconies of the houses filled 
with ladies waving their handkerchiefs. The Landon House, the 
stopping place, was api^ropriately decorated with flags and mottoes 
of welcome forthe occasion. At night there was a grand pyrotech- 
nic display, the court house was brilliantly illuminated, and 
Douglas addressed the people in the public square. Mr. Lincoln 
was called out, but excused himself on the ground of its being 
Douglas' ovation. 

On tlie following morning a special train took the party, which 
was further joined by the Bloomington Guards with their can- 
non and a large number of citizens, to Springfield. The train 
was appropriately decorated with beautiful flags and inscriptions. 

At Atlanta both Douglas and Lincoln were called out by a 
large assemblage of people, and both excused themselves from 
speaking. At Lincoln a halt was made for dinner. The town 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 711 

was cio\vde<l with people, and the reception was splendid. The 
principal street was spanned by a trinmplial arch — a graceful 
combination of leaves, flowers and evergreens, and small banners 
with mottoes, surmoimted by a large one inscribed "Douglas For- 
<iver." The Lincoln House was also beautifully decorated, and, 
after partaking of a sumptuous repast, Douglas made a brief but 
happy address, received the congratulations of his friends, when 
the excursionists sped on their way towards the capital, the pre- 
vious scenes being repeated at every station. At Williamsville, 
committees from counties south, east and west of Sangamon, met 
the train, and the party being greatly increased, two engines were 
brought into requisition; and thus with cannons tiring, bands 
playing martial airs, the train, amidst the greetings, shoutings, 
and joys of a large multitude, sped into the capital city. A halt 
was made at Edwards' Grove, where, notwithstanding the occa- 
sional rain, the people from far and near had waited by thousands, 
and Avere now addressed by Douglas for three hours in one of his 
most masterly efforts.* 

At uight Mr. Lincoln spoke in the city. He had not heard 
Douglas. We subjoin the opening remarks : 

"Fellow-Citizens : Another election which is deemed an importaut 
one is approaching, and, as I suppose, the republican party will, with- 
out much difficulty, elect their State ticket. But in regard to the legis- 
lature we, the republicans, labor under some disadvantages." This ne 
Attributed to a want of change in tlie apportionment of rei:)reseutatives 
in the legislature, still based upon the census of 1850, which bore with 
unequal effect upon the north part of the State, the republican strong- 
hold, which had nearly doubled its population since then, while in the 
south part no corresponding increase had taken place. 

He further alluded to some disadvantages of a personal character, in 
the following humorous vein : 

"There is still another disadvantage under which we labor, and to 
w^hich I ask your attention. It arises out of the relative positions of the 
two persons who stand before you as candidates for the senate. Senator 
Douglas is of world-wide renown. All the anxious politicians of his 
party have been looking to him as certainly, at no very distant day to be 
the president of the United States. They have seen in his round, jolly 
fruitful face post-offices, land-offices, marshalships, and cabinet ap- 
pointments, chargeships and foreign missions, bursting and spouting 
out in wonderful exuberance, ready to be laid hold of by their greedy 
hands. (Great laughter.) And as they have been gazing upon this at- 
tractive picture so long they cannot, in the little distraction that has 
taken place in the party, bring themselves to quite give up the charming 
hope ; but with greedier anxiety they rush about him, sustain him, 
give him marches, triumphal entries, and receptions beyond what even 
in the days of his highest prosi^erity they could have brought about in 
his favor. On the contrary, nobody has ever expected me to be presi- 
dent. In my i^oor, lean, lank face nobody has ever seen that any cabba- 
ges were sprouting out." [See Illinois Stiite Register, July 22, 18o8.] 

How differently two years' time showed the result. But not- 
withstanding all these disadvantages, one week later he addressed 
Douglas a note dated Chicago July I'ith. by the hand of the Hon. 
N. B. Judd, for an arrangement to "address the same audiences 
tlie present canvass." Mr. Douglas answered on the same day 
that under the advice of the democratic State central committee 
a list of appointments running into October had been made for 
liim, at which legislative and congressional candidates would also 

'Condensed from 111. State Register of July 19, 1858. 



712 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



be present occupying the wliole time. His wily nature led liim 
further to suggest tlj at in company with Mr. Lincoln would be a 
third candidate for the senate, canvassing the State for the sole 
purpose of dividing the democratic vote, who would also claim a 
portion of the time from the same stand ; and further in the same 
politic vein expressed his surprise that Mr. Lincoln should have 
waited till after his appointments were out when they had been 
together a number of times before ; but while not at liberty to 
change his appointments he took the responsibility to stipidate 
for joint discussions in 7 congressional districts, one in each, they 
having already both spoken in the 2d and 6th — Chicago and Spring- 
field. He named Ottawa, Freeport, Quincy, Jonesboro, Charles- 
ton, Galesburg and Alton, the speaking to alternate by opening 
for 1 hour, answering 1^, and replying ^ — he taking the openings 
at the first and last places. Mr. Lincoln replied protesting against 
the insinuations of unfairness, which he thought groundless and 
unjust; denied any knowledge of his plan of appointments;: 
thought Douglas had the advantage in the openings and closings 
of the speaking, and accepted the proposition. But their sepa- 
rate appointments were such also that they usually followed each 
other in rapid order, in one place, Sullivan, on the same day. 

Thechampionsfirstmet for joint discussion at Ottawa. They were 
attended by short-hand reporters, many leading newspapers abroad 
had their special correspondents on the grouud, and the speeches 
were carefully taken down and widely circulated. It is not our 
purpose to give a synopsis of the debates, which have been fully 
published, but to draw attention to a few leading occurrences. 

Douglas here propounded 7 questions to Mr. Lincoln, all based 
upon a resolution that he mista-kenly supposed the first State 
republican convention had adopted at Springfield, October 4, 
1854, and which had recognized Mr. Lincoln by placing him on 
the State central committee. The leading question was whether 
he favored the unconditional repeal of the fugitive slave law t 
The resolution proposed " to repeal and entirely abrogate the fugi- 
tive slave law;" but Mr. Lincoln had already declared his reluct- 
ant support of a just and equitable fugitive slave law, because the 
constitution was mandatory upon that point, and the republican 
conventions of 1856-8 had omitted to declare against the rendi- 
tion of fugitives from labor. Douglas, to pro^■e Lincobi's posi- 
tion extreme or inconsistent, as also the republicans generally^ 
made use of this resolution — into Avhich he was led by the Spring- 
field Register, which had published it with the proceedings of the 
convention. It was really a resolution ado|)ted by a Kane county 
meeting ; but Mr. Lincoln was not aware of the mortifying mis- 
take Douglas had fallen into. The reijublican j)ress, however^ 
soon unearthed it, and the opportunity to assail Douglas thus 
afforded was fully availed of. Its columns teemed with charges of 
"bold and deliberate forgery," "un})aralleled mendacity," "dast- 
ardly infamy," &c.* 

At Freeport, 6 days after, Mr. Lincoln answered Douglas' inter- 
rogatories, this one in the negative, and then propounded 4 to 



* To show the depth of party and personal feeling against Douglas at the time, the- 
Chicago Press tt r/i5i»(e spoke of him at Ottawa, as follows : ''He howled, he ranted^ 
he bellowed, lie pawed dirt, he shook his head, he turned livid in the face, he struck 
his right hand into his left, he foamed at the mouth, he anathematized, he cursed, he 
exulted, he domineered— he played Doug-las." 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 713 

Douglas, which the latter proceeded to answer immediately, 
making' them the subject of his speech. While this proved his 
ready aud wonderful powers of debate, it would have perhaps 
been well to have deliberated some time as Mr. Lincoln had done. 
The 2d interrogatory was : "Can the people of a United States ter- 
ritory, in any lawful way, against the wishes of auj' citizeu of the 
United States, exclude slavery from its limits prior to the forma- 
tiou of a State constitution f 

The Bred Scott decision was, that congress had no right to pro- 
hibit a citizen of the United States from taking any property which 
he lawfully held iuto a territory of the United States ; and that 
if congress could not do this, it could not authorize a territorial 
government, in the absence of any distinction in property, to 
exclude slaves, which were property under the constitution. In 
his Chicago speech, Douglas had said that to this decision of the 
august tribunal of the supreme court he bowed with deference. 
Now he said : "I answer emphatically that in my opinion the peo- 
ple of a territory can by lawful means exclude slavery before it 
comes in as a State. Mr. Lincoln knew that I had given that 
answer over and over again." But in the very next breath he inti- 
mated that this could oidy be done by the adoption of unfriendly 
police regulations, by the territorial legislature withholding the 
needed local or municipal laws, without which slavery- could not 
exist a day anywhere. 

The Freeport speech caused Douglas to be severely denounced, 
not only at home but abroad, by republicans, for his gross inconsist- 
ency and change of front, and throughout the south as having at 
last shown his cloven fot)t ; they could have no further confidence in 
a northern man who unnecessarily espoused theirinterests against 
his own section. 

After this the general scoi)e of their discussions was not mate- 
riallj' enlarged. It was slavery in the territories and the rights 
of the people in relation thereto, Mr. Lincoln insisting that con- 
gress, notwithstanding the obiter dictum of the supreme court in 
the Dred Scott decision, had the right, the same as when the ordi- 
nance of 1787 was adopted, to exclude slavery, and ought to ex- 
ercise it ; and Mr. Douglas holding that the vexed question ought 
to be referred to the people of the territory immediately con- 
cerned, to settle as their other domestic institutions in their own 
sovereign way, subject only to the constitution of the United 
States. Mr. Lincoln did not assume an attitude of hostility to 
slavery in the States, other than that he desired it "to be put in 
course of ultimate extinction," the language of his first conven- 
tion speech. He did not repeat or enlarge upon the extreme 
ground of this speech, but constantly guarded against it, though 
Douglas throughout the debates essayed to push him on to it. 

Whilst there were but 7 joint discussions, the two champions 
had their separate programmes for speaking so arranged for them 
that they addressed very nearly the same crowds in many coun- 
ties of the State, some times on the same day, but oftener with only 
a very short time intervening. In Sullivan, Moultrie county, where 
they spoke on the same day, a serious collision between their 
respective crowds was imminent for a time. Mr. Lincoln had pur- 
posed deferring his speech to the last, but as a separate stand had 
been erected by the rei^ublicans in the north part of the town, 



714 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



they formed a i)roce.ssioti of their forces, and in marching thither 
attempted to go right through the other crowd in the street where 
Douglas was speaking, and out of their yvay. This was not to be 
brooked ; a parley ensued, during which, the baud wagon was 
attempted to be driven through the crowd and a conflict was the 
immediate result. But through the commanding voice of Doug- 
las, beyond a few blows, a general melee was averted. 

At Winchester, his first home, Douglas' enthusiastic greeting 
was deeply touching. The old county of Scott was never so aroused 
Defore. His arrival was announced by the roar of cannon and 
the glad shouts of a large assemblage. Here among these people 
the now great senator had first cast his lot a penniless stranger. 
Here he had taught school, and among his auditory were gray- 
haired sires and fond old matrons who had entrusted to him the 
education of their children, and pupils whom he had taught. All 
the old settlers well remembered him in his poverty and obscurity, 
and doubtless the entire community were now animated by that 
pleasant pride and affection which said "we are the makers of this 
great man" — glorying in his fame and prosperity — and with that 
feeling welcomed the whilom schoolmaster in his present character 
of the great American statesman. Let the reader trust both the 
heart and mind of Douglas to suitably deal with the occasion of 
such a kindly re-union, and display to the utmost those wonderful 
powers of eloquence which were placed under additional tribute 
by the time, circumstance and place. He alluded, in the most 
touching manner, to his advent and residence at Winchester, his 
early struggles and honest efforts for a beginning in a strange 
lanci; the ready imagination of his hearers readily suggesting the 
rest, while many a tear of joy crept ilown furrowed cheeks as the 
spontaneous outburst of cheers from friend and political foe rent 
the air, and attested the opinion of all in entire approbation of his 
subsequent career, more exalted, but among true Americans not 
more honorable. The audience and occasion were suggestive of a 
rich vein of sentimental topics to the orator, and none escaped 
him or were omitted. It is a source of regret that this speech, so* 
well calculated to give us a fuller insight into the depth of Doug- 
las' better nature, was not recorded. 

The result of the election returned to the legislature, in the 
house, 40 democrats and 35 repubhcans ; the senate stood 14 dem- 
ocrats and 11 republicans, giving the former 8 majority on joint 
ballot. The republicans carried the State by a plurality, the vote 
standing : republicans, 124,698 ; democrats, 121,190 ; Buchanan 
democrats, and scattering, 4,863. 

And now the administration clique, defeated in their efforts to 
beat Douglas, fell out among themselves, and blamed each other 
for the result. It seems that some of the Buchanan office-holders, 
like Ike Cook and others, favored the direct support of the repub- 
licans at the polls, while others, like E. B. Carpenter,t etc., made 
the fight against Douglas and the republicans, both, on principle. 
Many charges of subserviency, gross deception of the president as 
to their strength, blunders, follies and villainies, were bandied 
back and forth. Col. John Dougherty, the administration candi- 

•See 111. state Register, Sept. 25, 1858 

fSee his letter to Chicago Democrat, Nov., 1858. 



SENATORS IN CONGRESS. 715 

date for tieasurer, wbo bad ^ecei^'ed less than 5,000 votes out of 
the oue-fonrth of a milliou cast, issued a mauifesto to the people 
of Illiuois, through the Cairo Gazette^ '•'reading- the entire demo- 
cratic party out of the party, and insisting that their delegates 
should not be admitted to the Charleston convention [in 1800]."* 
The Buchanan party now affected to believe that Douglas would 
be defeated before the legislature; but when the time came there 
were no opponents to him before the democratic caucus,! though 
he was absent, and he was re-elected by 54 votes to Mr. Lincoln 
46. He telegraphed back from Baltimore — "Let the voice of the 
people rule." 

Thus terminated this unprecedented senatorial contest, which 
was waged throughout with a vigor and spirit which had no par- 
allel in the history of parties in this or any other State. Both the 
great political organizations fought with a fierceness which never 
lagged for a moment, but increased with every coming day. With 
Douglas, apparently, his political fortune was at stake. The repub- 
licans, after the election, complimented Mr. Lincoln for the strong 
and noble fight he had made, what no other man in the State 
could have done for the cause 5 and they consoled him in the lan- 
guage of Pope : 

"More true joy Marcellus exiled feels 
Thau Csesar with smmatesit his het/s.'' 

Mr. Lincoln was thus brought consj)icuouly before the nation as 
one of the ablest leaders of the opposition ; and, in the humble 
opinion of the writer, this great contest, which primarily resulted 
simply in the making of a tJ. S. senator of one of the contestants, 
directed the public eye to the merits of the other, and caused him 
to become the standard bearer, two years later, of that party 
whose cardinal principle demanded freedom for the public domain, 
and which, aided by the divisions in the ranks of the democracy, 
carried him by their voices triumphantly into the presidential 
chair 5 which the south deemed a sufficient affront for disunion. 

Having consumed so much space to complete the sketch of our 
senators in congress, we can only say that to the seat of Douglas, 
after his death in 1801, succeeded, 1st, the Hon. O. H. Browning 
by a])pointment from Gov. Yates ; 2d, the legislature in 1863, be- 
ing democratic, and fierce in partisan spirit, Browning failed of 
confirmation, and the Hon. W. A. Richardson was elected for the 
remainder of Douglas' unexpired term. In the three executive 
appointments to senatorial vac^ancies in the history of the State — 
Baker in 1830, Semple in 1843, and Browning in 1861 — only one, 
that of Semple, has been confirmed by the legislature. In 1865 
Richard Yates was elected to the same seat for a full term, and he 
in 1871 was succeeded by Gen. John A, Logan, who is the second 
native Illinoisan that has ever filled that exalted office for this 
State. 

* "Not having the fear ol numbers before his eyes, he boldly ruled the 121,000 demo- 
crats who voted tor Doug-las, out, to graze upon the common, as unworthy to associate 
with him, and sat the autocrat ottlie party in Illinois" — said the St. Louis Republican at 
the time. 

+ Though in September Judge Breese in a letter to Mr. Boyakin, of the Belleville 
Democrat, wrote : "I demand as a right to know yfhn requested j-ou to say as you have 
said in an editorial in your paper of the 4th, that "Judge Breese is not, nor will he be, 
a candidate for the U. S senate in opposition to Mr. Douglas.' " 



Chapter LIIL 

1861-1865— ADMINISTRATION^ OF GOVERNOR YATES. 

Party Conventions of 1860 — The two Great Labor Systems of the 
Country in Direct Antagonism — Life and Character of Gover- 
nor Yates — Lieutenant Governor Hoffman — Condition of the 
State and Comparative Growth since 1850. 



The republican State convention of 1860 met at Decatur, May 
9th. Every county except Pulaski was represented. The Hon. 
Joseph Gillespie, of Madison, was chosen to preside over its 
deliberations. For the candidacy of governor there were three 
aspirants: Norman B. Judd, of Cook, Leonard Swett, of McLean, 
and Richard Yates, of Morgan. On the first ballot Judd received 
245 votes, Swett 191, Yates 183 and James Knox 12 ; on the third 
ballot Judd received his highest number, 263; on the fourth all 
the Swett men but 36 went to the support of Yates, giving him 
363 votes, which nominated him. Judd had incurred the formid- 
able opposition of the Chicago Democrat, then a power with the 
republican ])arty of the State. Francis A. Hoffman, of DuPage, 
was next nominated as a candidate for lieutenant governor by 
acclamation. The remainder of the ticket was: For auditor, Jesse 
K. Dubois ; for treasurer, William Butler ; for secretary of State, 
O. M. Hatch, and for superintendent of public instruction, New- 
ton Bateman — all incumbents. The Bloomiugton platform of 4 
years before was re-adopted with a stronger plank regarding the 
right of foreigners, doubtless to sweeten the slightly remaining 
taint of know-nothingism that democrats might scent about repub- 
lican garments. They also declared for a homestead act by con- 
gress, and the immediate admission of Kansas as a free State.. A 
resolution was adopted that Abraham Lincoln was the choice of 
the rei3ublican party of Illinois for president, and the delegates 
from this State were instructed to use all honorable means to 
secure his nomination at the Chicago convention, and to vote for 
him as a unit. A motion to strike out the last clause was 
defeated. 

Mr. Hoffman, candidate for lieutenant governor, it Avill be 
remembered by the reader, was nominated for the same i)lace on 
the rei)ublican ticket in 1856, but shortly after was found not to 
be eligible to the office if elected, he being a German and not a 
citizen for 14 years as the constitution required. He now refused 
to run for the position, alleging ill health. Tlie State central com- 
mittee put the name of Hon. Vital Jarrot, of St. Clair, on the 
ticket in his stead. But the congressional convention of the 3d 
716 



YATES' ADMINISTEATION. 717 

district at Blooiniiigtoii refused to ratify his nomination, where- 
upon he also declined to run. The objection was that it gave both 
gubernatorial candidates to the southern portion of the State. 
The State convention was thereupon recalled and met again, this 
time at Springfield, August 8th, on occasion of the great republi- 
can mass meeting at the home of Lincoln, one of the grandest out- 
pourings of the people and largest civicdemonstration with which 
any public man was ever honored. In convention, on motion of 
Mr. Jarrot, Mr. Hoftinau had leave to withdraw his letter of 
declination, and his nomination was again unanimously confirmed. 

The State democratic convention of 1860 met at Springfield in 
the hall of the house of representatives, June 13th. Hon. Wm. 
McMurtry, of Knox, presided. On the first ballot to nominate a can- 
didate for governor, J. C. Allen, of Crawford, received 157 votes ; S. 
A. Buckmaster, of Madison. 81 ; J. L. D. Morrison, of St. Clair, 88 ; 
Kewton Cloud, of Morgan, 05 : W. B. Scates, of Cook, 14 ; J. A. 
McClernand and B. S. Edwards, both of Sangamon, 2 each. On 
the second ballot it was soon disclosed that Allen was the favorite, 
and all the other competitors being withdrawn before the 
announcement of the vote, Allen's nomination was made unanim- 
ous. The balance of the ticket was : For lieutenant governor, L. 
W.Eoss, of Fulton; secretary of State, G.H. Cam])bell, of Logan; 
auditor, Bernard Arntzen, of Adams ; treasurer, Hugh Maher, of 
Cook ; superintendent of public instruction. Dr. E. E. Eoe, of 
McLean. Their resolutions reafiiruied the principles of the Cin- 
cinnati platform of 1850, approved the course of the delegates to 
the Charleston convention, and expressed their confidence in Ste- 
phen A. Douglas for president. 

On July the 11th, the Buchanan or Breckinridge democracy met 
in convention also at Springfield, and put the following State 
ticket in the field : For governor. Dr. Thomas M. Hope, of Madi- 
son ; lieutenant governor, Thomas Suell, of DeWitt; secretary of 
State, B. T. Burke, of Macoupin ; auditor, Henry S. Smith, of 
Knox; treasurer, W. H. Cather, of Adams; superintendent of 
public instruction, J. H. Dennis, of St. Clair ; the electors at large 
being John Dougherty and Thomjison Campbell. Eleven coun- 
ties out of 102 were reiiresented by 53 delegates, 41 of whom 
were currently reported at the time as federal office-holders. 

The Bell-Everett State convention metatDecatur, Aug. 10, 1800. 
Thirty counties were represented by an aggregate of 92 delegates. 
They nominated the following ticket : For governor, the Hon. 
John T. Stuart, of Sangamon ; lieutenant governor, Henry S. 
Blackburn, of Eock Island ; secretary of State, James Monroe, of 
Coles ; auditor, James D. Smith, of Sangamon ; treasurer, Jona- 
than Stamper, of Macon ; suiierintendent of public instruction, 
D. J. Snow, of Sangamon ; electors at large, M. Y. Johnson, of 
JoDaviess and D. M. Woodson, of Green. 

Thus 4 tickets were in the field. The political contest of 1800 
over the question of slavery was the most momentous in the his- 
tory of this nation. The two great labor systems of the country, 
free and slave, representing their respective sections, were brought 
into direct antagonism for the first time in a presidential election. 
The southern wing of the democratic party, spurning Douglas and 
his theory of popular sovereignty at Charleston, split from its 
northern associate, and eagerly brought forward the labor 



718 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

system of its sectiou and opposed it to that of tlie iiortli. The 
issue thus presented was so clearly delined tlint it was impossi- 
ble to long occupy any middle ground. The }»owcr of Douglas 
alone held his followers to one for a time, but it was apparent that 
all between would soon be but a chaotic mass, whose particles, 
drifting hither and thither, must tind lodgment on the side within 
whose sectional or local focus of attraction they clianced to come. 
The inexorable logic of events disclosed the completion of an 
inevitable destiny. The house was indeed divided against itself, 
and the irrepressible conflict was at hand. The canvass proved 
both an exciting and determined one, and the fearful conse- 
quences have passed into history, abundantly and ably written 
up by otiier hands. 

The victory at the polls for the republicans of Illinois in 18G0 
was comi^lete. They carried the presidential and State tickets, 
and gained both houses of the legislature, each by a small ma- 
jority. For governor, Yates received 172,196, Allen 159,253, 
Stuart 1,626, Hope 2,019 and Chickering 1,140. The vote on the 
presidential ticket was: for Lincoln, 171,106; Douglas, 158,254; 
Bell-Everett, 4,851 ; and Breckinridge, 2,292. With few excep- 
tions the adherents of the latter two tickets — particularly the 
leaders of the Breckinridge faction — were shortly afterwards ab- 
sorbed by the republican party, where some of the Buchanan men 
have since attained distinction, both for their radicalism and suc- 
cess in obtaining office. 

Eichard Yates was born January 18, 1818, on the banks of the 
Ohio river, at Warsaw, Gallatin county, Kentucky. His father, 
in 1831, moved to Illinois, and settled (after stopping for a time 
in Springfield,) at Island Grove, Sangamon county. Here, after 
attending school, Eichard joined the family. Subsequently,, he 
entered Illinois College, at Jacksonville, wher^, in 1837, he grad- 
uated with first honors. He chose for his profession the law, the 
Hon. J. J. Hardin being his instructor. After admission to the 
bar he soon rose to distinction as an advocate. Gifted with a 
fluent and ready oratory, he soon appeared in the political hust- 
ings, and being a passionate admirer of the great whig leader of 
the west, Henry Clay, he joined his political fortunes to the party 
of his idol. In 1840 he engaged with great ardor in the exciting 
"hard cider campaign" for Harrison. Two years later he was 
elected to the legislature from Morgan county, a democratic 
stronghold. He served three or four terms in the legislature, 
and such was the fascination of his oratory, that by 1850 his 
large congressional district, extending from Morgan and Sanga- 
mon north to include La Salle, unanimously tendered him the 
Avhig nomination. His opponent of the democratic party, was 
Major Thomas L. Harris, a Aery ]>opular man, who had won dis- 
tinction at the battle of Cerro Gordo, in the late war with Mexico, 
and who, though the district was whig, had beaten for the same 
position, two years before, the Hon, Stephen T. Logan by a large 
majority. The contest between Yates and Harris, animating and 
persevering, resulted in the elecjtion of the former. Two years 
later, the democracy ungenerously thrust aside Major Harris and 
pitted John Calhoun against Yates, and, though Calhoun was a 
man of great intellect, and when aroused, of unsurpassed ability 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 719 

as a political debater — whom Mr. Lincoln has said he would 
dread more in debate than any man in Illinois — the result Avas 
as before. It was during Yates' second term that the great 
question of the repeal of the Missouri compromise came before 
congress, against which he early arrayed himself, and took de- 
cided and advanced anti-slavery ground in a speech of rare 
oratory aud remarkable power, which gained hiai national rep- 
utation. But we have seen that at this fonnative peiiod of the 
republican party, the whigs of central Illinois, unwilling to join 
their fortunes with a sectional party, went with the democracy, 
and in 1854, Major Harris being again his opponent for congress, 
Yates was defeated on the Nebraska issue by onl}- about 200 
votes in the district which had given Pierce two years before 
2,000 majority over Scott. Six years later he was elected gov- 
ernor by the party, for the aid in the formation of which he had 
suttered this defeat. 

Richard Yates occupied the chair of State during the most 
critical period of our country's liistory. In the fate of the nation 
was involved the destiny of the States. The life-struggle of the 
former derived its sustenance from the loyalty of the latter. The 
position of governor of a great State was, therefore, important 
and responsible, as it was capable of being exerted for vast 
good or immense evil. jSTeed it be said that in this trying period 
he discharged liis duty with patriotic fidelity to the cause of the 
nation ? Gov, Yates had many valuable attributes for his high 
station in this ordeal of the country. His loyalty was as undoubted 
as it proved itself true. He was the close personal friend of Pres- 
ident Lincoln. His ardent devotion to the Union Avas founded 
upon a deep love for it. While he had been early identified with 
the formation of the republican party, he had not been connected 
with the old abolitionists, among whom were persons who pre- 
ferred the success of their hobby to the safety of the Union. But 
above all, he had a deep hold upon the affections of the people, 
won by his moving eloqnein^e and genial manners. He inspired 
strong attachments among his partisan friends. ]S^ature had fash- 
ioned him to be admixed by the masses. Handsome, erect and 
symmetrical in person, with a winning address and a magnetic 
power, few men possessed more of the elements of i)opularity. 
His oratory, into the spirit of which he entered with apparent for- 
getfulness of self, was scholarly and captivating, the hearer hardly 
knowing why he was transported, Tliougii less logical than elo- 
quent, he reasoned well, and alway;:, inspired deep and enduring 
l^artisan attachments. He was social and convivial to an eminent 
degree, traits of character, which, however, were subjected to 
little of puritanic denial ; but in the very excesses of his api)etites 
he has carried with him the sympathies of the people, almost irre- 
spective of party, on account of his many noble attributes of head 
and heart. 

The very cretlitable military etibrts of this State during the war 
of the rebellion, in putting her quotas, aggregating the enormous 
number of about 200,000* soldiers in the field, were ever promptly 

*In 1850 Illinois had a population of 851,470, and according: to the army reg-ister for 
1851. her militia numbered 170,a"i9, 4,168 of ^yhom were commissioned officers: in 1860, 
she had a population of 1,711.951, which would have given her at the breaking out of 
the rebellion, in 1861, a militia force of 350,000, and out of this number nearly 200,000 
volunteers were furnished. 



720 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

and ably seconded by his excellency : he was ambitions to deserve 
the title of the soldiers' friend. His proclamatioiis calling- for vol- 
unteers are impassionate apjieals, urging the duties and require- 
ments of patriotism nj^on the people; and his S])ecial message to 
the last democratic legislature of this State, pleading for material 
aid for the sick and wounded soldiers of Illinois regiments, breathes 
a deep fervor of noble sentiment and feeling rarely equaled 
in beauty or felicity of expression. Generally his messages on poli- 
tical or civil affaivs were able and comprehensive ; though on these 
subjects, particularly the former, his style is perhaps too tiorid 
and diffuse. There were no State civil events of an engrossing 
character during Gov. Yates' administration ; two years of it, 
however, weie replete with partisan quarrels of great bitterness, 
durhig the sitting of the constitutional convention of 18G2, and 
the sessions of the last democratic legislature in 18G3, which lat- 
ter body he finally squelched by his act of prorogation. These 
the reader will find summed up further along. The operations 
of Illinois regiments in the field are also elsewhere recorded in 
detail. 

Lieut. Gov. Hoffman was born at Herford, Prussia, in 1822. He 
was the son of a bookseller, and educated at the Frederick Wil- 
liam Gymnasium of his native town. At the age of 18 he emi- 
grated to America, landing i)enniless in 'New York. Borrowing- 
's he started west, and after a toilsome journey reached Chi- 
cago in 1840. Moneyless and unable to speak the English lan- 
l^uage, he taught a small German school at Dunkley's Grove, 
DuPage county, at $50 a year, with the privilege of "boarding 
around" among its patrons. Next, having studied theology, he 
was ordained a minister of the Lutheran church. In 1852 he 
removed to Chicago, s-tudied law, was successful hi the real estate 
business, became a free-banker in 1854, and as such, with the 
secession of 1801 and the downfall of our "stumptail" currency, 
failed. He had annually published, in German, a review of the 
commerce and finances of Chicago, and scattering thousands of 
copies in his native land, materially benefited her groAvth; and as 
commissioner of the foreign land department of the Central Rail- 
road Company, he was instrumental in inducing many thousands 
of German families to purchase lands and settle in Illinois. 

He early took an active interest in public affairs. In 1847 he 
was a member of the famous Kiver and Harbor convention at 
Chicago. In 1853 he was elected alderman for the 8th ward of that 
city. He was among the first of the prominent Germans of the 
northwest to advocate the anti-slavery cause by writingfor the first 
German newspaper of Chicago, and translating from the German 
for the Democrat. In 1848 he supported Van Bureii for the i)resi- 
dency : with the repeal of the Missouri compromise he aided in 
the organization of the republican party, and in 1856 canvassed 
the State for Fremont. Well educated, a clear mind, decision and 
energy, he acquitted himself with dignity and impartiality as the 
presiding- officer of the Senate during a period replete with i^arti- 
san strife, and the most perilous in our history.t 

Comimrative Groivth of the State since 1850. — The national cen- 
sus of 1860 revealed for Illinois a population of 1,711,951, against 

•pSee "Biographical Sketches of leading men of Chicago," by A. Shuman. 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 721 



851,470 ill 1850 — au increase of over 100 per cent, in the preced- 
ing decade. This raiilced iier as the fourth State in the Union in 
point of popiihitiou, and entitled her to 14 members in the lower 
house of congress. 

The following- table from the census reports shows her increase 
in Avealth during this period: 

Classes of Property. 1850. 1860. 

Real and personal $156,000,000 ^STl.OOO.OOO 

Value of farms 96,000,000 4:,:.'.(Mi(i,0 

Value of farir.ing- implements 6,000,000 l,s,(H)0,O()0 

Value of orchard products 446,040 ],145,;i36 

Value of live stock 24,000,000 73,434,000 

Value of animals slaughtered 4,972,000 Is.OuO.OOO 

Wheat raised, No. bushels 9,414,000 24.159,000 

Corn raised, No. bushels 57,546,600 115,296,000 

Barle.v, No. bushels 110,000 1,175,(K)0 

Buckwheat, No. bushels 184,000 345.000 

Potatoes, No. bushels 2,514,000 5,799,964 

Hay.tons 601,9.52 1,834,265 

Butter, lbs 1,200,000 28,^37,000 

Tobacco, lbs 841,394 7,014,234 

TotalNo. of acres improved 500,000 13,251,000 

This shows the aggregate wealth of 1850 to have multiplied five 
times in one decade ; the value of farms 4J times. But while the 
census of 1860 gave us a total property value of 1871,000,000 the 
assessed value for the same year was not quite $390,000,000. Illi- 
nois was the first corn and wheat producing State in the Union ; 
ill value of her live stock she was second; in cattle, Texas and 
Ohio were ahead; in the number of horses, Ohio was also ahead, 
having 622,829 to Illinois 575,161 ; in the number of improved 
acres, New York alone led her by about 1,000,000 acres. 

The permanent debt of the State in 1860 was $10,277,161. 



40 



Chaptee LI v. 
ILLINOIS IX THE WAR OF THE REBELLION 

Slavery — Sectional Antagonism — Secession — Inauguration of Lincoln 
— Call for Volunteers — Proclamation of Gov. Yates — Uprising of 
the People. 



In 1861 the Great Rebellion assumed a defluite sliape, and a civil 
war of the most astounding magnitude followed. The primary 
cause of the antagonism which existed between the Northern and 
Southern sections of the Union was the institution of slavery. 
Other agencies doubtless served proximately to intensity the hos- 
tility unfortunately engendered, but in every instance, if not 
directly connected with this great national evil, their remote origin 
could be traced to it. 

The federal constitution recognized slavery, but its framers sup- 
posed that in the different States where it existed the benign in- 
fluences of free institutions and the palpable advantages of free 
labor would extirpate it without the intervention of the general 
government. These happy anticipations at tirst seemed likely to 
be realized. Commencing with the more northern of the slave 
States the work of emancipation gradujjlly extended southward 
till it reached Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky, where its further 
progress was stayed. The growth of cotton in the Gulf States 
had in the meantime become a source of vast wealth, and the be- 
lief that sla^•ery was essential to its cultivation greatly modi tied 
the repugnance with which it had hitherto been regarded. The 
remaining slave States, now actuated by pecuniarj^ considera- 
tions, abandoned the idea of emancipation and accepted slavery 
as a permanent institution. The invention of the cotton-gin and 
other machinery gave a new impetus to the cultivation of cotton, 
and the fabrics manufactured from it, and those engaged in this 
great branch of industry soon resolved 7iot only to protect slavery 
where it existed, but demanded new territory for its future expan- 
sion. In carving new States out of the vast unoccuijied portion 
of the national domain, a bitter sectional contest arose as to 
whether the new members of the confederacy should belong to the 
empire of freedom or slavery. The opponents of slavery were de- 
sirous of restricting it to its original limits, but the cotton States 
threatened to withdraw from the Union if their demands were not 
granted, thus causing grave apprehensions for the safety of the 
republic unless the question could be amicablj' adjusted. Pend- 
ing the admission of Missouri into the Union a compromise was at 
length effected, making the southern boundary of that State the 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 723 

line of deuuivkation between free and slave territory. Tliis was 
supposed at the time to be a flual settlement of the dangerous 
question, for no one proposed to interfere with slavery within its 
origi:ial limits. 

The recognition and protection thus offered inspired new confi- 
dence in the advocates of slavery, and so enhanced the value of 
its capital that they ultimately became the principal elements of 
southern wealth. With her capital thus invested the south nec- 
essarily became agricultural, and hence the agitation that arose 
in regard to the tariff, culminating in the attempt of South Caro- 
lina to nullify the laws of the U, S. for collecting duties. Notwith- 
standing repeated threats on the part of this refractory member 
of the Union to Avithdraw, the sturdy determination of Jackson 
secured the enforcement of law, but the cause which had pro- 
duced the disturbance still existed, and soon disclosed itself in 
another form. By the treaty with Mexico vast accessions of 
territory were made to the national domain, and southern politi- 
cians insisted on the repeal of the Missouri comproiidse, declaring 
they had a right uuder the constitution to take their chattels to 
any part of the western territory and compete with the north in 
the formation of new States. The question was brought before 
the national legislature, and this comi)act, originally established 
for tlie benefit o'f slavery, for the same purpose was now annulled, 
thereby renewing sectional agitation and animosity. The fertile 
plains of Kansas, situated within the region which had been con- 
secrated to freedom, were rapidly attracting population, and a 
fierce struggle immediately arose to decide whether the territory 
should be admitted into the Union as a free or slave State. As 
its character in this respect must now be determined by the vote 
of actual residents, emigrants in great numbers were hurried into 
it from the rival sections. After a protracted contest the cham- 
Xnons of slavery, finding themselves in the minority, and knowing 
the result of the ballot would be against them, endeavored to gain 
ascendency by intrigue and violence. 

The startling fact now became apparent, even to the southern 
mind, that while slavery enabled the few who owned and con- 
trolled it to amass princely fortunes, and live idle and profligate 
lives, it correspondingly impoverished the States in which it ex- 
isted. At the adoption of the federal constitution both sections 
started with perhaps equal natural advantages, but one having 
free and the other compulsory labor, an immense disparity now 
existed between them in all the elements of power and civilization. 
The North, with its vastly preponderating population, could now 
people and control the greater part of the unoccupied territory, 
and with the repeal of the Missouri compromise the South had 
given the legal right to it. 

During the years of increasing excitement the general govern- 
ment remained uncommitted to either section, but the States in 
which the contest originally commenced daily became more hos- 
tile, and in some instances laws were enacted calculated to further 
intiame the public mind. A remarkable fact, however anomalous 
it may appear, was that the extreme northern and southern States, 
the most remote from the evils complained of and the least likely 
to be affected by the issue which entered into the controversy, 
manifested the greatest hostility. In many northern localities the 



724 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

impressiou x^revailed that tlie rendition of slaves to their masters 
was wrong, and tlie enforcement of the fugitive shive law met 
with strong opposition, while in the South those who expressed 
themselves condemnatory of slavery were subjected to indiguities 
which even barbarism would hesitate to impose. Truth ever 
demands investigation, and error ever shuns it, consequently 
those who in the interest of slavery imi)osed restraint upon free 
speech virtually acknowledged they were endeavoring to uphold 
an institution intrinsically wrong. This moral despotism set uj) 
in the midst of the republic further exasperated the northern mind, 
the indignation becoming so unmanageable in some instances as 
to transcend the requirements of law and order. 

As a result of the sectional feeling, conventions assembled in 
the different parts of the South ostensibly tor commercial pur- 
poses, but in reality to .plot treason against the general govern- 
ment. The church, for a long time involved in the controversy, in 
some of its branches, endeavored to maintain conseryative ground, 
while others were torn asunder by the violence and antagonism 
of the contest. Southern clergymen, while preaching redemption 
from spiritual bondage, strangely insisted that the political bond- 
age of the African, which imbruted both the soul and body of 
its victims, was a divine institution. Southern disunion ists also 
endeavored to poison the public mind with the impression that 
the future triumph of the republican party would be a justifiable 
pretext for dissolving the Union. Said Jefferson Davis in a speech 
at Jackson, Miss.: "If an abolitionist be chosen president of the 
United States you will have presented to you the question 
whether you will permit the government to pass into the hands of 
your avowed and implacable enemies. Without pausing for an 
answer, I will state my own position to be that such a result would 
be a species of revolution by which the purposes of the govern- 
ment would be destroyed, and the observances of its mere forms 
entitled to no respect. In that event, in such manner as should be 
most expedient, I should deem it your duty to provide for your 
safety outside of the Union." Said the unscrupulous politician, 
W. L. Yancy : "The remedy of the south is in a diligent organi- 
zation of her true men for prompt resistance to the next aggres- 
sion. It must come in the nature of things. No additional party 
can save us ; no sectional party can ever do it. Butif we could do 
as our fathers did, organize comjnittees of safety all over the cotton 
States, and it is only by these that we can hope for any effective 
movement, we shall fire the southern heart, instruct the south- 
ern mind, give courage to each, and at the proper moment, by one 
organized concerted action, we can precipitate the cotton States 
into a revolution." 

Wliile the political horizon was assuming this alarming aspect 
the presidential contest of 1860 gave additional intensity to sec- 
tional excitement. The supporters of Mr. Breckinridge evinced 
the greatest hostility toward the republicans, and openly declared 
their determination never to submit to the government if it should 
pass into their hands. Formerly similar denunciations and thi-eats 
caused the most serious alarm, but now they had become so com- 
mon that in the fierce storms of political excitement that swept 
over the country they were little regarded. The protracted con- 
test at length terminated in the election of Mr. Lincoln. It was 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 725 

evident to all who were conversant with tlie progress of events 
tliat the supremacy which the south had so long maintained iu 
the government was at an end. The southern malcontents must 
now either submit to republican rule or put in practice their oft- 
repeated threat to dissolve the Union. The latter alternative was 
chosen. 

As the result of this election was flashed over the telegraph 
wires, it was hailed as a pretext for secession. The cities of the 
Gulf States were nightly illuminated, and preparations were 
immediately commenced for the coming conflict. Ignoriiig the 
moral sense of mankind, which had long since condemned slavery, 
they proposed to found a nation recognizing the absolute suprem- 
acy of the white man and the perpetual bondage of the negro. 
Long accustomed to the exercise of arbitrary power over the body 
and soul of the bondman, they had lost all sympathy for free 
institutions, and while ostensibly in'oposing to establish a repub- 
lic, their ultimate object was doubtless the upbuilding of a mon- 
archy. States and nations when subjected to great evils which 
the governing power refuses to rectify have the right of revolu- 
tion, but the abettors of the present movement had no such justi- 
fication. The dominant party had come into power strictly 
within the pale of the constitution and law, and with a j)lattbrm 
fully recognizing the right of each State to manage its domestic 
institutions in its own way. It is true the incoming president had 
given it as his opinion that the government could not remain per- 
manently half slave and half free, but this was in view of the fact 
that natural law rendered the two conditions wholly incompati- 
ble, and not because he wished to make the civil law a disturbing 
element. On the contrary, he had said iu a speech at Cincinnati 
the previous year, "I now assure you that I neither had nor now 
have any purpose in any way of interfering with the institution 
of slavery where it exists. I believe we have no power under the 
constitution of the United States, or rather under the form of 
government under which we live, to interfere with the institution 
of slavery or any other institution of our sister States." 

But independent of grievances, the south maintained that the 
several States on entering the Union, reserved to thejiiselves the 
right to secede from it whenever they deemed their interests ren- 
dered it expedient. In the north it was contended that the power, if 
not expressed, is imi)lied in thefundamental law of all governments 
to protect and indetinitely prolong their existence that the framers 
of our constitution never intended to incorporate in it any pro- 
vision for its destruction ; that its checks and balances for pre- 
serving harmony in the different departments of government were 
designed to make it a mighty fabric capable of resisting the most 
adverse vicissitudes of coming time; that the doctrine of volun- 
tary secession if admitted would disintegrate all existing govern- 
ments, and reduce society to a chaos; that mankind, whether in 
an individual or corporate capacity, must therefore submit to 
just restraint in order to secure the beneficent emls contemplated 
by good government. It was contended moreover the States of 
Louisiana^ Florida and Texas cost the general government between 
$i:00,00(>,00() and $3()(),U0(),()00, and it was unreasonable to suppose 
that they could withdraw at pleasure after the obligation incur- 
red by the expenditure of this vast sum of money ; that a pri- 



726 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



mary object of tlieir acquisitiou was to obtain coutrol of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the people of the northwest could never consent that 
it should tlow hundreds of miles tlirough foreign jurisdiction and 
thus be compelled to submit to the arbitrary imposition of duties 
upon their commerce. 

Wlien^ however, the hour finally came for committing- the overt 
act which should dismember the great republic, even the reckless 
conspirators, who had for years derided the warnings of states- 
men, and stigmatized them as Union-savers, trembled in view of 
the consequences which must follow. The people especially, 
among- whom there were many loyalists, hesitated to enter the 
yawning' abyss, whose dark and angry depths the ken of human 
wisdom was unable to fathom. Some of their wisest and most pa- 
triotic leaders, till borne down by the tide of revolution, continu- 
ally endeavored to avert the impending- calamity. 

Said A. H. Stephens in the Georgia convention pending the 
discussion of secession : "This step once taken can never be re- 
called, and all the baleful and withering- consequences that will 
follow must rest on this convention for all coming- time. When 
we and our posterity shall see our lovely laud desolated by the 
demon of war which this act of yours will inevitably' invite and call 
forth ; when our green fields and waving- harvests shall be trodden 
down hj a murderous soldiery, and the fiery car of war sweeping- 
over our land, our temples of justice laid in ashes, all the horrors 
and desolations of war upon us — who but this convention will be 
held responsible for it? and who but him who shall have given 
his vote for this unwise and ill-timed measure shall be held to a 
strict account by this suicidal act by the present generation, and 
probably cursed and execrated by posterity for all time, for the 
wide and desolating- ruin that will inevitably follow this act you 
now propose to perpetrate ?" 

At this critical period, pregnant with the unnumbered woes that 
afterwards befell the country, the representatives of Illinois in 
congress all united in condemning secession, and njaintaing the 
right of coercion. Douglas, in his last speech before the distin- 
guished body of which he was a member, remarked : "Sir, the 
word government means coercion. There can be no government 
without coercion. Coercion is the vital principle upon which all 
governments rest. Withdraw the right of coercion and you dis- 
solve your government. If every man would do his duty and 
respect the rights of his neighbor there would be no necessity for 
government. The necessity of government is found to consist in 
the fact that some men will not do right unless forced. The object 
of all government is to coerce and compel every man to do his 
duty who would not otherwise i^erform it, and hence I do not sub- 
scribe to this doctrine that coercion is not to be used in a free 
government. It must be used in all governments, no matter what 
their form or what their principles." Mr. Trumbull, his colleague, 
in speaking- of comiiromise said, if they wanted anything, let them 
go back to the Missouri compromise and stand bj' it. AH agreed 
that congress had no right to interfere with slavery in the States ; 
but he would never, by his vote, make one slave, and the people 
of the great Northwest would never consent by their act to estab- 
lish slavery anywhere. He did uot believe the constitution needed 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 727 



aiuendini;", but was Avilliiig to vote a recoiiinieiulliig' to the States 
to make a proposal to call a convention to consider amendments. 

During the interval of time from the election to the inauguration 
of Mr. Lincoln, the conspirators hurried forward their unhallowed 
scheme. The seven extreme Southern States adopted ordinances of 
^secession, each declaring it had again resumed its place among 
1 he iudei)endent nations of the world, with full power to declare 
war, establish commerce, contract alliances, and perform all other 
acts pertaining to independent States. In order to meet the fearful 
responsibilities thus incurred, they immediately seized a large 
number of the forts and arsenals within their limits, and invested 
the others with troops to enforce their submission. In many iu- 
iStances those in cominand basely betrayed the government that 
had educated and given them positions. Delegates from the 
.several rebellious states assembled at Montgomery, Alabama, 
iind organized a ijrovisional government, adopting the constitu- 
tion of the U. S., modified so as to suit treason and slavery, 
and electing Jefferson Davis president, and Alexander H. Steph- 
ens Yice-j)resident. Eumors in the meantime prevailed that armed 
I'ebels were about to march against the national capital, and Gen. 
Scott organized the militia of the District of Columbia, placed 
regulars in the navy yard, and adopted other precautionary meas- 
ures to prevent an attack. Yet the j)resident, while admitting 
that secession was treason and revolution, said that the federal 
government had no power to coerce into submission rebellious 
States. Even when the nation was crumbling into fragments, 
and an energetic eftbrt might, to a great extent, have prevented 
the terrible ordeal of blood through which it subsequently passed, 
he pleaded for further concessions to its implacable enemies. Pa- 
triots all over the lan<l had keenly felt the indignities and insults 
so defiantly perpetrated by rebels, whose arrogance, instead of 
being severely punislied, only met with encouragement under the 
imbecile rule of Buchanan. It was, therefore, with no little anxi- 
ety and impatience that all looked forward to the incoming ad- 
ministration, hoping that those about to assume the reins of 
government would have the wisdom to comprehend the situation 
of the country, and the courage to punish the traitors who Avere 
-endeavoring to ruin it. On the 11th of February, 1861, the presi- 
dent-elect left Ids home in Springfield prei>aratory to assume the 
grave responsibility which devolved on him as chief magistrate 
of the nation now rent with civil feuds and upon the eve of a 
bloody war. A large number of his old friends assembled at the 
•depot to bid him farewell, and express their sympathy in view of 
the perilous and momentous duties that awaited him. Said he : 

"My friends, no one, not in my position, can appreciate the sadness I 
feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived 
more than a quarter of a century, here my children were born, and here 
one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I will see you again. A 
•duty devolves upon me which is perhaps greater than that which has 
rested upon any other man since the day of Washington. He would 
never have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, on which 
he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same 
divine aid which sustained him. On the same Almiglity Being I place 
ray reliance for supj^ort, and I hope you, my triends, will pray that I may 
receive that divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with 
which success is certain. Again I bid you all an affectionate farewell." 



728 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Hitherto be had maintained a quiet reserve respecting the 
momentous crisis in national' affairs, but now as he journeyed 
toward the capital of the republic he found it impossible to longer 
remain silent. In all the principal cities throuyii Avhich he passed 
vast crowds assembled to greet him and listen to the brief speeches 
made in connection with the interchange of civilities. In these 
guarded utterances he did not commit himself to any definite line 
of policy save to express his intention to leave unmolested the 
institutions of the disaffected states, his devotion to the Union 
and his desire to maintain it without a resort to arms. The vast 
extent of the conspiracy was not yet fully understood, and he in 
common with a great many others still hoped for a peaceful solu- 
tion of the difficulties. At Cincinnati he said: 

" Mr. Mayor and Fel/ow-ritizens: I have spoken but once before this in 
Cincinnati. That was a year previous to the late presidential election. 
On that occasion, in a playful manner but with sincere words, I addressed 
much of what I said to the Kentuckians. I gave my opinion that we 
as republicans would ultimately beat them as democrats, but that they 
could postpone the result longer by uomiuatiug Senator Douglas for the 
presidency than in any other way. They did not in any true sense nom- 
inate Mr. Douglas, aud the result has come certainly as soon as ever I 
expected. I told them how I expected they would be treated after they 
should be beaten, and I now wish to call their attention to what I then 
said. When beaten you perhaps will want to know what we will do 
with you. I will tellj'ou so far as I am authorized to speak for the opposi- 
tion. We mean to treat you as near as we possibly can as Washington, 
Jefferson and Madison treated you. We mean to leave you alone and in 
no way interfere with your institutions. We mean to recognize and 
bear in mind that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other peo- 
ple, or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly. Fellow-citizens 
of Kentucky, brethren may I call you, in my new position I see noocca- 
sion and feel no inclination to retract a word from this. If it shall 
not be made good be assured the fault shall not be mine." 

Arriving in New York he said : 

"In my devotion to the Union lam behind no man in the nation, but 
I fear too great confidence may have been jjlaced in my wisdom to pre- 
serve it. I am sure I bring a heart devoted to the work, and there is 
nothing that could ever induce me to consent willingly to the destruction 
of this Union, in which not only the great city of New York, but the 
whole country has acquired its greatness, unless it should be the object 
for which the Union itself was made. I understand that the ship was 
made for the carrying and preservation of the cargo, aud so long as the 
ship is safe with the cargo it shall not be abandoned." 

While thus speaking to large assemblies in different cities^ 
rumors reached him that an attempt would be made to assassin- 
ate him on the way to the capital, or if he reached it an armed 
mob would assemble and prevent his inauguration. These reports 
were at first regarded with incredulity, but when he reached 
Philadelphia he was warned by Gen. Scott that if he attemi^ted 
to pass through Baltimore in the daytime his life would be exposed 
to imminent danger. Acting on the advice of those who knew 
the extent of the danger and the vast importance of his reaching 
the seat of government hi safety, he left his family at Harrisburg 
and proceeded in disguise on the nighttrain to W^ashiugton. Had 
it been known that such malignity existed that such a crime was 
meditated against the life of him whose only cause of offense con- 
sisted in assuming the important responsibilities to which he had 
been constitutionally called by a majority of his countrymen, 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 729 

a half a million of men wonld have volnnteered to escort him 
throngh the rebellions city. Unexpected by the conspirators who 
had marked him for their prey, and his friends who were nndving 
preparations for his reception, he arrived in Wasbington on the 
morning of the 2od of Febrnary. On the ith of March he was 
iuangnrated president of the United States in the presence of a 
vast uinltitnde who had assembled to witness the imposing spec- 
tacle. His inangnral address is a state i^aper of more than ordi- 
nary ability, and whatever may have been the suspicions previ- 
onsly entertained in the Sonth in regard to his policy after this 
expression of his views, the rebellion was wholljMvithont a justifi- 
able pretext. While the most ami)le assurances are given of i)ro- 
tection in the Union, he also refers to his obligations to maintain 
it, and his determination to do it. Its great length renders it 
impracticable to lepeat it in full, but the following passages are 
characteristic of its spirit : 

"Apprehensions seem to exist amor^ the people of the Southern States that 
by the accession of a repiiblican administration their property and their peace 
and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reason- 
able cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the 
contrary has all the <Vhi!e existed and been open to their inspection. It is 
found in nearly all the public speeches of him who now addresses you. I con- 
sider that in view of the constitution and laws the Union is unbroken, and to 
the extent of my ability I will take care as the constitution expressly enjoins upon 
me that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. 
Doing this I deem it only a simple duty on my part, and I shall perform 
it so far as practicable unless my rightful masters, the American people, 
shall withhold the requisite means, or shall in some other authoritative 
manner direct the contrary. Physically speaking, we cannot separate. 
"We cannot move the respective sections from each other, nor build an 
impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced 
and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the 
different i^arts of our country cannot do this. Theycaunot but remain 
face to face, and intercourse either amicable or hostile must continue 
between them. Is it possible then to make that intercourse more advan- 
tageous or more satisfactory after separation than before ? Can aliens 
make treaties more easily than friends can make laws among friends? 
Suppose yon go to war, you cannot tight always, and when after much 
loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting the identical 
old questions are upon you. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow coun- 
trymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The gov- 
ernment will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being 
yourselves the aggressors. You have no solemn oath registered in heaven 
to destroy the government, while I shall have the. most solemn one to 
preserve, protect and defend it. I am loth to close. We are not enemies, 
but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have 
strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords 
of memory stretching from every battle field and patriot's grave to 
every living heart and hearth-stone all over this broad land will yet 
swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will 
be, by the better angels of our nature." 

At the time of Mr. Lincoln's accession to power several mem- 
bers of the Union claimed that they had withdrawn from it, and 
styling themselves the "Confederate States of America," had 
organized a separate government. The remaining sla\'e States 
were convulsed with excitement, and traitors taking advantage 
of the magnanimity which the new administration would fain 
have exercised, AvitJi fiendish eagerness were endeavoring to pre- 
cipitate them also into revolution. The confederate authorities, 



730 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



emboldened by tliis forbearance, and actin.ii- on the assumption of 
tbeir independence, sent commissioners to Washington to amicably 
arrange all differences growing out of their separation from the 
United States. They, however, failed to receive any recognition, 
and were informed by Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, that the 
action of their States was an unjustifiable and unconstitutional 
aggression upon the authority of the federal government. The 
convention of Virginia being in session at the time, also sent com- 
missioners to ascertain from Mr. Lincoln the policy he intended 
to pursue in regard to the Confederate States. In reply, the pres- 
ident reaftirmed the opinion previously expressed in his inaugu- 
ral that he would repossess the ])ro})erty and places belonging to 
the United States, and collect the duties on imports. He like- 
wise informed them that he would not needlessly invade any 
State, yet when such conduct as the firing- upon Fort Sumter ren- 
dered it necessary he would rei)el force by force. 

This celebrated fortress was situated in Charleston harbor, and 
just prior to the assault had been occupied by Major Anderson as 
a place of greater strength and security than Fort Moultrie, from 
which he removed. Notwithstanding the fact that South Caro- 
lina was in open revolt, Mr. Buchanan had allowed the most for- 
midable works to be erected around the fort. Had ])ermission 
been granted to Major Anderson with his heavy artillery he could 
have swept the adjacent shores and thus have prevented the 
preparations Avhich he daily witnessed for his overthrow. As the 
batteries commanded the entrance to the harbor, cut off' supplies 
from the sea, and the hostile shore refused to famish provisions, an 
attack for the reduction of the fort was wholly unnecessary. When, 
however, the prei)arations were comi)leted, Beauregard, who had 
deserted the fiag of his country, hurriedly opened fire upon it, 
as if fearful that starvation might, by giving him peaceable pos- 
session, frustrate his desire for an opportunity to inaugurate civil 
war by a bloody assault. After a furious cannonade of 34 hours 
the fort was wrapped in flames, and Major Anderson and his 
small baud of heroes were forced to capitulate. 

Thus had been struck the first blow of the conflict which sum- 
moned vast armies into the field, brought State into collision with 
State, and drenched the laud in fraternal blood. When the news 
of the bombardment and surrender reached the North, the whole 
country rocked with excitement. Longer forbearance was now 
impossible, and President Lincoln immediately issued a i)rocla- 
mation calling for 75,000 volunteers. The proclamation stated 
that combinations existed in several of the States too powerful to 
be suppressed by ordinary judicial proceedings, and that the 
force to be raised would be employed to repossess the property of 
the United States in the hands of the insurgents and enforce the 
observance of law. It also summoned congress to meet on the 
4th of July to institute in view of the extraordinary condition of 
public affairs such measures as the safety of the nation might 
demand. 

The details connected with raising the troops having been 
arranged by the war department, Gov. Yates was informed that 
the quota of Illinois was six regiments. On the 15th of April, the 
day on which the intelligence was communicated by Mr. Cameron, 



THE WAK OF THE REBELLION. 731 

the secretiuy of war, the governor issued the loUowiug proclama- 
tion : 

"I, Ricliard Yates, governor of the State of Illinois, by virtue of the 
authority vested in me by the constitution, herebj^ convene the legisla- 
ture of the State, and the members of the 22d general assembly are hereby 
required to be and appear in their respective places in the capital on Tues- 
day, the 23d day of April A. D. 1861, for the purpose of enacting such 
laws and adopting such measures as may be deemed necessary upon the 
following subjects: The more perfect organization and equipment of 
the militia of the State and placing the same on the best footing to ren- 
der assistance to the general government in j^reserving the Union, 
enfoi'ciug the laws, and protecting the property and rights of the peo- 
ple; also, the raising of such money and other means as may be required 
to carry out the foregoing object, and also to provide for the expense of 
such session." 

General orders one and two were issued from headquarters at 
Springfield, the first commanded divisions, brigades and regiments 
to hold themselves in readiness for actual service, and the second 
providing for the immediate organization of six regiments. 

The president's proclamation at the South was regarded as a 
declaration of war, and Davis issued a similar one calling for 
volunteers and granting letters of marque for privateers to prey 
on northern commerce. The shouts of approval with which it 
Avas received everywhere in the north showed the people were 
greatly in advance of the government as to the proi)riety of using 
military force. They had long writhed under the murderous stabs 
thrust by traitors at the vitals of the nation, and now when this re- 
straint was removed, and thetime had come for action, therebound 
of popular feeling and indignation was overwhelming. The prai- 
ries, hamlets and cities of Illinois became ablaze with excitement. 
Pulpits thundered with anathemas against the crime of treason, 
secular orators spoke eloquently of the flag which, as tlie symbol 
of the nation's majesty, had been so ruthlessly insulted!, and 
newspapers teemed with proclamations and preparations for war. 
All ages, sexes and conditions as if ujovedby a common impulse 
partook of the euthusiiism. The aged and feeble again assumed 
the burdens of civil life that the young and vigorous might grap- 
ple Avith the sterner duties of war; the wealthy provided for the 
families of the indigent whose natural protectors were guarding 
the life of theuatiou. Fair woman laid the incense of her sym- 
pathy and devotion on the altar of her country ; and eveu chil- 
dren, imbibing the inspiration, converted their play grounds into 
camp and parade grounds, and miniature drums and cannon 
became the common toys of their nursery. 

A similar uprising occurred in all the loyal States of the Union, 
and men and money, the sinews of war, were furnished with lav- 
ish profusion. Within two weeks after the president issued 
his proclamation, beside a large surplus of rejected applicants, 
there were a hundred thousand meu preparing for active opera- 
tions, while more than thirty millions of dollars had been offered 
by private individuals, corporations and legislatures to procure 
arms and munitions. 



Chapter LV. 

1861-1864— ILLINOIS IN THE EEBELLION. 

Unprecedented 'Success in Furnishing Men — Patriotic Efforts of 
Women — Military Operations Within the State. 



Enlistments. — Almost simultaneously with the call for troops 
enlistments commenced, and within ten days 10,000 volunteers 
offered service, and the sum of near $1,000,000 was tendered by 
patriotic citizens to procure supplies, for which the State, in the 
sudden emergency, had made no provision. At the time the 
requisition was made the military law of the State was imperfect, 
and in many respects in conflict with the regulations of the war 
department, while perhaps not more than 30 military companies 
were to be found in the entire State. In some of the larger towns 
and cities, however, there were a number of well-drilled com- 
panies which volunteered, and proved a valuable acquisition in 
the organization of the immense forces subsequently sent to the 
field. It was early thought that Cairo was in danger of seizure 
by the rebels, and these comx)anies formed the nucleus of the force 
hurriedly gathered and sent thither for its defense. On the 19th 
of April, 1861, Simon Cameron, secretary of war, telegraphed Gov. 
Yates to take possession of this important strategic point as 
soon as a force could be raised for that purpose. The governor 
forthwith sent a dispatch to Gen. Swift, of Chicago, to raise and 
equip as large a body of men as possible for immediate service, 
and sent a messenger by rail with full instructions for the occupa- 
tion of Cairo. With commendable promptness this officer, on the 
21st of the month, got on board the southern bound train of tlie 
Central railroad with four pieces of cannon and the following 
comi>anies: Company A, Chicago Zouaves, Captain Hay den, 89 
men ; Company B, Chicago Zouaves, Captain Clybourne, 83 men ; 
Chicago Light Artillery, Captain Smith, 150 men ; Captain Hard- 
ing's company, 80 men; Turner's Union Cadets, 97 men; and 
Lincoln Rifles, Captain Mihalotzy, 66 men. These were followed, 
on the 22d, by Captain Houghtelling's Light Artillery, of Ottawa, 
86 men ; Captain Hawling's Light Artillery, of Lockport, and Cap- 
toin McAlister's Light Artillery, of Plaintield. 

Of the volunteers who offered their services under the call of the 
governor only 6 regiments could be accepted under the quota of 
the State. These, in accordance with an act of the legislature, 
which met on the 23d, were designated by the numbeis conimeu- 
cing with 7 and ending with 12, as a mark of respect for the 6 
regiments which had served in the Mexican war. The entire force 
732 



THE AVA"R OF THE REBELLION. 



733 



was styled the Ist Bi'i<iade of Illinois volunteers. The regulations 
of the war department required each regiment to consist of 1 colo- 
nel, 1 lieutenaut-colouel, 1 major, 1 adjutant, 1 regimental quarter- 
master, 1 surgeon, 1 surgeon's mate, 1 sergeant-major, 1 drum- 
major, 1 fife-major, 10 captains, 10 lieutenants, 10 ensigns, 10 
drummers, 10 lifers, 40 corporals, 40 sergeants and 640 privates. 
Thus organized a regiment numbered 780 men, rank and tile, and 
the entire brigade 4.()80. Gen. Prentiss was placed in command, 
and proceeding- to Cairo with tlie larger part of the force, he re- 
lieved Gen. Swift. The commanding- officer of each regiment, the 
call under which it was organized, the time and place it was mus- 
tered into service, and the aggregate strength are given in the 
subjoined schedule, taken from the report of the adjutant general. 
There was a large surplus of men in camp, and such was the pa- 
triotic desire to enter the service that many of them wept when 
refused admission. 

The legislature, anticipating another call for troops, authorized 
the formation of 10 additional regiments of infantry, 1 of cavalry, 
and a battalion of artillery. The law provided that one regiment 
should be furnished by each congressional district, and one by the 
State at large. Over 200 companies immediately volunteered, and 
from this large number the required force was selected and or- 
dered into camp. The act creating the regiments had hardly 
passed the legislatui'e before the president issued a call for 42,000 
volunteers to serve for three years unless sooner discharged. The 
quota of Illinois under this call was only 6 regiments, and a mes- 
senger Avas sent to Washington to urge upon the war <lepartment 
the importance of accepting the entire force organized by the 
State. .It was believed that more men would be needed, and as 
they were already in camp, and had made considerable proficiency 
in drill, to disband them would cause distrust in the wisdom of the 
government. As the result of persistent imi)ortunity the four 

ScHEDUI^ — Showing statement of volunteer troops organized within the State, and sent to the fields 
commencing April, 1861, and ending December 31, 1865, with mimher of regiment, name of original 
commanding officer, call under which recruited and organized, date of organization and muster 
into United States scrvice,placeof muster, and the aggregate strength of each organization. 

INFANTRY. 



No. 



Commanding officer at 
organization. 



Col. 



John Cook 

Rich'd J. Oglesby. 
Eleazer A. "Paine. 
•Jas. D. Moi'gan . . . 
W. H.L.Wallace. 
John McAithur. . . 
JohnB. Wyman.. 
John M. Palmer. . 
Tho.s. J. Turner. . 
Kob't F. Smith-.. 
Leonard F. Ro.ss. . 
Mich'l K. Lawler. 
.John B. Turchin.. 

Chas. C. Mar.sh 

ITly.sse.s S. Grant.. 
Henry Dougherty, 
Ja.s. A, Mulligan' 
Fred'k Hecker 
Wm. N. Coler. 



in I 



Call under which re- 
cruited and organized. 



Aug. 15, 1861 . 



May 15, 1861 . 



May 15, 1861. 

May'ib, isei! 



Authorized by the Sec. 
of War, Juiy, 1861... 



Date of organ- 
ization and 
muster into 
U. S. service 



July 25, 1861 



May 24, 1861. 
May 25, 1861. 
May 24, 1861. 



May 28, 1861. 



June 13, 1861 
June 15, 1861 
June 25, 1861 
June 18, 1861 
July 8, 1861. 



Place where mus 
tered into the 
United States ser 
vice. 



Cairo, Hliuois. 



Dixon 

Jacksonville. 

Freeport 

Quincy 



Anna . 



Joliet. ... 
Mattoon . 
Belleville 
Chicago... 
Chicago... 



CTQ 
?= . 






•7 P- 



1747 
1853 
1265 
1759 
1384 
1675 
1112 
2015 
2<)28 
1833 
1259 
2043 
1095 
1817 
1266 
1164 
1982 
989 
1082 



r34 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



remaining regiments were accepted, and the entire force was mus- 
tered into service, as shown in the schednle. 

Owing to the great expense connected with the equipment of 
cavahy and the opposition of Gen. Scott to the employment of 
any considerable force of this arm of the service, the governor 
accepted onl^- 5 companies but desigiuited the remaining 5, which 
should be received in case the go\ernor should need them. The 
battalion of artillery authorized by the legislature was never or- 
ganized as contemplated in the law, yet several companies, some 
of which Avere in Gen. Swift's expedition, were received into the 
service, as per schedule. 

The more than knightly ardor with which the young men of the 
State at first exhibited was still unabated, and several thousand 
being denied the privilege of serving in regiments of their own 
State, went abroad and enlisted in the forces of other States. 

In view of the alarming aspect of the rebellion, the secretary 
of war, in May, June and July, ISGl, authorized some 17 regi- 
ments of infantry and 5 of cavalry. These regiments were 
speedily filled up, aiul in answer to an application for furnishing 
additional forces, the secretary of war replied that no more troops 
would be received till authorized by congress. Congress convened 
July 4th, and consequent upon the battles of Bull Eun and 
Wilson's Creek, with the uational capital imperiled and Fremont's 
force threatened by superior numbers, empowered the president to 
call into the service 500,000 volnnteers; 13 regiments of infan- 
try, 3 of cavalry, as a part of the qnota of the State under the call 
were forthwith tendered; the people imi)atient at the slow progress 
of the war, would have increased this force by thousands had they 
been permitted. From the 11th of August till the 3d of December, it 
was agreed to accept all the infantry which should be willing to 
enter the service. As the result, 11 regiments of infantry, 4 of 
cavalry, and 8 companies for the 2d regiment of artillery volun- 



26; Col. 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 



■John M. Loomis. . 
Nap. B. Biilbrd... 

A. K. .Johnson 

Jas. S. Reavden . . . 
Pliilip B. Fouke. . 
John A. Logan. . . . 

John Logan 

Cha.s. E. Hovev- ] 
Edward N". Kirk I 
Gus. A. Smith. . J- 
:Nich. GreuseL 
Juliu.s White. . . J 
Wm. P. Carlin.... 
Austin Liffht. .. ) 
Steph. G. Hicks. { 
Isaac C. Pugh. . f 
Wm.A. "Webb.. J 

Julius Eaith 

Chas.iSToblt'sdorfl' ^ 
John E. Smith.. 5 

John A. Davis 

John Bryner 

Lshani ^. Haynie. 
Wm. E. Morrison. 
Moses M. Bane. .. 
G. W. Gumming. . 
Isaac G. Wilsoij.. . 
W.H.W.Cushman 
Thos. AV. Harris... 

David Stuart 

Kobert Kirkbam. . 
Silas 1>. Baldwin., 
"Wm. ¥. Lvnch . . . 
P. Sidney Post. . . . 
Silas C. Toler 



July 25, 1861. 
July 25,' "lS6L 



Authorized by the Sec- 
retary of 'War, in 
May," June and July, 
18fii '.. 



July 25, 1861 

Authorized by the Sec- 
retary of War, in 
May, June and July, 
1861 

July25, 1861 

Authorized, Sec. War, 
May, June, July, 1861 

July 25, 1861 

Sec'. War, July, 1861... 

July 25, 1861 



Oct. 31, 1861. 



Authorized Se.pt. 20, '61 
Authorized JUiy 1, '61 
Authorized Sept. 16, '61 
Authorized Oct. 3, '61 
Authorized July, 1861 
Authorized Aug, 14, '61 

Authorized Sept. 25, '61 

July 25. 1361 

Authorized Oct. 3, '61 



Aug. 3, 1861. 
July 27, 1861. 
Sept. 30, 1861. 
Sept. 8, 1861. 
Dec. 31, 1861- 
Aug, 15, 1861. 
Sept. 7, 1861. 



Sept. 23, 1861 
Sept. 18. 1861 
Aug. 15, 1861 
Decemb. 186) 
Aug. 10, 1861 
Aug. 9, 1861 
Sept. 17, 1861 
Dec. 16, 1861 
Sept. 13, 1861 
Dec. 26, 1861 
Dec. 28, 1861 
Oct. 1, 1861 
Nov. 18, 1861 
Dec. 31, 1861 
Sept. 12, 1861 
Dec'61 Feb'62 
Nov. 19, 1861 
March 1862 . 
Feb. 18, 1862 
Oct. 31, 1861 
Feb. 27, 1862 
Dec. 26, 1861 
Dec. 2f, laHl 
August, 1861 
Feb. 17, 1862 



Camp Butler. 



Camp 
Camp 
Camp 
Camp 
Camp 
Camp 
Camp 



Butler. 
Butler. 
Butler. 
Butler. 
Butler. 
Butler. 
Butler. 



Aurora 

Chicago 

Camp Butler. . . 

Chicago 

Salem 

Decatur 

Chicago 

Camp Butler. .. 

Chicago 

Galena 

Camp Butler. . . 

Peoria 

Camp Butler. .. 
Camp Butler. .. 

Quincy 

Camp Douglas. 

Geneva 

Ottawa 

Anna 

Camp Douglas. 
Shawneetown.. 
Camp Douglas. 
Camp Douglas. 
St. Louis, Mo . . 
Anna 



1602 
1193 
1939 
1547 
1878 
1973 
1711 
1660 
1558 
1012 
1593 
1157 
1388 
1807 
1277 
1211 
1824 
1902 
1512 
1716 
2015 
2051 
1874 
1482 
1761 
1550 
1519 
1434 
1720 
1287 
1180 
1754 
2202 
1762 
1647 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



735 



teered and were accepted. On the 3d of December au order was 
proiimlgated whicli stopped all further recruiting', except for the 
completion of companies already in process of formation. With 
the enlistment of over 4,000 for this purpose during the remainder 
of the month, the record of the year was comi>leted. Desx)ite the 
rebuffs and opi>ositiou frequently manifested by the war depart- 
ment, the State at the close of the year had in camps of instruc- 
tion over 17,000 men, had sent to the field nearlj' 50,000, and con- 
sequently had exceeded her quotas about 15,000. 

On the 2d of April, 1802, all the corps authorized previous to 
December were full, and the officers who had been detached for 
recruiting- purposes were ordered to rejoin their regiments. Many 
of the old regiments, however, as the result of disease and recent 
battles, had been reduced below the proper standard, and recruit- 
ing was still continued for the purpose of replenishing them with 
their complement of men. Early in May Washington was threat- 
ened by a large force of the enemy, and Mr. Stanton, secretary of 
war, telegraphed Governor Yates on the 25th instant, for more 
troops and several regiments of infantry and cavalry were tilled 
up and sent to the field. • 

On the 6th of July, 1S62, the president issued a call for 300,000 
volunteers to serve for 3 years, and on the 7tii of August anotlier 
call for 300,000 militia, to serve for a period of nine months. The 
secretary-, believing that a draft would be necessary, ordered 
the enrollment of the militia that it might take effect on the 18th 
of August if the quota under the first call was not completed by 
that time. This vigorous determination on the part of the gov- 
ernment was hailed with demonstrations of approval by the people 
of the State, and everywhere preparations were commenced to 
make a response commensurate with the magnitude of the requisi- 
tion. The adjutant-general's office was at once thronged by mes- 
sengers from every part of the State, demanding for their several 



61 


Col. Jacob Fry 


62 


' ' James M. True. . . 


63 


' ' Francis Mora 


64 


Lt. Col. D.L). Williams. 


65 


Col. Daniel Cameron. . . 


66 


" PatriclcE. Burke. 


67 


' ' Eosell M. Hough . 


68 


" Ellas Stuart 


69 


' ' Jos. H. Tucker. . . 


70 


" 0. T. Eeeves 


71 


" Otliniel Gilbert... 


72 


' ' Fred'k A. Starring 


73 


' ' Jas. F. Jaquess. . . 


74 


' ' Jason Mai sh 


75 


" George liyan 


76 


' ' Alonzo W. Mack.. 


77 


" DavidP. Grier.., . 


78 


" W. H. Bennison.. 


79 


" Lyman Guiunip.. 


8U 


" Tiies. G.Allen.... 


81 


' ' Jas. J. Dolllns 


82 


' ' Frederick Hecker. 


83 


' ' Abner C. Hardinir. 


84 


" Louis H Waters. 


85 


" Robert S.Moore.. 


86 


' ' David D. Irons 


87 


" John E. Whiting. 


88 


" F.T. Sherman 


89 


' ' John Christopher. 


90 


' ' Timothy O'Mera. . 


91 


' ' Henry M. Day 


92 


" Smith D. Atkins.. 


93 


" Holden Putnam... 


94 


" "Wm. AY. Orme 



Authorized Aug. 14, '61 March 7, 1862 
Authorized Oct. 3, '61 April 10, 1862 

Authorized Aug. 14, '61 Dec. 31, 1862 

May 15, 1862 

Transfd from Mo. 14th j April, 1862... 

May 25, 1862 Juno 13, 1862 

June 20, 1662 

Ijune 14, 1862 

I July 4, 1862 

July 26, 18(12 

July, 1862 Aug. 21, 1862 



Sept. 4, 1862 
Sept. 2, 1862 
Aug. 22, 1862 
*Sept. 2 9 co.s. 
Sept. 1. 1862 
Aug. 28, 1862 
Aug. 25, 1862 
Aug. 26, 1802 

Aug. 21, 1862 
Sept. 1, 1862 
Aug. 27, 1862 



Sept. 22. 
Aug. 27, 
* Aug. 25, 
Nov. 22, 
Sept. 8, 
Sept. 4. 
Oct. 13, 
Aug. 20, 



1862 
1862 
9 cos 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 
1862 



CarroUton 

Anna 

Anna 

Camp Butler 

Camp Douglas 

St. Louis. Mo 

Camp Douglas 

Camp Butler 

Camp Douglas 

Camp Butler 

Camp Douglas.. . . 

Camp Douglas 

Cauip Butler. 

Kockford 

Dixon 

Kankakee 

Peoria 

Quiucy 

Danville 

Centralia 

Anna 

Camp Butler 

Monmouth 

Quincy 

Peoria 

Peoria 

Shawnee towTi 

Camp Douglas 

Camp Douglas . . . 
Camp Douglas.... 

Camp Butler 

Kockford 

Princ'tn & Chicago 
Bloomington 



1385 
1730 
1228 
1624 
1684 
1694 
979 
889 
912 
1006 
940 
1471 
968 
989 
987 
1110 
1051 
1028 
974 
928. 
1187 
961 
1286 
956 
959 
993 
994 
907 
1285 
957 
1041 
1265 
1036 
1091 



736 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



comities the privilege of volunteering, and thereby securinc]^ 
exemption from the draft. This preference for volunteering, and 
an urgeut request that the quota of the State under both calls 
might be immediately ascertained, was made known to the secre- 
tary of war. Information was duly received that the entire num- 
ber was 52,296, and volunteeis would be accepted till the 15th of 
August for forming' new regiments, and after that for filling old 
ones already in the field. The State had now furnished 16,978 in 
excess of previous quotas, and it was at first intended that this 
surplus should be deducted from the present requisition. This, 
however, was afterwards countermanded and it was therefore 
necessaiy to raise the entire number in 13 days or submit to the 
alternative of a draft. The result is thus eloquentl}^ given in the 
language of Adjutant-Gen. Fuller: 

" These new volunteers must come, if come at all, from the farmers 
and mechanics of the State. Tlie farmers were in the midst of harvest, 
and it is no exaggei'atiou to say that, inspired by a holy zeal, animated 
by a common purpose, and firmly resolved on rescuing the government 
from the very brink of ruin, and restoring it to the condition our fathers 
left "it, tliat over 50,000 of tliem left their harvests uugathered, their tools 
and their benches, the plows in their furrows, and turued their backs 
on their homes, and before 11 days expired tlie demands of the govern- 
ment were met and both quotas were filled. Proud indeed was the day 
to all Illiuoisans when tiie announcement was made that the enlist- 
ments were full. And when the historian shall record the eventful 
days of August, 1862, no prouder record can be erected to the honor and 
memory of a free people than a plain and full narrative of actual reali- 
ties. It is not my province in this report to bestow fulsome ]jraise or 
write glowing eulogies, but when I remember what we all witnessed in 
those days ; when I remember the patriotism and vmselfish impulse 
which animated every soul, and the universal liberality of those who 
were either too young or too old to enlist to aid those who were eager 
to join their brethren in the field ; when I remember the holy ardor 
which aged mothers and fair daughters infused into husbands, sons and 



95 Col. Lawr'ii S. Cbiircli. 

96 ' ' Thos. E. Cliampion 

97 " r S. Kutherford. . 

98 " J. J. ruiikhouser. 

99 - ' G. W. K. Bailey. . 

100 " Fred. A. Bartleson 

101 " Chas. H. Fox 

lOai " Wm. McMurtry., 

103 " AmosC. Babcock. 

104 " Absalom B. Moore 

105 " Daniel Diistiu.... 

106 " Rob't B.Latliain.. 

107 " Thomas Snell 

108 " Johu Waruer 

109 " Alex. J. Kiramo.. 

llOi " Thos. S. Casey 

111] " James S. Martin-. 

112 " T. J. Henderson... 

113 " Goo. B. Hoge 

114 1 " Jas. W. Jndy 

115 " Jesse H. Moore. . . 

lie " N.-ithanH.Tupper 

117 ' ' Risden M. Moore. 

118 ' ' John G. Fonda 

119 '• Thos. J. Kennoy. . 

120 ' ' Geo. W. McKeaig. 

121 Never Orgauized 

122 Col. John I. Rmaker. . 



123 1 

124; 

125 
126 

127 
128 
129 1 



James Moore 

Thomas J. Sloan.. 
Oscar ¥. Harmon . 
Jonth'n Richmond 
John VauArui.Tu.. 
Robert M. Hudley 
Geo. P. Smith 




Sept. 4, 
Sept. 6, 
Sept. 8, 
Sept. 3, 
Aug. 26, 
Aug 30, 
Sept. 2, 

Oct. 2, 
Aug. 27, 
Sept. 2, 
Sept. 17, 
Sept. 4, 
Aug. 28, 
Sept. 11, 

Sept. 18, 
Sept. 12, 
Oct. 1, 
Sept. 18, 
Sept. 13, 
Sept. 30, 
Sept. 19, 
Nov. 29, 
Oct. 7, 
Oct. 29, 



1862 Rockford 

1862|Rockford 

1862; Camp Butler 

1862 Ceutralia 

1862 Florence, Pike oo. 

1862!Joliet 

18621 Jacksonville 

iKnoxville 

1862jPeoria 

1862 Ottawa 

1862 Chicago 

1862 Lincoln . 

1802 

1862 

1861 



Camp Butler. .. 

Peoria 

Anna 

Anna 

1862|S.alem 

1862 1 Peoria 

1862 Camp Douglas. 
1862 Cam J) Butler. . . 
1862! Camp Butler... 

1862] Decatur 

1862 1 Camp Butler. .. 
1862 Camp Butler. . . 

1862 ' Quincy 

1862 Camp Butler. . . 



Sept. 4, 1862 

Sept. 6, 1862 

Sept. 10, 1862 

Sept. 4, 1862 

*Sept. 5, 9 cos 

Dec. 18, 1862 

Sept. 8, 1862 



Carlinville 

Mattoon 

Camp Butler. .. 

Danville 

Chicago 

Camp Douglas. 
Camp Butler. . . 
Pontiac 



1427 
1206 
1082 
1078 
936 
921 
911 
998 
917 
977 
1001 
1097 
944 
927 
967 
873 
994 
1095 
1258 
990 
960 
952 
995 
1101 
952 
844 



934 
1050 
1130 
933 
998 
957 
866 
1011 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



737 



brothers — I say when I remember all these things, I cannot but feel 
justified in departing from the dull routine of statistics and bestow 
upon the subject this parting notice." 

A vast army was thus suddenly ushered into existence, and 
the government being unable to sujiply tents, how to provide cojn- 
fortable quarters became an important consideration. In many 
counties, therefore, large numbers Avere temporarily lodged under 
the sheds of fair grounds till barracks could be erected at the prin- 
cipal camps of instruction at S])riugtield and Chicago. It was also 
difficult to procure clothing. The vast multitude of recruits in the 
different States, and the sudden emergency which had called them 
forth, taxed the government to its utmost capacity to furnish 
equipments. Before the close of the year, however, there were 
clothed, armed and sent from the State 59 regiments of infantry, 
and four batteries of artillery, aggregating a force of 53,819 men. 
There was also enlisted during the same time for the 14th 
cavalry, and for old regiments an additional number, which, added 
to the former, makes a grand total of 58,416 men, an excess of 
23,097 over the quotas of the State. 

The last call for troops was on the 19th of December, 1864. The 
number required was 300,000, and if not raised by voluntary en- 
listments, by the 15th of February following the State was to be 
drafted. Past experience had shown that troops could be more 
readily secured by the formation of new organizations, and appli- 
cation was made to the war department for the privilege of raising 
ten additional regiments. Permission was granted, and a number 
of persons who had distinguished themselves in the service, but 
whose terms of enlistment had expired, commenced recruiting, 
each authorized to raise a single company. Formerly one person 
had been permitted to raise a whole regiment, but it required a 
much longer time for its accomplishment than where the work 
^vas sub-divided among a number. This modification in the prac- 
tice which had hitherto prevailed operated with astonishing success. 
The adjutant general's ottice was again thronged with applications 



130 
131 
132 
133 
134 
135 
136 
137 
138 
139 
140 
141 
142 
143 
144 
145 
146 
147 
148 
149 
150 
151 
152 
153 
154 
155 
156 



Col. Nathaniel Nlles. . 
" George W. Neeley 
" ■ Thos. C. Pickett. ] 
" Tliad. Phillips... 
" W.W.McChesney 
" John S. Wolfe... I 
" Fred A. Johns.. | 

" John Wood I 

" J. W.Goodwin.. 
" Peter Davidson.. 
" L. H. Whitney.. 
' ' Stephen Bronsbn . 
" Rollin V. Anknev 
" Dudley C. Smith J 

" Cyrus Hall 

" George W. Lackey. 
" Henry H. Dean. . . . 
" Hiram F. Sickles. . . 
" Horace H. Wilsie.. 
" Wm. C. Kueffuer.. 
" Geo. W. Keener . . 
" French B. Woodall 
" F. D. Stephenson.. 
" Stephen Bronsou.. 
" McLean F. Wood. . 
" Gustavus A. Smith 
•' Alfred F. Smith... 

" J. W. Wils(m 

" John A. Bross 

Capt. John Curtis 

" Simon J. Stookey 
■' James Steele...'. 

47 



July, 1862. 



100 day organizations 
tendered by the Gov- 
ernor of Hllnois, April 
21, '64, and accepted 
by the President, 
April 23, 1864. 



July. 1864 

100 day's organization.. 

July, "1864 

December 19, 1864 



Spec auth'ty Sec. War. 

*Sept. 24, 1863 

100 day's organization. 
100 day's organization. 
April 15, 1861 



Oct. 25, 
Nov. 13, 
June 1, 
May 31, 

June 6, 
June 1, 
jjune 5, 
June 21, 
June 1. 
June 18, 
June 16, 
June 18, 
June 11, 
Oct. 21, 
June 9, 
Sept. 20, 
Feb. 18, 
Feb. 18, 
Feb. 11, 
Feb. 14, 
Feb. 25, 
Feb. 18, 
Feb. 27, 
Feb. 22, 
Feb. 28. 
March 9, 
Dec. 1, 



1865. 
1862. 
1864. 
1864. 

1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1854. 
1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1864. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1865. 
1861. 



June 21, 
June 21, 
June 15, 



1864. 
1864. 
1864. 



Camp Butler. . 
Camp Massac. 

Camp Fry 

Camp Butler . 

Camp Fry 

Mattoon 

Centralia 

Quincy 

Quincy 

Peoria 

Camp Butler.. 

Elgin 

Camp Butler. . 

Mattoon 

Alton, His 

Camp Butler.. 
Camp Butler. . 

Chicago 

Quincy 

CampButler, . 
Camp Butler.. 

Quincy 

Camp Butler.. 

Chicago 

Camp Butler. . 
Camp Butler. . 

Chicago 

Chicago 

Quincy 

Camp Butler. . 
Camp Butler. . 
Chicago 



932 
880 
853 
851 
878 
852 
842 
849 
835 
878 
871 
842 
8.51 
865 

1159 
880 

1056 

1047 
917 
983 
933 
970 
945 

1076 
994 
929 
975 
985 
903 
91 
90 
86 



738 



HISTOEY OP ILLINOIS. 



for autlioiity to raise coiiipanies, and as fast as a siifticient miiiiber 
was secured for a regimeut it was organized and marclied to tlie 
front. Early in February it was feared that recruiting was going 
on so rajiidly that more volunteers would offer than could possibly 
enter the 10 regiments, and the draft was temporarily postponed. 
These regiments were soon completed, and it was directed that the 
remaining companies arriving under voluntary enlistments should 
be disposed of in lilling up old regiments. This course was con- 
tiiuied till the 13th of April, 1S05, when, by an order of the war 
departnu^nt, recruiting ceased throughout the U. S. The State now 
only lacked 4,S9G of comi»leting her quota. These would have 
been speedily obtained had not the termination of the war ren- 
dered it unnecessary. 

Toward the close of the war, in consequence of an imperfect 
enrollment of those subject to military duty, it became evident 
that the State was furnishing thousands in excess of what a cor- 
rect estimate would have required. So glaring had this dispro- 
portion become, that under the last call the quota in a number of 
sub-districts exceeded the number of able-bodied men. Yet the 
people, when it was found inexpedient to correct the enrollment, 
determined to raise the number required, believing that in the 
extraordinary exigencies of the times the safety of the country 
demanded the sacrifice. Let the thousands of brave men Avhich 
the State thus voluntarily laid on the altar of the country forever 
remain a proud monument of thepatriotism which so triumphantly 
sustained it in the hour of danger. 

The office of the Adjutant General, which played such an important 
part in the organization of the troops, was occupied at the com- 
mencement of the war by Thomas S. Mather. The duties of the 
office were then executed by virtue of the militia law of 1845, and 
acts amendatory thereof.Gen. Mather held the ofhce till jSTovember, 
1861, when Gen. Allen C. Fuller assumed control. The latter in- 
cumbent, possessing superior qualifications, soon reduced the 
military records of the State, hitherto sparse and confused, to 
order, and systematized the business of the office. A fruitful source 
of disorder grew out of the acceptance by the war department of 
what were termed independent regiments. The correspondence 
of the first 22 regiments of infantry and 4 of cavalry was addressed 
directly to the war department, and for a time their officers were 
disinclined to furnish the adjutant general Avith muster rolls, 
and other official information. To remedj' this exi\ and promote 



CAVALRY. 



Col. Tlios. A. Marshall 

" Silas jSToble 

" EugeueA. CaiT 

" T. Lyle Dickey.... 

" John J. Uijdegr.ift' 

" Tlios. H.Cavauaut!:h 

" Will. Pitt Kello-.i: 

" JohuF. Parn.swoitii 

" Albert G. Braokott 

" Janie.s A. Barrett.. 

" Robert G. IngersoU 

" Arno Voss 

" Joseph W. Bell 

" Horace Capron .... 

" Warren Stewart .. 

" Christian Thielniau 

" John L. Bev«ridge. 



Anth'd by Sec'y War. . 

July 2, 1861 

July 25, 1861 

Authorized July, '61. 
Auth'd Aug. 27, 1861... 

.July 25. 1S61 

July 25, 1861 

Authorized July, 1861. 
Authorized July, 1861, 
Auth'd Sept. 5, 1861.... 

*July. 1861 

Auth'd Sept. 28, 1861. 
Auth'd Nov. 27, 1861... 

July, 1862 

July, 1861 

April, 1861, July, 1862. 
1863 ■ 



June, 1861 

Aug. 24, 1861. 
Sept. 21. 1861. 
Sept. 30, 1861 . 

Dec. 1861 

Nov.61 Jan'62 
Aug. 1861... 
Sept. 18, 1861 
Oct. 26, 1861. 
Nov. 25, 1861. 
Dec. 20, 1861 . 
Dec'61 Feb '62 

Jan. 7, 1863. 
org'd Dec25'63 
Jan.Apl, 1863. 
Jan. 28, 16G4. 



iBloomington... 
Camp Butler. . . 
Camp Butler. . . 

Ottawa 

Camp Butler.., 
Camp Butler. . . 
Camp Butler. . . 

St. Charles 

Camp Douglas. 
Camp Butler. . . 

Peoria 

Camp Butler. . . 
Camp Douglas. 

Peoria 

Camp Butler, . . 
Camp Butler. . . 
St. Charles 



1206 
1861 
2183 
1656 
1669 
2248 
2282 
2412 
2619 
1934 
2362 
2174 
1759 
1565 
1473 
1462 
1247 



THE WAR OF THE KEBELLION. 



739 



harmony between the federal and State authorities, the secretary 
of war ijromulgated order 18, which contains the following pro- 
vision: "The governors of the States are legally the authorities 
for raising volunteer regiments and commissioning their officers. 
Accordingly no independent organizations, as such, will hereafter 
be recoguized in the U. S. service. Copies of the rolls of muster 
into service will be sent as soon as practicable to the governors 
of the States to whicli they belong by the commanders of bri- 
gades, regiment or corps, heretofore recognized as independent 
of State organizations, and all vacancies of commissions in such 
regiments and corps will be liereafter filled by the respective 
governors according to law." Mr. Fuller retained possession of 
the office till January 1, 1863. Thence to the installation of 
Gen. I. IN". Haynie, January 14, 1865, the duties of the office were 
discharged by Lieut.-Col. Edward P. Mies, who, from the com- 
mencement of the war, had been intimately connected with its 
routine. B3' the provisions of an act to provide for the appoint- 
ment, and to prescribe the duties of, the adjutant general, ap- 
proved February 2d, 1865, the office became an organized de- 
partment of the State government. In accordance with the law 



riKST REGIMENT— ILLINOIS LIGHT ARTILLERY. 



Field 
Capt. 



aud Staff 

U. M. Willard.. 
Ezra Taylor. . . 
C. Hauglitaling 
Ed. McAllister 
A. C. Waterhouse 
John T. Cheney.. 
Arthur O'Leary. 
Axel Silversparr. 
Edward Bouton . 

A. Franklin 

John Rourke 

John B. Miller. . . 
Recruits 



July, 1862. 



April, 1861 

July, 1861 '.'.'.'.v.. 



Oct. 31, 
Jan. 14, 
Dec. 19, 
Feb. 25, 
Feb. 28, 
Feb. 20, 
Feb. 15, 
Jan. 9, 
Feb. 22, 
Aug. 12, 



1861. 
1862. 
1861, 
1862. 
1862. 
1862. 
1862 
1862. 
1862. 
1862. 



Chicago 

Chicago 

Ottawa 

Plainfield 

Chicago 

Camp Butler. . 

Cairo 

Chicago 

Chicago 

Shawneetown. 

Chicago 

Chicago 



7 
108 
204 
175 
141 
148 
159 
113 
147 
169 

96 
153 
154 



SECOND REGIMENT— ILLINOIS LIGHT ARTILLERY. 



A I Capt. Peter Davidson . . I July, 1861 . 



Riley Madison. 

Caleb Hopkins 

Jasper M. Dresser 
Adolph Schwartz 
John W. Powell. 
Chas. J. Stolbrand 
Andiew Steinbeck 
Charles W. Keith. 
Benj. F. Rogers. .. 
Win. H. Bolton... 
John C.Phillips.. 

Field and staff. . 

Recruits 



April, 1861 

July, 18G1 

Auth'd, Sept. 1861. 



Auth'd Sept. 15, 1861. 



Authorized 1861. 
Authorized 1862. 



Aug. 17, 
June 20, 
Aug. 5, 
Dec. 17, 
Feb. 1, 
Dec. 11, 
Dec. 31, 
Dec. 31, 
Dec. 31, 
Dec. 31, 
Feb. 28, 
June 6, 



1861. 
1861. 
1861. 
1861. 
1862. 
1861 
1861. 
1861. 
1861. 
1861 
1862. 
1862. 



Peoria 

Springfield 

Cairo 

Cairo 

Cairo 

Cape Girardean,Mo. 

Camp Butler 

Camp Butler 

Camp Butler 

Camp Butler 

Chicago ».. 

Chicago 



116 
127 
154 
117 
136 
190 
108 
115 
107 
108 
145 
100 
10 
1171 



INDEPENDENT BATTERIES. 



Bd of Trade 
Springfield. 
Mercantile 

Elgin 

Coggsweir. 
Henshaw's. 
Bridges.. .. 
Colvin's. .,. 
Busteed's . . 



Capt. James S. Stokes, i July, 1862 

' Thos. F. Vaughn " 

' Chas. G. Cooley, " 

' Geo. W. Ren wick " 

' Wm. Coggswell. Auth'd Sept. 15, 1861. 

' Ed. C. Henshaw. I July, 1862 

' Lyman Bridges., i Auth'd Jan. 1, 1862.. 

' John H. Colvin.. Auth'd July, 1863... 



July 31, 1862. 
Aug. 21, 1862- 
Aug. 29, 1862. 
Nov. 15, lt'62. 
Sep. 23, 1861. 
Oct. 1.1, 1862. 
Jan. 1, 1862. 
Oct. 10, 1663. 



Chicago 

Camp Butler. 

Chicago 

Elgin 

C'mp Douglas 

Ottawa 

Chicago 

Chicago 

Chicago 



258 
199 
270 
242 
221 
196 
252 
91 
127 



RECAPITULATION. 

Infantry 185 941 

Cavalry 3i\082 

Artillery 7,277 



740 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Geu. Hayuie provided a seal of office. Previously, to give validity 
to commissions aud other official iustrumeuts, it was necessary 
to procure tbe seal aud signature of the secretary of State- 
After a suitable impriut was provided, this iudirect method of 
trausactiug the business of the office was discontinued. The ex- 
tensive reports, issued under the supervision of Gen. Hayuie, 
coutaiu all the military information that can be interesting to the 
reader or useful iu the organization of future armies, aud may 
justlj' be regarded as a monument of industry, of which the State 
should be proud. 

From data thus furnished, the whole number of enlistments 
during the war was 256,000, average strength 299,963, number 
killed in action, 5,888 ; died of wounds, 3,032 ; of disease, 19,496, 
ui prison, 967 ; lost at sea, 205 ; aggregate, 29,588.* 

Medical Department. — At the instance of the Secretary of War, 
fche governor appointed a board of medical examiners consisting 
of A. H. Johnson, president, and O. M. Kyau, secretary. The 
medical profession sharing the enthusiasm that animated the 
masses, tendered their services to the government with a zeal 
which, in many instances, surjjassed their qualifications for the 
work they were required to perform. They went forth in large 
numbers from the prairie, the village and country where their 
undiversified practice little qualified them for the more arduous 
and extensive duties of the armj". 

The board met on the 18th of June, 1861, in Springfield, aud in 
accordance with the army regulations they proceeded to "inves- 
tigate carefully the physical ability, moral character and profes- 
sional attainments of each candidate." To accommodate the large 
number who applied for positions, sessions were held in Chicago, 
Alton, Cairo and the field. The importance of the work which 
they performed may be inferred from the fact that much the 
larger part of the mortality connected with armies residts from 
diseases instead of the sword, and that many of those who pro- 
posed to assume the responsibilities of physicians had never 
received the first rudiments of a medical education. It is but 
iustice to state that the selections made by the board were judi- 
cious, and that the medical treatment enjoyed by our volunteers 
was efficient. Manj^ not only evinced a high order of skill in the 
practice of surgery and therapeutics, but what was of moreimi^ort- 
ance, with a paternal solicitude instituted the most rigid sanitary 
regulations for the prevention of disease. 

Camps. — The two principal camps in the State were Camp But- 
ler, at Springfield, and Camp Douglas, at Chicago. The immedi- 
ate location of the former was near where the Wabash, St. Louis 
& Pacific railroad crosses the Sangamon river, and that of the lat- 
ter just by the last resting place of the great statesman after whom 
it was named. Each was provided with commissary and ordnance 
warehouses, general prison and small pox hospitals, comi)anyand 
prison barracks, officers' quarters aud other structures necessary 
for the outfit of an extensive encampment. Both ijlaces — espe- 
cially Camp Butler — became the principal points for the rendez- 

•Computation by Adjutant General E. L. Higgins. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 741 

vous aud iustructiou of volunteers and mustering them out of ser- 
vice after the war. 

As the result of the battle of Fort Donelson some 10,000 priso- 
ners were sent to these camps, and thereafter they became places 
of custody for other prisoners captured in the war. Their treat- 
ment by the officers in charge was always humane, though if the 
statements of rebel writers could be credited, they sutfered more 
hellish barbarities than were perpetrated in the prison pens of 
the South. Of the 30,000 prisoners received at different times at 
Camp Douglas 3,500 died, about 10 per cent., while of the number 
of prisoners received at Belle Isle more than 50 per cent, died 
from exposure, starvation aud brutality. The site of Camp But- 
ler is still preserved as a national cemetery, in which many of 
the gallant sons of Illinois sleep in honored graves. Other camps 
were formed in different parts of the State, but they in general 
subserved only temporary purposes. 

Women of Illinois. — We have spoken of the patriotic sons 
of Illinois, her daughters must not be omitted. Perhaps the 
brightest page in the history of the State is that which records 
their efforts in behalf of the soldier. Their devotion to the 
national cause was rather the promptings of inspiration than the 
ordinary impulse of patriotism, and its defenders were objects of 
their deepest sympathy. Women in all ages have prompted men 
to deeds of noble daring, while with the progress of civilization 
in modern times her influence has become more potent than presi- 
dents, cabinets or crowns. It is a true adage that she who rocks 
the cradle rules the world. In the hallowed associations of home 
are born and nurtured the great intellects, large hearts and the 
staunch integrity which has accomplished all that is noble in the 
history of the race. 

The women of Illinois, in common with others all over the land, 
were the first to commiserate the sufferings of the soldier, and the 
first to make efforts to afford relief. In this they were actuated 
not only by a heroic love of country, but their kindred were 
enduring the privations of war, aud who like them could feel for 
their distress ? Though physically incapacitated to share with 
them the toil and perils of battle, yet before its smoke and the 
echoes of its artillery passed away they could bind up their 
wounds, and by their self-denial inspire them with a holier ardor 
for the cause they were defending. How many weary sufferers on 
the field of carnage, in the lonely hospital, were relieved by their 
bounty and cheered by their presence, none but the recording 
angel can tell. 

Their 1? bors soon assumed an organized form ; hundreds of relief 
societies sprang uj) all over the State, and proportionately as the 
terrible effects of the war increased, the warm current of their 
sympathies and charities augmented. These consisted of food, 
clothing, medicine, hospital delicacies, reading matter and thou- 
sands of other articles in such quantities as to necessitate the 
chartering of cars, and in some instances steamboats to carry 
them to their destination. 

The counties of the State next became enlisted in the work of 
benevolence. In the 69 where records were made and rei)orted, 
the sums donated as bounties to volunteers for the support of sol- 



742 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



diers' families and other objects amounted to more than $1,500,- 
000. In this estimate the donations of 33 counties, and the unre- 
corded benevolence of thousands of individuals all over the State, 
are not included. 

Another form which the work assumed was the establishment 
of soldiers' homes in the principal cities. In these places of ref- 
uge the traveling soldier, when he had no one else to care for him, 
was provided with board and lodging free of cost. During the 
war the several homes in Illinois and other parts of the West fur- 
nished lodging for 000,000 men, and meals valued at 12,500,000. 
The relief thus afforded was not intended as a substitute but as 
supplemental to that of the government. The troops of Illinois 
participated in some of the most gigantic struggles of the war, 
in which no government system, however provident or elastic, can 
do more than mitigate the suffering. In these bloody conflicts 
the private benevolence of the peo]>le nobly seconded the efforts 
of the government, and could the relief afforded by both have been 
tenfold more effective, the wounded would still have suffered 
unspeakable privations and agony. 

The sanitary commission greatly assisted in arousing and giv- 
ing direction to the benevolent enterprise of the State. The first 
members of the society w^ere appointed on the 9th of June, 1861, 
by the Secretary of War. They met and organized in Washing- 
ton the same month, and in the autumn of the same year Dr. 
Newberry, one of the most eflicieut members, organized the 
If orth western branch at Chicago. 

" This was one of the most eflfieient of all its auxiliaries in collecting 
supplies, and its various tributaries scattered throughout the States of 
Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin, did more for the relief of the soldier 
probably in proportion to their means, than those of any other section 
of tlie country, Nowliere iiad the commission warmer or more enthusias- 
tic friends than at Chicago. It was most fortunate in enlisting at an early 
period the active sympathy of some of the most influential and trusted 
men of that important place. The names of the gentlemen who con- 
ducted its operations, Judge Skinner, E. B. McCagg and E. W. Blatch- 
ford were alone a tower of strength to its cause throughout the North- 
west and the commission reaped the benefit in the vast contributions of 
that region of their wide spread reputation and active exertions."* 

The most successful effort in turning the great tide of popular 
symi3athy into the channel of the commission, occurred at Chicago 
in May, 1865. The means employed was a fair in which not 
only Illinois, but her sister States of the West, were largely rep- 
resented. Though all gave it a hearty support the conception of 
its plan and the success with which it was carried out was mostly 
due to the efforts of Madams Hoge and Livermore. These ladies 
Avho are the personification of benevolence and energy wrote 
appeals, distributed circulars, and addressed public meetings till 
the great heart of the Northwest was moved to its utmost depths. 
Union Hall, the principal building, occupied the whole of Dear- 
born Park and was brilliantly illuminated with gas from floor to 
ai^ex. In the centre were tastefully arranged in booths and on 
tables the consecrated offerings of churches, and rare and beauti- 
ful contributions from the nations of Europe. In the two 
wings business and industry were represented by goods and 
machinerv, less ornamental but more useful. Eastward a whole 

* History of the Sanitary Commission. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 743 

block was covered by Floral Hall, whose couteiits appeared like a 
crystallized vision of beauty, in which both nature and art had 
been laid under contribution lor their most exquisite productions. 
Bryan's Hall, then the largest room in the city, was iised as a 
depository for battle-torn banners and other trophies of the war, 
indicative of Illinois and western valor. 

Generals Grant and Hooker, Senator Yates, and a large number 
of other distinguished personages, gave the prestige of their 
presence to the occasion. A vast multitude thronged the different 
avenues of approa(;h to the city, and though the rebellion had 
suddenly colla[>sed and the necessity for raising funds had greatly 
ceased, the gross proceeds amounted to more than $300,000 and 
the net profits to $250,000. 

Military Movements in tJw State. — The operations of the immense 
hosts furnished by the State within her borders, was limited in 
extent. We have already spoken of the occupation of Caii"0, 
located at the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and 
Illinois Central railroad, which was early regarded as a strategic 
point of more than ordinary significance. Its near proximity to 
Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, whose governments were con- 
trolled by disloyal men, rendered it liable to seizure. One of the 
first acts of the garrison was to suppress the ti'affic in lead and 
other contraband merchandise carried on by Galena, St. Louis 
and Cincinnati, with the rebellious cities on the Lower Mississippi. 
Among other contraband shipments Gov. Yates received intelli- 
gence tliat two steamers, the C. E. Hillmau and John D. Perry, 
carrying arms and ammunition, were about to descend the river 
from St. Louis and telegraphed Col. Prentiss to stop them and 
take possession of their cargoes. In due time the vessels made 
their appearance and were immediately boarded and brougiit to 
the wharf. A large number of arms and other military stores 
were seized and confiscated, a proceeding at the time somewhat 
informal, but subsequently approved by the Secretary of war. 
To prevent the recurrence of similar attemj^ts on the part of the 
rebels to obtain supplies all fmther shipments to posts under in- 
surrectionary control Avere interdicted. 

The State was almost destitute of arms, and the Cairo exi)edi- 
tionhad been equipped to a great extent with shot guns and rifles, 
til ken from the stores in Chicago. According to the report of the 
ordiiiancequartermaster, the arsenal contained only 3(!2 muskets, 
105 rifles, 133 niusketoons, and 297 pistols. In addition to tljese 
there were a number of other arms in possession of ditt'erent militia 
companies of the State, of antique patterns, and far inferior to 
weajtons of a more modern construction. Under these circiun- 
stances an effort was made to obtain arms from the arsenal of 
!N"ew York, and a messenger was sent to Washington for a similar 
purpose. It, however, soon became evident that this destitution 
was not confined to Illinois, but as the result of Floyd's treachery, 
common to all the Northern States. According to rebel newspa- 
pers, there had been deposited at different points in the South 
107,000 stand of muskets, and 200,000 pistols for the avowed pur- 
pose of overturning the government to which they rightfully be- 
longed. Furthermore, of the home squadron, consisting of 12 
vessels, carrying 187 guns and 2,000 men, only 4 small vessels, 



744 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

cairyiug 25 guns and 280 men, were available, tlie others having 
been dispersed to distant seas. 

While the subject of procuring arms was under advisement, the 
messenger who had been dispatched to Washington returned with 
an order on the arsenal at St. Louis for 10,000 nuiskets. This re- 
pository of military stores was now closely watched by traitors, 
and a mob of them were ready to seize the arms which it contained 
the moment an attempt should be made to remove them. While 
those in charge of the requisition were looking about for compe- 
tent men, and considering an available plan for getting possession 
of them, Captain Stokes, of Chicago, volunteered to undertake the 
hazardous enterjirise. Gov. Yates at once put into his hands the 
order issued by the secretary of war, and hastening to St. Louis, 
he found the arsenal surrounded by a disorderly, treasonable 
rabble. After a number of unavailing attempts to pass through 
the crowd, he at length reached the building, and communicated 
to the officer in charge the object of his visit. The commander in- 
formed him that the arsenal was surrounded by hundreds of spies 
in communication with the secessionists of the city, and that the 
most trivial movement might excite suspicion, and bring an over- 
powering force upon the garrison at any moment. Although he 
doubted the possibility of complying with the requisition, it was 
evident that delay would render it more difficult, and permission 
was given to Captain Stokes to make the attempt. These appre- 
hensions were well founded, for the next day information was re- 
ceived that Gov. Jackson had ordered 2,000 armed men down 
from Jefferson City, and was evidently contemplating by this 
movement the capture of the arsenal. Two batteries had already 
been planted by his friends, one near the arsenal, and one on the 
St. Louis levee, and were either designed for this purpose, or some 
other treasonable object. Captain Stokes immediately telegraphed 
to Alton to have a steamer descend the river and about midnight 
land opposite the arsenal, aud-i^roceeding to the same place with 
700 men of the 7th Illinois, soon commenced lowering the heavy 
boxes containing the guns from the upper to the lower portion of 
the building. At the same time, to divert attention from his real 
design, he caused oOO unserviceable muskets to be openly placed 
on a different boat. As intended, this movement was soon de- 
tected, and the shouts and excitement upon their seizure, drew 
most of the crowd from the arsenal. Captain Stokes ordered the 
remainder, who were acting as a posse, to be shut up in the guard 
house, and as soon as the boat came along side commenced 
freighting her with guns. When the 10,000 muskets were aboard 
he asked permission to empty the entire arsenal, and was told to 
go ahead and take what he wanted. He, therefore, instead of 
confining himself to the requisition, besides cannon and a large 
number of other valuable accoutrements, took 500 carbines, 500 
pistols, and 20,000 muskets, leaving only 7,000 to arm the St. 
Louis volunteers. When all was on board and the order was given 
to start, it was found that the immense weight of the cargo had 
bound the bow of the boat to a rock, which at every turn of the 
wheel was crushing through the bottom. The arms had been piled 
in large quantities about the engines to protect them from the bat- 
tery on the levee, and assistance was immediately summoned from 
the arsenal to remove them to the stern. Fortunately, when this 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 745 

was pai-tially effected the boat fell away from the shore ami floated 
into deep water. 

"Which way f said Captain Mitchell, of the steamer. "Straight 
in the regular channel to Alton," replied Captain Stokes. "What 
if we are attacked f said Captain Mitchell. "Then we will fight," 
was the reply of Captain Stokes. "What if we are overpowered f 
said Mitchell. "Run the boat to the deepest part of the river and 
sink her," replied Stokes. "I'll do it," was the heroic answer of 
Mitchell, and away they went past the secession battery, past the 
St. Louis levee, and iu the regular channel on to Alton, where they 
arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning. When they touched the land- 
ing, Captain Stokes, fearing pursuit by some of the secession mili- 
tary companies by which the city of St. Louis was disgraced, ran 
to the market house and rang the fire bell. The citizens came 
flocking pell-mell to the river in all sorts of habiliments. Ca})tain 
Stokes informed them as to the state of affairs, and pointed to the 
freight cars. Instantly men, women and children boarded the 
steamer, seized the freight, and clambered up the levee to the 
cars. Eich and poor tugged together with might and main for two 
hours, when the cargo was all deposited on the cars, and the train 
moved off' to Springfield amid the most enthusiastic cheers."* These 
arms thus rescued from the very grasp of traitors, served to equip 
the first regiments of the State, and on many a bloody field be- 
came the terrible avengers of those who sought to use them against' 
their country. 

• Patriotism of Illinois. 



Chapter LVI. 

1861—1862. ILLINOIS IlsT MISSOTJEI. 

Battles of Lexington^ Monroe, Charleston, FredericTctown, Belmont and 

Pea Ridge. 



Haviii <;;• g■i^'ell a brief sketch of the operation of Illinois at home 
let us look abroad at the ex^jloits of her soldiers in the field. 

In the vallej' of the Mississippi, east of the Alleghanies, and on 
the Southern seaboard, every commercial highway was blockaded 
by the terrible enginery of war, and every mountain pass and sa- 
lient out-post echoed with the tramp of hostile squadrons. In the 
disposition of the Union armies, Illinois troops were mostly con- 
fined to operations on the Mississippi, the Tennessee, the Cum- 
berland, the White, the Red, the Savannah, and in the battles of 
Belmont, Pea Ridge, Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Vicks- 
burg, Jackson, Stone river, Chickamauga and Lookout Monntain, 
Missionary Ridge, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro, Atlanta, Savan- 
nah, Franklin and Nasliville, and they won fame for themselves 
and a proud record for the State. 

Military operations in the West commenced with the occupation 
of Cairo. Missouri lying westward, with a treasonable executive 
and a population partly disloyal, soon became involved in civil 
strife. Gov. Jackson appointed Sterling- Price brigadier general 
of the State troops, which were to be organized and equipped for 
action. He managed to get the police of St. Louis under his con- 
trol, and endeavored to i^ersuade the people of the city and State 
to cast their destiny with their brethren of the Southern Confed- 
eracy. Acting upon his advice a body of armed men, notoriously 
hostile to the government, and in communication with traitors in 
the seceded States, met near the city, styling their place of ren- 
dezvous Camp Jackson, in honor of the governor. Captain Lyon, 
then in command of the arsenal, had in the meantime been em- 
powered by the i)resident to enroll 10,000 loyal men to maintain 
the authority of the goveriiment within the limits of the State. 
With the promptitude which the emergency demanded, he ap- 
peared on the morning of May 10th with a force of 6,000 men before 
the hostile camp, and demanded its surrender. Taken wholly by 
surprise, and threatened b.y a superior force, there was no alterna- 
tive but to submit, and accordingly 20 cannons, 1200 rifles, and a 
large amount of ammunition fell into the hands of the Unionists. 
The force, after dispersing the rebels retired to the city, and being 
assaulted with showers of stones and pistol shots from disuuion- 
ists, they fired into their ranks and killed some of their leaders. 
Great excitement ensued, and but for the vigorous interposition 
746 



THE WAR OV THE REBELLION. 747 

of Lyon the commercial metropolis of Missouri would have become 
the sceue of strife between warring factions. His course being 
highly a[)proved at Washington, he was raised to the rank of bri- 
gadier general, and placed in command of the government forces 
then operating in the State. 

Perceiving that the militia force under Price, although organ- 
ized with the professed intention of ineserving peace, was also 
treasonable in its sympathies and ulterior designs, he ordered them 
to surrender their arms. When this dennind was made Jackson 
issued ;i proclamation calling for 50,000 State militia to repel fed- 
eral invasion, thus farther disclosing the real animus of the organ- 
ization under his control. With a view of arresting further 
jjroceedings of this kind, Lyon started in steamers for Jefferson 
City with a force of 2,000 men, and arriving thither he found that 
Jackson had evacuated the city and retreated to Booneville, 
higher up the river. Following him to the latter i^lace, he, on the 
17th of June, met and completely routed the rebel force, and most 
of their military stores fell into his hands. With the Union force 
in rapid pursuit Jackson and his followers fled to the southwest- 
ern part of the State, where he expected assistance from Price. 
He was, however, met in Jasper county by 15,000 men under Col. 
Franz Sigel, a spirited officer, who was pushing forward to prevent 
his junction with reinforcements. On the 4th of July Sigel had 
an engagement with his force near Carthage, and although out- 
numbered two to one, inflicted upon him a severe blow, the rebel 
loss being 50 killed and 150 wounded, while his own was only 13 
killed and 31 wounded. Sigel's ammunition being exhausted, he 
was compelled to fall back, first to Mt. Vernon, and then to Spring- 
field, where he met Gen. Lyon. The retreat was fortunate, for 
the next day Price, reinforced by several thousand men from 
Texas and Arkansas, under command of McCuUoch, advanced to 
the support of Jackson. This force continued its march in the 
direction taken by Sigel, and took a position on Wilson's creek, 
with the intentionof moving against Springfield, only ten miles dis- 
tant. Lyon's tbrceatthe latter i)lace was only5,000men, andmany 
of these were inexi^erienced recruits, who had just taken the place 
of 3-nionths troops, while he was confronted with 20,000 enemies. 
A council of war was held, and in view of the demoralizing effect 
a retreat would have upon the Union cause, it was decided to risk 
a battle with even this superior force. 

Accordingly on the 8th of August Lyon led his forces against 
the enemy. A bloody fight ensued, in which Lyon, at the head of 
one of his regiments, in a heavy charge against the foe, was 
pierced througli the heart by two bullets, and fell lifeless from his 
steed. 

The command no^^ devolved on Major Sturgis, and after three 
hours' hard fighting the enemy was driven from the field. The 
Union troops, being now without ammunition, retired to Spring- 
field, where Sigel took command, and conducted them to Polla. 
The loss of the enemy was reported at 1,347, ours at 1,235, besides 
the death of Lyon, who was himself a host. His glorious past, 
the purity of his life, and almost reckless daring, had made him 
the idol of the j)eople, and when stricken down the nation was 
tilled with mourning. Eebel authorities endeavored to magnify 
this battle into a victory, notwithstanding the fact that 20,000 of 



748 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tlieir ineu liad beeu met by 5,000 federals and so badly disabled 
that they could not pursue the latter wlieu they retreated. As 
Price was unable to resume operations for more than a month, it 
was evidently a Union triumph, although dearly purchased at the 
cost of Lyon's life. 

Early in July, 1861, Fremont was entrusted with the chief com- 
mand of the western department, embracing the State of Illinois, 
and the States and territories between the Mississippi and the 
Eocky Mountains. He found the situation of affairs in his new 
field of labor very unpromising. Pope was in northern Missouri 
with a small force, Prentiss at Cairo with a few regiments. Confront- 
ing these and ready to pounce upon them with irresistible might 
whenever the varying fortunes of war furnished an oi)portunity,were 
20,000 men under Pillow at New Madrid, and 30,000 under Price in 
the southwest part of the State. One of Fremont's first acts was to 
reinforce Cairo and Bird's Point, on the opposite side of the Missis- 
sippi, both imperiled by the overwhelming forces on the river 
below. On the 30th of August he issued a proclamation placing 
the whole State of Missouri under martial law, and declaring the 
projjerty of rebels confiscated, and their slaves free men. Public 
opinion, however, was not yet iirepared for emancipation, and 
President Lincoln annulled that portion relating to slavery. 

Battle of Lexington. — After recovering from the battle of Wil- 
son's creek. Price started northward to the Missouri river, it was 
supposed to get possession of Jefferson City, and reinstate the au- 
thority of Gov. Jackson. Despite small detachments sent out to 
intercept his movements, he turned his course to the northwest, 
and on the 11th of September sat down before Lexington, on the 
Missouri, 300 miles above St. Louis. Col. Mulligan, in command 
of the 23d Illinois infantry, 1st Illinois cavalry, and about 1,200 
Missouri troops, had previously taken i)osition between Old and 
NeAV Lexington, distant about half a mile, and commenced fortify- 
ing it. His entire force was less than 3,000, while the assailants 
were estimated at nearly 20,000, and consisted, according to rebel 
statements, of the elite of the Confederate army. As early as the 
12th an assault was made on his works, but the fierce and deter- 
mined manner in which it Avasmet soon convinced Price that even 
with his overwhelming numbers it would not be prudent to at- 
tempt to carry the place by storm. Accordingly, as a means of 
gradual approach, bales of hemp, saturated with water, to i)re\ent 
ignition from the hot shots of Mulligan's guns, were rolled in 
front of his batteries. Mulligan, in the meantime, had burnt a 
portion of the old town to prevent the enemy talcing shelter in it, 
and sent messengers by diifereut routes for more troops. 

Price, who had been waiting for ammunition, received a suj^ply 
and on the 18th 13 guns, posted in commanding positions, opened 
their fiery throats upon the federal entrenchments. The Union 
commander had five small brass pieces which were brought into 
position and \vorked with great gallantry, being charged with 
rough shot manufactm-ed for the occasion in a neighboring foundry. 
Price having previously seized the boats in the river, and fortified 
the adjacent bluffs, the besieged troops were cut off" from water, 
Orud suffered the most intense agonies of thirst. This hardship 
was further aggravated by the stench arising from the putrid car- 



THE WAR OF THE RKBELLION. 749 

casses of liorses which in large numbers had been slaughtered by 
the fire of the rebel guns. It, however, rained at intervals, and 
the thirsty men, by spreading- their blankets till they became sat- 
urated with water, and then wringing them in cami) dishes, were 
enabled to prolong the seige till the 20th, when they surrendered. 

Col. Mulligan facetiously remarks of the home guards, a i)ortion 
of the Missouri troops under his command who refused to tight, 
that they were "invincible in peace and invisible in war." Col. 
Estvau, of the rebel service, in writing- of the capitulation, said : 
"This surrender does not cast the slightest discredit on Col. Mul- 
ligan, his officers and men. After having- exhausted all their 
means against an enemy three times their strength, they had no 
choice but capitulation. The booty was considerable. In addi- 
tion to arms, clothing- and ammunition, we took more than a mil- 
lion dollars in hard cash. These dollars nearly rendered our 
fellows frantic, for this was the object which had induced the ma- 
jority of them to take up arms against their former government."* 

A writer in the Chicago Postthns speaks of Mulligan's command 
known as the Irish Brigade, of which he was a private : 

"On the 17th the enemy commenced erecting breastworks of hemp 
bales from behind which they continued to fire as they rolled them to- 
wards us. About 3 o'clock of the same day they charged over our en- 
trenchments, upon Col. Peabody's home guards, and planted their flags 
on the top of our breastworks, The Irish Brigade was ordered to leave 
its position on the opposite side to retake the ground which Peabody had 
lost. We fired on the run, and continued on the double quick. The 
rebels scattered and fled like a flock of sheep, but left the top of the 
breastworks covered with dead and wounded. In tliis single charge we 
killed and wounded some 55 and lost about 30. They had no bayonets, 
and most of their weapons being shot guns we did not give them time to 
use them. They fired at random. Col. Mulligan received a buck-shot 
through one of his legs, which lamed but did not disable him ; six or 
seven passed through his blouse. Six different times during the ensuing 
night the rebels were allowed to approach the ditch on the side next tlie 
city. When they got sufficiently near, our boys on the inside 
would explode a mine, hurling them promiscuously in every direction, 
and slaughtering them by hundreds. Six mines were tlius sprung un- 
der their feet, and they evidently began to regard that side of the en- 
trenchment as a dangerous locality." 

Col. Mulligan, who by the gallant though unsuccessful defense of 
Lexington, won the esteem of Illinois, was born in 1829, in the 
city of Utica, New York. While a child his father died and his 
mother moved with him to Chicago. At the age of 24 he com- 
menced studying law in the office of Isaac N. Arnold, M. C. from 
the Chicago district, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. At the 
commencement of the war he was captain of a militia company, 
the Sbields Guard, in the drilling of which he acquired a knowl- 
edge of military tactics. At the fall of Sumter he threw his 
soul into the cause of the Union, assisted in forming the Irish- 
American companies of Chicago into a regiment, known as the 
Irish brigade, of which he was elected colonel. The conduct of 
the regiment at Lexington and elsewhere was brave and efficient. 

Fremont had sent reinforcements to Mulligan, and unfortu- 
nately his men had hardly laid down their arms when the succor- 
ing force made its appearance on the opposite side of the river. 

* This admission but Illy comports with the oft-repeated statement of rebels that 
they had taken up arms to resist the aggressions of the north. 



750 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

He left St. Louis ou tlie27tli, for the purpose of meeting- Price 
and giving' him battle at some point on the Missouri. His force 
was composed of five divisions, commanded respectively by Gens. 
Pope, Sigel, Hunter, Ashboth and McKiustry, amounting in the 
aggregate to 39,000 men. The wary rebel general, however, 
soon apprised of his intentions, commenced retreating southward 
and by offensive cavalry feints succeeded in placing the Osage 
between him and his pursuers. Fremont still following, on the 
2Sth of October the advance divisions of his army entered Spring- 
field and drove a portion of the rebel force from the town. As 
soon as he came up preparations commenced to give the enemy 
battle, but unfortunatelj' at this juncture when the army was 
eager for the contest and everything seemed to promise success, 
he was relieved of his command. 

This was not entirely unexpected as his relations with the war 
department had for some time been unsatisfactory. Its occur- 
rence at this critical time, however, was a matter of regret, for 
whatever errors may have been committed, the retreat of the army 
and the abandonment of this portion of the State to rebels, which 
followed, was far more disastrous. The failure to promptly send 
troops to the relief of Mulligan caused a storm to break out against 
him, and his enemies never afterwards became reconciled. He 
was charged with defrauding the government in i^urchasing sup- 
plies for the army ; with surrounding himself with favorites to the 
exclusion of meritorious officers, and finally incompetency in the 
management of his department; it should, however, be men- 
tioned in extenuation of these charges, that the failure to relieve 
Lexington was rather the result of adverse circumstances than 
the fault of Fremont 5 that his attempt to free the slaves of rebel 
masters, although rejected at the time, subsequently became the 
policy of the government, and that had he been enabled to carry 
out his plans for the descent of the Mississipi)i, which his succes- 
sors months afterward adopted, it would have saved the country 
thousands of lives and millions of treasure. 

Battle of Monroe. — Besides the battle of Lexington, a number 
of minor engagements occurred in Missouri during Fremont's 
administration, in which the troops of Illinois bore a distinguished 
part. A spirited tight occurred between Col. E. F. Smith of the 
16th Illinois and the rebel Gov. Harris, in command of 2,500 con- 
federates stationed at Florida. The federal officer with a force of 
600 men detached from his own regiment and the 3d Iowa, left 
his camp at Monroe, 30 miles west of Hannibal, to engage the 
enemy. On nearing the ford ou Salt river, he was suddenly 
attacked, and Capt. McAlister of the 16th Illinois, was badly 
wounded. Finding himself confronted by greatly superior num- 
bers Col. Smith fell back to Monroe and stationed his force in an 
academy. Here he maintained his position till the arrival of re- 
inforcements from Quincy, under ex-Gov. Wood, when the enemy 
was charged and routed with a loss of 70 men and a large num- 
ber of horses. 

Battle of Charleston. — On the 19th of August an engagement 
occurred at Charleston, of which Gen. Fremont gives the follow- 
ing account: " Report from commanding officer at Cairo says that 



THE WAR OF THE EEBELLION. 751 



Col. Don.uliorty of the 22d Illinois, with 300 men sent ont yester- 
day at 7 o'clock from Bird's Point, attacked the enemy at 
Charleston, 1,200 strong, drove him back, killed 40, took 17 priso- 
ners and 15 horses and retnrned at 2 A. M. to Bird's Point, with 
a loss of 1 killed and 6 wounded." A coiTespondent of the New 
York Tribune relates the following of Lt. Col. Ransom of the 11th 
Illinois: He was urging his men to the charge when a man 
rode up and called out, "Do you know yon are killing our own 
men?" Ransom replied "I know what I am doing; who are youf 
The reply was " I am for Jeff Davis." Ransom replied, " You are 
the man I am after," and instantly two pistols were drawn. The 
rebel fired first, taking effect in Col. Ransom's arm near the 
shoulder. The colonel fired, killing his antagonist instantly. 

Battle of FredericJctown. — Another spirited engagement came 
off' on the 21st of October near Fredericktowu. Gen. Grant then 
commanding the southwest district of Missouri, with headquarters 
at Cairo, hearing that the town was occupied by a rebel force 
under Gen. Jeff'. Thoinpson, sent Col. Plummer, of the 11th Mis- 
souri, to oi»erate against them. This regiment was composed of 
Illinois men who enlisted in Missouri. The completion of the 
quota rendered it impossible to obtain admission to the service at 
home, and hence they went abroad. The force of the latter con- 
sisted of his own regiment, the 17th Illinois, Col. Ross, the 20th, 
Col. Marsh, White's section of Taylor's Chicago battery and 
Captains Stewart and Saunders' companies of Illinois cavalry. 
On his arrival at Fredericktowu he found it in possession of Col. 
Carlin, 3Sth Illinois, whose command, in addition to the 38th, 
included the 21st and 23d Illinois, Colonels Alexander and Har- 
vey and several companies of infantry and cavalry from Wis- 
consin and Iowa. The entire force under the leadership of Col. 
Plummer rapidly pursued and overtook the enemy, when a severe 
engagement followed. The 17th Illinois and Taylor's battery 
commenced the attack in the rear, while the other regiments de- 
ployed to the right and left as they came up and delivered their 
fire. The left of the rebel force soon gave way, and their retreat 
was converted into a rout. The right under Thompson supported 
by a battcTy maintained its position longer, but the battery 
was at length cai^tured and the rout became general. The 
retreating foe was pursued a distance of 20 miles, and lost in the 
engagement 200 men by death and 80 by capture. The federal 
loss was 6 killed and GO wounded. 

Gen. Hunter, who was sent to succeed Gen. Fremont, arrived on 
the 3d of November, and declining an engagement with Price com- 
menced retreatiugiu the direction of St. Luuis. Price followed him 
and endeavored to destroy the Northern railroad for the purpose of 
cuttingoff" communication with St. Louis. On the 18th of Novem- 
ber Gen. Halleck reached that city, and relieving Gen. Hunter, 
took command of the Western Department. He immediately 
issued a proclamation fixing the penalty of death against all per- 
sons engaged in destroying railroads and telegraphs, and by supe- 
rior strategy succeeded in circumventing the designs of Price. 
On the 7th of December Pope was placed in command of the 
troops in Northern Missouri, and pushing forward he occupied a 
position between Warrensburg and Clinton. Operating from this 



752 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

position lie enabled Col. J. 0. Davis to meet and completely rout 
the enemy near tlie mouth of Clear creek. This victory was 
immediately followed by an expedition to Lexington for the jjurpose 
of destroying a foundry and a small fleet in possession of rebel 
troops. This was speedily accomplished, and with it almost the 
entire region between the Missouri and Osage rivers fell into the 
hands of the federals. 

Battle of Belmont. — In the meantime Gen. Grant made an 
attempt to capture the rebel force at Belmont, on the Missouri 
side of the Mississippi. Henceforth the history of this officer 
is too well known to require recital. With bis past history we 
are not so familiar. Ulysses S. Grant was born in Clermont county, 
Ohio, April 27, 1822. At the age of 17 he was admitted to 
the military academy at West Point, and graduated June 30, 
1843. Immediately after his graduation he received the brevet 
of 2d lieutenant, and was placed in the 4th regiment of United 
States infantry, then stationed in Missouri. During the war 
with Mexico his regiment was ordered to join the army of 
occupation under Gen, Taylor, and subsequently he participated 
in the battles of Palo Alto, Eeseca de la Palma and Monterey. 
On the arrival of Gen. Scott he was transferred to his command, 
and in the battles of Vera (Jruz and Molino del Key his bravery 
was so conspicuous, he was made 1st lieutenant on thebattle field. 
In the battle of Cliepultepec, which followed, he further distin- 
guished himself and was again promoted, receiving the brevet of 
captain in the regular army. With the cessation of the war he 
returned home, resigned his commission and lived ai^rivate life till 
the commencement of the rebellion. 

In April, 1861, he waited on Gov. Yates and tendei-ed him his 
servi(;es, modestly stating that he had been educated at the ex- 
pense of the government; that he now thought it his duty 
to assist in defending it, and would regard it a privilege to 
be assigned to any position where he could render himself use- 
ful. The first important dut}' with which he was entrusted was 
the organization of the first regiments furnished by the State 
under the call of April 15, 18G1. Evhicing in tbe performance of 
this work his superior military qualifications, the governor placed 
him in command of the 21st Illinois, his commission as colonel dat- 
ing from the 15th of June, 18G1. At the time he took command tbe 
regiment was demoralized and incomplete, but in 10 days after- 
ward he filled it to the maximum standard and brought it to a 
state of discipline seldom attained in so short a time. Being 
ordered to ISTorthern Missouri, his regiment proceeded on foot from 
Springfield to the Illinois river, thence on the cars to Quincy, 
where its first duty was the i)rotection of the Quincj^ & Palmyra 
and the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroads. 

On the 31st of July Grant was placed in command of the troops 
at Mexico, in the North Missouri District, commanded by Brig. 
Gen. Pope. Early distinguishing himself in the field, his claims 
for increased rank were recognized by his friends in Illinois before 
his worth was fully api)reciated in Washington. His vigorous 
prosecution of the campaign in North Missouri, however, soon 
won universal recognition, and he was promoted August 23d to 
the rank of brigadier general, his commission dating from May 





/^^^^c^tyL^ 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 753 

ITtli. After his promotion he was phiced iu command of the Dis- 
trict of Cairo, embracing- in its jurisdiction Southern Illinois and 
Missouri and that part of Kentucky west of the Cumberland, 
The force now under his command consisted of two brigades num- 
bering 2,850 men. Thefirst under Gen. John A. McClernand con- 
sisted of the 27th, Col. Buford ; 30th, Col. Eouke ; 31st, Col. J. A. 
Logan ;Capt. Dollins' company of 4th cavalry and Taylor's battery 
of light artillery. The second, under Col. H. Dougherty, com- 
prised his own regiment, the 21st Illinois, and the 7th Iowa, Col. 
Lauman. The entire force except the last regiment was from Illi- 
nois. 

Grant's first movement was to seize Smithland and Paducah, 
respectively at the mouths of the Cumberland and Tennessee, and 
use them as the base of future operations in the rebel States. 
Having garrisoned these places, his next movement was to dis- 
lodge a rebel force stationed at Belmont, on the3Iissouri side of 
the Mississippi. The entire force under his command was em- 
barked on board the gunboats Tyler and Lexington and landed 
November 7th, 1861, at Lucas' bend, about two miles from the 
camp of the enemy. As soon as debarkation was effected a line 
of battle was formed, Buford commanding the right, Fouke the 
center and Logan the left. The advance toward the camp was 
a continuous running light, in which a storm of the euem^ 's mis- 
siles battered and tore down the timber in the faces of our men. 
Passing over all obstacles and surmounting all opposition the 
three divisions vied with each other for the honor of first reach- 
ing the rebel position. The scene became terrific, men grappled 
with men, column charged upon column, musketry rattled, can- 
non thundered and tore frightful gaps in the contending forces. 
Presently the 27th planted its colors in the midst of the hostile 
encampment, and a loud and prolonged shout was heard above 
the din of battle. IJfext,the 21st captured a 12-pound gun battery, 
one of the enemy's principal defences, when a final impetuous, 
irresistible charge drove him in every direction and left the field 
in possession of the federals. The victory was complete. The 
captured camp was immediately fired, and ail the i-ebel baggage 
and ammunition destroyed. 

In the meantime a heavy rebel force was thrown across the 
river from Columbus and moved up to repair the disaster, while 
batteries opened upon our men from the opposite shore. Unable 
to cope with such formidable numbers, a retreat became necessary 
to avoid being cut ofi" from the boats. The command was there- 
fore given to retire, but before it could be executed the passage 
became blocked up with rebel forces. The boys of Illinois and 
Iowa, however, had fought their way forwaid, and they now in 
opposition to a foe of greatly superior numbers fought their way 
back. Every regiment sufiered severely, but it was believed the 
enemy sufl:ered worse. Grant in his official report gives the loss 
of the former at 84 killed and 150 wounded 5 that of the latter was 
not known. 

The object of the battle was to prevent the enemy from send- 
ing reinforcements to Price and Thompson in Missouri. 
But how this was to be done does not appear, when the 
impossibility of holding the position under the heavy guns of 
Columbus was apparent. Though the propriety of the expedition 
4S 



754 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

may be questioned the valor of Illinois was undoubted. Gen. Mc- 
Cleiuand was in the midstot" danger displaying- great coolness and 
skill in handling his forces. Gen. Logan exhibited the intrepid- 
ity and judgment which distinguished him in subsequent 
battles, and Col. Dougherty at the liead of his brigade was three 
times wounded and at length taken prisoner. Says McClernand : 

"I cannot bestow too high commendation upon all I had the honor to 
command on that (lay. Supplied with inferior and defective arms, many 
of which could not be discharged, many bursting in use, they fought au 
enemy in ^Toocl^ vs-uh which he was familiar, behind defensive works 
which he had been jiri paring for months, in the face of a battery at Bel- 
mont and under the huge g-uns at Columbus, and although numbering- 
three or four to our one, we beat him and captured several stand of colors, 
destroyiug his camp and carrying off a large amountof property already 
mentioned. To mention ail who did well would include every man of 
my command who came under my personal notice. Both olRcers and 
privates did their whole duty, nobly sustaining the character of Ameri- 
cans and Illiuoisaus. They slied uevy luster upon the flag of their country 
by lidding it in triumph through tiiesliock of battle and the din of arms. 
The blood they so freely poured out proved their devotion to their coun- 
try and serves to hallow a just cause with glorious recollections. Their 
success was that of citizen soldiers." 

Battle of Pea Ridge. — The forces operating iu Missouri at the 
close of January', 18G2, were combined under the command of Gen. 
S. B. Curtis, a distinguished officer of the U. S. army. Early the 
following month they pushed rapidlj' toward Springfield, where 
on the 12th tliey encountered Price with about 4,000 men. Sharp 
skirmishing ensued and the rebel general fleeing during the night 
to avoid an engagement, was pursued for more than 100 miles. 
Stopping in the vicinity of the Bostoii mountains he was reinforced 
by McCulloch and Van Dorn, whereby his army was augmented 
to near 40,000 men, and he was again enabled to resume offensive 
operations. Curtis thus threatened, had distributed portions o± 
liis command for garrison duty along his extensive line of coni- 
municatiou, and now had left only 12,000 men and about 50 pieces 
of artillery. His several divisions had been sent in various direc- 
tions for the purpose of obtaining forage and dispersing rebel 
bands gathering at different i)oints in the southeastern i)art of the 
State. The 1st and 2d were under Sigel near Bentonville^ the od 
under Davis near Sugar Creek, and the 4th under Carr at Cross 
Hollow. Early in March intelligence was received that Van Dorn 
who assumed chief command, was advancing to make an attack 

A correspondent of the Chicago Post, wrltina: of Belmont, saj's : "An incident wor- 
thy of being' recorded occurred during the recent battle. Col Phil. B. Fouke, of the 
SOthlllinois, and Col. John V. Wright, of the 13th Tennessee, both members of the last 
conuress, were warm friends and occupied seats together. When the war broke out 
before they had left Washington, Mr. Wright received the appointment of colonel 
from the governor of Tennessee. When about to separate Mr. Wright said ; 'Phil.. I 
am goinu- into the war. and I suppose you will be in it also, and I pi-f)mise if we meet 
on the battle field that I will take care of your men if you will take care of mine.' 
The pledge was mutual, and the next time they met was on the bloody field of Belmont. 
At one time during the fight Col. Fouke's men were lying down waiting for the enemy 
and he was standing on a log in full view waitiug for them, when about twenty of 
Wright's men leveled their muskets at him, which movement being seen by Col. Wright, 
he looked in the direction and recognized Col . Fouke, ordered his men to desist, saying 
that man was his friend and he did not want him harmed. This interposition doubt- 
less saved Col. Fouke's life, as these Tennesseeans are crack shots. Col. Wright 
was afterwards severely wounded, but the next day sent his adjutant to inform 
Col. Fouke that he had not forgotten his pledge. Before the battle was ended Col. 
Fouke's regiment took a number of Col. Wright's men, and he religiously observed 
his share of the pledge, looking after the wants of the prisoners as though they were 
his own men." 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 755 

aud the several divisions of the Union forces were ordered to con- 
centrate on Sngar Creek, a point regarded favorable for effective 
resistance. Sigel in bringing up his division was assailed by large 
numbers of the enemy, and for live hours compelled to cut his 
way through their midst to eifect a junction with the others. 

On the 0th of March, 1802, the entire force was brought together 
on the western edge of Pea Ridge, and in anticipation of an 
engagement, slept on their arms. The battle commenced at early 
dawn and raged furiously' the whole day, during which VanDorn 
succeeded in marching round the Federal army, aud took a posi- 
tion in the rear. Curtis was thus compelled to change his front, 
and although exposed to the continued fire of the enemy, the 
movement was executed with the most intrepid gallantry. In the 
centre and on the left the battle raged Avith increased fury, aud 
when evening put an end to the carnage, McCulloch and Mcintosh, 
two of the most efficient rebel officers, were among the slain. The 
weather was cold and the army lay down to pass a comfortless 
night, being unable to kindle tires without drawing the attention 
of the enemy. During the night the rebels effected a junction of 
their forces, and as the rising sun lighted up the battle ground, 
they recommenced the conflict, confident of overwhelming the 
federals by superior numbers. The latter, however, were handled 
with great skill and Sigel served the artillery with such accuracy 
that the rebel line in a short time was seriously shaken and finally 
forced from the field. The routed army fled in the direction of 
Keitsville and was followed a distance of 12 miles, when further 
pursuit, in consequence of the wooded and broken country, became 
impracticable. That portion of the battle field pounded by our 
artillery presented a ghastly scene of dismounted cannons, 
shivered carriages and mangled bodies. Price's loss was estimated 
at 3,000 in killed, wounded and missing. A novel feature intro- 
duced at this battle was the employment of some 2,500 Indians 
seduced from their allegiance by the rebels. They were of little 
service to their allies in fighting the living but vented their brutal 
ferocity in mutilating the bodies of the dead. 

The Illinois troops participating in the engagement were the 
35th, Col. G. A. Smith ; 36th, Col. Greusel ; 37th, Col. J. White ; 
57th, Major Post ; 3d cavalry, Col. E. A. Carr ; a battalion of the 
15th cavalry, Capt. Jenks, and Davidson's Peoria battery. All 
acquitted themselves in such a manner as to reflect honor upon 
the State. Day Elmore, a drummer of the 36th, exchanged his 
drum for a musket and fought with the bravery of a veteran dur- 
ing the entire battle. 

After this engagement large numbers of the Missoiunans who 
had fought with the rebels, were permitted to return home, and 
on taking the oath of allegiance, the State for a short time en- 
joyed comparative quiet. In June, at the suggestion of Gen. Curtis 
Missouriwaserectedintoaseparatemilitarydistrict,and Gen, J. M. 
Schofield, who had served with distinction as chief of the lamented 
Lyon's staff', was i^laced in command. Marauding bands again 
began to be troublesome, and Schofield, on the22d inst., issued a 
proclamation holding rei)el sympathizers and their property re- 
sponsible for the depredations conmiitted in their respective dis- 
tricts. Encouraged by Price at Helena, numerous rebel emissaries 
next spread themselves over the State, and while openly profess- 



756 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ing Union sentiments, tliey secretly organized a force estimated 
at 40,000 men, and agreed upon signals whereby they could sud 
denly seize all the important i^oiuts in the country. To prei)are 
for the conspiracy Schofield obtained from the general government 
authority to organize the militia, and as the loyal people readily 
submitted to the enrollment, and the disloyal refused, thus was 
disclosed the real character of each man. Some 20,000 men were, 
reported for military duty, and to raise funds for their support 
the wealthy in St. Louis county who refused to serve, were re- 
quired to furnish $500,000. A bloody struggle was now going on 
in the northeast portion of the State between bands of guerrillas 
and the militia. By the 1st of September as many as a hundred 
small engagements had occurred in which Illinois troops largely 
participated, and some 10,000 rebels were killed, wounded or 
driven from the State. At this date the rebels under Hindman, 
in northern Arkansas, numbering 50,000, were also conteuiplating 
an invasion of south-western Missouri. As the result, battles of 
considerable magnitude were fought at Fort Wayne, Cane Hill, 
and Fayetteville, in which the rebels sustained such serious losses 
that Hindman abandoned his designs. 



Chapter LVII. 

1861-1862— ILLINOIS OlS THE CUMBERLAND, TENNES- 
SEE AND MISSISSIPPI. 

Battle of Forts Henry and Donelson — Capture of Golumhus, New 
Madrid and Island No. 10. 



We must now go back to the commencement of the operations 
for opening the Mississippi. The course of this magnificent river 
from north to south and the intercourse necessarily existing among 
the inhabitants of its fertile valley will always render it impossi- 
ble to form them into separate nationalities by arbitrary bounda- 
ries. Kuuning entirely across the rebel confederacy and making 
it vulnerable to the assaults of a fleet, the governmeTit at an early 
day commenced makingpreparations for offensive naval operations. 
Cohimbus. Kentucky, situated on the east bank, 20 miles below 
Cairo, bad been seized as early as Sept. 1861, and so fortified as 
to be termed the rebel Gibraltar. Its massive works and heavy 
guns rendering capture by a direct assault almost impossible, it 
was determined to cut off" its supplies and thus compel its aban- 
donment by an expedition up the Tennessee and Cumberland 
rivers. Near where these streams flow across the northern boun- 
dary of Tennessee, the rebels had erected two strong fortifications 
known as Forts Henry and Donelson. After mature deliberation, 
Gen, Halleck decided first to attack the former of these strong- 
holds, and then moving across the intervening land, attack the 
latter. For tbis purpose Commodore A. H. Foote, as gallant an 
officer as ever sailed the deep, with a fleet of 7 gunboats, the St. 
Louis, Cincinnati, Carondelet, Essex, Tyler, Lexington and 
Mound City, and Gen. Grant, with a co-operating land force from 
Cairo and Paducah, were sent up the Tennessee. On the 5th of 
February, 1862, the land forces disembarked from their transports 
and prepared to spend the night, during which a thunder storm 
burst on the encampment, portraying in its terrific grandeur the 
fury of the coming battle. Grant ordered Gen. McClernand com- 
manding the first division, to take a position in the rear of the 
fort for the two-fold puri)ose of guarding against reinforcements, 
or preventing the escape of the garrison as the exigencies of the 
engagement might require. His division consisted of 2 brigades 
commanded respectively by Cols. Oglesby aud W. H. L. Wallace; 
the first comprising the 8th, 18th, 27th, the 29th, 30th and 31st 
Illinois infantry, Dresser's aud Schwartz's batteries; the 2d, the 
11th, 12th, 45th and 48th Illinois infantry, Taylor's and McAIis- 
ter' 8 batteries and 4th cavalry. 
757 



758 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The 2d division under Geu. 0. F. Siiiitb, was thrown across the 
river and ordered to proceed up the Kentucky shore and occupy 
the heiglits adjacent the fort, which the enemy had begun to for- 
tify. The Oth, 12th, 28th and 41st llhnois constituted a part of 
the force. 

Owing to the badness of the roads, none of the land forces 
arrived soon enough to share in its capture. About 10 o'clock 
Foote steamed up toward the fort, which standing in a bend of 
the river, had complete command of the channel for a long dis- 
tance below. Being a bastioned earth work and mounting 17 
guns of the largest calibre, it was deemed capable of resisting any 
assailing force, however formidable. An island lay in the stream 
about a mile below, under cover of which the fleet advanced 
without becoming exposed to the fire of its long ranged rifled 
guns. The wooden vessels remained at the island while the iron- 
clads emerging from behind it, and proceeding in the direction of 
the fort were met by the ponderous shot of the fort. The boats 
immediately returned this greeting, and their screaming missiles 
fell with such rapidity in and around the fort as to cause some 
4,000 infantry to flee with precipitation. Coming within closer 
range the breastworks were plowed up and dashed in the face of 
the garrison, gun after gun was dismounted, and within an hour 
from the commencement of the engagemeut, the stronghold was 
surrendered. Sixty prisoners and a large amount of military stores 
fell into our hands. Unfortunately the infantry which fled at the 
commencement of the engagemeut, were beyond the reach of pur- 
suit, before Mc'Clernaud and his Illinois men could arrive and in- 
tercept them, ^he principal damage iuflicted on the fleet was 
sustained by the Essex. A 24-pouud shot passing in at a port- 
hole, and plunging into one of her boilers, caused the steam to 
escape and completely envelop the crew. Some in their terrible 
agony threw themselves out of port holes into the river, while 
others, struggling in vain to escape, sank gasping for breath, 
scalded in the fiery vapor. 

This important victory was the first won on the western waters; 
the telegram announcing the event was read in both houses of 
congress, and a vote of thanks tendered Commodore Foote. The 
fleet under Lieut. Phelps was sent up the river to capture two 
rebel boats, which were pursued so closely that their crews blew 
them up to prevent their falling into the hands of the pursuers. 
The expedition sailed up the river as far as Florence, destroying 
the bridge of the M. & C railroad connecting Bowling Green, 
Memphis and Columbus, and compelling the rebels to burn five 
of their valuable steamers. All along the route Phelps met with 
many cheering evidences of loyalty among the people of Tennes- 
see and Kentucky, old men and women flocking to the shore, and 
shedding tears at again beholding the old flag. 

Donelso7i.—Tiie fall of Henry opened the way for an advance 
upon Donelson. This formidable rebel stronghold was situated 
on the west bank of the Cumberland, and served as an outpost 
for the defense of Nashville, 80 miles higher up the river. The 
ground upon which it was situated is about 100 feet above the 
level of the river, Avhich at that point bends toward the west, and 
after running a few hundred yards turns again and pursues its 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 759 



geiienil {'ouise uoitliward. To commaud the river nortliward aud 
^uard a4>aiiist a uaval attack, two batteries of heavy ordiiauce had 
been planted at the foot of the bhiff near the edge of tlie water. 
The fort itself was an irregular work enclosing about 100 acres, 
and except on the river side surrounded at the distance of a mile 
with rifle jjits. On the west side a formidable abatis ran between 
tlie fort and rifle-pits, while from every commanding point along 
the whole line, howitzers and tield-pieces pointed their grim muz- 
zles directly at the face of the besieging army. These almost 
impregnable works were occupied by 20,000 impetuous tire eaters 
from the southwest under command of Floyd, Pillow, Buckner, 
iind Johnson. Additional troops being necessary to effect its 
reduction. Gen. Grant ordered forward all the available forces in 
his district, while troops from Cincinnati and the right wing of 
<Jen. Buel's division from Kentucky, under Gen. Crittenden, were 
hurried forward and placed at his disposal. The army thus aug- 
mented, consisted of 3 divisions, under McClernand, Smith and 
Wallace and luimbered some 25,000 men, the elite of western 
troops. 

On the morning of the 12th, Gen. Grant, with Smith's aud Mc- 
■Clernand's divisions started for Fort Donelson aud by noon 
arri\ed within two miles of the enemy's outposts. After driving 
in the rebel j^ickets, and investing the works, Col. Haynie of W. 
H. L. Wallace's brigade, McClernand's division, with the 17th, 
48th and 49tli Illinois, was sent to make an assault on the 
enemy's middle redoubt. "Forming a line of battle they moved 
in fine order across the intervening ravines, and mounted with the 
coolness of veterans the steep height on which the redoubt stood. 
The enemy screened behind their embankments, poured into the 
exposed ranks a terrible fire of musketry. Still the brave Illi- 
noisans, undaunted, steadily advanced. But at this critical junc- 
ture it was found that the line was not long enough to envelop 
the works, and the 45th Illinois was ordered to their support. 
While these movements were being carried out the enemy .sent 
forward heavy reinforcements of men and field artillery, which 
.soon swept the advancing line with murderous ettect. But onward 
pressed the undaunted regiments leaving their dead and wounded 
strewing the slope till they came to the foot of the works, where 
an abatis presented a tangled wall of jagged points, through 
which no soldiers under heaven could force their way in the face of 
such a fire. Braver oflicers never led men to death, but they found 
thfty had been sent to accomplish impossible work, and gave the 
reluctant command to fall back.*" 

This determined assault rendered it evident that the task before 
the army was one of no ordinary magnitude, and it was deemed 
best to await the arrival of Wallace's division and the fieet under 
Foote, before attempting any further demonstrations. Mean- 
while the pleasant weather which had previously cheered the army 
suddenly changed. A continuous storm of sleet and snow pre- 
vailed during the night of the 13th, and the army, destitute of 
blankets and tents, was compelled to suffer the unmitigated rigors 
of winter. On the 14th an irregular fire of sharp-shooters occa- 
sionally iuterluded with bursts of artillery, Avas kept up,but un- 

* Headley's Rebellion 



760 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

attended by impoitaut results. The same day the expected re- 
intbrcemeuts came up and the commauder of the fleet put his 
boats iu motion for an assault on the batteries at the' foot of the 
bluff, the wooden vessels iu the rear and the irou-clads in front. 
Coming within range, the contest commenced and continued to 
increase as the distance between the combatants diminished. The 
loud explosions of the guns shook the adjacent shores, and rever- 
berating far inland, spread dismay among the rebellious inhabi- 
tants. Still farther and farther they advanced, discharging their 
heavy ordnance directly into the batteries, and in turn exposed to 
the storm of shot and shell rained down upon the river. The fire 
of the batteries at length began to slack, but unfortunately before 
they were entirely silenced, a shot destroyed the steering ap]);na- 
tus of the Louisville and another disabled the St. Louis, and both 
vessels becoming unmanageable, rapidly drifted with the swift 
current from under the enemy's guns. 

Grant now determined to strengthen his line of investment so 
as to render egress impossible, and await the repair and farther 
co-operation of the boats. The rebels, however, becoming alarmed 
at finding themselves almost literally walled in by the besieging- 
forces, resolved to open an exit and escape to the country. Accord- 
ingly early in the morning of the 15th, the enemy, some 7,500 
strong, emerged from his works and in separate columns hurled 
himself against McClernand's division on the right of the federal 
line. Oglesby's brigade, the 8th, 18th, 20th, 30th and 31st Illinois 
received the first concussion. Next Wallace's, the 11th, 20th, 43d 
and 48th ; Morrison's, the 17th and 49th, and McArthurs', the 9th, 
12th, 29tli and 41st were struck by the angry foe, and the entire 
division for four hours alone contended with his overwhelming 
numbers. It was an irregular battle-field of hill, ravine and forest ; 
and concert of action among the several regiments engaged at 
different points of attack was difficult. Stubbornly, gallantly, 
enthusiastically, however, the sons of Illinois met the onslaught, 
the advancing and receding roar of musketry and cannon through 
the forest markiiig the shifting tide of battle. At length from the 
incessant jjonnding of shot, shell, and caunister, the extreme 
right of the line began to crumble away and the exultant enemy 
concentrating at a single point, and hurling himself in overwhelm- 
ing masses against the division, it was compelled to fall back, not 
however, till the regiments had exhausted their ammunition, and 
some of them had lost near a third of their men. 

Never fought braver men than ours on that bloody day, some 
of the companies remaining rooted to their position till the 
enemy's forces rolled about and swallowed them up. Some of the 
regiments were literally cut to pieces, while the loss of officers was 
great beyond proportion. Col. Quinn of the 20th, Major Post of 
the 8th, Captain Eigby of the 31st, Lieut.-Col. Smith of the 48th, 
Capt. Craig, and Lieuts. Skeats and Mansker of the 18th, Cajit. 
Shaw and Lieuts. Eoyce and Vore of the 11th, Adjutant Kirk- 
patrick of the 13th, Capt. Mendell of the 7th and Capt. Brokaw 
of the 49th, were among the many who laid down their lives on 
the fatal field that liberty, right, and progress might live. In the 
retrograde movement, McAllister's battery having exhausted the 
150 rounds of ammunition with which it went into action, was 
captured while waiting a fresh supply. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 761 

lu the early part of the assault McClernand, fearful he might 
be overborne by superior numbers, sent to Wallace, whose division 
occupied the center of the line, for reinforcements. The latter 
sent Cruft's brigade to his assistance, but being imperfectly 
guided, it was carried too far to the right to render successful aid. 
The enemy still advancing, he next interposed Thayer's brigade 
between them and the retiring regiments, which had expended 
their ammunition. The force was immediately placed in line by 
pushing forward Wood's Chicago battery to the road along which 
the foe was moving, posting the o8th Illinois and 1st Ne- 
braska on the right of the battery, and 58th Ohio and a portion 
of the 32d Illinois on the left. Behind the line thus formed at 
right angles with the road, the 76th Ohio and 46th and 57th Illi- 
nois were stationed as reserves. Hardly were these arrp.ngements 
completed before the rebels emerged from the woods and dashed 
up ill front of the brigade. A blinding sheet of flame burst forth 
from cannon and muslvctry, causing the exultant foe to recoil and 
fall back to the elevated ground previously taken from McClernand. 
Battered and buffeted by the blows which had been previously 
dealt him, his further advance was stayed, and this was the last 
offensive movement he was able to make. 

At 3 o'clock Gen. Grant made his appearance on the field, having 
been in consultation with Commodore Foote in reference to 
another attack by the fleet. He immediately ordered the division 
of Gen. Smith, containing the 7th, 43d, 50th, 57th and 38th Illinois 
to move against the enemy in their front, and a renewed attack 
on the right. At the request of Gen. McClernand, whose division 
had borne the brunt of the battle, Gen. Wallace took the advance. 
Placing the 8th Missouri and 4th Indiana in the lead, and pushing 
the 17tli and 49th Illinois far along the enemy's flank, he gave the 
command, "forward." Knowing well the fearful object his men had 
to accomplish, he gave them the simple instruction to ascend the 
height in columns of regiments and then act as circumstances might 
suggest. The men pleased with the confidence reposed in their 
judgment, and nerving themselves for the bloody work, moved 
forward and commenced ascending the hill, when jjlunging volley 
after volley tore through and decimated their ranks. Nothing 
short of annihilation, however, could stay their advance, and in 
the face of the murderous fire they bounded to the summit and 
drove the rebels behind their inner works. 

While this important success was achieved on the right, Gen.S. 
F. Smith, with the 2d and 7th Iowa and 52d Indiana, performed 
an equally brilliant exploit on the left. After feigning an attack 
in a different direction, he commenced ascending the steep hill on 
which was posted the rebel force he proposed to attack. The 
enemy perceiving his design at once opened a destructive fire upon 
the advancing regiments, yet without discharging asingle gun in 
reply, they swept up the slippery heights. Mounting higher and 
higher they at length gained the summit from which volcano-like 
had been hurled the storm of fiery projectiles encountered in the 
ascent. A determined bayonet charge quickly ended the contest, 
and high above and within the rebel ramparts their colors were 
flung to the breeze, while a prolonged shout announced the wel- 
come victory to their comrades on other parts of the field. The 



76ii niSTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

l^osition Avas immediately fortified, and when the suu went down 
the enemy was again confined within his works. 

Convinced that they could not hold the works, Floyd and Pil- 
low passed the command over to Buckner, and during- the night 
with about 5,000 men embarked on board steamboats and escaped 
up the river. The following morning, although our troops had 
marched from Fort Henry with only such food as they could carry 
in their haversacks, and for three nights had been exposed to the 
rigors of winter, yet at early dawn they eagerly awaited orders to 
renew the conflict. The besieged anticipating an immediate 
attack, and satisfied that all further attempts to extricate them- 
selves from the iron grasp with which they were bound would be 
futile, ran up a flag as evidence of submission. Correspondence 
was immediatel}' interchanged respecting terms of surrender. Grant 
to the overtures of the rebel general said : " N'o terms other than 
unconditional and immediate surrender can he accepted. 1 propose 
to move immediately upon your worlis.'''' Buckner thought the terms 
ungenerous, but was comj)elled to submit, and Sunday morning- 
February lOth, 1802, Donelson, of almost fabulous strength, fell 
into the hands of the federal conquerors. The spoils obtained con- 
sisted of 40 cannon, 20,000 stand of arms, 3,000 horses and a large 
amount of commissary stores ; while as the result of the victory 
Bowling Green, ISTashville and Columbus became untenable. The 
federal loss in men was 446 killed, 1,735 wounded; that of the 
enemy 231 killed, 1,007 wounded and 15,000 captured. 

The people of the North expressed their appreciation of this 
great victory by public meetings, illuminations and other similar 
demons'trations ; Grant congratulated his soldiers upon the tri- 
um})h gained hy their valor ; while Davis and other rebel author- 
ities were deeply mortified at their disgrace, and Floyd and Pil- 
low were suspended from command. 

Besides the Illinois infantry already enumerated, Schwartz's, 
Dresser's, Taylor's, Wood's, McAllister's and Willard's batteries, 
McClernand's division and Stewart's, 0'Harnett's,Carmichae]'s, Kel- 
logg's and Dickey's cavalry of the same command also participated 
in the battle. The want of space renders it imi)0ssible to mention 
the many instances of Illinois valor noti(;ed in the reports of the 
battle. Says Mr. Stevenson, author of Indiana's EoU of Honor : 
"IJpon McClernand's division was first hurled the rebel thunder. 
Under fire from several batteries an immense mass of infantry 
charged upon his line. Sudden as was the attack, the gallant 
sons of Illinois were ready to meet it. Into the enemy's teeth tliey 
poured a steady, deadly fire. Taylor's battery and McAllister's 
guns met them with a storm of grape and shell, and a brigade 
charging drove four times their number back into their embank- 
ments. The struggle was hand to hand. Thebayonet, the bowie- 
knife and the but-end of the musket were freely used. Scarce a 
regiment, company or battery from the State failed to distinguish 
itself, and if there was failure it was for the want of opportunity. 
A New England poet reading the telegrams of the battle as they 
came in, and admiring the audacitj^ of Illinois' daring, wrote the 
following stanzas : 



THE WAR OF THE REBEI>HON. 763 



"Oh, gales that dash the Atlantic's swell 

Along our rocky shores, 
Whose thunder diapason swell 

New England's glad hurrahs. 

"Bear to the prairies of the West 

The echoes of our joy. 
The prayer tliat springs in evei'y breast, 

God biess thee, Illinois. 

"Oh, awful hours when grape and shell 

Tore through the unflinching line, 
Stand firm, remove the men who fell, 

Close up and wait the sign. 

"It came at last, now lads the steel. 

The rushing hosts deploy, 
Charge boys, the broken traitors reel, 

Huzza for Illinois. 4k 

"In vain thy ramparts, Donelson, 

The living torrent bars, 
Itleajisthe wall, the fort is won, 

Up go the stripes and stars. 

"Thy proudest mother's eyelids fill. 

As dares her gallant boy, 
And Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill 

Yearn to thee, Illinois."* 

The news of the surrender reached l^ashville as the people 
were assembling- at church. A dispatch had been received the 
])revious evening from Pillow claiming the victory, and now they 
were meeting in the sanctuary to offer thanks to the God of battles 
for the success of their cause. The truth fell like a thunder- 
bolt. Joy and exultation gave place to alarm, and tlie Avhole 
population in a. short time was in commotion. Gov. Harris, it is 
said, rushed wildly through the streets crying, "The enemy will 
soon be in the city," and ttie terrified inhabitants seizing every 
available means of conveyance tied as if from certain destruction. 
Says Pollcird, "An earthquake could not have shocked the city 
more." The congregations of the churches were broken up in con- 
fusion and dismay. Women and children rushed into the streets 
wailing with terror, trunks w^ere thrown from three- story windows 
in the rush of the fugitives, and thousands hastened to leave 
their beautiful city in the midst of the most distressing scenes 
of terror and confusion and plunder by the mob. 

On the li4tb of Fel>raary, the Union forces under Buell entered 
ami took i)<)ssessioii of the city. A general order w^as issued 
promising protection to all peaceably disjiosed citizens, and on the 
refusal of the municipal authorities to take the oath of allegiance 
they were ejected from ohice. Andrew Johnson was appointed 
military governor of the State, and while he was entering on 
the vigorous prosecution of his duties the federal army was slowly 
moving southward in the rear of the fugitive enemy. 

OccuiKition of Columbiis. — Columbus, from the formidable char- 
acter of its fortifications called the Gibraltar of the West, was 



•Atlantic Monthly. 



764 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

selected as the next place of attack. The force designated to 
operate against it was the fleet under Commodore Foote, and a' 
co-operating force of infantry under Gen. W. T. Sherman. The 
latter consisted of the 27th and 55th Illinois and 74th Ohio, the 
former of 6 gun and 4 mortar boats in charge of Capt. Phelps, of 
the United States navy. The ponderous mortars, of which there 
was only one on each boat, weighed 17,000 pounds, and threw 
shells of more than 200 pounds a distance of three miles. Such 
was the deafening effect of the concussion when fired, the gun- 
ners were compelled to take refuge behind the timber work which 
enclosed them to escape the shock. 

With everything in readiness the entire force, the infantry on 
transports, slowly and cautiously descended the Mississipi»i, till 
on the 4th of March the bluff's of Columbus became visible. 
Preparations were commenced to ojjen fire when a strange flag 
was discovered floating above the works, different from the rebel 
colors, and it became questionable who were in possession of the 
place, our own forces or those of the enemy. To solve the mystery 
Capt. Phelps and 50 Illinois volunteers made a dashing recon- 
noissance in a tug directly under the water batteries, but failed to 
elicit a single hostile shot. It was now evident that the town had 
been evacuated. A rush was made for the shore, and in less than 
five minutes the flag of the 21st Illinois proudly waved over the 
fort which the chivalrous southrons regarded as impregnable. 
Cheer after cheer from soldier and tar rent the air at this happj^ 
consummation of the expedition. The strange bunting which had 
been descried, proved to be a flag improvised from pieces of calico 
by soldiers of the 2d Illinois cavalry, who the previous day, to the 
number of 400, had galloped from Paducah and taken possession 
of the town. Gen. Polk with 20,000 men had been intrusted with 
the custody of this almost impregnable fortress, but finding him- 
self completely turned on both sides of the Mississippi, the result 
of Union triumphs in Missouri, and the conquests of Henry and 
Donelson, he was compelled to evacuate it without striking a 
single blow in its defense. Says an ofiicer in the expedition:" "I 
could not resist landing to examine the works, which are of im- 
mense strength, consisting of tiers u})on tiers of batteries on the 
river front, and a strong parapet and ditch strengthened by a 
thick abatis on the land side. The fortifications appear to have 
been evacuated hastily considering the quantities of ordnance 
stores, a number of anchors, the remnant of the chain which was 
once stretched across the river, and a large supply of torpedoes 
remaining. Desolation was visible everywhere, huts, tents and 
barricades presenting their blackened remains, though the town 
was spared." 

Capture of Neiv Madrid. — The tide of victory following the cur- 
rent of the Mississippi, ifew Madrid and Island IsTo. 10, were soon 
added to the list of Union triumphs. On the 22d of February, 
the anniversary of Washington's birth day. Gen. Pope was ordered 
by Gen. Halleck to dislodge a large rebel force stationed at New 
Madrid. On the 24th of March his force arrived at Commerce, 
and on learning that Jeff Thompson with a rebel force, was in the 
neighborhood, it was determined to give him battle. Accordingly 
two companies of the 7th Illinois cavalry, and the 26th Illinois 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 765 

infantry were sent in pursuit aud soou encountered tlie foe, liaving 
a mounted force of 2,000 men and 3 pieces of artillery. A dash- 
ing charge was immediately ordered. The rebels after delivering 
:i scattering volley, hurriedly fled, with our men in i^ursuit. As 
the chase was continued at short intervals, squads of the enemy 
broke into the woods and tired at our men as they passed, till not 
more than one-fourth of the original number remained in the road. 
These to expedite their frantic flight, left their track strewn with 
coats, hats, blankets, guns and other baggage ; 3 pieces of artillery 
were run down and captured, and thus for 20 miles the precipi- 
tate flight and pursuit was kept up till the flying foe sought shel- 
ter under the friendly guns of Few Madrid. 

The main column of our forces arrived on the 3d of March, 
when Pope, not knowing the exact position of the enemy, sent 
forward 3 regiments and a batter}^ of artillery to make a recon- 
noisance. On coming within ranging distance they were met by 
shells from gunboats stationed in the river, when they fell back 
and eucami^ed beyond their reach. The rebel entrenchments might 
have been easily carried, but it would have been impossible to 
hold them in consequence of the destructive fire of the gun-boats. 
It was therefore deemed best to order 4 siege guns from Cairo 
before making the attempt. In the meantime a force under Col. 
Plummer, consisting of the 11th Missouri and the 26th and 47th 
Illinois, was sent with all speed to occupy Point Pleasant, 12 
miles below, for the purpose of blockading the river and cutting 
ofl:' reinforcements. This was successfully accomplished though 
not till the rebel force was increased to 9 gunboats and 9,000 in- 
fantry and several batteries of artillery. The rebel fleet was com- 
manded by Commodore Hollius, and the land forces by McCown, 
Stuart and Gant. The siege guns arrived at sunset on the 12th, 
and the 10th and 16th Illinois, Cols. Morgan and Smith, were de- 
tached to cover the position chosen for the battery, and assist in 
its erection. Although exposed to constant volleys of musketry, 
rifle pits were excavated, and the guns mounted ready for action, 
within 35 hours after they had been shipped from Cairo. At 
early dawn, on the 13th, the battery opened with telling effect, 
and in a few hours disabled several of the gun-boats aud dis- 
mounted the heavy pieces of artillery in the enemy's main works. 
While this furious cannonade was maintained throughout the day 
on the right, Paine's division, containing the 51st and 64th Illinois, 
supported by Palmer's, forced their way up to the rebel works on 
the right, compelling the rebel pickets to seek shelter within their 
works. At nightfall, during a blinding thunder storm, the hostile 
force hurriedly fled, leaving their dead unburied, their suppers 
untasted on the tables, their candles burning in their tents and 
other evidences of a disgraceful panic. 

The details of the battle show that the Illinois troops who par- 
ticipated in it fought with no ordinary bravery and success, aud 
added additional lustre to their previous record. Gen. Pope in his 
oflicial report says: 

"The 10th and 16th Illinois, commanded respectively by Cols. Morgan 
and R. T Smith, were detailed as guards to the proposed trenches, and 
to aid in constructing them. They marclied from camp at sunset on the 
12th, and drove in the pickets and guard of the enemy, as tliey were or- 
dered, at shoulder arms, and without returning a shot, covered the front 



766 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

of the entrenching parties, and occupied the trendies and rifle pits dur- 
ing the wliole day and niglit of tlie 13th, under a furious and incessant 
cannonading from 160 pieces of lieavy artillery. At the earnest request 
of their colonels, their regimental flags were kept flying over our 
trenches though they oflered a conspicuous mark to the enemy. The 
coolness, courage and cheerfulness of these troops, exposed for two 
nights and a day to the incessant fire of tne enemy at short range, and 
the severe storm which raged the whole night, are above all praise." 

Capture of Island No. 10. — Pope now planted bis batteries on 
tbe banks of the river and shut up the rebel fleet between him- 
self and Island No. 10, tbe next place of attack. The island, sit- 
uated just above JSTew Madrid and 45 miles below Columbus, was 
fortified with eleven earth works and 70 heavy cannon. Tbe day 
after tbe capture of l^ew Madrid, Foote, with tbe fleet, made liis 
appearance above it, eflected a reconnoissance of the adjacent 
sbores and placed bis mortar boats in position for attack. On tbe 
morning of the lOtb of March, 186li, the bombardment com- 
menced, but tbe rebel batteries were targets too small to be hurt 
by shells thrown at an angle of 45 degrees a distance of three miles. 
Tbe slightest breatli of air operating on a projectile thrown so 
great a distance was sufSeicut to frustrate tbe nicest mathemati- 
cal calculations, and hence the cannonading continued day after 
day without beneficial results. Tbe gunboats could easily have 
prevailed against the hostile works but for tbe danger of becom- 
ing disabled and drifting helplessly in the swift current directly 
under the enemy's gujis. Pope was expected to co-operate with 
the fleet, bis plan being to gain the Kentucky shore, where he 
could operate directly against the foe and cut off his retreat in case 
of an attempted escajie. The want of transports being the only 
difiiculty attending the execution of this plan, the following expe- 
dient was adopted : 

ISTear where tbe fleet lay there was a slough running inland which 
connected with a stream emptying into the river below tbe island, 
not far from New Madrid. Pope determined to open this for the 
passage of transports round the island, having x>i'eviously sent 
Col. P>issell to ascertain the practicability of the undertaking. 
Tbe levee was cut, and the surface inland being lower than the 
bank of tbe river, when tbe opening was effected water passed 
through in a stream of sufticient depth to float ordinary trans- 
ports. The route to be opened was 12 miles in length, one-half 
of it extending through a growth of trees, many of which were 
two feetin diameter. Toadniitthei:)assageofboatsitwasnecessary 
tosaw them off* four feet below the surface of the water for the space 
of 50 feet in width. Tbe nnn^hinery em ployed for this purpose was 
placed on boats and operated hy twenty men who, in some 
instances consumed several hours in the removal of one tree. Tbe 
transports slowly advancing as the channel was opened, at 
length again entered the turbid Mississippi, the crew chanting 
"On the other side of Jordan" in lieu of " Jordan is a hard road to 
travel," with which they had jneviously beguiled their labors. 

During the accomplishment of this splendid achievement of 
engineering skill, two other feats were performed equally brilliant, 
but of a different character. The rebels in possession of Union 
City, becoming very troublesome, Col. Buford, of the 12th Illinois 
infantry, with bis own regiment, two companies of tbe 2d Illinois 



THE WAR OF THE KEBELLION. 767 

cavalry and 400 other troops was ordered to dislodge them. Eu- 
teriug" the town by forced marches he surprised and dispersed a 
large force of the enemy under the command of the notorious Henry 
Clay King. Panic-stricken they fled in every direction, leavingtheir 
horses, arms and a considerable amount of other property as spoils 
for the victors. On the following day Col.Eoberts, of the 42d Illi- 
nois, with twenty of his most daring men, having provided boats 
with mufded oars, made for the island for the purpose of destroy- 
ing the u])per battery. As the night advanced the surface of the 
river became ruffled with fitful gusts of wind ; presently the cor- 
rugated edge of a cloud rose up from the western horizon, and the 
muttering of distant thunder presaged an approaching storm. 
Favored l)y the darkness and the roar of the coming storm they 
reached the shore and started for the battery about 200 yards dis- 
tant. When arriving at the ditch in front of the works a vivid 
flash of lightning made their presence known to the sentinel, who 
fired his gun and fled, evidently thinking the whole Lincoln army 
was after him. The flash also revealed the situation of the guns, 
and hardl}' bad the reverberating thunder died away in the dis- 
tance before that which a fortnight's bombardment had failed to 
accomplish was consummated. Six heavy guns were spiked, 
among which was a superb 9 inch pivot gun, called Lady Davis, in 
honor of the rebel president's wife. The romance of war does 
not furnish a deed of more dashing gallantry than the perform- 
ance of these men, who all returned unharmed. 

Before the transports could be made available in moving troops 
to the opposite shore of tlie river, it was necessary' to get some of 
the gunboats below the island to protect them in case of an attack. 
Accordingly on the night of the 3d of April, the Carondelet,with 
her vulnerable parts i)rotected, was cut loose and started down 
the river for the purpose of running the rebel batteries. A storm 
of great fury had again burst on the river, and completely shroud- 
ing the boat in darkness, it rapidly moved forward on its perilous 
mission. As it approached the island the soot in the chimney 
caught fire and suddenl}*, with spectral glare, lighted up the river. 
The flue cai)s Avere immediately opened and fortunately the flames 
subsided before the enemy discovered their real character in the 
blinding darkness of the storm. A second time while the crew were 
congratulating themselves on their miraculous escape, the flames 
burst forth, casting a brilliant light in the face of the foe, 
rendering firrther concealment impossible. Suddenly signal 
rockets from the island and Kentucky shore streamed up in the 
darkness ; drums beat to quarters and cannon and musketry 
opened upon the boat in deafening roar. The storm was still 
unabated, and warring elements played in wild response to hos- 
tile batteries. Flashing guns alternating with gleams of light- 
ning, peals of thunder answering to booming cannon, and 
drenching torrents of rain, intermingled with tailing missiles, 
enveloped the crew in a pageant of terrific grandeur. Calm, 
however, as if ab(jut to enter a peaceful harbor, they put on steam 
and steered directly under the enemy's guns. Owing to the dif- 
ficulty of depressing their guns so as to cover the vessel, she ran 
the fiery gauntlet without sustaining the slightest injury. The 
firing of a signal gun announced to friends above and below the 
island, the successful result, and as the boat neared the wharf at 



768 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

New Madrid it was greeted witli the wildest enthusiasm. Soldiers 
almost frautic with joy, seized the sailors and carried them up the 
banks of the river to the nearest hotel, where they became objects 
of absorbing interest. On the night of the 6th the Pittsburgh 
also successfully performed the same feat, completing the prepa- 
rations for the reduction of the island. 

Paiiie's division, in which were the 22d and 51st Illinois was now 
embarked and crossed over the wild floods of the Mississippi, x>re- 
sentiiig iuits passage one of the most magnificent spectacles ever 
witnessed. Stanly and Hamilton's divisions followed, and by 12 
o'clock the ensuing night, April 7th, all the force required, was 
safe on the Kentucky shore. As soon as the rebels discovered 
tliat a lodgment had been effected they evacuated the island as 
untenable and concentrated at Tiptonville, situated at the 
lower extremity of the 12 miles of batteries which stretched along 
the Kentucky side of the river. The three divisions, Paine's 
command in advance, immediately started in pursuit. The enemy 
7,000 strong, under McCown, was encountered and driven back 
into the swamps, Avhere he was forced to unconditionally surren- 
der. Says Pope : "Gen. Paine fortunate in having the advance, 
exhibited unusual vigor and courage, and had the satisfaction to 
receive the surrender of the enemy. Three generals, 5,000 pris- 
oners, 17 steamboats, 74 heavy pieces of artillery, 10,000 lbs. of 
powder fell into the hands of the victors." 

Besides the Illinois i^egiments mentioned, the 7th (cavalry) and 
the 60th also participated in the battle and demeaned them- 
selves with the alacrity, courage and prudence which should ever 
cbaracterize the citizen soldiery of the republic. Their acknowl- 
edged efficiency furnishes ample proof that the soldier is not a 
machine moved and controlled independently of his volition, but 
that intelligence and moral worth are as essential to his success 
as they are in other pursuits of life, however exalted. 

Maj. Gen. John Pope, to whom we are indebted for the two jire- 
ceding brilliant victories, was born at Kaskaskia, Illinois, March 
12tb, 1823. His father, Kathaniel Pope, was a prominent actor 
in the early history of Illinois. His sou John graduated at West 
Point in 1842, fought his way through the Mexican war, and for 
his meritorious conduct was made captain by brevet, his commis- 
sion dating from Feb. 23d, 1846. In 1849 he commanded an 
expedition sent out from Minnesota to test the practicability 
of obtaining water by artesian borings in the great plain which 
stretches with such terrible aridity between Texas and New 
Mexico. The enterprise proved a failure. The interval from 1854 
to 1859 he spent in exploring the Rocky Mountains and was pro- 
moted to a captaincy in the corps of topographical engineers. 
When the rebellion commenced he was made brigadier-general of 
volunteers and assigned to command the district of North Mis- 
souri, where after dispersing the predator}^ rebel bands, he made 
his way to New Madrid and Island No. 10. 



Chapter LVIII. 

1862— ILLINOIS IN NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND 

ALABAMA. 

Battle of Pittsburg Landing — MitchelVs Canqjaign — Siege of 

Corinth . 



While these events were trauspiring ou the Mississippi a battle of 
much grander proportions was raging on the banks of the Tennessee. 
Th^ rebel line of defense, extending from Columbus eastward 
through Forts Henry and Donelson to the Alleghanies, having been 
broken by federal forces the enemy fell back and established anew 
one farther southward on the Mempliis and Charleston railroad. 
This great thoroughfare runs eastward from Memphis through 
Coiinth, Florence, Huntsville, Chattanooga and other important 
places, hence the rebels regarded its defense essential to the pre- 
servation of Northern Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. The 
Union forces, after having secured possession of the Tennessee, kept 
it open by means of gunboats as far as Eastport, Mississippi, and 
made it the base of operations. The rebel authorities aware of 
the tremendous issues at stake, commenced concentrating all their 
available forces at Corinth, situated at tbe intersection of the 
Memphis and Charleston and the Ohio and Mobile railroads. 
Johnson after his escape from Donelson, led his forces through 
Nashville to this strategic point, and hither also came Price from 
Western Arkansas, Bragg from Peusacola, . and Polk from 
Columbus. 

For the purpose of ta])ping this great central line of transpor- 
tation reaching from the Mississippi to the sea, on which the 
rebels were rallying, Halleck ordered forward the different divis- 
ions of the Union army. About the middle of March Grant, with 
the conquerors of Donelson, moved forward to Savannah, when 
the division of Lew. Wallace was thrown across the river at 
Crump's landing, about 2 miles above, and those of Prentiss, 
Smith airti MeClernand at Pittsburg landing, 5 miles higher up 
the stream" Buell, who with a separate army from the department 
of the Ohio, had taken possession of Nashville, and ou learning in 
the meantime the destination of Johnson also started to co-operate 
with the forces on the Tennessee. 

Pittsburg Landing, where most of Grant's army was now 
posted, was the point of debarkation for Corinth, Purely and some 
other towns on the west side of the river. The bank here rises 
to a height of 80 feet and is cloven by ravines, through one of 
which the Corinth road ascends to the general level of the couu- 
49 709 



770 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

try where it sends off branches to neighboring- towns. From the 
river an irregular iihiteaii sweeps inland, bounded on the north 
and west by Snake Creek, on the south by Lick creek, both small 
sti'eams, emptying into the Tennessee 5 miles apart, one below and 
the other above the landing. Variegated with ravines and ridges, 
partly wooded and partly cultivated, it lay like a picture in a 
frame, green with the opening verdure of April. Three miles 
from the landing, on the Corinth road, near the centre of the field, 
was a small church styled Shiloh, from which the subsequent 
battle received its name. On the 4tli of March Grant had been 
superseded by C. F. Smith, one of his comnmnders, who shortly 
afterwards was attacked by a fatal disease, when his division was 
transferred to W. H. L. Wallace and Grant was re-instated. 

Sunday morning, April 6th, the several divisions of his army 
were situated as follows : Commencing on the right near the river 
below, and sweeping round in the form of an irregular semi-cir(;le 
to the ri\'er above were the divisions of W. H. L. Wallace, 
McClernand, Sherman, Prentiss and Hurlbut, while that of Lew. 
Wallace was still at Crump's Landing. The (confederate army 
consisted of 3 corps and the following inincipal ofBpers: 
A. Sidney Johnson, first in command, P. T. G. Bean- 
regard second, and Polk, Bragg and Hardee, corps com- 
manders. It was well known in the rebel camp that Buell was 
rapidly advancing from Nashville to reinforce Grant, and it was 
determined to attack and defeat the latter before he was strength- 
ened. By the aid of spies Johnson was apprised of the daily 
progress made by Buell, and when on the 3d of April his junction 
with Grant became imminent, he started with all his available 
forces for Pittsburg Landing. Owing to bad roads the whole day 
was consumed ni reaching the Union outposts, and after some 
slight skirmishing the army encamped with the expectation of 
making an attack on the morrow. Fortunately a severe storm 
fell the next day and the contemplated attack was postponed till 
the Sabbath morning following. Buell in the meantime pushed 
forward with all possible dispatch over the muddy roads and 
gained a day, which, as the sequel shows, was of vital importance. 
The rebels, although unable to make an attack, moved up to 
within a mile of the Union pickets, and though some skirmishmg 
had occurred, their presence in force was unsuspected. 

As previously arranged, with the early gray of the Sabbath's 
dawn, the confederate army started across the narrow belts of 
w^oods which separated them from the unsuspecting federals. On 
emerging from the timber such was the impetuosity of their onset 
they swooped down in compact masses on our advanced out- 
posts before the small force which had been sent out to reconnoi- 
tre could return and apprise them of their danger. So sudden 
and complete was the surprise of the federals that some of them 
were overtaken preparing for breakfast, some sitting listlessly in 
their tents, while others still wrapt in unconscious slum- 
bers, were bayoneted before they had time to rise from their beds. 
Prentiss and Sherman who were considerably in advance, thus 
rudely awakened by the thunders of battle, immediately dis- 
patched messengers to the other divisions to apprise them of the 
enemy's aj^proach and request their co-operation. The latter by 
his stirring appeals and the reckless exx)osure of his person in the 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 771 



midst of the greatest dano-ers, succeeded in restoriuo; confidence, 
and his divisions, in which were the 40th and 55th Illinois, half 
dressed, fell into line. The sudden charge of the foe and 
the want of preparation to receive him, caused one of his 
brigades to fall back' in confusion and McClernand came up with 
the 11th, 30th and 43d Illinois to fill the gap. Convinced from 
the roar of cannon that the engagement was becoming general, he 
apprised Hurlburt of Prentiss' danger and requested his assistance. 
The contest along Sherman's line became desperate and bloody, 
the rebels dashing up to the very muzzles of Waterhouse's gun's, 
and in a hand to hand fight, contending for their possession. 
Although further reinforced by the 14th, 'l5th and 40th Illinois 
from Hurlbut's division, and Schwartz's, Dresser's, Taylor's and 
McAllister's batteries from MeClernand's, his battered and bleed- 
ing forces were driven from their position and their camp des- 
poiled by the shouting enemy. By his protracted stand and 
frightful sacrifice of men the enemy was, however, partially 
checked, and the army escaped the calamity of being driven into 
the Tennessee. 

Ill the mean time the division of Prentiss, containing the 61st 
Illinois, had become involved and almost annihilated. At the first 
intimation of danger, he hastily formed his line, but unfor- 
tunately it was in an open field. Tlie enemy soon came stream- 
ing throngh the woods, and taking advantage of the shelter they 
afibrded, poured volley after volley into the ranks of the exposed 
tr()()[>s and covered the field with their slain. Wliile Prentiss 
stubbornly refused to retire before this wasting slaughter. Har- 
dee massing his impetuous brigades, forced them through the 
gap between him and Sherman, and flanked him on the right, 
while Jackson with his Mississippi fire-eaters, sweeping round 
in an oiDposite direction, turned his left. Hurlbut hastened to 
his assistance but came too late. Batteries were immediately 
opened on both sides of the division, and ploughing a passage 
through it Prentiss and 3,000 men were surrounded and taken 
prisoners. As the captured troops were borne to the rear of the 
victorious foe, the remnant of the division, in. a confused mass, 
was driven in the opposite direction. 

We have seen that when the conflict commenced the convexity of 
the Union line was turned from the river, now, by the beating back 
of the center, it formed an arc in the direction of the stream. 
Prentiss and McClernand, constituting the two wings, still 
retained their positions, and Hurlbut moving to the center had 
been forced back. The conflict had been fierce, terrific, deter- 
mined and bloody ; great forest trees were riven into fragments 
by the incessant crash of artillery, and the fatal field lay gliastly 
with huge piles of victims. Grant, as at Donelson, was absent, 
and each command was compelled to act upon its own responsi- 
bility. 

The division of McClernand, containing the 8th, 11th, 17th, 
18th, 20th, 29th, 31st, 42d, 43d, 45th, 48th and 49th Illinois, which 
had supported Sherman in the first onset of the battle, when the 
latter fell back, became exposed to a dangerous flank movement on 
the right. Dresser was ordered forward with his rifled guns to 
the vulnerable point, and for a time checked the inflowing tide of 
assailants. Schwartz and McAllister, in other parts of the line. 



772 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

rendered efficient aid, and rebel charge after cliarge was repulsed, 
but only to make room for fresh regiments to pour in and repeat 
them with redoubled fury. When at length it became necessary 
to retire before the overwhelming pressure, there were not artillery 
horses remaining alive sufficient to remove the batteries, and por- 
tions fell into the hands of the enemy. By 11 o'clock the division 
was driven back to a line with Hurlbut. 

The division of' the latter, comprising the 14th, loth, 28th, 32d, 
4:1st and 46th Illinois, as the others were falling back, took a 
position iu the edge of a wood fronting an open field over which 
the enemy must pass to attack him. Thither also Sherman, with 
a faint hope of saving the armj^ from annihilation, led the bat- 
tered fragments of his command. The rebel officers, determined 
not to be checked in their advance toward the river, into which 
they i)roposed to hurl the defenders of the Union, threw forward 
their victorious legions with almost resistless momentum. Three 
times they emerged from the timber on the opposite side of the 
open space, and three times were they swept back by the hurri- 
cane of tire which met them, leaving their gory track covered 
with the dead and dying. Gallantly leading his columns in these 
tremendous charges, Johnson was pierced with a ball, and stretch- 
ing out his arms fell on one of his aids and expired. Unde- 
terred by loss of men or leader, fresh regiments dashed into the 
deadly vortex with renewed vigor, and finally exhausted and 
overwhelmed by numbers, the federals were compelled to retire 
and join their discomfitefl companions in the rear. 

After Prentiss had been driven from his i)osition, the onset of 
the enemy fell with tremendous force on the 7tb, 9th, 12th, 50th, 
52d, 57th and 58th Illinois, a part of the division of W. H. L. Wal- 
lace, which had been moved to an advanced position in the Union 
line. Serving his batteries planted on commanding ridges with 
great skill, and his infantry fighting with the determination of 
battle-scarred veterans, four times he repulsed the enemy with 
territi(5 slaughter. The other divisions had, however, given way, 
and his also, under the concentrated fire of Polk's and Har- 
dee's united columns, was compelled to yield, its brave 
commaiuler falling mortally wounded in his attempts to resist the 
overwhelming flood. 

It was now 5 o'clock. All day the battle had raged, but the 
field cleft by ravines and obstructed by timber, had rendered the 
contest irregular and indecisive. When it commenced Grant was 
at Savannah, and nntil his arrival on the field each division com- 
mander managed his own force to suit the exigencies of the en- 
gagement. There was little unity of action. Hearing the heavy 
and continuous booming of artillerj', he hurried to the scene of 
conflict and arrived about 9 o'clock, but skillful generalship could 
not then avert the evil caused by surprise, nor screen him from 
the angry criticism which he encountered. In the desultory con- 
flict the principal resistance was afforded by McOlernand, W. H. 
L. Wallace and Hurlbut, the divisions of Sherman and Prentiss 
having become too much demoralized by the morning's surprise 
to render the aid which otherwise would have been furnished. 
Lew. Wallace, at Crumjj's Landing, had been ordered to form on 
the Union right, but unfortunately was misled by a change iu 
the position of the army. What in the morning had been the 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 773 

federal riglit was uow the enemy's rear. Though apiiareiitly he 
might have hurled his fresh troops against the jaded enemy, 
doubled, up his left and thus have given a more favorable issue to 
the contest, he retraced his stei>s, and moving along the river 
did. not arrive till nightfall, when the battle was over.* Had the 
enemy known the vulnerable condition of our right and made his 
principal attack in that direction instead of the left, his success 
would doubtless have been more complete. 

The ride of battle which had hitherto drifted adversely, was 
uow to change. The exultant threat of treason, that it would, 
overwhelm the defenders of the Kepublic in the dark waters of 
the Tennessee, was never to be executed ; but, beaten and hum- 
bled, its minions were to be driven from the field. The army 
iu the morning was extended out iu a semi-circle of o miles; 
uow it was iu a compact body ;trouud the lauding, and though 
bleeding and reduced in numbers, it still presented a bold front. 
There was a lull iu the contiict, caused, perhaps, by preparations 
of the enemy for the final charge which was to execute his threat. 
This pause was also improved by our jaded and imperiled men. 
Fortunately there had been deposited ou the bluff a number of 
siege guns and other heavy ordnance designed for future opera- 
tions against Corinth. These with the fragments of field artillery 
which had escaped capture (Jol. Webster chief of Grant's staff 
hurriedl}' placed iu position. This defense was rendered more 
effective by a deep ravine which, on the left separated the Union 
from the Confederate army, the latter now concentrated in that 
direction. Hardly had our guns been mounted when a shower 
of projectiles, some of which exploded on the opposite bank of 
the river, announced his coming, and. presently every avenue 
of approach was crowded by his dark masses of infantry. 
Streaming across the ravine they scaled the opposite gun-crowned 
slopes. But as soon as they had gained the summit they were 
met by a blinding fire and swept back bleeding into the gorge. 
Flushed, however, with previous success, they were easily rallied, 
and while they were advancing and recoiling in a series of final 
charges, the gun-boats Lexington and Tyler opened upon them 
with their heavy guns. All day they had been anxious spectators 
of the combat, moving restlessly up and down the river in A^aiu 
seeking an opportunity toco-operate. Now, however, the foewas 
iu range and they seut their ponderous shells screaming dismally 
and deathly into his ranks, oi)ening huge gaps and exerting a 
moral effect upon the hostile army more fatal than the physical 
results of their death dealing explosions. The rebel officers tried iu 

* Wallace's arrival was awaited with all the anxiety which an Imperiled condition ot 
the army conld inspire. The suspense increasing-, about 3 o'clock a staff officer rode 
up to the 2d battalion of the 4th Illinois cavalry and asked for volunteers to go on the 
perilous mission of meeting- and urging upon him the importance of hurrying for- 
ward his division. Lieut. Frank Fisk and Sergeant Henry Sturges immediately rode 
to the front and called for others to join them. A party of seven was soon formed, 
and dashing bv the enemv's left in easy range of his musketry, and bounding over 
Owl Creek the'y found Wallace near its intersection of the Corinth road, made known 
tlieir errand, a"nd advised a diiect attack upon the enemy. He replied that his artil- 
lery had not yet come up and the movement would leave it exposed and liable to cap- 
ture. Thev also pointed out the elevated ground occupied by the rebels, and the im- 
possibility of his using his artillery, and insisted that it was better to abandonhis 
own guns than lose the advantage of an assault on the exposed rebel flank. These 
arguments were, however, re.iected. and the heroic little band safely returned and 
reported the result. They were then instructed to ride among the soldiers and pro- 
claim that Wallace was at hand with in,000 fresh troops. The effect was electric, the 
loud answerins shout of our almost overpowered men rising above the din of battle. 



774 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

vaiu to get their men to face the uew engines of destruction, but 
were compelled to fall back beyond their range. Shortly after the 
gun-boats came into action the glittering arms of Buell's advanced 
division were seen across the river. It had arrived at Savannah 
30 hours before, and Nelson, the commander, detecting in the 
deep and continuous roar of artillery the existence of battle, pushed 
forward to render assistance. A brigade immediately crossing 
the stream and rushing directly to the front, greatly revived the 
spirits of the exhausted army. 

The sun now as if to end the slaughter, withdrew his light from 
the gory field — a field literally covered over with piles of victims, 
some torn into fragments, others exhibiting but little evidence of 
the means by which they had lost their lives; some still writhing 
in the agonies of death, and others less injured crying for help. 
Interspersed among them were the fragments of guns and their 
carriages, splintered trunks and branches of forest trees, all indi- 
cating the fury of the battle storm which had wrought their de- 
struction. Night came on but the period of repose which it 
brought afibrded little rest to either belligerent. As soon as the 
position of the enemy was ascertained, the two gun-boats again 
commenced throwing among them immense shells which, explod- 
ing far inland, gave back reports resembling those of replying 
guns. This heavy cannonade, with slight intermission, was con- 
tinued the whole night, and the exhausted enemy aroused from 
his imperfect slumbers, was forced back farther and farther from 
the river. 

The landing also became the scene of important operations. 
Crittenden's division of Buell's army having reached Savannah, 
was brought up on steamers and placed in position. The next news 
received was that McCook's division had also arrived at Savannah, 
but owing to the lateness of the hour, it was not brought up till 
the next morning. The heavy explosions of artillery reverberat- 
ing far up and down the Tennessee had apprised the commanders 
of these gallant divisions of what was going on, and regardless of 
almost impassable roads they pushed forward to i^articipate in the 
battle. With this augmentation of its forces the Union army was 
able to act on the offensive aiul accordingly the several divisions 
were assigned places for an attack the next morning. Commenc- 
ing on the right and extending to the left were the commands of 
Nelson, Crittenden, Hurlbut, McClernand, Sherman, and Lew 
Wallace, the latter including the divisions of Prentiss and W. H. L. 
Wallace. Each took the place assigned it, and as is usually the 
case after a heavy cannonade a storm arose and the remainder of 
the night was spent in a drenching rain. When morning dawned 
the Confederates beheld with surjirise Buell's handsomely deployed 
colunms and doubtless with increased anxiety thought of the work 
still before them. Their consternation was farther increased when 
the strains of martial music announced the arrival of McCook's 
division which at once advanced and took a position between 
Crittenden and Hurlbut. 

Nelson's and Crittenden's divisions, eager to measure their 
strength with the foe, first commenced the attack. For a time 
the contest was an artillery duel of grand i^roportions and pro- 
portionately bloody. Notwithstanding the severe fire, one of Nel- 
son's brigades charged across the oi^^n space between the two lines 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 775 



1111(1 captured one of the hostile batteries. Before the i)rize, how- 
o,ver, coukl be removed, its captors were driven back with a loss 
of one-third their number. This reverse only partially checked 
the forward movement of the division over the ground which their 
.less fortunate comrades had lost the day before. Crittenden 
next became involved; one of his brigades made a desperate at- 
tack on a battery of the enemy, and this time after capturing re- 
tained it. Exasperated by the loss of his guns he charged with 
redoubled fury to recover them, stubbornly refusingto yield till the 
ground was strewn with the victims of the bloody struggle. The 
tide of battle sweeping farther on the right at length fell upon 
McCook, whose men fought with the heroism of veterans, driving 
the enemy before them as they moved forward. 

About 10 o'clock the rebels rallied in some heavy timber, and, 
under cover of a furious cannonade, threw themselves with great 
im})etuosity mostly against Nelson and Crittenden and turned 
tliem back. At this juncture the artillery was taken to the front 
iind opened a murderous lire directly in the face of the shouting 
foe, dashing up in pursuit of the retreating Federals. The move- 
ment of both lines was ax'rested, but the incessant play of artil- 
lery and musketry went on with increased effect, the commanders 
on both sides holding their men to the grim work as if to determine 
which could stand pounding the longest. In the meantime Buell 
came up, and, seeing that the enemy's line was badly shaken by 
the continuous volleys ploughing through it, ordered a charge as 
the most successful method of ending the contest. Cheer after cheer 
rent the air as the war-begrimed legions of the two divisions 
swept down like a dark cloud on the recoiling foe till all the ground 
which had been lost in this part of the field the day before was 
regained. Still unwilling to lose all the prestige of previous suc- 
cess, the rebels again halted in front of McCook's division in a 
clump of timber near Shiloh Church where for an hour they stub- 
bornly maintained their position. Eeinforcemeuts from Sherman 
and McClernand were, however, sent up, when an irresistible 
charge sweiit them from their place of refuge and the battle on 
this part of the field was over. 

On the right the contest had been equally severe and bloody. 
As Wallace in the morning moved forward he halted on an eleva- 
tion overlooking the field in front, and suddenly a strong rebel 
column emerged from the woods and formed in line of battle par- 
allel with his own division. Both immediately became engaged, 
and Wallace threw forward sharp-shooters to pick oft" the rebel 
artillerymen till he could get his batteries with infantry supports 
-on the oi>eu field in front. For an hour the flash and roar of guns 
was incessant when Sherman with the remnant of his heroic di- 
vision, came up, and, regardless of danger, dashed forward across 
the field ; midwaj' between the two lines he met such a destruct- 
ive fire he was compelled to return, having received a wound and 
lost his horse by the fearless exposure of his person. Leaping 
into the saddle of another, and arousing the enthusiasm of his 
men, he gave the order, "forward," and again they started on the 
perilous mission with the brave Col. Marsh, of the 20th 111., as 
their leader. Sweeping across the field and gaining in the woods, 
beyond, a position that flanked the enemy, the latter retreated iu 
hot haste to another part of the timber farther from danger. Here 



776 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

he made a determiued stand and a second time compelled Sher- 
man to recoil before his murderous fire ; but a second time he 
rallied his men and rushed into battle though bleeding from 2 
wounds, and having had 2 horses shot under him. Other forces 
in the meantime came up, the position was taken and the discom- 
fited rebel hosts driven from the field. Thus the action com- 
menced on the left and, as if the foe was feeling for a vulnerable 
point, swept along each division to the right when he struck his 
last blow and retired. In the final charge on this part of the 
field, McClernand's and Hurlbut's divisions participated and 
added new laurels to those wliich they had previously won. 

On the following morning Gen. Sherman M'ith his cavalry and 
two brigades, were sent in pursuit of the enemy. Proceeding 
along the Corinth road they encountered the cavalry of the 
enemy which temporarily checked their advance. A line of battle 
was, however, soon formed, and Col. Dickey's 4th 111. cavalry, 
leading in a dashing charge on the rebel force, put them to flight. 
After caring for the wounded and burying the dead, the weary 
troops returned, finding the road strewn with blankets, haversacks 
and muskets, which the rebels had abandoned in their flight. 

No official statement of the numbers engaged in this battle 
was made by either party. In the first day's fight, however, the 
Confederate army was considerably in excess, while on the 2d the 
Federal having been reinforced b3'Buell,was largest. The loss 
of the former was 1,728 killed ; 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing ; 
that of the latter 1,735 killed; wounded 7,882; and 3,956 taken 
prisoners. The rebels having fled, the mournful task of burying 
the dead of both armies fell to the lot of the conquerors. Nearly 
4,000 victims, recently brothers of the same great national family, 
lay pulseless and still in the sleep of death. They were consigned 
to their graves, and would that the demon of hate and the car- 
nage of war had been buried with them. 

Gov. Yates, who had already earned the appellation of "soldiers' 
friend" by his devotion to the interests of those engaged in the 
performance of military duty, immediately proceeded to the battle 
field to look after the wounded. His appeals for the means of 
afitbrding relief met with a response from the peoifle commensur- 
ate with the extraordinary necessities that existed. Every city 
and village of the State poured forth contributions; physicians 
and nurses volunteered their services, and steamboats laden 
with every appliance for ministering to the distressed, were sent 
on their errands of mercy. Such an extensive slaughter had been 
unknown in the history of the war, and notwithstanding the pro- 
fusion of means which had been furnished, many of the soldiers 
still suffered from unavoidable neglect. The Governor therefore 
returned home, and, procuring another corps of surgeons and 
additional stores, a second time repaired to the scene of suffer- 
ing. As fast as transportation could be obtained, the wounded 
were conveyed to northern homes and hospitals where facilities 
for more skillful treatment could be furnished. 

Illinois was more largelj' represented in the battle than any 
• single State. On its death-smitten field her citizen-soldiers traced 
in characters of blood a record of deeds which will be read 
not only in the patriotic homes of the broad xirairies, but wherever 
free institutions have a votary or the honor of the republic 
awakes an echo in the human heart. 



THE WAK OF THE REBELLION. 777 

It was upon the troops of Illinois and those immediately asso- 
ciated with them in the first day's battle, that the enemy dealt 
his heaviest blows and received in turn a stroke which rendered 
his subsequent defeat comparativelj' easy, both sustaining- a loss 
hitherto without a parallel in the history of the war. Though our 
divisions were driven back as the result of surprise and superior 
numbers, the advance of the enemy was finally checked, and when 
the gallant cohorts of Buellcame to their rescue, were preparing for 
offensive operations, and laigely shared in the magnificent charges 
which subsequently bore our blood-stained banners triumphant 
over the field. 

The contest was one in which cannon and nuisketry played the 
most conspicuous part. Yet, in the constant shifting of brigades 
and divisions the cavalry guarded their movements, protected their 
exposed wingg or dashed over the field with important dispatches. 
The 2d, 4th, Carmichael's, O'Harnett's and Dollins', were among 
the organizations from Illinois, and distinguished themselves by 
their soldierly conduct. 

Among the bravest of the heroes who died on the bloody field 
of Shiloh, that their country might live, was Gen. William Henry 
L. Wallace. He was born on the 8th of July, 1821, at Urbana, 
Ohio. His father, in 1833, removed to Illinois, and settled in the 
vicinity of LaSalle. After 4 years residence he removed to Mt. 
Morris, Ogle county, for the purpose of giving hisfamily the ben- 
efit of tuition in Rock River seminary. Young Wallace completed 
a course of study in the institution and, after some preliminary 
study of the law, repaired to Springfield to enter the oflice of 
Logan and Lincoln, lawyers of great celebrity and legal ability. 
While in the capital he formed the acquaintance of T.Lyle Dickey, 
also a lawyer of ability, to whom he became attached and shortly 
afterward went to Ottawa and entered the office of his new friend. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1845, but the Mexican war break- 
ing out the following j^ear, Wallace abandoned his profession and 
enlisted in the regiment raised by the brave and eloquent Hardin. 
He was mustered in as orderly sergeant, Co. I, commanded by 
JudgeDickey, whom they elected as captain. After their arrival 
in Mexico, the Judge, in consequence of his ill health, was com- 
l)elled to resign, and was succeeded by his 1st Lieut., B. M. 
Prentiss, and Wallace became adjutant. In this capacity he 
bravely encountered the thunders of Buena Vista and w^as by the 
side of his gallant colonel when he was stricken down in this 
memorable conflict. When the rebellion commenced he was 
among the first to respond to the call of the government for 
troops, and exerted himself to arouse the people to the magnitude 
of the struggle. In May he was chosen colonel of the 11th regi- 
ment, and June 20th, 18(51, was jjlaced in command of Bird's 
Point, In February following he was promoted to the command 
of a brigade in McOlernand's division, participated in the capture 
of Forts Henry and Donelson and acquitted himself with great 
bravery in the heavy charges in the last day's battle. From JDon- 
elson his brigade was ordered to Pittsburg Landing, and ujion 
the death of the brave C. F. Smith, Wallace was placed in com- 
mand of his division. In the appalling fury of the first day's 
contiict, his division, in conjunction with Hurlbut's, for a time 
stood between the army and destruction, but without supports 



778 nisTOKY OF Illinois. 

their isolated advance had to be abandoned. Kecklessly exposing 
his person in the accomplishment of this movement he was shot 
through the head and fell insensible from his horse. His comrades 
essayed to carry him from the field, but, pressed by the pursuing 
enemy, they sadly laid him down on the field and abandoned him 
to his fate. On the following day the lost ground was regained 
and Wallace was found still alive. The enemy, perhaps out of 
respect for his bravery, had placed a pillow under his head and 
covered his body with a blanket. His wound was, however, mor- 
tal and he died, greatly regretted by the army Mhose confidence 
and affection he had won by his many noble qualities. 

Benjamin F. Prentiss, the brother-inarms of Wallace, was the 
first Illinoisan to secure the commission of a brigadier general, the 
first to command a division, and the first to be captured. He was 
born in 1819, at Belleville, Va., whence his father removed to Mis- 
souri, and thence in 1841 to Quincy, 111. His first military expe- 
rience wixs in the Mormon war, being 1st Lieut, of the Quincy 
rifles, commanded by Gen. Morgan, which visited Hancock county 
during the prevalence of its civil feuds. In the call for volunteers 
to serve in the Mexican war, he entered the same comj^any with 
Wallace, and as we have already seen by the resignation of Capt. 
Dickey, bt: was elected to fill bis place. In the battle of Buena 
Yista his company won merited distinction for its superior drill 
and soldierly efficiency. Eeturiiing to Quincy he engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits until the commencement of the rebellion. When 
intelligence was received of the outrage on the national flag at 
Sumter, he reorganized the Quincy rifles, and within a week af- 
terward was on his way to Cairo. Here as soon as there was a 
sufificienc}^ of men to organize a brigade, he was elected its gen- 
eral. At the close of the 3 months term, for which his men had en 
listed, he was made brigadier general by appointment of the 
President and sent to Southern Missouri. ISText he was or- 
dered to report to Gen. Grant at Pittsburg Landing, whither he 
arrived 3 days before the battle, and was selected to take com- 
mand of a division. We have already spoken of his caj)ture in 
the battle. In his passage through the Southern towns as a pris- 
oner, it is said the Southrons crowded to see the Yankee general, 
and that he made them a number of rousing Union speeches such 
as had not for many months been heard in their sunny latitude. 
He and his men were conveyed to Montgomery, Alabama, where 
they were paroled, after which they returned home by way of 
Kashville. 

Major Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, the commander of the 4th 
division in the battle of Shiloh, was born at Charleston, S. C, 
Nov. 29th, 1815. Having studied law in his native city, he moved 
to Belvidere, Illinois, and commenced the practice of his profes- 
sion. Two years afterward he was elected a member of the con- 
stitutional convention, and subsequently served several terms in 
the legislature. Lincoln, aware of his ability and patriotism, ap- 
pointed him one of the first civilian commanders of the war. He 
was first ordered to North Missouri, where he rendered efficient 
service in protecting railroads against rebel marauders by holding 
the districts through which they ran responsible for their destruc- 
tion. After having taught the " borderers " that treason was 



THE WAR OP THE REBELLION. 779 

exi)eiisive as well as dangerous and unlawful, he wais tiaiisterred 
to Grant's command, participated in the battle of Donelson, and 
thence moA^ed to Pittsburg Landing. 

Battles maybe divided into 3 classes : decisive engagements, such 
as bring them on, and those that flow from them. Prominent 
among the great battles of the first class was the contest of Shiloh ; 
not only because it changed the complexion of the war in the West, 
but on account of the permenent advantages derived from it. Both 
parties claimed it as a victory, but it was some time after the im- 
mediate reverberations of the battle before its true significance 
was fully appreciated. Beauregard, the hero of Sumter and Ma.n- • 
assas, who had been called west by a deputation of citizens to extri- 
cate them from impending danger, determined upon a change of 
policy. Hitherto the Confederates had ridged their broad valleys 
with parallels of earth works and scattered their troops for defensive 
operations, but Beauregard, reversing the order, commenced 
their concentration for aggressive movements. He proposed first 
to move against Buell, but the i^rompt demonstrations of Grant 
on the Tennessee made a counteracting force in that direction a 
more pressing necessity. Accordingly he assembled his troops 
at Corinth where they were hurled upon Grant at Shiloh with the 
intention next of overwhelming Buell. and finally sweeping north- 
ward through Tennessee and Kentucky to the Ohio. Shiloh was 
then in a great measure a contest for supremacy in the » valley of 
the Mississippi, and the terrible fierceness with which it was 
fought, only corresponded with the momentous interests involv- 
ed. From its terrible shock the rebel army recoiled, too much 
broken to afterward act on the offensive, while its commander 
bitterly regretted the necessity which compelled him to abandon 
his long cherished schemes of Northern conquest. But for this 
success it would have been impossible to check the rebel army 
till it had recovered all that portion of the great valley from 
which they had recently been driven, and the war would have 
thus been indefinitely piolonged. 

Victory not only forced the foe to abandon all further attempts 
to overrun the Korth, but caused the loss of a large addi- 
tional scope of territory. As the fall of Donelson compelled the 
relinquishment of the first Confederate line of defense, so the re- 
pulse of Shiloh resulted in the abandonment of the second. Thus 
the whole of Middle and Eastern Tennessee became exposed to 
the Union army, whose columns could now penetrate to the very 
centre of the Confederacy ; but even here the eflectdid not cease. 
The Confederate authorities becoming alarmed at the dangers 
threatening their defenses on the upper Mississippi, commenced 
the concentration of tlieir naval forces at Memphis. This transfer 
proportionally weakened the means of protection at the mouth of 
the river, and thus greatly facilitated the capture of New Orleans 
which occurred shortly afterward. 

MitcJielVs Campaign. — At the same time the 3 divisions of BuelPs 
army left for Nash\ille to co-operate with Grant, 10,000 men 
started southward under the command of Gen. Mitchell. The 
objective point of the expedition was Huntsville, Ala., where, by 
severing- the Memphis & Charleston Eailroad, it was proposed to 
cut oft" reinforcements and sui>plies destined for Corinth. After 
arriving in Nashville he remained there till the 4th of April, en- 



780 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

gaged iu organizing Ms army, building bridges, and otherwise 
preparing fur his campaign. When everything was in readiness 
the march was resumed on the 7th, and Fayetteville was reached 
and occupied without opposition. Here much anxiety was felt in 
regardto the issues of the expedition, for should our army either 
in Tennessee or Virginia meet with a reverse, the destruction of 
Mitchell's force would be almost unavoidable. While harassed by 
these forebodings, Col. Turchin of the 19th Illinois came forward 
and asked permission to move at once upon Huntsville before delay 
should add new perils to those which already threatened. Gen. 
Mitchell assented and with the 18th and 37th Ind., 4th O. cavalrj' and 
the 19th and 24:th Illinois, he left Fayetteville on the morning of 
April 10th, 1862. With the Illinois regiments in advance the 
brigade toiled over roads rendered extremely difficult by the pre- 
cipitous hills, swampy glades, and tangled forests of the country. 
Frequently it became necessary, in consequence of its impassable 
condition, to harness two or three teams to a single wagon and iu 
some places to drag the guns by hand. The indomitable energy 
of Turchin, however, j)ervaded his men, and they struggled on 
over almost insurmountable obstacles without complaint. When 
night came on they partook of a hearty repast and threw them- 
selves round their camp fires till the moon went down and the 
march could be resumed with greater security. The roads now 
became better, and the progress being more rapid, in the grey 
light of morning, the city became visible behind a grove of ce- 
dars. A battery was immediately placed in i^osition and present- 
ly' two trains came dashing up on the railroad toward Stevenson. 
The one in advance was chased a distance of ten miles b}' a squad 
of cavalry, but the engineer crowded on steam and the iron horse 
l^roved too fleet for those bestrode by the cavalrymen. The one 
in the rear, less fortunate, was brought to by a shot from the bat- 
tery and all its passengers were nuide prisoners. 

In the meantime Col. Mahilotzy, of the 24th Illinois, dis- 
patched a force to tear up the track in the direction of Decatur, 
to prevent the escape of other trains in the future. The order was 
then given to advance on the town, and an exciting cavalry' race 
ensued for the honor of flrstentering it. Three troopers becamethe 
winners, who, dashing far in advance of the others, entered and 
captured 170 rebels before they had time to rise from their 
couches. The inhabitants of the city were still wrapt in sleep, 
dreaming, perhaps, of " Southern Independence or troubled with 
Yankee nightmares, " when the clatter of cavalry in the streets 
first apprised them of danger. On being awakened they rushed 
half naked into the streets to ascertain the character and object 
of the unexpected visitors, and learned, with deep mortification, 
that their beautiful city was in the hands of the enemy. A reign 
of terror succeeded, all classes being seized with consternation, 
except the negroes, who, though naturally the most timid, on this 
occasion maintained a wonderful equanimity. The mayor, after re- 
gaining to some extent his composure, determined to expel the in- 
truders, but the other forces soon came up and he abandoned his 
design. As the result of capturing the city, 17 locomotives, 150 
cars and a large amount of war material fell into the hands of the 
victors. The rolling stock was soon put in motion for the traus- 
X)ortation of troops, and within three days, not only Huntsville, 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 781 

but Stevenson, Decatur, Tuscumbia and 107 miles of railroad were 
in the possession of tlie Unionists. The signal guns of Turchin's 
force Avhich had occupied Tuscumbia, could now be heard at Cor- 
inth, the centre of the enemy's operations. 

The great dispersion of Mitchell's division for the pui^^ose of 
holding- the captured towns and such a great extent of railroad, 
soon rendered his situation precarious. The enemy began to gather 
in force and threaten him ; no reinforcements had reached him, 
.and a large i^art of the subsistence which had been sent by 
Halleck was burnt to prevent its falling into the hands of the en- 
emy. Gen. Turcli in, finding his position at Tuscumbia becoming 
untenable, fell back to Decatur, where, after crossing the Tenn- 
essee river, he burnt the bridge just in time to prevent the enemy 
from following him. This was the only crossing between Bridge- 
l)ort and Florence, hence its destruction was a severe blow on 
rebel operations in that part of the country. On the 27th of April 
Tui^chin evacuated Decatur and continued his retrograde move- 
ment to Huntsville. 

Shortly after au episode occurred at Athens, on account of 
which the 19th Illinois was severely, but unjustly, censured. The- 
town had previously been occupied by an Ohio regiment, to which 
the inhabitants made loud professions of loyalty. While in peace- 
able custody of the place the regiment was unexpectedly lired 
upon by a squad of rebel cavalry, and returned to Huntsville 
under the impression that the attack was made by a large force 
of the enemy. As they left Athens, notwithstanding the pre- 
vious professions of the inhabitants, guns were discharged at 
them from dwellings 5 women derided them with the vilest epi- 
thets, while a crowd of rebels followed in the streets and threw 
upon them the most disgusting- garbage. Turchin's brigade was 
next ordered to take possession of the town, but no enemy was 
found. The inhabitants were again loyal, but the 19tli Illinois, 
remembering- the indignities which had been offered their com- 
rades, retaliated by the destruction of property. This outrage, as 
it was termed, was the legitimate fruit of the previous provoca- 
tion, and would never have occurred had not the people who so 
loudly complained, been the aggressors. 

In the meantime the rebels were concentrating- a force at Bridge- 
port, a small town near Chattanooga, which gets its name from 
the bridge over the Tennessee at that point. Mitchell having 
ascertained the position of the force, on the 29th of April ap- 
proached their encampment under cover of a hill, and made his 
presence known by firing a volley of grape and cannister into 
their midst. Some immediately lied, while others, seizing their 
guns, endeavored to make a stand, but the Federals, with fixed 
bayonets, charged upon and quickly- put them to flight. In their 
retreat they attemjited to blow up the bridge, but were too closely 
pursued to succeed. Another portion of the enemy stationed on 
the railroad after the firing commenced debouched into an open 
field and formed a line of battle. By mistake, he moved up to- 
ward one of Mitchell's batteries Avliich had been planted for their 
reception. When within easy range a terrific fire of cannister was 
l^oured into their ranks, and both cavalry and infantry, taken by 
surprise, threw down their arms and fled in confusion. Thus ended 
the battle of Bridgeport, and with it virtually terminated Mitch- 



782 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ell's campaign. In liis report to the Secretary of War be said: 
"The campaign is ended and I now occupy Huntsville in perfect 
security, while in all Alabama, north of the Tennessee, there floats 
not a flag but that of the Union. " As the sequence of his opera- 
tions and successes in northern Alabama, anumberof minor expe- 
ditions were sent in various directions after roving bauds of rebel 
cavahy, but the numbers engaged and the results accomplished 
were not important. 

Gen. Basil Turchin, whose genius and energy contributed so 
largely to the success of the campaign , was born in the valley of 
the Don, Eussia, Jan. 18, 1822. At the age of 11 he entered the 
military school of St. Petersburg, and after his graduation his re- 
markable military talent rapidly gained him promotion. At the 
outbreak of the Crimean war he received an appointment on the 
staff of the then Crown Prince, (the late Emperor of Eussia, Alex- 
ander II.,) planned and superintended the coast defenses of Fin- 
land, among the most elaborate and scientific feats of military 
engineering in Europe. Having in early life formed a partiality 
for free institutions, in 1856 he emigrated to the United States, 
and was employed as an engineer on the Illinois Central railroad. 
When he saw that the liberty for which he had abandoned his 
fatherland was in danger of being blotted out by the overshad- 
owing power of slavery, he at once rushed to its rescue. He was 
appointed Colonel of the 19th Illinois, one of the most maligned 
though efficient regiments in the service. Immediately after its 
organization it became noted for the excellence of its drill ; nor 
was it long in the held, as we have seen, before the fighting quali- 
ties of both men and commander made it the synonym of success. 

Sieg^ of Corinth. — While Mitchell was thus engaged in severiug 
the rebel communications between theeastand the west, two hostile 
armies were gathering at Corinth for another deadly struggle. So 
loug as this strategic point remained in the hands of the rebels, 
it endangered [N'ashvi lie on the one hand, and retarded o])erations 
against Memphis on the other. Hither Beauregard had led his 
army from the fatal field of Shiloh, and hither Halleck had come 
to superintend in person the operations of the Union forces. Hav- 
iug ordered Pope and his army from New Madrid, and reorgan- 
ized his other forces, he assumed the leadership of the whole, 
placed Grant second in command and transferred his armj' to 
Thomas. Pope's command was placed on the right, Buell's in the 
ceutre, and that of Thomas on the left, the entire army occupy- 
ing a semi-circle of six miles and inimbering 108,000 men. Thus 
arranged the army began to advance, but moved cautiously, it 
beiug a part of Halleck's plan to approach the rebel works in 
frout after the manner of a siege while he cut the railroads in their 
rear and on each flank. 

On the 30th of April, 1862, a reconnoissance was made toward 
Purdy, on the Ohio & Mobile railroad, about 20 miles north of 
Corinth. The force detailed for this purpose was commanded by 
Lew Wallace, consisting of 2 batteries of artillery, 2 regiments of 
infantry and 3 of cavalry, 2 of the latter beiug tlie 4th and 11th 
Illinois. At night the infantry and artillery encamped midway 
between Pittsburg Landing and Purdy, while the cavalry com- 
manded by Col. T. Lyle Dickey, pushed on till they arrived at the 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 783 

town. The pievaleuce of a storm and the intense darkness of the 
night, however, rendered inexpedient any attempt at the rednc- 
tion of the place, and they returned to the encampment. The 
next morning- Col. Dickey again advanced on the town, and, having 
severed its connection with Corinth by destroying a portion of the 
railroad, the principal object of the expedition ^vas accomplished. 

Farmmgton. — A second reconnoissancewas made on the 3d of 
May in the direction of Farmington, a commanding position four 
miles east of Corinth, in possession of a rebel force of 5,000 men. 
The men engaged in this expedition were almost entirely from 
Illinois, consisting of the 10th, IGth, 22d, 2Gth, 27th, 42d,47th and 
50th regimentsof infantry, Yates shari)-shooters and Honghtaling's 
battery of light artillery, the whole under the command of Paine and 
Palmer. The force moved forward hve miles on the Earmingtou 
road where they met the enemy, and in a skirmishing fight drove 
him back some distance to an eminence from the summit of which 
his artillery for a time checked their advance. Houghtaling's 
battery moved immediately to the front and opened such destruc- 
tive fire on his position that he fell back to Fariuington, Here 
he again made a stand when the same battery was brought up 
and opened on his left, and an Ohio battery on his right, from the 
combined fire of which he retreated with the federal cavalry in 
hot pursuit. Farmington fell into the hands of the Unionists. 
Tlie enemy returned on the 9th and made a determined effort to 
tlaiik and cut off" from themain army the forces which occupied it. 
A fierce battle of five hours duration commenced, in which Paine 
and Palmer, who were peremptorily ordered not to bring on a 
general engagement, slowly retreated. This was pre-eminently 
an Illinois battle, and an exhibition of Illinois prowess, although 
the 2d Iowa cavalry greatly distinguished itself in charging on 
the enemy's batteries. 

Finally, on the 28th of May, after some other fighting by 
detached portions of both armies, Halleck sent forward three 
heavy reconnoitering columns against Corinth to feel the strength 
of the enemy's entire line, and unmask his batteries. The rebels 
hotly contested the ground at the several points of approach 
on the right, centre and left, but were driven back. On the 
29th Po^je and Sherman opened upon the rebel entrenchments 
with their powerful guns and drove the enen^j' from his advanced 
battery. But while the movement of the federal army, entrenched 
in successive parallels, was slowly converging on the hostile 
works with their heavy siege gnus, Beauregard, aware that he 
was unable to cope with such a formidable force, was secretly 
withdrawing from the town to prevent capture. During the 
entire succeeding night from Halleck's advanced position could 
be heard the rumbling of cars and the shrieking locomotive 
whistles, terminating at daylight with several loud explosions. 
Skirmish parties were immediatelj" thrown out and a general ad- 
vance being ordered, the troops entered Corinth and found it de- 
serted. All the heavy ordnance had been carried away while com- 
missary stores, powder and other valuable property, which, for the 
want of transportation could not be removed, was destroyed. 
The news of the evacuation soon spread from regiment to regi- 
ment and from division to division till the air echoed with jubilant 



784 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

shouts in every part of the widely extended field. The mayor came 
forward and surrendered the town, and the national ensign was 
hoisted over theijublic buildings where the rebel flag had so long 
defiantly floated its treasonable folds. The rebels fled with great 
precipitation notwithstanding their oft-repeated boasts to immo- 
late the Yankees if they ever ventured beyond the Tennessee. The 
l^ursuit of the fugitive enemy was immediate and the same day a 
cavalry force overtook his rear guard on Tuscumbia creek 8 miles 
south of Corinth. The retreat and pursuit were continued for sev- 
eral days, with skirmishing at various points, and finally ended 
in the occupation of Guntown and Baldwin by the federals, and 
Tupello by the confederates. 

The lengthening list of regiments which Illinois added to the cat- 
alogue of battles, in the siege of Corinth attained its greatest dimen- 
sions. The following array of numbers constitutes a roll of honor 
which patriots and heroes will ever revere : The Ttfi, 10th, 11th, 12th, 
14th, loth, 16th, 17th, 18th. 22d, 2Gth, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 
34th, 35th, 38th, 4Lst, 42d,'43d, 45th, 4<3th, 47th, 48th, 51st, 52d, 
53d, 55th, 57th, 60th, 64th, and 66th. Most of these were brigaded 
and officered as at Shiloh and Island No. 10, and advanced upon 
Corinth in Thomas' corps. Prominent among the many organiza- 
tions which were distinguished in the fighting about the besieged 
city were a portion of the 2d, 4th, 7th and 11th cavalry, and the 
batteries of Waterhouse, Houghtaling, Bouton and Silversparr. 
Lieut. Baker, of Yates' sharp-shooters, was the first to enter the 
rebel works, and Col. Stuart, of the 55th, was the first to hoist the 
federal flag over the captured city. Gen. Sherman thus alludes 
to Logan: "I feel under special obligations to this officer, who, 
during the two days he served under me, held the entire ground 
on my right extending down to the railroad. All the time he had 
in his front a large force of the enemy, but so dense was the for- 
est he could not reckon their strength save what he could see on. 
the railroad. " 



Chapter LIX. 

1862— ILLINOIS IN KENTUCKY, NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI 
AND MIDDLE TENNESSEE. 

Battles of Perryville, Bolivar, Britton''s Lane, Itika, Corinth and 

Stone Biver. 



Shortly after the reduction of Corinth important changes oc- 
curred in the Army of the West. 

On the 27th of June, 1802, Pope left to take command of the 
Army of the Potomac. On the 23d of July Halleck, by order of 
the President, assumed command of the armies of the United 
States, and Grant occupied Northern Alabama and West Ten- 
nessee. 

Buell, on the 10th of June, started eastward to counteract the 
desi.fi^ns of Bragg, who was collectiug a large force for an offensive 
movement northward. One corps of his army was stationed at 
Knoxville, under the command of E. Kirby Smith, and two at Chat- 
tanooga under Polk and Hardee. The troops under the immediate 
command of Buell numbered 25,000, with an auxiliary force of 
13,000, at different places in Northern Alabama and Middle Ten- 
uesse, under the command of the gallant Mitchell. Buell's first 
object was to repair the railroads which had previously been de- 
stroyed by raiding parties of rebel cavalry, and thus maintain 
ready access to his depot of supplies at Nashville. The perform 
ance of this important work was entrusted to Mitchell, who soon 
restored the road between Nashville and Murfreesboro ; but un- 
fortunately, Forrest, with 3,000 cavalry, immediately afterwards 
made a descent on the latter })lace, captured the small garrison, 
again destroyed the railroad and escaped with his prisoners and a 
large amount of booty to Chattanooga. Next th« startling intel- 
ligence was received that the force under Smith had burst through 
a gap of the (Jumberland Mountains, for the purpose of invading 
Kentucky. Passing without oi)i)osition through the State, he 
approached within seven miles of Cincinnati, but finding the 
city prepared to receive him, he retired without attempting its 
capture. 

When war exists one of the belligerents must be subdued before 
peace can be restored; and however prudentl}' it may be conduc- 
ted, the destruction of life and property is unavoidable. The 
forces employed if divested of the restraint common to regular 
military organizations, frequently forget the object of legit- 
imate warfare, and plunder indiscriminately both friend and foe. 
Such was the character of the marauding parties which the rebels 
now employed as a means of obtaining supplies and avenging 
50—785 



786 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

their imaginary wrong-s. Frequently tliey dashed into a village 
or district and having seized tlie property of tlie inhabitants, if any 
dared to resist they were either shot or dragged into captivity. 
Lying in wait for railroad trains, they were not content with 
destroying the road and robbing the mails, but murdered the 
passengers. If dispersed at one point they suddenly appeared at 
another, and renewed their depredations, seriously interfering with 
the business of the country without leading to any decisive mili- 
tary advantages. 

Almost simultaneously with the passage of the Cumberland 
Mountains by Smith, Bragg with an army of 00,000 men, crossed 
the Tennessee for a similar offensive movement. Buell had ex- 
tended his line of operations along the iMemphis and Charleston 
railroad to Huntsville, where he had estabhshed his headquarters. 
Owing to the manifold dangers which now beset him, instead of 
penetrating farther eastward as contem[)lated, he fouiul it neces- 
sary to return for the i)urpose of guarding the movements of 
Bragg. The latter proceeding by way of Pikeville, Sparta and 
Carthage, entered Kentucky on the 5th of Sejitember. During 
the march, Buell harassed his rear ; on the 17th drove his forces 
out of ]Muinfordsville, and deducing from his movements that he 
was aiming at Louisville, lie hastened thither in advance. 

The inhabitants were laboring under the most serious appre- 
hensions for the safety of the city, and when his advancing col- 
umns awoke them from their nightly slumbers, the cry "Buell has 
come," was repeated as when his advent was greeted by the im- 
periled army at Shiloh. Anticipating an attack by the rebel army, 
a large number of fresh troops had been hurriedly pushed forward 
from Illinois, Indiana and Ohio for the protection of the city, 
when some misunderstanding arising between Gens. Davis and 
Nelson, as to whose command they belonged, the latter was shot 
and killed by the former. After the adjustment of this difticulty, 
Buell's army was reorganized, he being tirst and Thomas second in 
command, and its three corps being commanded by Generals A. M. 
McCook, Crittenden and C. C. Gilbert. 

Battle of Perryvllle. — Thus officered and numbering near 
100,000 men, the armj' on the 1st of October left Louisville in pur- 
suit of Bragg, who being unable to i:>roceed farther northward, 
commenced returning. Buell following in his wake by way of 
Bardstown, heai'd there was a large force of the enemy at Perry- 
ville. He determined to move against him and accordingly or- 
dered his three corps to advance without delay by different roads. 
On the 7th of October, 1802, Gilbert's corps moved along the 
Springfield pike to within 5 miles of Perryville when heavy skir- 
mishing commenced. Mitchell's, the leading division, was formed 
in line of battle across the road and Sheridan's division, contain- 
ing the 30th, 4:4th, 73(1, 85th, 80th, 88th and 125th Illinois, was 
shortly after brought up and stationed beyond Doctor's Creek 
on Mitchell's right. This movement brought McCook's brig- 
ade of Sherman's division, Avithin 2^ miles of the enemy's position 
and early in the morning of the 8th he deployed the 85th Illinois 
on his right, the 52d Ohio on his left, while the 125th Illinois was 
placed as n reserve, and the 80th Illinois pushed forward as pickets. 
The rebel pickets now commenced the contest by a severe fire on 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 787 

the Sotli, which, without having previously beeu under fire, charged 
up the hill on which the enemy was posted, and drove him from 
his position. Exasperated at their discomfiture the rebels now 
massed their forces on the right and left of the brigade, and for 
an hour poured upon the devoted men a furious tire of shrapnel. 
Stubbornly, heroically they breasted the storm till Barrets' 2d 
Illinois battery was brought into position when the rebels were 
three times driven from their guns, which at length were perma- 
nently' silenced. The 125th Illinois had in the meanwhile been 
ordered up to support the battery and so efficiently was the task 
performed tliat the rebels retired leaving the federals in posses- 
sion of the field which they had so heroically won. 

In the meantime Jackson's and Rousseau's divisions, A. M. 
McCook's corps, the former containing the 34th, 80th, 89th and 123d 
Illinois and the latter the 19th, 24th and 39th 111., were brought up 
and formed on Gilbert's left. Bragg fearing the arrival of Critten- 
den, determined to take advantage of his absence by an immediate 
assault with his entire force. Accordingly about 11 o'clock his 
batteries opened from 6 different positions, and were answered by 
the federal artiller}-, but no effect being produced on either side, 
the firing ceased. The lull, however, only presaged the coming 
storm. Again the rebel guns opened with redoubled fury and 
presently the dark masses of the enemy were seen emerging from 
the woods. Bragghad concentrated the flower of his army against 
the left center of the Union line, while Buckner massing another 
force, moved against Jackson's division further to the left. The 
latter gave way and Eousseau next becoming involved, for half 
an hour the fighting was terriffic and the carnage fearful. In the 
heat of the conflict the 24th Illinois was ordered up for the de- 
fense of a vulnerable point in the line, and although frequently 
assailed by overwhelming numbers, they tenaciously maintained 
their position. While the battle was thus raging on the left 
Gens. Mitchell and Sheridan attacked the enemy on the right and 
driving him from the field, ended the contest. 

During the afternoon Mitchell's division, in which were the 21st, 
25th, 35th, 38th, 42d, 58th, 59th, 74th and 75th Illinois, had been 
moved up to the support of Gen. Sheiidan, who was hard pressed 
by the enemy. Col. Carlin of the 38th Illinois, with a brigade, 
pushed forward on the right and upon ascending a hill, dis- 
covered a strong force of the enemy ready to hurl themselves 
against Sheridan's overtasked men. Ordering a cliarge his men 
met the advancing rebels with such irresistible momentum as to 
completely pierce their centre and put them to flight. He then pur- 
sued the fugitives a distance of two miles, when finding in the 
ardor of pursuit he had isolated himself from the other forces, he 
returned before the confused enemy could take advantage of his 
situation. While in this advanced position his own regiment, the 
38th Illinois, cai)tured an ammunition traiu of the enemy, and its 
guard, numbering 140 men.* As an evidence of the heroism Avith 
which the 59th and 75th exi)osed themselves and the deadly 
ordeal through which they passed, the former lost 153 out of 
325, and the latter 221 out of 700. In another part of the field 
the 80th and 123d behaved with great gallantry, the first having 
11 killed, 32 wounded, and 13 missing and the 2d 35 killed, 119 
wounded and 35 missing. 

♦ Mitchell's Report. ' 



788 niSTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 

Other regiments, though not specially mentioned in the reports 
of the battle, fought as Bravely, loved the cause as devotedly and 
are as much entitled to our respect and gratitude as those who 
have a more irretentions record. That none could have shunned 
danger is evident from the fatal effects of the battle, Avhich Mc- 
Cook says, for the number engaged, was the bloodiest contiict of 
modern times. According to Buell's report, the entire federal loss 
in killed, wounded and missing was 4,000; that of the enemy 
being about the same. Had Crittenden's corps, which did not 
'arrive till after the fighting was over, been piesent, the result 
might have been different. 

As Bragg retreated it was supposed he would make a stand ou 
Dick river, and Buell accordingly sent Crittenden forward to en- 
gage him in front while McCook and Gilbert were to turn his 
Hank and compel him to tight or surrender. The sagacious Con- 
federate, however, suspecting the design of his adversary, evacu- 
ated his position and resumed his march. Possessing an accurate 
knowledge of the country and skillfully using the advantages 
which it afforded, he nianaged to elude the Union troops. The 
l)ursuit was continued as far as London, when its farther prose- 
cution was deemed inexpedient. Bragg thus escajred laden with 
the rich spoils gathered in Kentucky ; and Buell falling back to 
Nashville, was superseded by liosecraus. 

The Eichmond authorities evidently supposed that the people 
of Kentucky were ready to espouse the cause of the confederacy if 
they could have some assurance of protection when the decisive 
step was taken. One object of the invasion was, therefore, to in- 
spire the necessary contidence, and much disappointment was felt 
at the apathy with which these overtures were received, and, 
therefore, except a large amount of supplies Bragg carried 
with him to Tennessee, he derived no advantage from the exi^e- 
dition. 

Battle of Bolivar. — After the reduction of Corinth Grant's army 
occupied Northern Alabama. His forces having been seriously 
weakened by detailing a portion of them for the defense of Lou- 
isville, a strong rebel force of cavalry, under the command of 
Armstrong, undertook the capture of Bolivar, for the purjiose of 
severing the railroad at that point and thus interrupting the fed- 
eral lines of communication. Col. Crocker with a small Union 
force was in command of the town, and as soon as he learned the 
intentions of Armstrong, he disx^atched, on the 30th of August, 
1802, two companies of the 11th and four of the 2d 111. cavalry, 
Cols. Puterbaugh and Hogg, and the 20th and 78th Ohio infantry, 
to give him battle. About noon Col. Leggett, who had charge of 
the force, met a large body of rel)els, who immediately endeavored 
by a liank movement on the Middleburg road, to get in his rear. 
Here with the two companies of the 11th 111. cavalry and some 
mounted infantry he engaged the enemy, and after an hour's figbt- 
ing, drove him back. After the first struggle was over a portion 
of the Ohio infantry arrived, and Leggett, leaving a sufticient 
force for the protection of his left, massed the remainder of his 
troops on the road where it was evident the enemy was making 
preparations for a second attack, for the purpose of gaining his 
rear. Hardly had this disposition of the forces been made, when 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 789 

the enemy charged with great impetuosity down the road, but 
was twice re])ulsed by the deadly tire of the infantry. Finding 
this part of the held impregnable, the foe next turned on the left, 
where had previously been posted the four companies of the 2d 
111, cavahy, under Col. Hogg. Col. Leggett soon discovered that 
a full regiment of rebel cavalry was preparing to swoop down upon 
and gobble up his small force, and sent him word to fall back if 
he had any doubt as to his ability to resist the intended charge. 
" For God's sake don't order me back," were the memorable words 
of the daring cavalryman. " Then meet them," replied Leggett, 
" and may God bless your eftbrt." Immediately giving the com- 
mand "Forward" to his men, and putting spurs to his steed, with 
a daring that heeded not the dangers to which he exposed himself, 
Hogg dashed forward in advance of his force. Tims isolated, he 
became a conspicuotis markfor rebel sharpshooters, and fell pierced 
by nine bullets. The next moment the two lines came together with 
a crash, from the effects of which both recoiled. In the meantime 
reinforcements of infantry came, and a battery opening upon the 
hostile force, drove theiu from the field. The victory was com- 
plete, but dearly bought at the sacrifice of the heroic Colonel. 
Chivalrous, generous and daring, in his death Illinois lost one of 
her noblest sons, liberty an admiring votary and the j^rofession 
of arms a hero of more than ordinary courage. Says Col. Leggett 
in his official report: "The 2d 111. cavalry was on the field so 
short a time, I can oid}' particularize their commander, the la- 
mented Col. Hogg. A braver, truer man never lifted his sword 
in defense of his country. He was brave to a fault, and fell 
while leading one of the most gallant cavalrv charges of the 
war." 

Battle of Brittoii's Lane. — Armstrong next attacked a force of 
800 men under command of Col. Dennis, while on his way from 
Estinaula, Aug. 30, 1802, to Jackson, Tenn. Having been ordered 
to the latter place with his force, consisting of the 20th and 30th 
Illinois, two pieces of artillery and two companies of cavalry, on 
the 1st of September his vanguard encountered at Britten's Lane 
a rebel cavalry force of 5,000 men. A battle immediately com- 
menced, in which he lost his trains, yet after fighting heroically 
for four hours he remained master of the field, and inflicted a loss 
on the enemy of 400, while that of his own was oidy 5. The great 
disparity in nund)ers engaged in this contest and the results which 
followed fully refutes the rebel idea that one Southron was equal 
to five I^ortheru men.* 

Battle of luka. — After the reduction of Corinth, Grant's line 
of communication with Buell was threatened by the rebels 
under Price, who, after their destruction, proposed to cross 
the Tennessee and co-operate with Bragg in his invasion of 
Kentucky. With these designs in view he had already taken pos- 
session of luka, a small town on the Memphis and Charleston 
railroad, about 20 miles southeast of Corinth. To dislodge him 
from this position Grant directed Gen. Ord, with 18,000 men, to 
move forward by way of Brown ville, aud to make a direct attack, 
while Gen. Kosecrans with another force was to proceed by way 

* Ross" Report. 



790 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



of Jacinto, to operate ou the flank of tlie enemy and cut off his 
retreat in case he should make his escape southward. At 10 
o'clock on the morning of the 19th of September, 1862, Hamilton's 
division of Rosecrans' force encountered the rebel pickets, and 
drove them back a distance of six miles. The pursuit was then 
discontinued, and Rosecrans waited, according to previous under- 
standing, to hear the sound of Ord's artillery as a signal to move 
forward. About noon a dispatch Avas received from Grant revers- 
ing the previous order of battle, and Rosecrans now becoming 
the attacking party, pushed forward till he discovered the enemy 
posted on a commanding ridge about two miles from the village. 
Skirmishers were immediately thrown out, under cover of which 
Hamilton's division moved up and commenced an attack. The 
engagement soon became general; the rebels in overwhelming 
numbers fighting with great determination till night put an end 
to the contest. The 11th Missouri, composed of Illinois soldiers, 
distinguished itself in the battle by the terrible blows wliich it in- 
flicted on the enemy. At the time the brave men of this regiment 
oifered their services to the government, the quota of Illinois was 
complete, and they went to Missouri where they sought and ob- 
tained admission into the service. 

During the night the troops lay ou their arms expecting to re- 
new the fight the next morning, but when the time arrived they 
found the enemy had fled. Rosecrans immediately sent his cavalry 
and the 47th Illinois after them, but not being sufiticiently strong 
to etiect any important result, after a pursuit of 25 miles the 
force returned. Owing to some unfortunate mistake, the force 
under Ord did not arrive at luka till the next day, and the enemy 
thus doubtless escaped an overwhelming defeat. 

Battle of Corinth. — Gen. Grant with a portion of the forces re- 
tired to Jackson, Gen. Ord to Bolivar, and outhe 20th Rosecrans fell 
back to Corinth, where lie soon learned that the enemy was col- 
lecting his forces to again offer him battle. Price, VanDorn and 
Lovell were concentrating their forces, amounting in the aggregate 
to over 40,000 men, for the purpose of crushing the comparatively 
small Union force before it could be reinforced. Rosecrans, in 
his preparations for an attack, so arranged his defenses that if 
he could draw the rebel forces under them, they might be defeated, 
notwithstanding their superior numbers. For this purpose as 
they approached, Davis' division, containing the 7th, 9th, 12th, 
oOtii, 52d and 57th Illinois, was thrown out to meet them, and after 
some heavy skirmishing and considerable loss, retired in the desired 
direction, followed by the enemy. The next day Price moved his 
forces up, as contemplated by the strategy, directly toward the 
point covered by the heavy artillery. When within range they 
were met by a destructive fire, but despite the frightful rents 
which were opened in their ranks, they steadily moved on till they 
reached the crest of the hill where Davis' division was now posted. 
Under the heavy pressure the division gave way and the assailing 
force, seeing the advantage gained, rushed forward with redoubled 
speed, Rosecrans' headquarters being entirely engulfed by the 
inflowing tide. Hamilton's division, containing the 56th Illinois, 
was next compelled to retire, and instantly the rebels made for Fort 
Stevenson, the key of the position. Here their first onset was 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 791 

repulsed, but quickly rallying, tliey again caine forward with in- 
creased determination and commenced lea])ing over tlie bulwarks 
into the fort. At this juncture the oGth Illinois, which had beeu 
concealed iu a ravine, rushed forth as if rising from the earth, 
and, charging into the fort, drove the astonished rebels out as 
rapidly as they had entered. This onslaught was immediately 
seconded by Hamilton's whole division, which sNvept forward with 
such resistless might that the rebel host broke wildly for the 
woods throwing awav their arms as a useless encumbrance iu their 
flight. 

While Price was thus foiled on the right, VanDorn's men came 
up on the left in front of Stanley's division, and, facing the heavy 
gunsofthe batteries of Williams and Robiuette, Col. Rogers leading 
the charge with a body of Mississippi and Texas tr(j(.)i)s with a 
heroism worthy of a better cause, colors in hand, lea])ed to the 
top of the breastworks, when he was pierced with bullets and fell 
back lifeless into the ditch. A concealed Ohio regiment next rose 
up and pouring into the ranks of his followers a continuous mus- 
ketry fire at short i^ange, put them to flight. 

A supporting brigade, maddened by the terrible fate of Rogers, 
with wild shouts dashed upon tiie 11th Missouri, composed of Il- 
linois men, and some Ohio regiments, and instantly friend and 
foe were locked in a hand to hand death struggle. When bayo- 
nets, pistols and sabres failed, the fist was used as a substitute, 
while the yells and imprecations which were uttered, sounded as 
if wrung tVom the throats of demons. Northern brawn proved too 
much for the impetuosity of the Southrons and the latter gave way. 
As they fled the batteries double-shotted, played ui)on and decima- 
ted their ranks ; arms were thrown away to expedite their flight, 
which soon become a rout, and terminated the battle. The federal 
loss was estimated at 315 killed, 1,812 wounded : and that of the 
enemy 1,423 killed, and from o.OOO to G.OOO wounded. Anujngthe 
wounded Union ofticers were Gens. Oglesby and ]NrcArthur, both 
of whom exhibited undaunted bravery and great skill in the man- 
agement of their comn)ands. Yates' sharp-shooters went into the 
fight on the morning of the 4th, and came out with a loss of 73 
men killed, showing that ragardless of consequences they had 
braved the battle's fiercest storm, adding new laurels to the 
military renown which the troops of the State had previously ac- 
quired. The magnificent charge of the 56th has already been 
mentioned. The 7th, 50th and 57th, for a long time sustained the 
pressure of a greatly superior force of the enemy, drove them 
back and recaptured several guns previously taken by the enemy. 

The rebels left closely pursued by a fresh brigade under the com- 
mand of McPherson, who captured a large number of prisoners 
and valuable materials of w^ar. To ensure the safety of the fugi- 
tive army it was necessary for it to detail a force to occupy the 
Eatchie river bridge over\vhich it must pass to prevent its fall- 
ing into the hands of the federals. This movement was, however, 
too late. Gens. Hurlbut and Ord, aware of this necessity, had 
sent a force in advance, and when the rebels came up and made a 
stand on the north bank of the river, they were inime<liately 
charged by the Union troops and driven across the river, losing 2 
batteries and several hundred prisoners. In this onset the 28th, 
32d, 41st, and 53d Illinois, bore u conspicuous p;ut and'Gen.Lau- 

{ 

/ 



792 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

mail, wlio commanded the brigade, in his official report highly 
compliments his subordinate Illinois officers for their great skill 
and bravery in leading the men in the charge. 

Stone Biver or Murfreesboro. — As previously stated, Bosecrans 
superseded Buell, and on the 27th of October commenced reorgan- 
izing the army. His command was the remnant of the bi^ve men 
who, under Anderson, Mitchell, and Buell had repelled the inva- 
sion of Kentucky and carried the national bannei's almost to the 
centre of the confederacy through Middle Tennessee. A new mil- 
itary district styled the Department of the Cumberland was crea- 
ted, in which it was to operate, comprising Middle and East 
Tennessee and such portions of Northern Alabama and Georgia^ 
as might be wrested from the power of the rebels. With his army 
augmented and strengthened by new recruits he left Louisville, 
his base of suppUes, and proceeding by way of Bowling Green^ 
reached Nashville on the 10th of November and took a position 
near the city. From this time till Christinas he improved in dis- 
ciplining the army and furnishing it with clothing and other in- 
dispensable s-uj plies. 

The rebels on the other hand, were not idle, and before the close 
of November had massed at Murfreesboro an army of about 
50,000 men under Bragg. The rebel commander, under the im- 
pression that Bosecrans was going into winter quarters, sent a 
large cavalry force into Kentucky under Morgan and another 
under Forrest, into West Tennessee, for the puipose of destroying 
the railroads and cutting off the communications of the advanced 
Union forces from their respective bases of supplies. Bragg's 
army being weakened by these detachments, Eosecrans judged it 
an opportune time to give him battle, and accordingly on Christ- 
mas eve, 1862, a consultation was held to concert measures for an 
aggressive movement. Arrangements being perfected, the next 
morning in torrents of rain the army started for Murfreesboro'^ 
Thomas' corps moving in the centre, McCook's on the right and 
Crittenden's on the left. As the day wore away the tedium of the 
march was relieved by the occasional rattle of musketry or the 
exj^losions of cannon, heralding encounters with advanced 
squads of rebel i>ickets. Heavy rains prevailed and the army 
was compelled to feel its way over the muddy roads through a 
foggy atmosphere in opposition to skirmishing parties of the 
enemy. Sunday December 28th the army rested, Eosecrans being 
averse to active operations on the Sabbath unless the exigency of 
his situation urgently demanded it. In the afternoon of Monday, 
Gen. Palmer leading the advance of Crittenden's corps moved up 
in sight of Murfreesboro, and sent a dispatch back that the 
enemy was retreating.Crittendeu thereupon was ordered to occupy 
the town, but advancing and finding the rebels still in possession, 
he fell back, having exposed himself to great danger in conse- 
quence of the misapprehension. 

A stormy night supervened which so saturated the ground 
that the following day the artillery carriages in passing over the 
fields sank up to their axles in mud. Eosecrans rose at an early 
hour and carefully pushed his columns forward over the miry 
ground through cedar brakes in front of the enemy. By 
noon the army was in position, stretching from Stone Eiver across- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 793 

tlie coiiiitiy iu a southerly directioii as far as the Fraiihliu pike, a 
distance of 3 miles, Crittenden on the left with 3 divisions, Vau- 
cleve. Wood, and Palmer, Thomas in the centre with two divis- 
ions, i!Tegley and Eousseau, and McOook on the right with 3 
divisions, Sheridan, JJavis and Johnson. Outstretched betvteen 
the Union army and Murfreesboro, and i)arallel with the former 
was the rebel line. Breckenridge's division lay across the river 
on the extreme right, under Polk in the centre were 2 divis- 
ions, Wither's and Cheatham's, and under Hardee on the extreme 
left were 2 divisions, Cleburne and ^McCown. The rebel centre 
was masked in dense cedar forests, while the river was in the 
rear, which being fordable, could iu case of necessity readily be 
crossed and made available as a means of defense. During the 
night the rebels massed their forces on the right of Rosecraus, 
who inferring their intention, met with his corps commanders and 
planned the battle of Miirfreesboro. It was decided to hold the 
right stationary, while the left under Wood and Vaucleve cross- 
ing Stone river, were to drive Breckenridge from his position, 
occupy Mnrfreesboro and finally- get in the rear of the enemy. 
Bragg had also decided to act on the offensive, his plan being 
similar to that of his adversary. Both intended to strike with the 
left of their respective lines, and had accordingly massed their 
forces to suit their plans of operation. 

At early dawn on the last day of the year, while Rosecraus' left 
was crosshig the river, McCown's division emerging from the fog 
which had settled on the battle-field and striking our right under 
Johnson, hurled it back at a single blow and captnred two of the 
batteries before a gnu could be fired. The next division umler Davis 
in which were the 35th, 59th, 73d and 75th Illinois, after a deter- 
mined resistance, met with a similar fate. It was only when the 
exultant foe came in contact with Sheridan'.s, containing the 30th, 
44th, 51st and 88th Illinois that its terrific onset was stayed. 
Directly in front of a battery vomiting forth death, and exposed 
to a cross fire from two others, the hostile columns moved till 
within close range when a musketry fire poured into the faces of the 
men sent them staggering back. Rallying again and strengthened 
by the victorious divisions which had crumbled Johnson's and 
Davis' command to fragments, they again bore down on Sheridan 
with the determination to overwhelm him. Hastily attaching his 
right to the rear of Negley's division, and placing his artillery in 
the angle formed by the two lines, lanes were plowed through the 
advancing masses. Repnlsed they three times renewed the 
assault but with such appalling slaughter that Vaughn's brigade 
of Polk's division lost one third of its men and all the horses of 
its brigade and staff officers except one were killed. Sheridan 
was seriously damaged, having all his brigade commanders killed 
and losing 1,630 men. With his amnumition exhausted he also was 
compelled to retire, losing 9 guns, owing to the difficulty of getting 
them through the dense cedar thickets which covei^ed his rear. 
]S^egley, exposedby the movement, was soon outflanked and com- 
{)elled to cut his way out of overwhelming numbers. A magnifi- 
cent charge by the 19th Illinois, 11th Michigan and 21st Ohio, 
forced the euem}' back in confusion and the environed divisions 
passed out, removing their guns iu safety. The force of the rebel 



794 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS, 

onset next falling- on the division of Palmer, his two right brigades 
were soon pushed back with the others, leaving Hazen alone to 
cope with the hostile surging masses. 

By the sudden and terrific assault of the enemy, Eosecrans' of- 
fensive movement on the left was paralyzed, and he commenced 
massing his artillery on a knoll in the i)lain whither his shattered 
divisions had retreated. He also commenced forming a new line, 
on the completion of which entirely depended the ability of Palmer 
to maintain his position till the broken forces could be restored 
to order aird placed in position. He saw at a glance the danger 
which threatened the entire army, and with a determination com- 
mensurate with tbe stupendous interests involved, determined to 
maintain his position or perish in its defense. The rebels on the 
other haud, aware that he was the only obstacle between them and 
victory, rushed on him with tenfold fury, only to be swept back by 
the terrific fire which met them. 

Time was thus gained and the uew line sufficiently perfected to 
receive the enemy, and preoently the gray costumed confederates 
emerged from the cedars, their long lines of burnished weapons like 
a forest of glittering steel fiashing in thesuidight,as they swept for- 
ward over the plain. With fearful graiuleur the pageant moved up 
within range, when the federal batteries, which had been previously 
posted on the eminence, opened upon them with merciless volleys, 
gashing and distorting their compact ranks. Eosecrans observing 
the effect of the tire on the enemy, dashed up to the line where hos- 
tile shot were falling like a hail-storm, and ordered a charge. The 
men catching the inspiration of their leader, sprang to their feet 
and with a shout swept them back to their cedar coverts. Four times 
they rallied and returned to the confiict, but the tempest which as- 
sailed thejn, more fatal than the blasts of the simoon, piled up the 
plain with heaps of their mangled carcasses. Finding at length that 
neither numbers nor desperate daring could prevail against Eose- 
crans' front, they determined to make a final attempt ou his left. 
Breck en ridge's division of 7,000 fresh troops was brought into the 
contest. Advaucing in an imposing manner till they encountered 
the fire of the Union artillery, when they turned and disappeared 
from the field. The day's fighting was over; many a dying sol- 
dier looked for the last time on the azure sunset, and soon the 
ghastly field was enshrouded in the pall of night. 

A council of war was held duriug the night to consider thei^ro- 
priety of continuing the contest. There was a scarcity of ammu- 
nition, seven generals and 20 colonels had been killed, and 7,000 
men or about one-seventh of the entire army were either killed, 
wounded or missing. It was found, however, that there was am- 
munition sufficient for another day's battle, and after making 
slight changes in the disposition of his forces, Eosecrans waited 
till morning for a renewal of the conflict. Morning came, but the 
enemy had been too severely punished to make another aggressive 
movement, and New Year's day was mostly spent by both armies 
in recruiting their exhausted energies for another death struggle 
on the morrow. At 3 o clock Jan. 2d, a double line of skirmishers 
was seen advancing from Breckenridge's position across the river, 
with heavy columns of infantry a short distance in the rear. Soon 
the moving mass burst like a swollen torrent on Vaneleve's divis- 
ion, and partially forced it back into the stream. Prior to the 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 795 

assault, KoKsecraus was making preparations to execute the orig- 
inal plau of swinging his left round against Breckenridge, and 
securing the hight ou which his division was posted. For this 
purpose he had mounted 58 guns on an eminence enfilading the 
attacking force, and so destructive was the cannonade, that in less 
than half an hour Bragg lost 2,000 men. 

Bleeding and torn, the enemy turned and fled as if from the 
crater of an exploding volcano, closely pressed by the Union 
trooi)S. A violent storm prevented the renewal of hostilities on the 
3d, and the succeeding night Bragg retired to Tullahoma, leaving 
his antagonists in the possession of the field. The Union arm}' was 
again victorious, but another such a victory would have ruined 
it. It had lost one-third of its artillery and one-fourth of its men, 
nearly 2,000 of them being killed. The loss of the Confederates 
was equally severe, being in killed, wounded and missing 14,700. 
Just prior to the battle they had celebrated the festivities of 
Christmas by dancing in halls carpeted with American flags; now 
defeated and humiliated, they were compelled to depart, leaving 
the national emblem which they had insulted proudly floating over 
the city of tbeir giddy revels. 

The battle of Stone Elver, with its fearful perils, persistent 
fighting and deeds of desperate daring, furnished rare opportuni- 
ties for the troops of Illinois to further distinguish themselves. 
Nor was it misimproved, as the proud record of their skill and 
bravery in the midst of the most appalling dangers abundantly 
proves. Many of the Illinois regiments were, however, jilaced in 
situations where overpowering rebel assaults in greatly superior 
numbers rendered success frequently impossible. Yet there is as- 
sociated with the stern resistance which was ottered a moral sub- 
limity that almost surpasses the glory of victory itself, especially 
when we remember the patriotism which prompted and the adverse 
circumstances attending it. 

jS^o regiment in the battle evhiced more intrepid courage or ren. 
dered greater service than the old regiment of Gen. Kirk, the 34th 
Illinois. Early on the morning of the first day's conflict, when 
the rebels, in overwhelming numbers assaulted the right of the 
Union Une, Kirk's brigade became exposed and the 34th Illinois, 
stationed in front, soon became engaged. Although exposed to a 
terrific fire, they stood as if rooted to the earth, and by their well 
directed volleys kept the rebel host at bay till reinforcements 
could come to their support. A flank movement of the enemy at 
length rendered Kirk's position untenable, and brought the 34th 
into a hand to hand contest. In the bloody strife which ensued five 
color bearers heroically laid down their lives to i)revent the stand- 
ards of their regimeiits from falling into the hands of the enemy. 
But neither courage nor skillful generalship could cope with supe- 
rior numbers, and tlie old flag was at last seized by traitors, and 
Kirk compelled to fall back. In directing his troops he had two 
horses shot under him, when, alter receiving a severe wound and 
faint from loss of blood he was carried to the rear. Col. Dodge 
took command, and with a portion of the men fell back to the 
Nashville Pike. The remainder joined the 29tli. 30th and 34th 
Indiana, supported by the 79th Illinois, and hurriedly i)repared to 
again meet the advancing rebels. The latter coming u|> and hurl- 
ing themselves with great violence on the Union tlank, the 79th 



796 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



receiving' the principal shock, was compelled to fall back, followed 
by the rest of the force. Another stand was imniediately made, 
and again the 79th was exposed to a destructive artillery fire, and 
withdrew to the Nashville Pike, w^here Eosecrans was foiming a 
new line. Among the fallen heroes with which the track was 
strewn was the mortal remains of its Colonel, the brave Sheridan 
P. Eead. While gallantly leading his men regardless of menacing 
dangers, he was shot and instantly expired. 

When on the morning of the first day's battle Gen. Kirk's brig- 
ade was broken to pieces by the fierce onset of the enemy, the 
fragments fell back through the 89th Illinois, which brouglit that 
regiment into action. The men lay down on their faces till all the 
fugitives had passed from their front, when they arose and deliv- 
ered a well directed fire into the ranks of the foe only 50 yards 
distant. Before this volley the colors of the rebel advance were 
lowered, but the other regiments were falling back and the 89th 
was ordered to follow. 

From this time till night-fall, at every available point they in- 
flicted heavy blows on the enemy, and suffered terribly from the 
incessant fire of rebel musketry and artillery. As an evidence of 
the fiery ordeal to which they were exposed, the,y came out of the 
conflict! with a loss of 149. Though warring against fate itself 
and success imi)ossible, the regiment seriously damaged the enemy 
and won a proud name by its heroic and determined resistance. 

But to no regiment from the i)rairie State nor to any engaged 
in the battle does the country owe a greater debt of gratitude for 
what it accomidished, than tlie 19th Illinois. Eeference has al- 
ready been made to its magnificent charge on the morning of the 
first day's battle. A more daring feat was, however, executed in 
the afternoon of the second day. Vancleve's division having been 
thrown across the river to operate against Breckenridge, the lat- 
ter at the head of his own and two other divisions hurled them with 
irresistible force against his antagonist. Two of the Union brigades 
were instantly shivered by the concussion, and the other pushed 
back into the river, when Xegley, riding to the front and comjire- 
hendingthe situation shouted, " Who will save the left ?" "The 
19th Illinois," was the immediate resi)onse of Scott, the com- 
mander of the regiment. Then giving the command, "forward,'^ 
his men sprang to their feet and pouring a destructive fire into the 
face of the foe, leaped forAvard with fixed bayonets. Plunging 
into the river they scaled the opposite banks despite the volleys 
and bristling bayonets of a whole rebel division posted on the 
stream to dispute their advance. On gaining the summit of the 
shore, the rebels, astounded at the audacity of the charge, turned 
and fled for the protection of their batteries. The 19tli Illinois, 
11th Michigan and 78th Pennsylvania in close i)ursuit. In vain 
the Confederates endeavored to rally at every available point, or 
sought to secure themselves by intervening timber, but deter- 
mined men were after them, and not even an army of devils could 
have interposed an obstacle to their progress. With accelerated 
velocity charging up to the muzzles of the enemy's guns, and leap- 
ing the parapets, the battery was captured. The victory was com- 
plete, but more than a third of the men had fallen or disappeared 
along the highway of death which they so gallantly trod. 



THE WAH OF THE REBELLION. 797 



Aiiotlier chaige spleudidiii execution aud importaut in results, 
was made by the SSth and oOtli Illinois. A heavy rebel column 
was advancing' across an open fiekl, on the border of which these 
regiments were drawn up to receive them. The SSth lay down 
till the enemy approached within 40 yards, when they arose and 
after firing two rounds, both regiments bounded forward and 
swept their adversary froni the field. 

Gen. Woodiutt', who was on the right of the Union line, highly 
complimented the officers and menofthe2oth and 35th Illinois. 
Three of their companies under Major Mcllvain as skirmishers in 
front of the brigade, behaved with great gallantry, and both regi- 
ments during the entire battle infiicted heavy blows on the enemy. 
He says : "I desire to call the attention of the commanding offi- 
cer to the gallant conduct of Lt. Col. Chandler, commanding the 
35th Illinois, Avhose cool, steady courage, admirable dej^ortment 
and skillful management, evinced the soldier true and tried ; 
and who, at all times, proved himself worthy of the trust he holds. 
Major Mcllvain, of the same regiment, who had the supervision of 
skirmishers, I cannot praise too much. His good judgment and 
skillful handling elicited encomiums of well merited compliments 
at all times. He was cool, determined and persevering. Capt. 
W. Taggart, who succeeded to the command of the 25tli Illinois, 
behaved as a soldier should, efficient and ever ready to execute 
orders." 

While we remember the noble dead let us pay a tribute of re- 
spect to the gallant Col. L. D. Williams, of the 2oth Illinois, who 
died in the performance of his duty. He fell with his regimental 
colors in his hands, exclaiming: "We will plant it here, boys, and 
rally the old 25th around it, aud here will we die ! " The 25th 
lost in killed, Avounded and missing 142 men, the 35th, SI men. 

The 74th Illinois, Col. Marsh, while on its way to Murfreesboro, 
inflicted serious damage on a greatly superior force of the enemy, 
and in the subesequent battle it established a reputation for 
bravery and other soldierly qualities. The 100th and 110th in con- 
junction with the 41st Ohio, kept back the heavy masses of the 
enemy in his efforts to overwhelm the brigade of Gen.Hazen. The 
amunition of the 110th becoming exhausted, the men clubbed their 
muskets and fought with the coolness of veterans, although they 
had never before been under fire. The 21st, 22d and S4th, in com- 
mon with other Illinois regiments, passed through the battle's 
carnage and came out reduced in numbers but with increased 
rei)utation. Where the shafts of the enemy fell thickest, or valor 
most needed, they were found with strong arms to battle for the 
nation's life. 

The moral prestige attending the battle of Murfreesboro was 
greater than the resulting- material benefit. The rebel authorities 
during the early part of the summer had pushed forward their 
aggressive movement with comparative immunity beyond the 
bounds of the Confederacy. Expectation raised by the brilliant 
sj)ring campaign in the West had become disappointed at the results 
of the army in the East. The public mind was brooding over the 
repulse and frightful slaughter of Fredericksburg'. When there- 
fore the tidings of Murfreesboro were read in the cities andhamlets 
of the ISTorth, the people became more hopeful, aud with increased 
determination resolved that the nation's honor aud integrity 



798 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

should be maintaiued. If the Uniou army had received a blow it 
was evident it had dealt a couuter-stroke which sent its reeling' 
and disabled enemy from the field and its sacrifice was not in 
vain. Moreover the skillful generalship and determined fighting 
which had triumphed when the first onset of the battle had placed 
success almost in the grasp of the £oe gave additional lustre to the 
victory. But while its moral efi'ect gave confidence to the fed- 
erals it correspondingly depressed the confederates. In the shock 
of Stone Eiver the spirit of Bragg's armj* was broken and subse- 
quent efforts were feeble, compared with the dash and vigor of its 
first campaign. As a remote sequence Eosecrans next planted 
his standards within the rocky bulwarks of Chattanooga, from 
which the enemy was unable afterward to dislodge him. The 
Union army thus entrenched in the heart of the confederacy won 
new triumphs under Grant, and subsequently Sherman sent its 
veteran columns to Atlanta and thence to the sea. 



Chapter LX. 

ILLINOIS IX THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIG:N"S. 

1862-1863 — Movements on the Mississippi — Battle of CoffeeviUe, 
Holly /Springs, Parlcer^s Cross Roads, Chickasaic Bayou and 
ArTcansas Post. 



Topographically considered North America must ever be the 
home of one people. The destiny of the Mississippi Valley, the 
repository of the vast resources which past ages have accumulated 
for the beuefit of man, will be the destiny of the continent. The 
immense river system by which it is drained, having" its source in 
the regions of the remote north, and its outlet in the distant south 
will, through the agency of commercial intercourse, neutralize the 
diversity of race, caused by climatic differences and thus prevent 
the rise of separate nationalities. Further more the wide area 
thus bound by commercial ties, is not only inseparable but will so 
dominate in population and power over the continental borders which 
surround it as to extend over them the same institutions and a 
common government. Should an attempt l)e made to close the 
gateways to the Pacific through the Rocky Mountains, there are 
not elements of power in the region beyond to cope with the force 
that would be arrayed against it. The St. Lawrence, the principal 
outlet to the Atlantic, although now subject to foreign jurisdic- 
tion, must ultimately become wholly subservient to the great val- 
ley. Nor is access to the sea through the Mississippi any more 
likely to be x)ermanently disturbed by a rival power on the south 
than are its resistless floods to be held by artificial barriers. The 
great lieart of the continent with its exhaustless resources must 
through the vast river systems with which its surface is furrowed, 
send life sustaining supplies to its most distant extremities. 

At least so thought the hardy race of freemen who dwelt on tlie 
Mississippi and its hundred tributaries, when the rebels attempted 
to obstruct its navigation, and in their might resolved that its 
commerce, in common with its waters, should flow undisturbed to 
the sea. Measures for the accomplishment of this object were 
first projected by Fremont, and commenced by the formation of the 
fleet and army under Foote and Grant at Cairo. Subsequently it 
gave character to the military operations of the West and ended 
with some of the most brilliant victories of the war. 

In erecting defences for the Mississippi the confederate authori- 
ties had to make them sutflciently formidable to withstand the 
attacks of the Union fleet on the one hand, and the operations of 
the land forces on the other. In the first particular they were far 
more successful than in the second, as the fate of nearly all their 
fortified forts was determined by contests between armies on the 
field. Columbus, the first position taken by the rebels, although 

799 



800 mSTOEY OF LLLINOIS. 

invincible ill a naval assault, when uncovered by the capture of 
Donelson, its guns and garrison were transferred to Island Ko. 
10. Foote with the navy, followed to the same place, but' after a 
bombardment of three weeks, he was unable to prevail against it. 
Pope's victorj' on the Kentucky shore, in the meantime, however, 
rendered it untenable and its munitions were sent to Fort Pillow, 
situated on Chicasaw bluff, 75 miles above Memphis. This strong- 
hold withstood a bombardment of six weeks without sustaining 
serious injury, but at length becoming entangled in the evil for- 
tunes attending the Confederate army at Corinth, it was like the 
other places unavoidably abandoned. 

Commodore Foote, suffering severely in the meantime from 
a wound received at Donelson, was relieved of his com- 
mand and Capt. Davis appointed in his place. The latter 
immediately started in pursuit of the rebels, who next fled to 
Memphis, and on the 5th of June anchored his squadron 
abo^'e the city and prepared for an engagement the next day. 
Five boats and two rams constituted his naval force, while the 
rebels had 7 boats, which in addition to their armament of guns 
were so constructed as to act as rams. The following morning, as 
the lofty spires of the city v^ere glittering in the rising sun, the 
federal fleet slowly drifted down the river till that of the enemy 
was discovered near tlie western shore. Davis then ordered his 
boats to steam n\) the stream to give the men an opportunity to 
breakfast before going into the fight. The rebels regarding this 
as a retreat and elated with the hope of an easy victory, imme- 
diately started in luirsuit, firing round after round as they ad- 
vanced. The contest now commenced with terrible earnestness, 
and in an hour and twenty minutes the entire rebel fleet, except 
one boat, was either captured or destroyed. Yan Doru, the rebel 
leader, who sat upon his horse a spectator of the fight, exclaimed : 
" It is all over with us," and galloped away. The federal tars, 
none of whom had been killed, were now ready for breakfast. On 
the 4th of June, ISOli, the fleet proceeded southward to the mouth 
of White river, which it ascended for the purpose of removing 
rebel o))structions and opening communications with northwest- 
ern Arkansas. 

The first movement for opening the mouth of the Mississippi 
was the occupation of Ship Island in December, 1861. The fol- 
lowing winter Gen. Butler took charge of the land forces, number- 
ing 8,000 men, and prepared to co-operate with the fleet under 
Commodore Farragut. The latter arrived at the Island on the 
20th of February, 1802, and by great lal)or got his heavy ships 
over the bars into the river and commenced ascending its turbid 
currents. At 3 o'clock on the 24:th of April he came within range 
of Forts Jackson and St. Philip and the rebel navy, when 500 
cannon opened with deafening roar their ponderous missiles, 
weaving a fiery net work on the face of the sky, and falling with 
a thunderous crash into the midst of the opposing forts and fleets. 
Breasting the furious battle storm the federal squadron continued on 
its way toward the city of New Orleans, Avhither it arrived on the 
25th to the great astonishment of its rebellious inhabitants. Gen. 
Butler took immediate possession and a portion of the fleet was 
sent up the river under Commodore Lee. It was not known 
what obstructions the enemy had interposed in the long 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 801 



stretcli of luiles throngli the confederacy, and the expedition 
moved slowly and cautiously. Taking possession of Baton Eouge, 
Natchez and other places, on the 15th of May arrived at Vicks- 
burg-, and the city at once became famous in the annals of the 
rebellion. 

Only three days before the arrival of Lee, Beauregard had com- 
menced the erection of batteries on the high bluffs overlooking 
the river. Had he come three days sooner the vast expenditure 
of treasure and blood which the subsequent reduction of the 
place cost the country, might have been saved. The work of for- 
tifying was prosecuted with such energy that when Lee demanded 
the surrender the rebels were ready to defend it and refused to 
comply. Concluding that his force was insufficient for the reduction 
of the works he wated till the 28th, when having received addi- 
tional boats from New Orleans, he commenced the bombardment. 
Still the force proved inadequate, for the enemy meanwhile had 
proportionally increased the strength of the fortifications. The 
siege, nevertheless, was continued till Farragut with the entire 
fleet of gun and mortar boats, about the middle of June, anchored 
in the river below the city. Four regiments of infantry under 
Gen. Williams, also came up and commenced cutting a canal 
across the narrow peninsula west of the city that the boats in 
passing might avoid the batteries located on the channel of the 
river. The fleet of Commodore Davis next came down the river, 
and it was determined with the combined force to again attempt 
the reduction. Ac(;ordingly the bombardment was renewed at 
close range and broadside after broadside was fired into the bat- 
teries without apparent eflect. Although the gunboats were 
unable to silence them, several succeeded in running by them and 
joining the fleet above. 

July the loth the monotony of naval warfare was broken by the 
appeai-ance of the powerful iron plated ram Arkansas, which 
steamed down the Yazoo, and after disabling two of the federal 
gunboats, sought safety under the fortifications. It was now 
feared the ram might destroy the mortar fleet below, and the boats 
which had passed up the river were ordered to return, and finally 
on the 27th, the entire squadron withdrew from the city. Farra- 
gut fell down the river to New Orleans, while Davis in connection 
with Curtis, made a successful expedition up the Yazoo. The 
canal also proved a failure, and Williams retired with his force to 
Baton Kouge and the TOdays of the Yicksburg siege were at an end. 
During its continuance some 25,000 shot and shell were thrown 
into the town by the fleet when it became evident that like the 
other strongholds on the river above, it Avould require the co-oper- 
ation of the land forces to eflect its reduction. Let us now see 
how this was to be effected. 

We have seen that after the second battle of Corinth, Ken- 
tucky and Middle Tennessee became the principal theatres of 
western military movements, and a large portion of Grant's force 
was sent to augment the army of Buell and that of his successor, 
Eosecrans, and hence he found it impossible to co-operate with the 
uaval operations for the opening of the Mississippi. When, how- 
ever, in the latter part of the year 1862, he could command the 
requisite number of men, a movement against Yicksburg, the 
great stronghold of the river, again became the principal military 
53 



802 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

enterprise of the west. The Hue hekl at this tiineby the Union army 
was the Mem])his and Charleston railroad, the right wing resting- 
on Memphis and the left on Corinth. In front andoccupying the 
line of the Yazoo and Tallahatchie its principal tributary, were the 
forces of Van Dorn and Price, which, during the month of Novem- 
ber, were concentrated under Gen. Pemberton. To eliminate this 
force the real defense of Vicksburg from the ninnberless bayous 
and swamps peculiar to the country occupied, was now the prob- 
lem which Grant had to solve. 

He accordingly ordered Sherman, commanding the right wing 
of the army at Memi)his, to fall down the river and operate against 
the rebel linenear Vicksburg, a cavalry force from the trans-Missis- 
sippi army to cross the river and menace the railroad connections 
in Pemberton's rear, while he proposed to press him in front. The 
cavalry force under Gens. Hovey and Washburne, as arranged, 
crossed the river at Helena and destroying the railroad, Pem- 
berton was forced to fall back to Grenada 100 miles farther 
south. Grant immediately followed and on the od of December, 
established his headquarters at Oxford, making Holly Springs 
through which he passed, his jmncipal depot of supplies. As the 
result of these movements 3 engagements occurred with the ene- 
my, in rapid succession. 

Battle of Coffeeville. — After the occupation of Oxford Colonels 
Dickey arid Lee, with the 4th and 7th Illinois, and three other 
regiments of cavalry, on the Gth day of December, 1802, advanced 
from Watervalley for the purpose of capturing Coffeeville, sit- 
uated 11 miles north of Grenada. A short distance from the town 
they encountered the enemy, and after vainly endeavoring to dis- 
lodge him fiom his position. Col. Lee pushed forward a lO-pounder 
and opened upon them. A full rebel battery immediately replied 
and soon after a large force of infantry rose up from the ground 
where they had been concealed and poured volley after volley into 
the ranks of the federal skirmishers, compelling them to retire 
with severe loss. The Union ofticers,seeingtheir inability tocoi)e 
with such a large force prepared to fall back, leaving part of the 
4th Illinois to cover their retreat. This small protecting force, 
however, was immediately driven by five regiments of rebel in- 
fantry who soon overtook the principal force and a retreating fight 
commenced. For a: distance of three miles the contest was stub- 
bornly maintained, the retiring force halting at difterent points, 
sufticiently long to pour a volley into the ranks of their pursuers 
and then resume their march. Night at length terminated the 
work of death and the federals retired without further molestation 
to their camping ground. The loss of the 4th Illinois in killed, 
wounded and missing was 17 ; that of the 7th, 34, and that of 
the entire force 99. Among the killed was the veteran McCulloch, 
Lieut. Col. commanding the 4th, who fell at the head of his regi- 
ment. 

Battle of Roily Springst. — Among a number of other important 
cavalry expeditions thrown out in different directions, that of Col. 
Dickey was sent to destroy a portion of the Mobile andOliio rail- 
road. ' He left camp with the 7th and a portion of the 4th Illinois 
cavalry and subsequently joined by some troopers from Iowa, on 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 803 

the IGtli and 17tb they destroyed the laih-oad from Okalona to 
Saltillo, a distance of 3-t miles. The force was now ready to re- 
turn but hearing that there was a large body of rebel cavalry at 
Pontotoc, Dickey determined to move in that direction and take 
observations. In the reconnoisance some 22 regiments were dis- 
covered which subsequently proved to be the cavalry of Van Dorn 
who was on his way to capture Holly Springs. The next day the 
force hastened to return, and without further detention arrive<l at 
Oxford and reported the movement of the rebel cavalry to Gen. 
Grant. Tbe latter immediately divined VanDorn's object and 
telegraphed Col. Murphy, the commandant of Holly Springs that 
he would be attacked the next day, and that reinforcements would 
be sent to him. 

As intimated, on the 20th of December the rebel cavalry dashed 
into town and the infantry guarding the government stores, only 
100 in number, were soon overwhelmed and forced to submit. The 
remaining infantry dispersed in different parts of the town on 
picket duty, unable to act in concert, were captured in small de- 
tachments. The cavalry, 6 (!omi)anies of the 2d Illinois, were com- 
pelled to cut their way through thousands to avoid a similar 
fate. The rebels had come prepared with canteens tilled 
with turpentine, and immediately used it in firing the rail- 
road rrains. one of wliicli was laden with cotton. Soon all the 
railroad buildings, some 30 dwellings, 1,800 bales of cotton, and 
tlu' great arsenal which the rebels themselves had built, and in 
which Grant had deposited immense quantities of army supplies, 
were wrapped in flames. By degrees the conflagration spread to the 
square where large quantities of 2)owder had been stored, and sud- 
denlj' an explosion occurred which shook the earth and tore all the 
adjoining buildings to fragments. Whiskey was found among the 
spoils and the rebel soldiery previously intoxicated by victory 
and now maddened by the effects of spirits, shouted and yelled 
in unison with the raging elements. It was known to Van Dorn 
that a number of cotton buyers were in town aiul squads of cav- 
alry were detailed to go round and conduct them to his head- 
quarters. Each was closely questioned as to his business, then 
searched, and his money handed over to a receiver. In this man- 
ner more than $100,000 were taken from private individuals.* 

As Murphy's force of 1,800 men was sufiiciently large to detend 
the place till the arrival of aid, he was severely and justly censured 
for his culpability. In pleasant contrast with his cowardice was the 
conduct of the Illinois cavalry, which was thus complimented by the 
correspondent of the Missouri Democrat: '' Six companies of the 
2d Illinois cavalry were completely surrounded in the town by at 
least as many thousands, and were called on to surrender, 
to which demand they made replj' by dashing on the 
enemy's forces and nobly cutting their way out. Not a more gtil- 
lant deed has been done during the war. Six hundred against 
8,000, and still they hewed their way through them and escaped." 

♦ Some of the speculators managed to save their funds by placing- them in the cus- 
tody of the ladies with whom they were boarding- One g-entleman who had arrived in 
town only the day l»efore, entrusted some $40,000 to his landlady who, although a strong 
secessionist, faitiifuUy returned it. It is said a number of ladies wore belts during 
the rebel occupation of the town, containing- northern funds amounting- in some ia- 
stances to $50,000, and in no instance was the trust reposed in them betrayed. 



804 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Battle of Farker^s Cross Roads. — Grant's communications were 
also tlireatened by the operations of Forrest. On the 18th of 
December, Gen. Sulhvan in command of Jackson, learning that 
Forrest in charge of a band of rebel cavalry, had crossed the Ten- 
nessee to capture the town, commenced preparations to prevent 
the consummation of his design. Having been reinforced by two 
brigades under Gens. Fuller and Brayman, the next day he sent 
out the 43d Illinois to oppose the advance of the enemy. The 
regiment having concealed itself, awaited the appearance of 
Forest, when it fired a destructive volley into the midst of his 
men. i^ot being sufficiently strong to check the rebels it slowly 
retired till Gen. Bray man's brigade was thrown out and drove them 
back. Having heard on the 21st that detachments of Forrest's 
men had destroyed a portion of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, 
and captured Humboldt, Treuton and a number of other sta- 
tions, Gen. Haynie was ordered to repair the damages. With the 
106th, the 119th Illinois, 1 compajiy of the 18th and 90 men of the 
11th Illinois cavalry, and a brigade of Iowa troops, he proceeded 
on the railroad to the first break and commenced repairing it. 
Having put the road in running order he moved to Humboldt, 
where he was reinforced by the 120th and the 122d Illinois and 
the 7th Tennessee. Thence moving to Trenton he leai'ued the 
situation of Forest and communicated the information by tele- 
graph to Gen. Sullivan, who immediately joined him with all his 
available force. Forrest was advancing toward the Tennesseewhich 
he desired to cross and Gen. Sullivan at once seized the bridges 
on the most available routes, and the enemy, as the only alterna- 
tive, moved southwest and got on the Lexington road. The fed- 
eral commander soon became apprised of this movement and sent 
Col. Dunham of the 5th Indiana, with a brigade, to intercept him. 
On the morning of the 31st of December, 1862, the force reached 
Parker's Cross Roads, a short distance south of Clarksburg, and 
Col. Dunham was surprised to find himself confronted by several 
thousand rebels, commanded bj^ the redoubtable Forrest, and the 
road through which he must pass nearly encircled by rebel cav- 
alry. Escape being impossible. Col. Dunham formed his men in 
solid column and soon they were enveloped in a storm of shot and 
shell. 

Although outnumbered two to one they returned the fire with 
such well directed aim and invincible determination, that the en- 
emy was kept back till their amunition became exhausted when, 
by a sudden flank movement, they were completely surrounded. 
Bayonets were now substituted for powder and bullets, and still 
they persisted iu fighting. Forrest, believing their position hope- 
less and not knowing whether it was possible for a Yankee gen- 
eral ever to consider himself whipped, ordered a cessation of 
hostilities and seut a flag of truce to demand a surrender. Dun- 
ham replied, "Give my compliments to the general and tell him I 
never surrender. If he thinks he can take me let him try." Some 
of this pluck and independence was doubtless based on an expec- 
tation of reinforcements. Nor was this anticipation unfounded. 
While the rebel general was considering what course to pursue, 
Gens. Sullivan and Haynie came up with their forces and pre- 
pared for action. Stricken with amazement at their sudden ap- 
pearance the rebels fled, despite the almost frantic exertions of 



THE WAR OF THIJ REBELLION. 805 

their officers to bold them in i^osition. The k)ss of the enemy in 
killed, wounded and prisoners, as reported by Forest himself, 
to a captured federal officer, was fully a thousand. The national 
loss was one hundred, mostly sustained by the lL*2d Illinois. This 
gallant regiment and a portion of the 18th Illinois, constituted 
part of Ool. Dunham's brigade and were thus complimented in 
his report: "The 122d 111. deserves especial notice. It is compara- 
tively a new regiment and part of it was at one time more exposed 
to the enemy's fire than any other ; at any rate it suffered more in 
killed and wounded. Its gallant colonel fell severely wounded, 
yet its courage never flagged and it met every duty and danger 
with unwavering resolution. The detachment of the 18th Illi- 
nois acted for the most part with it and deserves the same com- 
mendation." 

The frequent raids on Grant's communications and the destruc- 
tion of his stores at length compelled him to fall back to Holly 
Springs and abandon his original plan of forming a junction with 
Sherman on the Yazoo. 

Battle of GMcamic Bayou. — The latter in the meantime had em- 
barked his division in transports at Memphis, steamed down the 
Mississippi, formed a junction with the fleet of gun-boats under 
Admiral Porter, ascended the Yazoo and at Chicasaw bayou made 
an assault on the enemy. This bayou is the northern portion of 
an old channel of the Yazoo extending from the present river to 
the Mississippi near Vicksburg and with the exception of one or 
two places was still tilled with water. Immediately east are the 
Walnut Hills, a high range of land trending northeasterly from 
Vicksburg to Haines' bluff where they impinge against the Yazoo. 
From the Mississippi, a distance of 15 miles, the sides and sum- 
mits of the highlands frowned with rebel rifle pits and batteries, 
while, at their base, ran the Vicksburg and Y'tizoo City road 
along which the enemy could push his artillery and infantry if any 
attempt should be made to cross the bayou. 

It was this exterior line of the Vicksburg defenses that Sher- 
man intended to pierce, when, on the 26th of December 1862, he 
debarked his army of some 10,000 men. The bayou could only be 
crossed at 3 points, where the torrents from the hills had washed 
sufficient quantity of material to form a natural causeway for the 
passage of troops. On the morning of the 27th Steele's division 
on the right, passing around the north end of the bayou, endeavor- 
ed to move along the west side to silence a battery commanding 
one of the passages, Morgan's division, containing the 118th Il- 
linois, proceeded around the south end, while ^Morgan L. Smith's, 
and A. J. Smith's, the former containing tlje 55th and 113th Illi- 
nois, and the latter the 77th and 108tli, further southward ad- 
vanced toward the lagoons connecting the bayou and the Missis- 
sippi. Before, however, the engagement properly commenced, 
Steele found it impossible to reach the hostile battery, and was 
ordered to return and reinforce Morgan L. Smith, the united force 
moved rapidly forward and soon commenced skirmishing with 
the enemy who, during the entire day, stubbornly resisted but 
were slowly driven back. Blair's brigade of Steele's, and Decour- 
cey's, of Morgan's division, while feeling the enemy, unmasked a 
battery which immediately opened on them. The battery was 



806 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

soon sileuced and the 13tli and 16tli Illinois made a gallant charge 
on the rebels, and when nightfall ended the contest they were 
driven a quarter of a mile from their original line. 

Diuitig tile night the enemy received reinforcements, and at 
dawn on the 2Sth, heavy cannonading was commenced on Blair's 
brigade and Morgan's division. The latter also brought forward 
artillery, and after a sharp exchange of shot and shrapnel, prepa- 
rations were made for a charge. Blair's brigade and Gen. Wynmn 
with the 13th and lOth Illinois, were drawn up for the assault. 
The order was given to advance and Gen. Wyman placing him- 
self at the head of the 13th, arrived within 80 yards of the rebel 
batteries and succeeded in unmanning 2 of the guns. Here rais- 
ing his sword in the air, as he was about giving the command to 
charge, he was pierced through the body by a minnie rifle ball. 
Col. Gorgas immediately ran to his assistance, when he raised 
himself uj) and seeing his regiment in confusion, exclaimed, "For 
God's sake Colonel, leave me and attend to these men." As 
directed Col. Gorgas at once rallied the men, took the battery and 
in conjunction with Gen. Blair drove the enemy from the held. 
Wyman's wound proved to be mortal and he died in the arms of 
an attendant on the battle ground immortalized by his valor. He 
had entered the service as Colonel of the 13th Illinois, and for 
his braver}' on the field, was commissioned brigadier- general by 
the president and was highly esteemed for his many virtues by 
all who knew him. 

On the 29th it was proposed to make a concerted attack with a 
view of crossing the bayou and carrying the heights beyond. 
Morgan's division reinforced by the brigades of Blair and Thayer 
moved forward as a storming column under a furious cannonade. 
Blair's men succeeded in crossing the bayou and capturing two 
lines of rifle pits, and while he returned to get reinforcements, 
fought with desperate energy to reach the summit of the hills. 
The rebel riflemen Avhom they had driven back, retired into a 
growth of willows higher up the hill. Into this covert the 13th 
Illinois fearlessly charged, and in a hand to hand coutestquickly 
dislodged them. Thaver's brigade also gained the rifle pits, but 
being unable to get supports, both brigades were compelled to 
retire. An assault by M. L. Smith's division was likewise unsuc- 
cessful. One regiment, the Gth Missouri, crossed the bayou but 
the opposite bank was too abrupt to be ascended and the suceed- 
ing night it was ordered back. A. J. Smith's division bridged the 
bayou within two miles of Vicksburg, but the enemy was so strong 
in his front an assault was not deemed advisable. The day thus 
ended with defeat, although the national troops fought and ex- 
IDOsed themselves with almost reckless daring. The 13th Illinois 
especially exhibited a bravery which neither overwhelming num- 
bers nor the terrific fire to which they were exposed during most 
of the battle could aft'ect. The loss of the federal troops was, 
killed, 191 ; wounded, 982 ; missing, 750. 

The position of the enemy naturally strong, was rendered almost 
impregnable by every apphance of military art. Signals were 
established on the highest peaks and batteries planted on every 
available bluff and their guns wherever an assault was attempted, 
could be turned with destructive effect. Sherman, therefore con- 
cluding it impossible to force the confederate line of defences 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 807 



determined to tbrow a large force in transports up the Yazoo to 
pass round tbem. It was proposed to ett'ect a lauding at Haines' 
Biuflt' duriug- the niglit, and Steele's division was end)arked for tbis 
puipose, but a lieavy fog settled on the river and the enterprise 
was abandoned. 

The entire army now got aboard transports and sailed down the ' 
Yazoo to the Mississippi where Gen. McOleruand awaited in the 
steamer Tigress to assume command. The conception and organ- 
ization of the expedition was in a great measure the result of his 
sagacity and labors and he was now regarded as a suitable jierson 
to conduct its future operations. As early as the 28th of Septem- 
ber, while on a visit to Washington he submitted an elaborate 
plan for the opening of the Mississippi. It not only contempla- 
ted the reduction of Vicksburg by moving a column of some 
00,000 men by way of the Mississippi and Yazoo, but proposed to 
follow up the advantages of victory b}" seizing important cities, 
railroad centers and other points of military value, east of the 
river. Its author, as the subsequent events of the war in the 
Southwest abundantly prove, had grasped the full significance of 
the enterprise and the best method of conducting it to a success- 
ful completion. He sums up its importance in a militarj^ view as 
follows : 

1st. Because it would afford the means of cheap and easy communica- 
tion between our troojjs dispersed at different points on the Mississippi 
river and its navigable tributaries, and because it would facilitate their 
■concentration at any one or more of those points. 

2d. Because it would cheap n tlie cost of supplying our men and ani- 
mals at or near New Orleans, with provision and forage. It would do 
that by substituting tlie overflowing granaries of the Northwest for the 
remoter sources of such supplies in the East. 

3d. Because in securing to us tlie command of the Mississippi, it would 
enable us to stop tlie comniunieation between the revolted States and 
their armies east and west of Red river, thus isolating each section as to 
the other, destroying the unity of their plans and combinations and cut- 
ting off the rebel forces east of that river from their wonted source of 
supplies in Texas. 

The president and secretary of war having approved his plans, 
as early as October McClernand received a dispatch from the 
latter, urging him to hasten forward the expedition. Mr. Lincoln, 
in the order which conferred upon liim the authority for this pur- 
pose, thus speaks of this enterprise: "I feel a deep interest in 
the success of the expedition and desire it to be pushed forward 
■with all possible dispatch, consistent with other parts of the mili- 
tary service." 

In accordance with these instructions, Gen. McClernand for 
Avarded from Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, some 40,000 men for thit^ 
purpose, and ou the 18th of December the following dispatch 
■was sent from the War Department to Gen. Grant at Oxford, 
Miss. "The troops of your department including those from 
Gen. Curtis' command, "which join the down river expedition will 
be divided into 4 corps. It is the wish of the president that Gen. 
McClernand's corps shall constitute a part of the river expedi- 
riou andthat he shall have the immediate command under your 
direction." Gen. McClernand left Springfield on the L'oth of De- 
cember for Memphis where he received commuiucatious from 
Orant in relation to his new command. Thence descending- the 
Mississippi to the mouth of the Yazoo, he assumed command as 
X^reviously stated. 



808 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

He uow styledhis forces the Army of the Mississippi, and desiring 
to devote his undivided attention to the general interests of the 
expedition, retained Gen. Sherman in command of the 15th army 
corps, and assigned the 13th to Gen. Morgan. The former con- 
sisted of two divisions commanded by Steele and Stuart, the first 
containing the 13th Illinois infantry, the 3d and a company of the 
15th Illinois cavalry; and the I'd the 113th and 116th Illinois in- 
fantry, Willard's and Taylor's batteries and two companies of 
Thielman's battalion of Illinois cavalry. The latter corps also 
consisted of two divisions, the 1st commanded by A. J. Smith, 
containing the 77th, 97th, 108th, 131st Illinois infantry, and the 
Chicago Mercantile battery ; the 2d commanded by P. J. Oster- 
haus, of tlie 118th Illinois. 

Capture of ArMnsas Post. — The same day he assumed command 
he started with the army for Arkansas Post, or Fort Hindman^ 
situated on a bend of the Arkansas river about fifty miles from 
its mouth. It was a strong bastioned fortification surrounded by 
a deep moat and furnished with ten guns. Two of them were 
Columbiads surrounded by immense casements, one on the river 
side and the other in the northeastern bastion. On the bank of 
the river below was a line of rifle pits and a number of embra- 
sures made in the levee for the use of cannon. This rebel strong- 
hold formed the key to Little Rock, 117 miles above, and was 
the source whence a number of rebel detachments had proceeded 
for the purpose of destroying the supplies destined for the forces 
operating on the Mississippi. Only a few days before, the Blue 
Wing, a government transport laden with valuable stores, had 
been destroyed by a predatory party of this kind, and Gen. Mc- 
Clernand now proposed to end these annoyances by the capture 
of the fort. 

The expedition ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of White 
River and after a short pause entered its narrow channel wliich 
wound serpent like through dense forests centuries old and grey 
bearded with Spanish moss, whose dim aisles strangely rever- 
berated with the whistles of the struggling engines and sent 
back in weird echoes the voices of men on board the fleet. Af- 
ter threading this mere ribbon of waters the boats turned into 
the Arkansas where the channels of the two rivers unite and con- 
tinued to ascend the latter stream. On arriving within three 
miles of the fort they drew near a great plantation on the 
eastern side of the stream for debarkation. Night came on be- 
fore this could be ett'ected and a strong picket force was thrown 
out between the fleet and the rebels who could be heard busily 
engaged in felling trees in the woods beyond to strengthen their 
defense. 

At early dawn the work of landing commenced, each boat ap- 
proaching the shore and pouring forth its crowds of soldiers. Reg- 
iments, brigades and divisions soon collected and commenced 
stretching out in line to the right for the purpose of investing the 
works. After toiling for several hours in this direction, impassa- 
ble bayous and swamps were encountered and the right and cen- 
tre of the line were compelled to return. When night came ou 
they entered a more practicable route near the enemy's works 
and by 5 o'clock the next morning reached the opposite side of 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. ' 809 

the beud and were able to command the river above and be- 
low the fort. When the investing line was thns made complete, 
Steele's division occnpied the right, and those of Stuart, Smith, 
and Osterhaus extended toward tlie left in the order mentioned. 

Admiral Porter with three iron clads and a fleet of light draft 
gunboats had accompanied the expedition to co-operate with the 
laud forces. While the latter was making the necessary detour to 
surround the fort, Porter pushed forward the fleet to ascertain 
the range and strength of the enemy's guns. Opening within 400 
yards of the works he soon demonstrated the superiority of his 
fire by i)artially silencing the hostile batteries. During the en- 
gagement the Ratler, one of the light draft boats, ran by the fort 
and commenced an enfilading fire, butbecoming entangled among 
snags was compelled to return. The attack was made late in the 
afternoon of Saturday, and night soon coming on ended the con- 
test. Sunday morning, the 11th of January, 1863, the enemj^, 
fiuding himself greatly outnumbered, had retired to his inner 
defenses, where, owing to their great strength he hoped to make 
a successful resistance. All the federal batteries having been 
placed in position at 1 o'clock a simultaneous assault commenced 
by both navy and army. The fire was terrific, the rebel batteries 
sweeping the plain in front of the works withcannister while they 
hurled at the gunboats their own shot recently taken from the 
Blue Wing. Twice charges were made by different commands, 
but so destructive was the fire they were compelled to leturn 
without reaching the coveted goal. Meanwhile a tremendous con- 
centrated fire from the surrounding federal batteries on land and 
water was rapidly silencing those of che fort. Their huge shells, 
after continual pounding at the great casemates at length effected 
an entrance, and, exploding within, tore the rebel artillerists into 
fragments. As the afternoon wore away the fire was increased 
till the bomb-jDroofs were battered to pieces and all the heavy 
guns were either broken or dismounted. The infantry had, in the 
meantime, fought its way toward and just as it was about to 
charge into the fort a white flag was run up and the battle ceased. 
At 4J o'clock the national troops took possession of the works. 
Seven stand of colors, 17 cannon, 5,000 prisoners, besides large 
numbers of other munitions fell into the hands of the conquerors. 
The loss of the latter was 129 killed, 831 wounded, and 17 missing. 

This signal triumph conjing after the reverses of Grant and 
Sherman, greatly encouraged the army and thus prepared for the 
arduous labors yet to be performed in the reduction of Vicksburg, 
the primary object of the campaign. The government became 
more hopeful, and its chief magistrate returned thanks to Gen. 
McClernand and his brave army for the important services which 
they had rendered the country. One fourth of the troops who 
fought in the battle and shared in the glory of victory were from 
Illinois. The commanding general, John Alexander McClernand, 
Avas born in Kentucky of Scotch parents, who while he was young, 
removed to Shawneetown, Illinois. Here he studied law and soon 
rose to distinction in the practice of his profession. His first mil- 
itary experience was acquired in the Black Hawk war, during which 
in the performance of a number of gallant actions, he evinced 
superior address and daring. In 1830 he was elected a member 
of the legislature, in which he was made commissioner and treas- 



810 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



urer of the Illiuoi.s and Micliigau (Jaual. In 1838 he was teu- 
deied the oflBce of lieuteiiaiit-goveruor, which he declined, uot 
having attained the constitutional age of 30 years. He served two 
additional terms in the legislature, and while still a member in 
1813, was elected a representative to the 28th congress. During 
the session, as one of the committee on public lands, he brought 
forward a bill donating land to aid in the completion of the Illi- 
nois and Michigan Canal. He was four times reelected to con- 
gress. During the summer of 1850 he prepared and introduced 
the tirst draft of the famous compromise measures and the same 
year drafted a bill, granting hxnd to aid in the construction of 
the Illinois Central Kailroad. While still a member of congress, 
in 1861, at the instance of Gov. Yates, he took command of a 
volunteer force at Cairo and assisted in suppressing the contra- 
band trade then carried on by means of the Mississippi tmd Ohio 
rivers. We have already spoken of his operations at Donelson 
and Shiloh. As a soldier he was vigilant, sagacious and brave. 
As a memorial of Illinois valor, one of the broken guns of the 
fort was sent to G-ov. Yates, and is still preserved as a State 
relic."" 

[* The followiiifi' correspondence occurred in connecti'jn with its presentation : 
"His Excellency Richard Vatfs, Governor of Illinois : 

"I have the honor to send youa brolsenParrottpiece, captured by the force under ray 
command at Arkansas Post. The piece was broken by a shot from one of the guas of 
my batteries. Please accept it on behalf of the noble State you so worthily represent, 
as an humble testimonial of tl-e esteem and admiiation of the brave men whose valor 
wrested it as a trophy from the enemy. J. A. McCLERNAND, 

"Major-General Commanding." 

"Maj. Gnn. J. A.. McClcrnand, Vicksbtirg, 3Iiss. 

"Dear sib : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the broken Parrot gun 
captured by the army vinder your command at Arkansas Post, and to express my ac- 
knowledgement in the name of the people therefor. It also gives me great pride 
and satisfaction to do so, from the fact that I regard the victory at Arkansas Post, 
gained under able and energetic generalship of a distinguished officer and citizen of 
Illinois, as second in importance and consequence only to Fort Dotielson, in which that 
olficeralso prominently participated. Fort Donelson and Arkansas Post, dear general, 
I regard as the two great and positive victories of the war in the West. May your par- 
ticipation in the third be equally promment and attended by as substantial advanta- 
ges and glorious results. 

"With sentiments of respect and esteem, I am your most obedient servant. 

KICHARD YATES, Governor." 



Chapter LXI. 

1863— ILLINOIS m THE VICKSBUEG CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles of Fort Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills and 
Black River, Grierson''s Raid — Siege and Ga})ture of VicJcsburg. 



McClernand next proposed to strike a blow at Little Eock, but 
Geu. Grant arriving at the fort a few days after tlie battle, or- 
dered the army to Young's Point opposite the mouth of the Yazoo 
whitlier he arrived on the L^9th of January, 1863. His forces, 
greatly strengthened by the addition of McPberson's corps from 
the river above, and the fleet under Commodore Porter, he was 
ready to resume more immediate operations for the rednction of 
Vicksburg. For this purpose it was necessary to get his army on 
the east side of the Mississippi and in the rear of the city, a feat 
which he found extremely difticult to perforna. Five different ex- 
pedients were tried, three of which were to get around the bat- 
teries on the Mississippi at Vicksburg, and two round those of the 
Yazoo at Haines' Bluff. The tirst was an attempt to complete the 
canal commenced by Gen. Williams, but unfortunately when nearly 
finished a flood in the Mississippi rendered it impracticable. The 
second was a canal from Millikin's Bend through a number of 
bayous communicating with the Tensas river, and thence to the Mis- 
sissippi at New Carthage. The third was an inland passage by 
way of Lake Providence, the Tensas, Washita, Black and Bed 
rivers. The 4th and most promising plan was to get from the 
Mississippi into the Y'azoo above the batteries at Haines' Bluff 
through Moon Lake and the Cokhvater and Tallahatchie rivers. 
The 5th was to effect a circuit of the Haines' Bluff batteries by 
way of Steel's bayou, connecting with the Yazoo 7 miles above its 
mouth, thence by Black bayou, Dear Creek and Sunflower 
river to the Yazoo, some 60 miles above its mouth. 

Such is the remarkable hydrographical character of the region 
in which the army was operating, that by cutting the levees of the 
Mississippi, and removing obstructions from the channels of 
bayous, passages could be opened for the advance of the gun- 
boats and transports along tlie several routes mentioned. Vast 
labors were expended and the whole of February and March 
consumed in attempts to avoid the hostile batteries by these routes, 
and when in two or three instances success was almost attained, 
some unexpected or unaxoidable obstacle intervened and they 
were aU finally abandoned. A man of less determined fibre thun 
Grant would have been overwhelmed by the repeated failures. 
Defeat, however, only nerved him for renewed exertions. When 
one expedit^nt failed another was quickly substituted, and at 
length the city which had so long defied the approach of his army 
was laid under siege and compelled to surrender. 811 



812 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The number of probable operations for its reduction was now 
reduced to one, that of moving* the army on the west side of the 
river, crossing below the rebel fortifications and ascending on the 
Vicksburg side. The conception of this plan was easy, but its 
execution appalling. As a requisite gunboats and transports must 
descend the Mississippi in opposition to the hostile batteries, to 
furnish facilities for crossing, and the army, when on the eastern 
side of the river, must cut itself off from its base of supplies and 
depend upon the contingency of beating the enemy in the field 
before another could be established. The commanding general 
unmoved by these perils, determined to hazard a trial. Accord- 
ingly the loth army corps, commanded by McOlernand, consisting 
of 4 divisions in charge of Gens. Osterhaus, A.J. Smith, Carrand 
Hovey, and containing the 33d, 77th, 97th,' 99th, 108th and 12()th 
Illinois infantry, portions of the 2d and 3d Illinois cavalry and the 
Peoria and Chicago Mercantile batteries, on the 29th of March left 
Milliken's liend above Vicksburg for New Carthage below. 
McPherson with the 17th corps, followed as fast as the imperfect 
roads would permit. Vast bogs intersected with bayous were 
encountered, and it became necessary to construct causew^ays over 
the one and bridges over the other. Arriving at Kew Carthage it 
was found to be an island, tlie rebels having tiooded the entire 
region round by cutting the adjacent levees of the Mississippi. 
Under tliese circumstances the march was continued to Grand 
Gulf farther down the river, where the lowest of the Vicksburg 
works was located. 

In the meantime Porter was making preparations to execute the 
fearless enterprise of descending the river with a portion of the 
fleet. It being deemed best not to compel the crews of the boats 
designated for this purpose to accompany them, volunteers to man 
them were called for. Soon more men oifered their services than 
could be accepted. Logan's division of the 17th corps, alone 
furnishing the number required. Of the 65 men furnished by 
the Illinois troops for this daring feat the 81st furnished 16, the 
8th 11, the 45th 13, the 31st 9, the 20th 8, the 30th l,and the 11th 
1. It was arranged that 8 gunboats should proceed in sin- 
gle file down the river and engage the batteries, while 3 accom- 
panying transports should pass unnoticed near the western shore. 
A little before midnight the boats with their lights concealed, 
moved like huge i^hantoms down the stream. Despite the at- 
tempt at concealment they were discovered and suddenly a sheet 
of fiarne, keeping pace vrith the advancing boats, flashed along 
the 8 mile of rebel batteries which lined the bank of the river. 
Simultaneously the fleet replied, and for miles distant the tor- 
tuous windings of the Mississippi echoed with the thunders of 
artillery. It was hoped in the general commotion the frail trans- 
ports might escape unobserved, but suddenly a huge bonfire threw 
a glare over the waters with such brilliancy that the most minute ob- 
jects could be seen, and they soon became targets for the enemy's 
guns. From the eftects of shot oneof them was set on fire and soon 
became a mass of flame, while another was rendered unmanagable, 
but fortunately a gunboat towed it beyond the range of the bat- 
teries without further injury. The rest of the fleet, although ex- 
posed for au hour to an incessant fire, passed through in safety, 
and with the exception of one killed and two wounded, the crews 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 813 

were favored with like imiiiiiuity. This uuexpected success in- 
duced Grant to order G more transports and 12 barges to run the 
blockade, and from the list of eager applicants who at once volun- 
teered to man them in the dangerous experiment, the requisite num- 
ber was chosen by lot.* With the completion of the preparations the 
boats started down the river, and with strange good fortune most 
of them got below without injury. Having now a sufficient num- 
ber of transports and gunboats to attbrd the necessary protection 
it was determined to effect a passage of the river at Grand Gulf. 
The rebels in the meantime had erected batteries on the adjacent 
heights and a combined land and naval attack was planned for 
their reduction. Porter commenced the assault but a bombard- 
ment of 5 hours failing to make any serious impression, and Grant 
being unwilling to expose his men in an attack by laud, ordered a 
continuance of the march to Bruinsburg, farther down the river. 
When night came on the gunboats again opened on the batteries, 
and undercover of the tire the transports safely passed below while 
the laud forces passed unobserved through the forest to the place 
selected for crossing. The next day, without farther disturbance, 
the army was ferried to the opposite shore, and Grant as the re- 
ward of unparaleled perseverance, at length had the satisfaction 
of seeing it in a situation where he could effectually operate 
against the enemy. This result was partly due to the vigor with 
which it had been executed, and partly to the success with which 
the attention of the enemy had been drawn in a different direc- 
tion. Sherman, with Blair's division, had steamed up the Yazoo, 
and feigning an attack, successfully diverted the attention of the 
rebel commander from the real object which Grant sought to 
accomplish at Bruinsburg. 

After the passage of the river, McClernand with the 13th corps 
pushed forward in the direction of Port Gibson, and on the 18th 
of May encountered the enemy four miles from the town. The 
force proved to be 11,000 men under Gen. Bo wen who had marched 
from Grand Gulf, when it became known that Grant had suc- 
ceeded in crossing the river. Carr's division in advance was met 
by a light fire of artillery and musketry which it soon silenced. 
The troops rested on their arms the short remainder of the night, 
when at dawn the enemy was found strongly' posted on a narrow 
ridge with impassable ravines on either side. McClernand having 
made a reconnoisauce of the situation at an early hour, a portion 
of the 3Dth Illinois was moved to the rear of the position signal- 
ized by the night attack with orders to hold it till relievecl by 
Gen. Osterhaus. In a few minutes their skirmishers were at the 
outposts of the enemy and a sharp fire of artillery and musketry 
ensued. Osterhaus soon marched to their relief and in a tierce 
struggle of an hour's duration succeeded in driving the enemy 
from this position. While he was thus engaged on the right Gen. 
Carr made an assault on the left which, after several hours' furi- 
ous tighting, terminated in a magniticent charge by the division 
of Gen Hovey. As the result, the enemy was driven back several 
miles and lost one stand of colors, two guns and 400 prisoners. 

• One incident will illustrate the spirit which animated the troops. A small boy 
whom the fates had favored with a successful number, was offered $100 tor his privi- 
lege which he refused to accept and afterwards lived to tell of the part he performed 
In the dangerous feat. 



814 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 



A second position was taken by the retreating army in the bot- 
tom of a creek where it was shelteredby timber and had the advan- 
tage of an open held in front. The commands of Carr and Hovey 
followed till they arrived at the slope overlooking- the creek when 
the battle again commenced. The rebels massed a large force for 
the purpose of turning the federal right, but their exposed flank 
Vv^as promptly supported by Smith's division till Hovey got his 
artillery in position and drove them back. A second time they 
concentrated their forces for a similar purpose, but Carr's division, 
with detachments from Hovey's and Smith's, after an obstinate 
straggle again beat them back, when night ended the contest. 
The confederates hastily retreating under cover of darkness 
across Bayou Pierre, burnt the bridges in their rear, while the 
Union army the next day occupied Fort Gibson. 

The loss of the latter in killed and wounded was some 600, but 
the victory was worth the cost. Five guns and 4,C00 prisoners 
fell into the hands of the victors. Furthermore, Grant had now 
secured a ftvm. lodgment on the high plateau east of the nver, 
upon which, as exigency might demand, he could move against 
any point of the rebel line. Also with the retreat of the vanquish- 
ed army the garrison withdrew from Grand Gulf, and it became 
the base of supplies for the Union army. 

Illinois was largely represented in the battle, and its auspicioics 
termination was largely owing to the sturdy blows dealt by her hardy 
sons. As Logan's division of McPherson's corps came up in time 
to participate in the action, tlie Illinois troops engaged were de- 
tachments of the 2d and 3d cavalry, the Peoria light artillery and 
Chicago Mercantile battery, and the 8th. 11th, UOth, 30th, ' 31st, 
33d, 4oth, 77th, 81st, 97th, yOth, 108th, and 118th regiments 
of infantry. Of the latter the 33d, 99th andll8th, are men- 
tioned in the ofiicial reports of the battle as having fought with 
great success anu daring, 

Bowen, after his defeat at Port Gibson, crossed Big Black 
river and was ordered thence by Pemberton to the vicinity of 
Vicksburg. As the result of the victory Grand Gulf was evacu- 
ated and Grant changed his base of sui)plies from Bruinsburg to 
that place, and followed the retreating rebels as far as Hankin- 
son's ferry, where tliey crossed the river. Here, while awaiting the 
arrival of Sherman's corps, he made a feint in the direction of Vicks- 
burg to conceal his contemplated operations eastward. General 
Johnson, who at this time had supreme command of the confed- 
erate forces of the West, was with Bragg in Tennessee, but in con- 
stant commuuicHtion with Pemberton. Grant was therefore afraid 
to move directly on Vicksbnrg lest Johnson with a force from the 
East should assail him in the rear. To avoid a contingency of 
this kind he directed McClernand and Sherman to move along the 
eastern side of Black river so as to strike the Vicksburg railix)ad 
at Edward's station, while McPhersou was to make a detour far- 
ther eastward and destroy the rebel stores and lines of communi- 
eation. 

Battle of Raymond. — On the morning of May 12th McPherson's 
advanced cavalry met near Raymond a strongbody of rebel infantry. 
A severe engagement ensued in which the 2d Illinois cavahy be- 
haved with great gallantry and lost several men. Owing to the 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 815 



situaticui of the foe iu the woods, it was found impossible for 
mounted men to dislodge liim, and Logan's division was ordered 
forward to make an attack. The column ad\auced toward the 
wood and fought with great determination although exposed to 
the murderous fire of an almost concealed enemy. Shortly after 
the lighting commenced a battery was pushed forward to assist 
in dislodging him and made such havoc that after an attempt to 
charge and take it, he was compelled to fall back to a new posi- 
tion. Here he was again assailed by the same troops strength- 
ened by additional forces. In resisting an attempt to turn our 
left flank the 20th Illinois fought with Spartan courage. Having 
lost their colonel, Stevenson's brigade containing the 8th Illinois, 
with<fixed bayonets bountled forward to the rescue and the rebels 
were driven in ^^ild disorder from the field. 

Battle of Jackson. — Retreating to Jackson they were followed 
by the 3d corps of the Union army. Sherman and McOlernand 
had been ordered to Edward's station, but Grant iu the njean- 
time learning that Iresh accessions of rebel troops were dailj^ ar- 
riving at Jr.ckson, and fearing that McPherson's force might not 
be ;idequar(' to cope with them, countermanded the order. On the 
morning of the 14th, McPherson's advanced divisions, closely fol- 
lowed by Sherman's, came up v/ith the main force of the enemy 
about three miles from the city. Artillery was opened on both 
sides, and after firing for some time without any decisive results, 
the infantry were led into action. With measured tread and colors 
living the Llnion columns slowly ascended the hill on which the 
rebel force was posted, suffering terribly from the tremendous 
volleys hurled at them from the summit. When within 300 paces 
they delivered their first fire and with a shout that rose above 
the report of artillery rushed upon the astonished confederates 
who broke and fled in the wildest terror, tlirowing away their 
knapsacks, blankets and muskets, to accelerate their flight. 

This was one of the most spirited charges of the cami)aign and 
no regiment engaged in it fought with more bravery and success 
than the 50th Illinois. The 30th, 33d, 48th, 114th and 118th also 
participated in and largely contributed to the successful issue of 
the battle. Among the generals of this and the two preceding 
engagements, Gen. Logan was conspicuous for the indomitable 
energy and skill with which he handled his men. 

The rebels retreated northward on the Canton road and the re- 
bellious capital of Mississippi became the prize of the conquerors. 
The governor and others holding official relations with the local 
and confederate governments left the day before with the funds 
and archives of the State. 

Battle of Champion Hills. — Grant leaving Sherman to destroy 
the railroads, bridges, arsenals and other public property, turned 
the remainder of the army westward to pay his respe(5ts to Pem- 
berton. The latter illy conceiving the military necessities of his 
situation, now rapidly became entangled in toils from Avhich at 
length extrication was impossible. Johnson in the meantime had 
arrived and beheld with regret the confederate army separated in 
detachments with that of Grant between them. He saw that with 
his interior communications now cut off by the destruction of the 



816 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



railroad to Jackson, that Vicksbiirg might become the grave of 
an army, but could be of no possible use to the confederacy. He 
therefore ordered Pembertou to make a detour northward round 
the federal army and form a junction with the forces which had 
been expelled from Jackson. Pemberton, however, had a plan 
of his own, which was to move in the opposite direction and 
cut off Grant's supplies. With this intent he set his columns in 
motion in the afternoon of the loth, moving- from Edward's sta- 
tion in the direction of Raymond. But Grant now had no base 
of supplies, having cut himself loose from Grand Gulf as early 
as the 11th, and was now pushing forward with the intention of 
overpowering all opposition and opening a new base on the Mis- 
sissippi by way of the Yazoo. Little recked he of communicat- 
ing Avith Grand Gulf, and the luckless Pemberton was sallying forth 
on a bootless errand. Nor had he gone far before the advancing 
Union pickets convinced him that his movements instead of harm- 
ing his adversary, were only compromising his own safety. He 
therefore resolved to return to the station and then move north- 
ward in the direction of Brownsville, in conformity with the pre- 
vious advice of his superior of&cer. This Mas a good resolution but it 
came too late, for while he was dallying, the Union army had moved 
up to the same i^lace and was ready with its heavy guns to dis- 
pute his advance. As the only alternative the confederate force 
was hastily drawn up for action, the left division under Steven- 
son occupying a thickly wooded height of Champion Hills, while 
the centre and right di^nsions under Boweu and Loriug extended 
across Baker's creek to a number of abrupt elevations and yawning 
ravines. Logan's and Crocker's divisions of McPherson's corps, 
were thrown round the above mentioned height so as to flank the 
confederate left. Hovey's division of McClernand's corps ad- 
vanced against Stevenson leaving the other division of the corps 
to engage Bowen and Loring. 

A courier was sent to Jackson with orders for Sherman to has- 
ten forward with his command, and in less than an hour he was 
on the road to the scene of conflict. Hovey's division which 
first engaged the enemy was in deadly grapple with him before 
the others, owing to the unfavorable nature of the ground, could 
come in striking distance. The situation in which he operated 
compelled him to contract his lines and expose his men to the 
fierce fire of the rebels who, under coA^er of heavy timber, suffer- 
ed little. After facing, with heroic tenacity for an hour, the re- 
lentless fire of an enemy greatly exceeding him in numbers, and hav- 
ing CA^ery adA^antage of position, he was compelled to give way. 
He, howeA^er, retired only a short distance Avhen two brigades of 
Crocker's division were sent to his aid and he reformed and 
again went into action. Logan in the meantime had turned the 
enemy's left and commenced operating in his rear which partially 
relicA'ed the pressure in front. SeeingtheadA^antagesof the position 
he had gained he rode up to Grant and informed him if Hovey could 
make another dash at the enemy, it would enable him to come up and 
capture the greater part of the confederate forces. Preparations 
for this purpose were made, but before it was executed Pember- 
ton, seeing his position was compromised, commenced drawing 
off. Simultaneously the national troops pressed forward and the 
rebel host breaking, fled in a panic and rout from the field. Al- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 817 

though the brunt of the battle fell on Logan and Hovey, tliere 
was severe tightingon the enemy's rigbt by Carr and Osterhaus. 
*rhe impassable charaxiter of the ground on which they fought 
prevented them from getting into action as soon as the others, 
but when at length this difficulty was overcome they greatly as- 
sisted in turning the tide of battle in our favor. 

A great many instances of heroism are mentioned in the reports 
■of the battle. Logan's division, composed largely of Illinois 
troops, engaged the enemy on his left and succeeded in capturing 
more thau 1,000 prisoners and 12 pieces of artillery. An officer 
was sent to inquire how the contest was going on in his front. 
^' Tell Gen. Grant," he repbed, " my division can't be whipped by 
all the rebels this side of hell. We are going ahead and won't 
stop till we get orders."* Gen. Leggett commanding his second 
brigade, containing the 30th Illinois, was ordered up to protect the 
right of Hovey's division, seriously threatened by the enemy. 
The rebels suddenly emerged from the woods and prepared for an 
attack, when the 30th Illinois charged upon them and drove them 
back in confusion. In the afternoon, on the extreme right, the 
Sth Illinois and 32d Ohio charged upon and repulsed one of tlie 
enemy's most effective batteries. A section of Co. D, Illinois 
artillery is also favorably mentioned iji the reports. 

Besides the regiments mentioned, the 17th, 31st, ooth, 58th, 72d, 
75th, 77th, 79th, 81st, 93d, 97th, 108tli, 113th, 118th and 124th 
were a part of the troops engaged in the battle, and with the aid 
•of their comrades from other States added another victory to the 
list of Union triumphs. 

Pemberton's force was estimated at 30,000, somewhat exceeding 
the Union troops engaged, as all of Grant's divisions did not 
arrive in time to participate in the battle. The victory cost us in 
killed, wounded and missing, 2,500 men, but gave in exchange 200 
pieces of artillery and 1,500 prisoners, besides inflicting a serious 
loss of killed, wounded and missing on the enemy. 

Battle of Blacli Biver Bridge. — So quickly was the retreating 
army followed that Loring's division became completely detached 
and was compelled to make a circuit in a southwesterly direction 
round the federal army and report to Johnson. The main force 
retreated to Black Ei\'er, and with the exception of two brigades, 
crossed the stream. The latter to dispute the advance of the pur- 
suing army took a position within a bayou which leaves the river 
above and sweeping round iu the form of a semi-circle, unites with 
it below. In addition to the natural defences offered by the miry 
channel of the bayou, breastworks were thrown up, and cannon 
placed within the enclosure swept the plain beyond and com- 
manded the bridge across the river. On the morning of the 17th 
of May, McClernand's and McPherson's corps moved directly 
against the position of the enemy, while that of Sherman ad- 
vanced iu the direction«)f Bridgeport, higher up the river for the 
purpose of crossing at that i)oint. The rebel pickets were soon 
encountered and McClernand, who was in advance, hastily deploy- 
ing his division on each side of the road brought on a hot engage- 
ment in the forest which skirts the baidcs of the river. Artillery 
was ijlaced in position and served with such effectiveness, that 

* Cincinnati Commercial, 

52 



818 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the enemy soou fled behind his works to escape its fury. McCler- 
nand now resolved to carry the works by storm and Gen. Lawler's^ 
brigade of Carr's division immediately signified their readiness for 
the charge. By moving round on the right under cover of the 
river bank, he had gained a position from which the rebel defences 
might be easily assaulted. The order forward was given, and the 
eager men plunging across the bayou and scaling the breastworks^ 
regardless of the fatal fire that covered their track with fallen 
comrades, with fixed bayonets drove the rebels from their guns. 
The victory was complete. To Carr, one of Illinois bravest oflficersy 
and his gallant division more than any other, its honors are due. 
Constituting the advance of McClernand's corps, they not only 
commenced the engagement, but ended it in the splendid charge 
which placed them in possession of the skillfully constructed 
works. Prominent among the regiments which distinguished them- 
selves were the 33d, iSth and 77th Illinois. The fruits of the vic- 
tory were 1,500 prisoners and 18 pieces of artillery. 

The army on the opposite side of the river, witnessing the de- 
feat, set fire to the bridge and hastily retreated in the direction 
of Vicksburg. The afternoon of the same day the inhabitants of 
the city were startled by the influx of the fugitives, who, exhaust- 
ed by privations and hardships, tumbled almost helplessly 
into the surrounding entrenchments. The night after the battle 
bridges were thrown across Black river, and Sherman, still 
holding the right, took possession of Haines' Blufl", as the demor- 
alized confederates departed, while McCleruand and McPherson^ 
moving farther southward, closed in on the doomed city. 

In the daring and successful passage of the Vicksburg and 
Grand Gulf batteries, in the audacity Avhich abandoned one base 
of supi^lies, with the necessity of crushing an enemy of unknown 
strength before another could be established, and in the deter- 
mined courage and endurance which wrung success from the 
most untoward circumstances in five consecutive victories, the 
camjiaign may be regarded as one of the most brilliant furnislied 
by the annals of the war. The celerity of movement and 
strategy by which the enemy was separated and beaten in detail^ 
rank it with Napoleon's celebrated Italian campaign. Port Gib- 
son, Eaymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, and Black river, will 
always occupy a proud place in the history of the nation, endure 
as a monument of Illinois valor, and perpetuate the names and 
generalship of Grant, McClernand, Carr, McArthur, and other 
brave men of Illinois who so gallantly maintained the reputation 
of the State. 

It was now evident, if the siege was successfully maintained that 
famine would ultimately bring the garrison to terms. Johnson, 
however, was making great efforts to collect a relieving force, and 
Grant, therefore, to avoid all possible contingencies, determined 
to make an attempt to carry the place by storm. The demoralized 
condition of the force within favored «mniediate action, and 
accordingly an assault was made in the afternoon of the 17th. 
No permanent advantage was gained, although the 127th Illinois 
and 83d Indiana succeeded in planting their colors on the exte- 
rior slope of the enemy's entrenchments. Notwithstanding the 
want of success, it was believed under more favorable circum- 
stances a second attempt might be attended with better results. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 819 

and tlie two succeeding' days were spent in making the necessary 
preparations. At 10 o'clock on the morning of the 22d the 3d 
corps, Slierman's on the right, McPherson's in the centre, and 
McClernand's on the left, moved forward, but such was the nature 
of the ground that only narrow fronts could be brought into ac- 
tion. The garrison reserved its tire till the storming force was in 
close range, when they opened with the most deadly eifect. Many 
turned back as if from instant destruction, but others, disdaining 
to retire, pushed on, and portions of each cori)s succeeded in reach- 
ing the breastworks. Conspicuous in McPherson's corps, was 
the brigade of Gen. Ransom, containing the llrh, 72d, 95th and 
116th Illinois. The brigade sprang forward with a shout when 
the order was given to advance. At the distance of a few paces 
a storm of grape and cannister tore through the different regiments 
disabling Col. Humphrey of the 95th, killing Col. ]S"evins of the 
11th, and for a short time checking the advance. At this juncture 
Gen. Eansom rushed forward to the head of the brigade, and, 
seizing the colors of the 95th, and waving them overhead, shout- 
ed, "Forward men, we must and will get into the fort. Who will fol- 
low!" The column again moved forward directly in the face of the 
wasting volleys, and, on reaching the works, fought for half an hour 
to effect an entrance. Finding at length this was impossible, the 
regiments were reformed and marched back without the slightest 
confusion or the appearance of a single struggle. Within 15 min- 
utes after the charge was ordered, Gens. Lawler's and Landrum's 
brigades, the latter containing the 97th, 108th and 131st Illinois, 
were at the works. Twelve men entered a bastion, 11 of whom 
were killed, while the survivor, aided by sharp-shooters on the 
parapet, captvired and brought out 12 rebels. It being instant 
death to the force within to expose themselves above the works, 
they lit the fuses of shells and threw them among the federals, who 
coolly picked them up and threw them back in time to explode. 
The Mercantile battery of Chicago approached within a few feet 
and fired into an embrasure, and as a reward for their bravery 
Gen. McClernand presented them with two Napoleon guns cap- 
tured at Black river. No permanent entrance could be effected 
and at night the forces were recalled. 

Grant, now concluding that the position of the enemy was too 
strong, both by nature and art, to be carried by storm, sat down 
before it in regular siege. 

GriersorCs Raid. — Leaving the beleaguered stronghold to the 
care of the investing army, we will now relate one of the most 
brilliant episodes of the war, the raid of Gen. B. H. Grierson. 
While Grant was closing round Vicksburg with his gallant troop- 
ers, he was dashing through Mississippi to destroy the railroads 
and j)revent the enemy from sending forward supplies and rein- 
forcements. 

On the 17th of April with 3 regiments of cavalry, the Gth and 
7th Illinois, and the 2d Iowa, he left Lagrange,Tennessee. Arriv- 
ing at Houston on the 20th, Col. Hatch with the 2nd Iowa was 
sent to Columbus to destroy a portion of the Mobile & Ohio Rail- 
road, and if able to capture the town. On the way he was attacked 
by 800 rebel cavalry, which he repulsed, and at night reached 
the railroad at Okalona. Having burnt the depot, barracks 



820 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



aud hospital, he started on his lionieward march. Before going 
far, a force of cavalry made a dash at his rear, aud again he over- 
threw them, inflicting on them a loss of 26 men while his own sus- 
tained little injury. The remainder of the march was without 
opposition and the regiment arrived in Lagrange with 20 priso- 
ners, 50 negroes and 500 horses aud mules. 

Col. Griei'son was now left with only the Illinois regiments to 
co^ie with the numerous forces of rebel cavalry which were scour- 
ing the country in every direction to intercept him. Their oppo- 
sition aud the attending dangers, however, instead of discourag- 
ing him and his brave followers, only gave zest to the enterprise 
which they now proposed to finish by a headlong dash to Baton 
Rouge, through the heart of Mississippi. To divert attention 
from their principal movements and damage the enemy, Capt. 
Forbes, with 35 men, wei-e sent on a detour eastward to destroy 
the telegraph and another portion of the M. and O. R. R. at 
Macon. They left their comrades with stout hearts but little 
hope of seeing them again, as they would have to pass through a 
country swarming with enemies and march at least 50 miles 
farther than the main force. Capt. Graham, with a battalion was 
also sent to burn a shoe factory in the neighborhood, and suc- 
ceeded in destroynig a large amount of leather and several 
thousand boots, shoes, hats aud caps, besides capturing a quar- 
termaster, who had come to get supplies for the rebel army at 
Port Hudson. 

With these preliminary arrangements. Col. Grierson pushed 
forward for Pearl river bridge, the reaching of which was now an 
object of vital importance. Hostile bands of cavalry were on the 
alert, and should their scouts who preceded him destroy it, the 
result would be fatal. With an earnestness, therefore, commen- 
surate with the risk involved, they urged their way forward. 
Grierson with his kindling eye and thoughtful face, leading the 
van. Nearing the bridge and hearing the sound of persons en- 
gaged in its destruction, they drove spurs into their foaming 
chargers to increase their speed, and swooping down on the de- 
stroyers as an eagle in pursuit of his prey, quickly dispersed 
them. The entire party reaching the opposite shore in safety, 
again dashed forward, and on the 24th reached Newton Station 
on M. & O. R. R. Here they captured 75 rebels, tore up the 
railroad track, burnt 4 car loads of ammunition and 2 ware- 
houses filled with commissary stores, aud destroyed the bridges 
on the west side of the station. Tarrying only long enough to 
complete the work of destruction, they were again on the wing, 
and after an exhausting ride by way of Garlandville, Raleigh and 
Westville, were ready to recross the river at Georgetown ferry. 
Gaining the ferr^^, as in case of the bridge, was a matter of life or 
death; for although they moved with great rapidity, the news of 
their exploits usually preceded them, and it was believ-ed that the 
citizens were now arming to stop their progress. Arriving at the 
river the proprietor of the ferr^' made his appearance, and in a 
careless way asked if they wanted to cross, supposing them to be 
a force of Alabama cavalry which was expected in the neigh- 
borhood. Col. Prince of the 7th, imitating his provincial vernacu- 
lar, replied in the affirmative, aud added that "it took more time 
to wake up his negro ferrymen than to catch the d — d conscripts." 



THE WAE OF THE EEBELLION. 821 

Tlioiouglily deceived by his Yankee interlocutor, aud apologizing 
for their detention, he awoke his negroes, who ferried them over, 
aud then v^ith true southern hospitality invited them to breakfast, 
believing he Avas entertaining the 1st regiment of Alabama cavalry. 
As soon as the repast was over the party resumed their march 
and shortly afterward cajjtured a courier, flying with the startling 
intelligence that the Yankees were coming and that the feriy must 
be destroyed. At Hazlehnrst on the New Orleans and Jackson 
railroad, the next place visited, a large number of cars were 
destroyed, containing powder, shell and other supplies for the con- 
federate army. 

At this point Capt. Forbes sent to destroy the railroad at Ma- 
con rejoined them. lu his return he unwittingly became the hero of 
a daring adventure. Entering Newton station where he expected, 
to meet with the men under Grierson he was astonished to find 
himself in the midst of 3000 rebels in the act of debarking from 
the cars. With remarkable jn-esence of mind he hoisted a flag of 
truce, and, boldly riding up, demanded the surrender of the force, 
iu the name of Col. Grierson. The rebel officer in command, sup- 
j)osing Grierson's whole force which rumor had magnified to a 
mighty host, was close at hand, asked an hour to consider the 
demand. Forbes granted the request with feigned reluctance, 
and started for the pretended troops in reserve to whom the con- 
federate was to send his repl^' at the expiration of the time. The 
raiders, amused at the sell, dashed away, giving the enemy a long 
time to consult in regard to terms of the capitulation, and a 
long distance to travel before they could make them known. The 
entire command left Hazlehnrst on the 27th and, pushing along the 
N. O. & J. E. E., through the stations of Bahala, Brookhaveu and 
Summit, tore up the railroad, destroyed its rolling stock, and 
immense quantities of commissary's stores and munitions on 
the way to Vicksburg, Port Hudson and Grand Gulf. On leaving 
the railroad they reached Baton Eouge on the 2d of Ma}*, the ob- 
jective point of the expedition. Within the last 30 hours with- 
out eating or sleeping, they had ridden SO miles, destroyed a num- 
ber of bridges and large quantities of military stores, swam one 
river, had three skiimishes with the enemy, and took 42 prisoners. 
So exhausted were the men that they slept on their horses till the 
report of carbines roused them to action, aud when the fray was 
over again relapsed into slumber. 

A resume of their operations shows that in the brief interval 
of 16 days they had ridden from the northern to the southern 
part of Mississippi, and, although operating between two great 
rebel lines of communication, the Mobile & Ohio andNew Orleans 
and Jackson railroads, by skillful manceuvers usually succeeded in 
eluding the enemy. In their march of 800 miles they took 500 
prisoners, destroyed from 50 to 60 miles of railroad, 2 locomotives, 
200 cars and military stores, and other property valued at $40,000 ; 
while they crossed into the Union lines with 1,200 horses and mules 
aud 500 negroes. 

The most determined efl:brts were made to capture them. 
A thousand cavalrymen from south of Port Hudson, 1,300 from 
Mobile, and 2,000 from the vicinity of Columbia, were sent for 
this purpose, but Grierson's strategy rendered their efforts abor- 
tive. Their safe arrival in Baton Eouge, whither the story of 



822 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

their adventnie had i)receded them, created the greatest enthusi- 
asm and rejoicing. Many refused to believe what they had heard 
till they sa\v the men and listened toarecitalof their feats. So im- 
inent were the dangers and so complete the su>ccess,it seems more 
like a feat of romance than an occurrence of actual life. The reb- 
els were taught, notwithstanding the efficiency of their cavalry, 
they could be "outrode, outwitted and out fought," and hence the 
moral results achieved were no less important than the physical. 

Siege and Surrender of Yickshurg. — From the investment of the 
city till the surrender, little occurred to diversify the routine of 
duty performed by the investing army. On the 22d of June, the 
rebels in a sortie drove the 14th Illinois from their trenches which, 
as a working party, they were engaged in excavating round the 
city. The succeeding night the 41st Illinois and some other forces, 
were ordered to the same trenches and the rebels again sallied 
forth and demanded their surrender. The colonel of the 41st in- 
stantly ordered the artillery to open and in a severe light the reb- 
els were driven back to their works. 

On the 25th the miners of McPherson's corps blew up 
the rebel Fort Hill. Having deposited a ton of powder in an ex- 
cavation under the fort, and selected the 45th Illinois to occupy 
the breach, the mine was sprung. Almost noiselessly the ground 
was lifted upas if some subterranean monster had suddenly risen 
from his lair and tossed aside his covering of earth. A yawning cra- 
ter some 20 feet in width was opened, and hardly had the cloud 
of white smoke which issued from it cleared away, before the bat- 
tle-scarred veterans of the 45th were at their post. The rebels 
crowded up to the breach with great rapidity, and the fight on both 
sides was one of desperation. For want of room the federal regi 
ments subsequently engaged, went in one at a time, and as each 
exhausted its ammunition another took its place. In this manner 
the 23d, 25th, 39th, 31st, 46th, 56th and r24th Illinois success- 
ively entered the vortex of fire and struggled like demi-gods to 
quench its flames. 

The object of these mining operations was to possess important 
points in the enemy's line of defenses, and thereby press him back 
toward the river. When, however, it became evident that the 
garrison was short of provisions, the excavation of parallels 
and mines was discontmued. The supply of food, though it 
had been carefully husbanded, and the flesh of mules extensively 
used, was now nearly exhausted. A failure of ammunition also 
ensued, the ardor of the garrison was dampened by protracted pri- 
vations, and the citizens living in caves to avoid danger, found 
their sufferings too great to longer continue the siege. 

Induced by these stringent necessities, Pemberton, on the 2d of 
July, displayed a white flag on the ramparts in view of the invest- 
ing army and an officer being sent to ascertain its meaning, learned 
that he wished to confer in regard to terms of capitulation. Cor- 
respondence was interchanged, resulting in a personal interview 
between the two chiefs of the contending forces, and finally in 
the unconditional surrender of the city and confederate army. So 
great was the number of prisoners, to avoid the expense of their 
maintenance and transportation to northern prisons they were 
paroled. It was also believed that the demoralization consequent 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 823 

iipou tlieir letnru home after defeat, would more than counter- 
balance the efforts of those who miglit be again induced to take 
up arms. The stars and stripes were hoisted over tlie conquered 
stronghold, thus symbolizing the nation's majest}' in the presence 
of her erring and rebellious children. 

Only three days after the fall of Vicksburg, as the immediate 
result of the victory. Port Hudson surrendered to the besieging 
ibrce under Banks. The campaigns for the opening of the Mis- 
sissippi were now at an end. To Illinois far more than to any 
4)ther State, the nation is indebted for this successful termination. 
Her representatives in the long list of bloody battles and brilliant 
victories were the 8th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 20th, 23d, 25th, 28th, 
^9th, 30th, 31st, 32(1, 33d, 35th, 38th. 41st, 45th, 4(')th, 47th, 48th, 
.51st, 53d, 55th, 57th, G3d,72d, 75th, 76th, 77th, 81st. 93d. 94th, 95th, 
97th, 99th, 108th, 113th, 114th, 116th, 118th, 120th, 124th, 126th, 
127th and 131st regiments of infantry, Willard's PeoTia and the 
Chicago Mercantile battery, the 6th, 7th, and portions of the 23d, 
15th and Thielman's cavalry. 

Step by step they had hewed their way toward the gulf, strong- 
hold after stronghold had fallen beneath their stalwart blows, and 
ajow the last fetter which treason had forged to bind the Father of 
Waters, was riven assunder No victory of the war was so decisive 
in its results as the capture of Vicksburg. It has been truthfully 
said that the possession of the Mississippi valley is the possession 
of America. Had the Kichmond government been able to maintain 
the power it set up in the lower })art of the great valley, the ui)per 
portion would have gravitated into the confederacy as naturally as 
its waters fall into the gulf. Furthermore the river not only served 
as a means of defense but was the dividing line between two great 
sections of the revolted territory. That lying on the Avest, although 
less im[)ortant than the Atlantic region, was nevertheless tlie 
vast storehouse whence supplies had been drawn for tlie sujjport 
of the armies ni Virginia and Tennessee. Now isolated, Texas 
rtoould no longer contribute her vast herds of cattle, Arkansas 
jier cereals and Louisiaiui her sugar. With a fleet of federcil gun- 
boats i)atrolling the river, concert in the military operations of the 
.severed States was impossible, and in those of the west the war 
was virtually at an entl. 

To the material effects of the blow the moral must be added to 
fully appreciate the extent of the damage sustained by the cou- 
iederacy. The surprise and consternation consequent upon the 
Mississippi disaster fell like a thunderbolt from a clear sky on the 
people of the south. The spirit of their high vaulting chivalry 
was broken, and gloomy doubts brooded in the minds of numy as 
to the possibility of ever realizing the success of their cause. The 
•confederate authorities were early convinced of theimi)ortanceof 
the Mississippi. At the time Grant commenced his descent against 
Vicksburg, Jefferson Davis harangued the people of Jackson on 
the necessity of preserving the Mississippi, as the great artery of 
the country and the only means of securing the perpetuity of the 
aiew government. Pollard in referring to its loss, says: "It com- 
pelled as its necessary consequence, the surrender of other posts 
on the Mississippi and cut the confederacy in twain. Its defense 
had worked exposure and weakness in other quarters. It had 
about stripped Charleston of troops; it had taken numy thousand 



824 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



of men from Bragg's army, and it had made such requisition on- 
his force for the newly organized hnes in Mississippi that he was 
compelled or induced, wisely or unwisely, to fall back from Talla- 
hatchie to TuUahoma, to give up the country on the Memphis and 
Chatleston railroad, and probably to abandon the defences of Mid- 
dle Tennessee." 

Brigadier-General John A. Logan, whose deeds and fame 
are so inseparably blended with the opening of the Mississippi^ 
was born at Murfreesboro, Jackson county, February 9thy 
1826. In connuon with others, at that early day in Illinois, 
his educational privileges were limited. Natural ability, however, 
triumphed over all obstacles, and he eaily become noted for the 
proficiency of his attainments. At the outbreak of the Mexican 
M'ar he entered as a lieutenant in the 1st regiment of Illinois \'ol- 
unteers, and valiantly fought with his comrades till they returned 
home. Eesuming the duties of civil life, he commenced the study 
of law in the office of his uncle, A. M. Jenkins, formerly lieuten- 
ant-governor of the State. On the completion of his studies he 
rapidly rose in his profession and obtained a wide-spread popularity. 
In 1852 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the 3d judicial dis- 
trict. In the fall of the same year he was chosen to represent the 
counties of Franklin and Jackson in the legislature, and was re- 
elected in 1856. After the expiration of his last term in the legis- 
lature he was twice elected to congress, and while still a member- 
in 1861, he returned home, and npon the organization of the 31st 
Illinois, was chosen its colonel. Of his subsequent operations in 
the war we have already spoken. From the iron fibre of his com- 
position and his deeds of fiery valor, he has been styled the Muratii 
of Illinois bravery. 



Chapter LXII. 

1SG3— ILLINOIS m THE CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGN. 

Battles of Chickamauga — Wauhachie — Lookout Mountain and Mis- 
sion Ridge — Relief of Knoxville. 



After the battle of Marfreesboro several months were spent by 
Rosecrans in recruiting- his army, procuring supplies and opening 
up lines of communication to again advance on Bragg, liigid 
discipline was eaijoined and no efibrt spared to create in the 
minds of his men a proper appreciation of the work before 
them. 

While these preparations were going on a number of minor en- 
gagements occurred in Middle Tennessee, in which Illinois troops 
were prominent actors. On the 3d of February, 1863, Forrest 
made a determined attack to recapture Fort Donelson, garrisoned 
by the 83d Illinois, but was repulsed. March 20th the 8th, 80th 
and 123d Illinois and some other troops under Col. Hall had a se- 
vere encounter with Morgan's cavalry near Milton, and the latter 
were forced to retreat. Again on the 20th of April the 24:th, SOth, 
98th and 123d Illinois, assisted by a force of cavalry, overtook a 
body of rebels at Woodbury and drove them from the town. 

At length the Washington authorities, believing that Bragg's 
army had been weakened to strengthen that of Lee's, insisted on 
a forward movement. The rebel commander, after his defeat, re- 
tired to Tulhihoma and Shelbyville, making Duck Eiver his line 
of defense. His position in the towns was strongly fortified, while 
the occupation of the roads leading south, as well as the natural 
features of the country, gave him additional security in case of 
an attack. Rosecrans determined to neutralize these advantages 
by a tlaidv movement on the left and compel him either to retreat 
or fight outside of his fortifications. Accordingly on the 21th of 
June the Union army set out from Murfreesboro, Thomas' corps 
in the centre, McCook's on the right and Crittenden's on the left. 
By a feint on Shelbyville with a portion of his army, he deceived 
the enemy, causing him to uncover Liberty, Hoover's and other 
principal gaps in the Cumberland Mountains through which the 
main advance was to be made. After hard fighting these were 
possessed by the national troops, the enemy's position at Shelbj'- 
ville fianked and Bragg compelled to evacuate his works and es- 
cape to Tulhihoma. Dispositions were immediately made to get 
in his rear and destroy his communications at the latter place, but 
he immediately abandoned it and retired in the direction of Chat- 
tanooga, pressed as far as practicable by the Union troops. Thus in 
a campaign of nine days, during which the roads were rendered 

825 



826 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

nearly impassable by one of the most extraoidiuary rain storms 
ever known in the conntry, the enemy was driven from his en- 
trenched position and Middle Tennessee relieved from rebel domi- 
nation. Also in the various rencounters which occurred, there 
were captured 1,634 prisoners, six pieces of artillery and a large 
amount of stores. 

The next step in following up the enemy was Chattanooga, the 
approaches to which were strong by nature and rendered more so 
by art. Rosecrans having init the railroad in operation to Ste- 
venson for the transportation of supplies, commen<'ed crossing the 
Cumberland Mountains, whose towering masses of rock lay be- 
tween him and the stronghold he wished to subdue. Availing 
himself of the mountain i)asses previously captured, he reached 
the Teiinessee,and descending it, prepared to cross in the vicinity 
of Chattanooga. The city being imi^regnable to a direct attiick, 
liosecrans decided to flank it on the west and south, and either 
force Briigg to evacuate it or suffer isolation from his base of sup- 
plies. With the exception of Hazen's division the federals crossed 
the river below the city and commenced moving into Lookout val- 
ley. This, with the parallel valleys of Chattanooga and Chick- 
amauga, extends southward from the Tennessee, which, at this 
point, runs in a westerly direction. Creeks bearing the names 
and coursing through each valley fall into the river, the two most 
western below the city, and the one farthest east above it. Sep- 
arating the waters of the creeks are Lookout Mountain and Mis- 
sion Eidge, the former abutting on the river opposite Chattanooga 
and the latter a short distance above. 

Hazen was instructed to watch the fords and make Bragg be- 
lieve that the main body of the national troops was still on the 
north bank of the river. His force, although numbering only 7,000 
men, was accordingly so dispersed ; the heads of columns and camp- 
fires could he seen simultaneously at the fords along the river a 
distance of several miles. So adroitly was the ruse managed 
that McCook's corps had advanced up the valley 45 miles, nini 
Thomas' 13, while Crittenden was on the river only 8 miles from 
Chattanooga before it was discovered bj' Bragg. He was now in 
a quandary. He could easily maintain himself against any as- 
sault of his adversary within his fortifications, but how long could 
he defy starvation when the investing army had cut off his sup- 
plies. If he attempted to defend both Chattanooga and his com- 
munications his army would be divided and easily beaten in 
detail, and if he abandoned the city, it would provoke a clamor 
among the people of the South eagerly watching his movements. The 
last expedient was, however, chosen as the least of three evils, and 
abandoning the city and its well constructed fortihcations, he 
moved his army up Chickamauga valley in the direction of Lafa- 
yette. 

Crittenden having taken possession of the town without oppo- 
sition, was ordered to leave a brigade as a garrison, and with the 
remainder of his corps pursue the retiring army up the valley. 
Kosecrans, believing that Bragg was in full retreat, and that his 
chief object should be to intercept him, McCook and Thomas were 
ordered through the passes of Lookout and Missiou mountains to 
get in advance of him on the south, in making this disposition 
of his forces, like many other good generals before him, he was 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 827 

deceived. Biagg was not retreatiii<i-, l)ut coiiceiitratiiiji^, in the vi- 
cinity of Lafayette, tbe most numerous army tliat had ever fought 
under rebel standards west of the Allegliauies. Buckner had 
been summoned from Knoxville, Johnson had been drawn upon 
for one of his strongest divisions, and Lee, satisfied that Eich- 
niond was not in danger, dispatched Longstreet's heavy corps of 
veterans from the Eapidan. Ere this was known Crittenden, 
deflecting- easterly, had collided with a portion of this force in the 
vicinity of Einggold. Thomas had developed it near Lafayette, 
and McCook had completely turned his position on the south. 

In this detached condition of the Union corps a rare opportu- 
nity was offered Bragg to crush them in detail. All it required 
■Mis to fall on Thomas with such a force as to overwhelm him, 
thdn turn down Chickamauga valley, and throwing himself be- 
tween the city and Crittenden, crush him, and finally, turning up 
Lookout valley, intercept and capture McCook. Failing to im- 
mediately avail himself of his advantages, our generals discovered 
their mistake and rapidly commenced concentrating to avoid its 
consequences. Thomas at once pushed down the valley to within 
supporting distance of Crittenden, while McCook, whose isolation 
was greater, marched back into Lookout valley, and descending 
it, recrossed the mountains at Stephens' Gap. By this zig-zag 
course he effected a junction with the other .corps, and eluded 
Bragg, who had posted a heavy force to intercept him in the direct 
route down the Chickamauga. In the meantime affairs on the 
Chickamauga had assumed an alarming aspect. Bragg had receiv- 
ed reinforcements, and endeavoring to get between his antagonists 
and Chattanooga, a race commenced between their respective 
armies on opposite sides of the creek in the direction of the city. 
This movement evinced a determination on the part of Bragg to 
turn our left, and Thomas was ordered to that end of the line, 
leaving Crittenden's and McCook's on the right. Its 7 divisions, 
Wood's, Van Cleves', Palmer's, Reynolds', Johnson's, Baird's and 
Brannan's, now concentrated, extended down the west bank of the 
Chickamauga in the order mentioned, some 12 miles southward 
of Clmttanooga. Negley's, Davis' and Sheridan's were yet several 
miles south of the main force, and Granger's at Piossville, but 
after the commencement of the battle they came up and partici- 
pated, swelling the entire force to some 55,000. 

Early on the morning of the 19fch of September, 1863, clouds of 
dust were seen hanging over the road beyond the creek, caused by 
the heavy columns of the enemy moving in the direction of Chatta- 
nooga. At 10 o'clock the loud explosions of artillery on the ex- 
treme left signaled the commencement of battle, and Thomas, 
riding forward to ascertain the nature of the attack, found Bran- 
nan's division hard ]n-essed. To his surprise, also, the enemy had 
crossed the creek, and all the advantages which it afforded as a 
means of defense were lost. The impetuosity of the assault came 
near sweeping his entire corps from the field before it could be 
rallied and reinforced. When at length this was effected, its 
sturdy regulars, stung by the disaster they had sustained, and 
catching the resolution of their commander, threw themselves with 
irresistible force against their assailants. Even Longstreet's 
veterans strove in vain to check the advance, and were swept back 
the distance of a mile, and aU the lost ground recovered. The 



828 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

charge which struck the left, extended toward the right, causing 
that end of the line to sway backward and forward according to 
the varying success of the combatants. At the centre such was 
the violence of the assault that Davis, who had come into the 
fight, was thrown to the right and Van Cleve to the left, 
and the rebels pouring into the gap the battle seemed to be 
lost. At this juncture Hazen massed some 20 pieces of 
artillery at the threatened point and discharging a cross- 
fire of grape and cannister into the charging columns, 
forced them back. On the extreme right no very serious demon- 
strations were made till the afternoon, when several rebel brig- 
ades charged on one of our batteries and captured 3 of its guns. 
These were afterward retaken and the assault at this end of tbe 
line in the end jjroved a failure. At different times during the 
day victory was almost within the grasp of the enemy, but when 
night ended the conflict, the two armies stood face to face on 
ground that offered little advantage to either. 

During the night, Longstreet with additional veterans from the 
army of Virginia, reinforced Bragg, swelling his army to 70,000, 
and giving him an excess over Rosecrans, of 15,000. The latter 
made some slight (changes in the disposition of his divisions to 
strengthen the left, against which it Avas expected the rebels would 
next hurl their greatly i3reponderating forces. With these prepa- 
rations the trooi)^> rested in the bleak September air of the moun- 
tain region on the ground whei-e they had so persistently fought. 

At daybreak the armies were drawn up for battle, but a dense 
fog filling the valley and rendering objects invisible, it did not 
commence till near 8 o'clock. The time was improved by further 
strengthening Thomas, whose force now constituted about half of 
the entire army. Kude breastworks were also thrown up on his 
front, which aflorded great protection in the subsequent battle. 
As soon as the fog disappeared the rebel squadrons moved up in 
an overwhelming charge. Thomas received the brunt of the on- 
slaught. Bragg was again endeavoring to interpose his army 
between that of Rosecrans and Chattanooga, which the preceding 
day he had failed to effect. For a time the battle raged with 
frightful carnage and varying success. The rebels, however, when 
repulsed, continued to swai'm up with fresh troops and augmented 
numbers, and at length threw themselves with such momentum on 
Thomas as to force him back. A new position was, however, 
taken and all further attempts to turn his flank and get into Chatta- 
nooga proved abortive. 

The right, in the meantime, had suffered irreparable disaster. 
Kegley's and Van Cleves' divisions having been ordered to the 
support of Thomas, opened a gap which the division commanders 
on the right were ordered to close, but owing to a misunderstand- 
ing in regard to the movement and the consequent delay. Long- 
street threw Hood's command into the breacb. The result was 
fatal. Davis' division moving up for the same purjjose, was struck 
and severed by the blow which smote it. Palmer and Van Cleve 
on the opposite side, shared a similar fate, and soon the whole 
right wing crumbled into fragments, was sent in impotent dis- 
order in the direction of Chattanooga. Rosecrans,with other promi- 
nent officers was swept along by the tide, and on arriving in the city 
he commenced preparations to defend the place and save the frag- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 829 

ments of the army, for it seemed to be utterly routed aud at tlie 
mercy of the enemy. The result, though sufficiently bad, did uot 
prove in the end so disastrous as was supposed. 

Thomas, subsequently styled the rock of Chickamauga, gather- 
ing his bleeding forces and massing his guns in a semi-circle on 
the side of Mission Ridge, stood like a wall of adamant between the 
routed divisions and the enemy. Squadron after squadron ai- 
tempted to breast the terrific fire of his artillery but were melted 
away like frost work in the blaze of the morning sun. Four of 
the 9 divisions of the army had been swept entirely away, and 
with the remnants of the remainder he kept the entire rebel army 
at bay. About 4 o'clock a new peril threatened him. The enemy 
pressing him in front and on both flanks, discovered a gorge on 
the right crossing the ridge on which he was posted, and com- 
menced streaming through it to get in his rear. The danger was 
seen, but he could not spare a single man to avert it. In a few 
minutes he w^ould be surrounded by a shouting foe and com- 
pelled either to surrender or be cut to pieces. Fortunately, at the 
very moment on which hung the fate of his army, Granger came 
up and offered tlie necessary assistance. 

Posted at Eossville, and hearing the continuous thunder of bat- 
tle in the direction of Thomas, he waited impatiently — anxiously for 
orders to join the conflict. As the tumult swelled and deepened, 
though contrary to orders, he was unable to resist its loud appeal 
for help, and started where his intuitions told him assistance was 
needed. On arriving he reported himself to Thomas, and was at 
once ordered to the point of danger. His troops, in which was the 
115th Illinois, although new recruits, comprehending themomeutous 
issues at stake, were soon breast to breast with the veterans of 
Hindman, now pouring through the gap and triumphantly 
shouting. In 20 miimtes the gorge was carried and Thomas was 
saved, but 1,000 of our brave men had been killed and wounded 
in the charge. Longstreet, the rebel Achilles of the battle, deter- 
mined to retake it, and repeatedly charged up to the very muzzles 
of our guns, double-shotted with grape and cannister. Finding 
at length this point impregnable, Bragg determined to improve 
the remainder of the day in a final assaidt on the front and left. 
The national troops, having exhausted their ammunition, waited 
in the gathering gloom of twilight with fixed bayonets, to receive 
them. When within striking distance, they precij^itated them- 
selves on the enemy with such vigor as not only to rout him but 
capture some 200 prisoners. 

Eosecrans having informed Thomas to use his own judgment 
as to the propriety of longer holding his position, he concluded to 
fall back to Eossville — the want of ammunition, food, and water 
being the principal inducements for the change. After reaching 
this place a new line was formed and the advance of the enemy 
awaited. Although hovering near, he had been too severely pun- 
ished to renew the attack, and on the night of the 21st Thomas 
fell back to Chattanooga. Eosecrans estimated his losses in 
the bloody conflict at 36 pieces of artillerj- and 16,000 men and 
claimed the capture of 2,000 prisoners. Bragg admitted a loss of 
18,000 men and claimed the cai^ture of 51 guns and 8,000 prison- 
ers. He also vauntingly announced a great victory, yet he evi- 
dently either lacked the ability or the courage to improve it. 



830 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Thomas ofiered him battle the next day, and althougli outnum- 
bering the federals two to one, he declined it. Furthermore, if 
Bragg had gained a victory its fruits were confined to the battle- 
field, while Kosecrans had secured Chattanooga, the strategic 
object of the campaign. The key to the mountain system 
extending to the heart of the confederacy, it also served as an 
impregnable bastion to command the rebel lines of communica- 
tion which traversed its rugged passes. 

Says Pollard : " Rosecrans still held the prize of Chattanooga 
and with it the possession of East Tennessee. Two-thirds of our 
nitre beds were in that region and a large proportion of the coal 
which sup])lied our foundries. It abounded in the necessaries of 
life. It was one of the strongest countries in tiie world, so full of 
lofty mountains that it has been called, not inaptly, the Switzer- 
land of America. As the possession of Switzerland opened the 
door for the invasion of Italy, Grermany and France, so the pos- 
session of East Tennessee gave easy access to Virginia, North 
Carolina, Georgia and Alabama." 

The representatives of Illinois in the bloody conflict were the 
10th, 16th, 19th, 21st, 22d, 24th, 2oth, 27th, 31th, 35th, 36th, 38th, 
42d, 44th, 51st, 73d, 74th, 75th. 78th, 79th, 80th, 84th, 85th, 8Gth, 
88th, 89th, 92d, 98th, 100th, 104'th, 110th, 115th, 123d, 125th and 
127th. Cols. Chandler and Mihalotzy and a long list of others, 
were among the slain. The 21st lost 238, 22d 235, 35th 152, 38th 
18. 51st 90, and 79th 121. 

The battle of Chickamauga was made the subject of remark both 
among rebels and Unionists. Bragg, by failing to take advan- 
tage of the victory which he so pompously claimed, completed the 
overthrow of his reputation, which had been tottering since tlie 
battle of Stone River. Eosecrans, suffering greatly in famfe, was 
finally relieved of his command, and Thomas, whose superior 
fighting qualities had saved the army from destruction, was 
placed in his stead. 

To secure greater unity of design and co-operation, and thereby 
greater efficiency, the separate armies operating in the region of 
Chattanooga were placed under the command of Grant. He im- 
mediately telegrai)hed Thomas to hold Chattanooga at all haz- 
ards, and received in reply assurances that starvation was the 
only contingency that could lead to its abandonment. Had he 
been forced to relinquish it, all its possession had cost would have 
been thrown away, and the struggle for ascendancy in the valley 
of the Mississippi again to re-enact. To prevent such a disaster 
Grant immediately commenced preparations to forward supplies 
and reinforcements. On the 22d day of September, Sherman, 
then on Big Black river, was notified by a dispatch to send over 
one of his divisions, and the next day Osterhaus was steaming up 
the Mississippi on the way to Chattanooga. Four days after, in 
accordance with further instructions, Sherman and his entire corps 
embarked in steamboats and started tV)r the same place. At Mem- 
phis he commenced the rejDair of the Memphis and Charleston R. 
R., with the design of using it for the conveyance of his supplies 
as he advanced. While vigorously engaged in pushing forward 
this enterprise directly in the face of the enemy, he was ordered 
to abandon it and proceed directly forward to effect a junction 
with the other forces at Chattanooga. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 831 

The partial reverse at Chickamanga also induced Halleck to de- 
tach two divisions from the array of the Potomac and send them 
under Hooker to operate in the same held. Grant himself arrived 
on the 23d of October, and seeing the precarious condition of 
supplies, instituted measures to place them beyond the reach of 
future contingencies. Both troops and animals were already 
suffering for the want of provisions which had been brought in 
wagons over the numerous mountain ridges separating Chatta- 
nooga from Middle Tennessee. Bragg, aware that he could neither 
flank nor carry by storm the stronghold which he had so recently 
lost, was endeavoring to getpossession of the river and therailroads 
leading to it with the intention of starving our army out of it. 

For the two-fold purpose of obtaining relief and facilitating the 
operations of Hooker, who was approaching the city by way of 
Lookout valley, Grant determined to seize the heights on the 
west side where it connects with the Tennessee. After a recou- 
noisance, 1,500 picked troops under Hazen were sent in j)ontoons 
down the river to Brown's ferry adjacent the heights, while a co- 
operating force of 2,500 secretly followed on the north bank of 
the river. The jion toons carrying the advance party noiselessly 
floated down the stream to the point chosen for debarkation. 
Here a picket alarm aroused the neighboring camps of the enemy 
and Hazen's men jumped quickly ashore aiul formed to repel an 
attack. The former, wholly taken by surprise, after a feeble re- 
sistance retreated up the valley, and the spurs on the east side of 
it were seized and fortified. The pontoons were next employed 
to pass over the force on the opposite side, and at daylight the 
heights, which gave Grant the key to Bragg's position, were made 
impregnable. During the day Hooker came down the valley, 
and having dispersed the rebel forces on the river below, it was 
opened to navigation and all fears of starvation removed. A 
bridge was thrown across the river opposite, and should Bragg 
mass his forces either against Hooker or Chattanooga, we now 
had the shorter line of concentration. 

Battle of Wauhatchie. — The rebels, alarmed at the demonstra- 
tions in Lookout valley, determined, on the night of the 28th of 
October, to interpose a counteracting movement. Bragg, unable 
to cope with Hooker's entire corps, made an assault on Geary's 
division encamped at Wauhatchie, the point where he had effect- 
ed an entrance into Lookout valley. About midnight they rushed 
forward with loud yells and great impetuosity, but found their 
antagonists wide awake and ready to receive them with a tire 
tiercer and deadlier than their own. Hooker, hearing the report 
of guns, and anxious for the safety of Geary, immediately sent 
forward Schurz's division of Howard's corps to his aid. As the 
force rapidly marched forward in the moonlight they were sud- 
denly and unexpectedly fired upon by 2,000 rebels posted on an 
adjoining hill. One of the brigades moved on to the assistance of 
,Geary while the other halted to charge the heights. The latter, 
immediately scaling the steep acclivity with fixed bayonets, clear- 
ed the rifle pits on its summit. In the meantime the wild hills 
which girt Geary about were ablaze with flashes of nuisketry and 
exploding shells. Although several times nearly overwhelmed, 



832 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

he clung to his position aud at leugth forced his assailauts back 
and coini)elled them to seek refuge in their works ou Lookout 
Mountain. 

The 101st Illinois was among the heroes of the battle, and ma- 
terially aided in the enemy's overthrow. 

Battle of Lookout Mountain. — Bragg, weakened by detaching 
Lougstreet's corps to operate against Burnside atKnoxville, now 
concluded to remain in his trenches and act on the defensive. His 
position, stretching across the valley of Chattanooga, and high ou 
the western and northern slopes of Lookout and Mission Ridge 
was one of great natural strength. The valley here is narrow and 
was so enfiladed by batteries planted on the sides of the ad- 
jacent mountains as to render it wholly impregnable to a direct 
assault. Hooker, holding the valley of Lookout, confronted the 
enemy on the adjacent mountain. Thomas occupied a central po- 
sition in the valley of Chattanooga in the front of the city, aud 
Sherman Avas ordered to seize the northern extremity of Mission 
Eidge. With the loth army corps he moved from Bridgeport and 
on entering Lookout valley, dispatched Ewing's division ujj it to 
threaten Bragg's extreme left and thus divert attention from 
his right, where he w^as ordered to operate. With the remainder of 
his force he crossed the bridge at Brawn's ferry, aud, proceeding- 
unobserved along the north bank of the river, he recrossed it 
near the mouth of the Chickamauga and seized the position assign- 
ed him before the rebels had time to interpose any serious op[)0- 
sition. Ewing's division was now ordered back to rejoin Siier- 
man, but the bridge having given away, he returned and fought 
under Hooker. 

The latter in the meantime climbing the precipitous steeps of 
Lookout, had planted his veteran standards high on its cloud- 
capped summit. To favor Sherman's movement he had been di- 
rected to threaten the enemy. With this object in view, on the 
morning of the 24th his forces were in motion, but the rain of the 
]:)revious days had swollen Lookout creek and swept away the 
pontoons prepared for crossing it. While rebuilding the bridge 
Geary was ordered to move up the valley and cross at a more 
available point. Favored by a heavy mist the force unobserved 
crossed the creek and secured a lodgment on its western bank. 
By 11 o'clock the bridge was completed, and the force augmented 
to some 9,000 men, swept down between the creek and the moun- 
tain, carried the rifle-pits at its base and captured a large number 
of prisoners. isText commenced the fearful ascent of the moun- 
tain, our men enthusiastically climbing over splintered crests and 
yawning ^chasms, directly under the muzzles of the enemy's bat- 
teries. Soon the flashes and thunderi^eals resembling the crash 
of heaven's artillery, announced the storm of war raging in the 
clouds above. When the dense masses of fog that had become 
banked againstthe side of the mountain rolled away, and the splen- 
did pageantry of battle burston the vision of the thousands who had 
been shrouded in the mist-clouded valleys below, charging 
squadrons, shouting multitudes and clashing arms aj^peared high 
above them, as if the gods, having esi^oused the cause of the con- 
tending armies were warring to decide their fate. Our columns, 
flushed by success, in the faceof a plunging tire of heavy ordnance, 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 833 



rushed on the foe capturing many prisoners and hurling the re- 
mainder of his forces down the pricipitous eastern declivity of 
the mountain. The entire army with almost painful excitement 
having witnessed the sublime scene, responded with loud acclaim 
to the shout which rose from the conquering columns, till the Avild 
mountain gorges became vocal with the echoes and seemed to par- 
take of the rejoicing. 

The Illinois regiments in and otherwise connected with the bat- 
tle were the 12th, 34th, 35th, 59th, GOth, 73d, 75th, 101st and 115th. • 

Battle of Mission Bidge. — Sherman, after having gained a foot- 
hold on Mission Eidge, improved the succeeding night in fortify- 
ing his position, and was ready on the morning of the 25th to move 
against the enemy. The ridge he occupied was not continuous 
but a succession of eminences. A deep gap lay between him and 
the elevation on which the enemy Avas posted, and should he get 
possession of this, there was still a second higher and farther 
back whose guns commanded it. At early dawn Gen. M. L. Smith 
was directed to move along the east base of the ridge, Col. Loomis 
the west base and Gen. Corse with the lOth Illinois, supported by 
the 20th and 40th Ohio, along the crest. The latter advanced to 
within 80 yards of the enemy's works where he gained a second- 
ary crest and commenced an assault, but was unable to 
carry tlie works of the rebels, and they unable to drive him 
from his position. Smith and Loomis were however gaining 
on each flank, and Bragg massing his forces to protect the 
most vulnerable points of his position, the battle raged with con- 
stantly increasing fury. From every salient point and projecting 
spur, batteries flamed and thundered, wrapping the combatants in a 
cloud of smoke. As the day wore away this fearful pounding was 
continued without intermission and without either belligerent gain- 
ing any decided advantage. Grant meanwhile had been listening to 
the stern work in which his favorite lieutenant was engaged, and 
anxiously waiting for the time to come when he could relieve him 
by a move on the centre. At length, when Bragg had weakened 
this part of his line to support his right, and Hooker had come 
down from the heights of Lookout with a co-operating force, 
Thomas was ordered to advance. 

That portion of Bragg's position which he was now to assail lay 
on a bald, rugged height of Mission Eidge, 800 feet above Chatta- 
nooga. A line of rifle pits protected its base, while on its summit 
were batteries which had achieved fame in previous battles, support- 
ed by veteran regiments. As soon as the command was given, 
Wood's, Baird's and Johnson's divisions under Granger, immedi- 
ately started rapidly forward. So openly and dehberately was 
the movement that the enemy regarded it as a review, and those 
in the rifle pits, sui'prised, fled precipitately up the mountain as 
the assaulting columns approached . The rebels, greatly astonished 
at the attack made at the base of the mountain, were more so when 
they beheld the national troops climbing its precipitous sides to as- 
sail them on its summit. Nearly 80 pieces of artillery commenced 
hurling at them grape and cannister to dispute the ascent, yet the 
works were carried simultaneously at six different points. A shout 
announced the result, and soldiers clinging to steeps and spurs, and 
deep in the valley below, answered with a loud response. Bragg, 
63 



834 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 



seeing all was lost, commenced withdrawing, closely followed till 
nightfall, which put an end to further movements. The next day 
the pursuit was continued and the enemy overtaken in a gap of 
the mountains near Ringgold. Here he made a stubborn resist- 
ance, but was finally forced from his strong position, the 13th 
Illinois bearing an honorable part in the fight. 

The Illinois regiments in the magnificent charges of Mission 
Eidge and the co-operative struggles, were the 12th. the 19th, 2iMy 
26th, 27th, 35th, 42d, 44th, 48tb, 51st, 59th, G3d, 73d, 78th, 79th^ 
80th, 84th, 86th, 88th, 89th, 93d, 104th and 115th. The 26th lost 
101 men, the 42d, 45, and the 51st, 30. They were first in Sher- 
man's and first in Thomas' advance, and first to surmount the bat- 
tery-crowned crests of the ridge. 

Considenng Bragg's almost impregnable position on the sum- 
mits of the mountains and the daring and skillful generalship used 
in wresting it from his grasp, the battles in the vicinity of Chatta- 
nooga must be regarded among the most remarkable on record. 
Though outnumbered toward the close of the campaign, the lofty 
eyry in which he had perched his forces gave liim decidedly the 
advantage. Failing to hold it the passes which it oveijooked and 
commanded now became salient points for the farther advance 
of the national armies, and Chattanooga became henceforth as ser- 
viceable in the cause of the Union as it had hitherto been defiant 
to loyalty. The Union loss in the series of engagements, termi- 
nating in this auspicious result, was rejjorted 5,600; that of the 
enemy in killed and wounded at 2,500 ; prisoners 6,000 ; artillery 
40 guns. 

Siege and Relief of Knoxville. — The sequence of the campaign 
was the relief of Burnside at Knoxville. While in command of 
the department of the Ohio before it had been merged into that of 
the Mississippi and Grant assumed command, Burnside under- 
took an expedition into East Tennessee to relieve the loyal inhabi- 
tants. The people of this region had been devotedly attached to the 
Union and as a consequence had suffered terribly from conscription 
persecution and spoliation. The dungeon, bullet and halter, used to 
crush out their loyalty,had only served to intensify it, and Burnside 
was welcomed among them with every expression of de- 
light. He immediately took possession of Knoxville, and shortly 
after the battle of Chickamauga Longs treet was sent with an army 
of 20,000 to crush him before he could be reinforced. 

After severe fighting the city was closely environed and prepa- 
rations made to carry it by storm. The garrison, consisting in 
part of the 65th and 112th Illinois, entertained no doubt of their 
ability to defend themselves, but their supplies were nearly ex- 
hausted and the danger of starvation compelling a surrender was 
imminent. Messengers had informed Grant of their destitution 
and as soon as the fate of Chattanooga was decided Granger was 
ordered to Knoxville with a relieving force. Grant, however^ 
on finding his command inadequate, substituted Sherman's^ 
containing the 27th, 44th, 4Sth, 60th and 80th Illinois, although it 
was imposing a severe task on his brave but exhausted men. 
Leaving their surplus clothing behind to augment their speed, 
they had marched hy laud from Memphis, fought their way 
through the battles of Chattanooga, and now, without a moment's 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 835 

respite, and without suitable apparel for tlie altered tem- 
l)erature of the advanced season — without a word of complaint 
they cheerfully set out the uight after the order was issued, and by 
morning they had made 15 miles, and at night of the succeeding day 
20 more, though the rebels had delayed their advance by burning 
bridges and otherwise interposing obstacles. 

Longstreet had entertained hopes that starvation would induce 
"Burn side to surrender, but after hearing of Bragg's defeat and 
that a relieving force was coming, determined, on the 29th of IsTo- 
vember, to carry the place by storm. A storming column accord- 
ingly made its a])pearance,aud for hours adeadly struggle ensued. 
More than 1,000 in killed and wounded was the cost of the assault, 
but the fort was not taken. Sherman, fearing the garrison might 
despair of success, when his army was within 40 miles of the be- 
leagured place, sent forward a brigade of his fleetest cavalry to 
announce his coming. The clatter of their hoofs was heard on 
the night of the 3d of December, and the besieged army with in- 
expressible delight received the welcome intelligence. The march 
was continued till the night of the 5th, when news was received 
that Longstreet had raised the siege and retreated into Virginia. 
Sherman iuimediately halted the army, and after personally visit- 
ing Knoxville and having an interview with Burnside, returned 
with it to Chattanooga. 



Chapter LXIII. 

1864— ILLINOIS IX THE ATLANTA AND NASHVILLE 

CAMPAIGNS. 

Battles of Bocky Face Mountain, Besaca, New Hojpe Church, Peach 
Tree Greek, Atlanta, Jonesboro\ Alatoona, Spring Hill, Franklin 
and Nashville. 



Grant, the former colonel of the 21st Illinois, had now fully 
won the confidence of the people, and congress reviving the grade- 
of lieutenant-general, on the 2d of March, 1864, he was commis- 
sioned as the generalissimo of the nation's armies. For a long 
time there had existed a feeling of dissatisfaction in regard to the 
want of concert in the movements of the armies in the east and 
west. It was too frequently the case when a success occurred in 
one part of the field the enemy was permitted to send a relieving 
force from another, and thus neutralize the effect of victory. 
Whether this was the fault of Halleck or not, public opinion re- 
quired a new head for the army, and Grant, whose fitness was 
wisely estimated by his past successes, was raised to the high j)o- 
sition which onlj^ Washington before him had filled. 

If the task before him was not more difficult than that of his 
predecessor, the field of his operations was far more extensive. 
" Never before had one commander surveyed such a vast field of 
operations and looked over such a mighty array subject to his sin- 
gle control. From the Potomac to the Rio Grande, for 5,000 miles 
arose the smoke of camp fires, and the shouts of embattled hosts, 
evokiug his leadership. To aid him in the gigantic task before him 
600 vessels lined the rivers and darkened coasts for 2,500 miles, 
while 4,000 guns lay ready to send their stern summons into rebel 
defenses."* 

As a consequence of Grant's promotion, Sherman was 
placed in command of the department of the Mississippi, com- 
prising the armies of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio. The 
army of the Cumberland, consisting of the 4th, 14th and 20th 
corps, was commanded by Thomas; the 4th corps by Howard; and 
its divisions by Stanley, Newton and Wood the 14th by Palmer, 
and its divisions by Davis, Johnson and Baird ; the 20th corps 
by Hooker, and its divisions by Williams and Butterfield. 
The army of the Tennessee, consisting of the 15th corps and por- 
tions of the 16th and 17th, was under McPherson ; the 15th corps 
was under Logan audits divisions under M. L. Smith, J. E. Smith, 

• Ueadley. 

836 



THE WAR OP THE REBELLION. 837 

Osterliaus and Harrow; the 10th corps under Dodge and its divis- 
ions under Eansom, Corse ifnd Sweeney; the 17th corj)s under 
Blair, and its divisions under 0. R. Woods and Legget. The army 
of the Ohio was under the leadership of Schofield. 

The cavalry consisted of Kilpatrick's and Garrard's divisions of 
the army of the Cumberland, E. McCook's brigade of the army of 
the Tennessee and McCook's division of the army of the Ohio. 

Sherman, the central figure of the drama now about to be 
enacted in Georgia, had by great energy and skillful generalship 
acquired a prestige of great value and assistance in playing the 
difticult role that fell to his lot. He had won high scholastic hon- 
ors in the military curriculum of West Point. As the commander 
of a brigade at Bull Run he exhibited noticeable soldierly skill; 
at Shiloh, as the head of a raw division, both Grant and Halleck 
declared that they were indebted to him for the success of the 
battle; and finally, in the well earned plaudits as the commander 
of a corps in the recent battle of Chattanooga, other laurels 
were won and his present promotion secured. His principal sub- 
ordinate officers were men of repute, generals whom the stern 
ordeal of war had tried and proved to possess a high order of mil- 
itary talent. 

Grant, before repairing to his new field of labor, had a long in- 
terview with Sherman, in which the plans of the campaigns it was 
proposed to institute against Eichmond and Atlanta were fnlly 
discussed. It was decided to simultaneously move from the Eapi- 
dan and Tennessee, with two great armies southward, and so vig- 
orously press the confederate forces both east and west that re- 
lieving parties could not be sent from one department to another. 
It was also settled that the campaigns should commence about 
the first of May, and Sherman accordingly set out from his winter 
quarters around Chattanooga, with an army of near 100,000 men 
and 254 guns. 

Johnson, who assumed command after Bragg's ill-starred cam- 
paign, confronted him with an army of some 60,000 men, consist- 
ing of 3 corps under Polk, Hardee, and Hood. To compensate 
for his want of numbers he had selected and fortified his position, 
and the national army, as it followed him into Georgia, was forced 
to keep open a long line of communications, which greatly re- 
duced the number of men available for the field. His army lay 
at Dal ton, so strongly fortified tliat an attack in front was impos- 
sible. Barring his approaches in this direction was Eocky Face 
Mountain, here cloven by Mill Creek, on the banks of which the 
railroad found a passage to the town. This narrow defile, the only 
gateway to the rebel position, was artificially flooded and swept by 
artillery placed on its rocky epaulements, while inaccessible spurs, 
frowning with batteries protected his flanks. 

Battle of Rocky Face Mountain. — Sherman now commenced that 
series of movements which won for him the appellation of the -'Great 
flanker," and by which he proposed to turn Johnson's craggy cita- 
del and compel him to light outside of its impregnable fastnesses. 
Eesaca is situated 18 miles farther southward on the railroad, and 
for this purpose McPherson was sent on a westward detour 
through Ship and Snake Gaps to cut off the confederate commu- 
nications at that point. To cover this movement Thomas entered 



838 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the Mill Creek Gap, aud ou the 8th and 9th of May, 1864, made a 
bold push for the summit of the mountaiu, the 42d, 44th, 51st, 
59th, 79th, 88th, 89th aud 107th Illinois fightiug with great deter- 
miuatiou, but without dislodgiug the enemy. His attention was, 
however, diverted from McPherson, who unmolested arrived within 
a few miles of Resaca. 

Battle of Resaca. — Areconnoissance, however, showed that the 
town was too strong to be carried, Johnson having provided for 
such contingency by sending thither troops at the first intimation 
of danger. It was' designed not only to make the enemy retreat 
southward by getting ou his base of supplies, but to have Mc- 
Pherson strike him ou the flank and the rest of the army in the 
rear after he had been dislodged from his position. McPherson 
being unable to accomplish his part of the programme, all the re- 
maining forces, with the exception of Howard's corps, which was 
left to watch Dalton, were sent to his aid, and Johnson, seeing his 
position was no longer tenable, suddenly evacuated it and fell 
back to Resaca. Sherman finding him strongly fortified, deter- 
mined to institute another flank movement, and turn him out of it. 
Tor this purpose on the 14th he pontooned the Ostenaula, which 
crosses the railroad south of Resaca, and on the 15th Sweeuey's 
division and a force of cavalry were sent to break the railroad be- 
hind Calhoun and Kingston. Simultaneously, McPherson's, 
Thomas' and Schofield's forces assaulted the right and centre of 
the rebel line. The former driving Polk from his position, planted 
his artillery on commanding heights, and swept the confederate 
bridge over the river, while Sweeney, unmolested, crossed farther 
down the stream. The crossing of the stream, as is usually the 
case in exposed situations, was attended with a number of bril- 
liant incidents. As Dodge's corps moved up to Lay's ferry a 
heavy fire was opened upon them from the opposite bank to pre- 
vent' its crossing. Six companies of the 66th Illinois and 81st 
Ohio were sent across in pontoons to dislodge them, during w^hich 
a storm of bullets was encountered, toppling many of them over 
into the water, and ruefully singing their requiems as they disap- 
peared beneath the waves! Undaunted by the loss of their com- 
rades, they gained the shore, and charging up the bank, soon 
drove the enemy from his position. The next day and succeeding 
night the fight Avas renewed. Hooker, driving the enemy from 
several points, captured 4 of his guns aud a large number of pris- 
oners. A short time after midnight the enemy gave way and re- 
treated across the Ostenaula, leaving Resaca the prize of the in- 
vading army. In the several engagemeuts our loss amounted to 
some 5,600, that of the confederates being much less, as they 
fought behind breastworks. 

The Illinois regiments present were the 27th, 42d, 44th, 48th, 
51st, 52d, 59th, 60th, 64th, 75th, 80th, 84th, 86th, 88th, 89th, 92d, 
98th, 101st, 102d, 104th, 105th, 107th, 111th, 112th, 115th and 
127th. Outnumbering the troops of any other single State, the 
victory was largely an Illinois triumph. On one occasion our men 
had been ordered back, which evoked exultant shouts from the 
enemy, who supposed we were repulsed. The color-bearer ot 
the l'27th Illinois becoming exasperated, regardless of danger re- 
turned to an embrasure, and defiantly flaunted his standard in 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 839 

the face of the astonished enemy. His life was the forfeit for his 
temerity, for he and others after him who attempted to take up 
the colors were shot. 

Battle of Neio Hope Church. — The main body of the army now 
moved after the retreatiug enemy, while Davis' division, following 
the Ostenanla to Eome, captnred 8 heavy pieces of artillery and 
destroyed rolling mills and foundries of great value to the enemy. 
At Adairsville and Kingston, Johnson held strong positions, but, 
after a sharj) brush with the pursuhig army, in which the 42d, 
44:tli, 59th, 80tl), 84th and 88th Illinois became engaged, he aban- 
iloned them and occupied Alatoona, a place strong by nature and 
more so by art. By Johnson's last movement, the valley of the 
Etowah was abandoned to Sherman, who now began to think it 
Avas tlie intention of his adversary to draw the Union army far 
into the interior before risking a general engagement. He never- 
theless accepted the issue, and determined to make another at- 
tempt to draw him out of his entrenchments for the purpose of 
lighting him on open ground. Accordingly, with supplies for 20 
days, on the 20th of IVIay he set out with the army on a westward 
detour to Dallas, intending, after arriving thither, to seize and de- 
stroy the railroad west of the town. Johnson quickly di\aned 
the object of the movement, and Hooker, hi our van, encountered 
a stubborn resistance at New Hope church, in the vicinity of Dal- 
las. Alatoona had been evacuated and the rebel army was stretch- 
ed from Dallas to Marietta on the railroad, the ragged character 
of the ground occupied giving it every facility for opposition and de- 
fensive operations. Sherman, pushing up his forces toward the 
♦inemy's entrenchments, brought on heavy skirmishing, which, on 
the 29th, culminated in a tierce assault on Johnson's position, the 
assailants sulfering heavy loss and gaining no permanent advan- 
tage. 

The next day the rebels made an assault on McPherson, occu- 
pying the Union right. Our men were sheltered by earthworks. 
up to which the rebels advanced in one of those overwhelming 
charges for which they were distinguished, and with a shout 
which rose above their crashing volleys. The federals reserved 
their fire till the surging masses came within deadly range, when 
they opened with such destructive effect that the storming party 
was compelled to retire. Again and again they rallied and march 
ed up almost to the nuizzles of our guns, refusing to desist till the 
ground on which they fought was covered with heaps of dead 
and dying. In the terrible onslaught the former colonel of the 
52d Illinois, now^ styled Bull Dog SVeeuey, on account of his stub- 
born fighting qualities, with his division twice received the rebels 
and sent them in disiu'derly masses from the field. The Illinois 
regiments engaged at New Hope church and its vicinity, were the 
42(1, 44th, 48th, 51st, 52d, 59th, 60th, G4th, 79th, 80th, 84th, 
Siith, 88th, 101st, 104th, 105th and 111th. 

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. — After this death grapple, sev- 
eral days were spent in skirmishing, when Sherman again deter- 
mined to turn the position of the enemy. He therefore gradually 
moved bis forces in the direction of the railroad, and Jolinson, 
iclosely watching him, led his troops to Marietta, whence he fell 



840 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



back to Keimesaw mountain. This towering lieiglit, and its al- 
most equally formidable neighbors, Pine and Lost mountains, now 
loomed up before the pursuing army, dark with panoplied hosts 
and their inaccessible spurs frowning with batteries. Sherman, 
after reconnoitering the new situation of the enemy, commenced 
forcing a passage between Pine and Kennesaw, which caused him 
to concentrate on the latter so as to cover Marietta and the rail- 
road. In effecting these changes, the fighting was desultory, but 
severe, the rebels from their high position being able to miiuite- 
ly scrutinize the movements of our men and jjour down upon their 
heads a pelting rain of iron.* 

Johnson, seeing the Union army gradually approaching his posi- 
tion, on the 22d of June ordered Hood to make an assault on 
Hooker's corps, which had moved to an advanced position. Tlie 
onset was fierce and determined but repulsed with heavy loss to 
the enemy in killed, wounded and prisoners. Sherman now de- 
termined to deal a counter blow, and, on the 27th, after a heavy 
cannonade, Thomas and McPherson, at different j)oints, moved 
simultaneously' up to the rebel works. Soon the mountain, volca- 
no-like, became wrapped in fire and shook from base to summit 
under the incessant peals of heavy guns. Our men fought with 
unparalleled devotion, and portions of Newton's and Wood's divi- 
sions succeeded in capturing the first line of rebel works, but 
the side of the mountain above them was abrupt and inaccessi- 
ble, and they were compelled to return. 

The entire loss of the army in the fatal charge was 3,000. A 
large part of this fell on the Illinois troops, as might be expected 
from the long list of regiments. The 12th, 27th, 31st, 32d, 35tlj, 
38th, 42d, 41th, 48th, 5ist, 52d, 55th, 59th, 60th, 64th, 65th, 78th, 
79th, 80th, 84th, 86th, 88th, 89th, 101st, 104th, 107th and lllth^ 
were in the hottest part of the engagement and correspondingly 
suffered. 

This was Sherman's first defeat and perhaps the greatest mis- 
take of the campaign. He had so frequently outflanked the ene- 
my that an idea prevailed, both among his own and the rebel 
officers, that he wouhl not make an assault, and he says he or- 
dered the attack partly for the moral effect. The best method of 
procedure in every case is to secure victory with the least expen-^ 
diture of life, and, therefore, his pretext hardly seems satisfactory.. 
Besides, in this instance the chances of success Avere in favor of 
the enemy, and the assault proving unsuccessful, the moral effect 
was in his favor also. 

After the bloody repulse he buried his dead and again resorted 
to flanking, which, as the result shows, should have been tried in 
the first place. McPherson was sent on the right toward the 
Ohattahoochie, and Johnson, as soon as he became aware of the 
movement, departed from his fortified heights, and also hurried to 
the river. Sherman pushed after him with the hope of striking a 

•While thus making- observations, Gen. Polk, the Episcopal bishop of Louisiana, was 
struck by a3-iuchball from our g-uns, and instantly killed. In company with Jolin- 
son and Hardee, the fjroup was discovered on its lofty lookout, and, at the in- 
stance of Sherman, a gun was turned upon it and fired. The missile passed directly 
over the party, which caused them to dismount and retire to a place of safety. Polk, 
however, refusing; to remain under cover, returned, and a second shot directed with 
unerring: aim, struck and tore his body into fragments. Guv men having discovered 
the meaning of the signals employed by the enemy by reading the dispatches sent 
along his lines, learned soon afterwards that he had been killed. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 841 

fatal blow when he attempted to cross, but the wary confederate 
had provided for this contingency by seizing' and fortifying a po- 
sition ou its banks. This was held till the passage of the men was 
effected when he retired into his works around Atlanta, where he 
was destined to meet his final overthrow. 

Battle of Peach Tree CreeTc. — The Chattahoochie here is a large 
stream running in a southwesterly direction, and near where the 
railroad crosses it receives the waters of Peach Tree creek, a deep 
tributary falling into it from the west. Within the angle formed 
by the streams and 8 miles distant from each, Atlanta, the prin- 
cipal objective point, is vsituated. The rebels, taking advantage 
of the peculiar conformation of the streams, had arranged their 
lines of defense with a view of disputing the passage of these nat- 
ural barriers which lay between them and the national army. To 
surmount this difficulty was the problem which Sherman had to 
solve. With his army on the Avest side of the river below the 
mouth of Peach Tree creek, he could easily apj) roach the city on 
the south and west where it was comparatively defenseless, but 
to cross it in the face of a powerful foe, and risk a battle with 
it in his immediate rear, was a dangerous undertaking. Another 
plan was to cross the river above the mouth of Peach Tree creek, 
where little opposition would be encountered, and then turning- 
southward, risk the contingencies of crossing the smaller stream. 
The latter alternative was adopted as the least difticult, but, du- 
ring its execution, Johnson was relieved of his command. 

This was only one of the many acts of stui^endous folly which 
characterized the Kichinond authorities during the latter days of 
the confederacy and materially hastened its downfall. He had 
skillfully used the advantages of defense offered by the rugged 
mountain j)asses through which he had been driven ; yet, because 
he had failed to aunihilate his adversary, who exceeded him in 
numbers, the rebel president was displeased and superseded him. 
Says Pollard: " He lost 10,000 men in killed and wounded, and 
4,700 more from other causes, a fact which proves his men never 
failed to meet the invading army whenever an opportunity offered 
to strike a damaging blow." The fiery and impetuous Hood was 
j)laced in his stead, and, commencing a furious offensive warfare, 
he remorselessly slaughtered his men when there was little pros- 
pect of success. Hood, in taking command of the rebel army, found 
it, in consequence of reinforcements, some 5,000 stronger than at 
the commencement of the campaign, while that of his adversary 
had also been kei)t up to the original standard, and, flushed with 
triumph, was better prepared than at first to grapple with the 
foe. 

As the army was developing a line along Peach Tree creek, 
Thomas on the' right, Schofield in the centre, and McPherson on 
the left. Hood, on the 20th, massed his forces and endeavored to 
penetrate a gap between Thomas and Schofield which Sherman 
was trying to fill. The assault, although as sudden as a thunder 
cla}), was received by Palmer's, Hooker's and Howard's corps, 
with such determined resistance that defeat was impossible. Mus- 
ketry and artillery mowed them down by hundreds, yet, with a de- 
votion worthy of a better cause, they continued to crowd up in the 
wasting fire which no amount of blood was able to quench. The 



842 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



great sacrifice did not avail, for, after a five-hours' battle and the 
loss of 5,000 meu, they were driven back to their entrenchments. 

Battles of Atlanta. — The main army now closed in on the fated 
city, in the form of a semi-circle of two miles radius, and Hood de- 
termined to strike another otfensive blow to extricate himself 
from its toils. Moving up on the extreme left, the most vulnera- 
ble part of our line, he massed his forces for an assault. McPher- 
son, in command of this wing, had made a wide circuit byway of 
Decatur, and it was Hood's intention to fall on and crush him be- 
fore he could properly get in position. Accordingly, on the 22d 
the latter was impetuously assaulted, the charging squadrons 
sweeping along the whole line, for a time it seemed almost irresist- 
ibly. The lirst blow fell on Blair's corps, but soon that of Dodge, 
which, moving around him in the rear to form on his left, became 
involved. Dodge, finding his right about to be turned, ordered a 
charge on the enemy's flank by the 12th Illinois and 81st Ohio, 
whicij, sweeping up to the foe, captured two stand of colors and 
left the ground covered with his dead. Hardee had entered a 
ga}) between the two corps, w^hen Sweeney's division met him, and 
by stubborn fighting, in which the 9th Illinois bore a distinguish- 
ed part, kept him at bay till other forces could arrive and assist 
him. While Dodge rougiily handled tiie rebels and took many of 
them prisoners, their assaults on Blair were more successful. 
With their customary daring they rushed up and both armies 
fought on opposite sides of the same breastworks on which were 
planted their respective standards. The orders of of&cers were 
unheard, and each combatant rallying round his colors struck 
such blows as seemed likely to do the greatest execution. 

In the meantime a heavy force of the enem^' got in our rear and 
captured 12 guns. Sherman sent word to Logan, whose corps Avas 
on Blair's right, that he must charge and retake them. Two bat- 
teries placed on commanding hills, were now ordered to oi)en upon 
the enemy, and under cover of their cojiverging fire, he massed 
and pushed irresistibly' forward his charging columns. All the 
guns were retaken except two, which had been carried from the 
field, and when night put an end to the contest. Hood found him- 
self again foiled, and his forces exhausted. 

The Illinois regiments in the two preceding battles were the 
10th, 20th, 27th, 30th, 31st, 35th, 38th, 42d, 44th, 48th, 51st. 52d, 
53(1, 55th, 59Lh, 00th, 04th, 73d, 74th, 75th, 78th, 80th, 84th, 80th, 
88th, 89th, 92d, 101st, 102d, 104th, 105th, 107th, 111th, 112th, 
115th and 129th. In the heavy charging and counter charging of 
the opposing forces in the battle they frequently became intermin- 
gled in hand to hand contests. On one occasion, Col. Flynn, of the 
129th Illinois, met a rebel colonel, and while their regiments were 
engaged in a death grapple they had a combat from behind trees, 
with guns, each dodging round his covert so as to give and avoid 
shots. One of our batteries planted on the Atlanta road did such 
terrible execution upon the enemy, a heavy column was sent up to 
capture it. The 74th Illinois, stationed on the right of the road, 
and the 88th on the left, poured into the assaulting force such a 
destructive fire, it was compelled to forego the prize, and pay 
dearlj' for the attempt to get it. One stand of colors was cap- 
tured by the 129th, two by the 105th. The 104th distinguished 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 843 



itself by tbe detenuined staiid it made iu an advanced position, 
where the enemy first came thundering down on onr lines. Iu 
this stubbornly contested battle, the rebel loss was 18 stand of 
colors and 8,000 men, of whom 3,000 Avere killed and 1,000 taken 
prisoners. Our own loss amounted to 3,000, of whom 1,000 were 
made i^risoners. 

Among the dead was Gen. McPherson, who, at the time he lost 
his life, was riding unprotected in the rear. While proceeding in 
fancied security he came unexpectedly upon a detachment of 
rebels who shot him, and his steed esca-ping wounded and rider- 
less out of the forest, gave the first intimation of his fate. He 
was a young man of fine personal appearance, of rare ability as 
an officer, and possessed a heart al>ounding in kindness and w in- 
ning for him the esteem and affection of all who came near him. 
It is said Sherman burst into tears when he heard of his death, 
and the whole army ex^jressed the most intense sorrow. By order 
of the president. Gen. How ard assumed command of the Army of 
the Tennessee. Gens. Hooker and Palmer resigned, and their 
respective places were filled by Gens, Stanley and Davis. 

With this assault the direct operations on the north and east 
terminated. Sherman determined to try a flank movement 
on the south and west. To assist iu this movement Stone- 
man, with 5,000 cavalry, was ordered to move round the city on 
the left, and McCook, with 4,000 on the right, to destroy Hood's 
communications. The latter moved along the west bank of the 
Chattahoochie, and crossing the West Point railroad, tore up a 
portion of the track, and proceeding thence to Fayetteville, cap- 
tured 250 prisoners, 500 wagons and 800 mules. IS^ext Lovejoy, on 
the Macon railroad, was visited, to form a junction with Stoneman, 
who had arranged to meet him at that place. The latter failing to 
come, he destroyed part of the road, after which, being confronted 
by a force of Mississippi infantry on their way to join Hood, he 
was forced to return with a loss of 500 men. Stoneman had 
started with the magnificent project of sweeping down the Macon 
road, capturing the city, and then turning on Andersonville and 
releasing our suffering soldiers confined in its prison. Sherman 
gave his assent to it, with the understanding that he sliould meet 
McCook at Lovejoy, and with the united forces i^roceed to Ander- 
sonville. Stoneman, however, failed to comply with his part of 
the engagement, and as the result he made his appearance before 
Macon with an inadequate force, and iu attempting to retire he and 
1.000 of his men were captured by the cavalry of the enemj*. 

The army of the Tennessee now moved round the city on the 
right, and Hood, detectiug the movement, prepared to risk another 
offensive battle. On the 28th his infantry poured in dense masses 
from the west side of the city, and moved in magnificent style up 
to Logan's corps on the Bell Ferry road. Our troops having 
learned from experience Hood's method of warfare, hurriedly 
made breastworks, and with comparative imnutnity, as the rebels 
came within range, slaughtered them by hundreds, forcing them 
to retire. Six different times, however, they were reformed and 
pushed uj) to our works by their infuriated oflicers, and it was 
only when their loss reached some 5,000 men, and the survivors 
could no longer be driven to the slaughter, that the battle ceased. 



844 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Sherman now continued the movement of his force on theright, 
with the view of disabling the raihoad on which the city dei^ended 
for supplies. Hood also determined to make a similar attempt 
against tlie communications of the Union arm}'. Wheeler, in com- 
mand of his cavalry, was therefore sent northward and succeeded 
in breaking the Chattanooga railroad and capturing 900 beeves, a 
part of our supplies. Sherman, however, foreseeing emergencies 
of this kind had built and garrisoned blockhouses for the protection 
of his bridges. In these he had stored vast quantities of provisions, 
whereby he could subsist his arm}' till any ordinary breakage in 
his line of communication could be restored. The withdrawal of 
Wheeler, therefore, while it would not be of any serious conse- 
quence to Sherman's supplies, was on the whole an advantage. 
Without any effective opposition, he now sent his own cavalry to 
operate on tlie roads in Ilood's rear, while he followed with the 
rest of the army to complete the work of destruction, and compel 
his adversary to abandon the city. 

Battle of Jonesboro. — Sending the sick and wounded, and surplus 
stores, to his entrenched position on the Chattahoochie, and leaving 
Slocum with the 20thcori)s to guard them, the advance of the re- 
mainder of the army was continued in a southwesterly direction. 
Before Hood was apprised of the movement, the West Point road 
was destroyed and the army ai^proached Jonesboro to tear up the 
Macon road. For the want of cavalry Hood had sent one-half of 
his army under Hardee to the same place to guard his communi- 
cations, and on the morning. of August 31st, each army learning 
the position of the other, prepared for battle. Howard was on the 
right, Schofield in the centre and Thomas on the left, or nearest 
Atlanta. Hood attacked the former with great vigor, hoping to 
overwhelm him before the others could come to his assistance. 
Our men, expecting an assault, had hurriedly thrown up breast- 
works, and, with comparatively slight losses, frightfully slaughter- 
ed the charging columns. After two hours of carnage the assail- 
ants retired, having lost in the attack 2,500 men, of whom 400 
were killed. Sherman, hearing the din of battle on his right, 
pushed forward Thomas and Schotield in the direction of the con- 
flict. At 4 o'clock Davis' corps came up and at once charging on 
the enemy's position, captured 8 guns and inflicted on him a loss 
of 5,000 men. Almost one entire brigade was captured. 

The Illinois regiments in the battle were the 38th, 42d, 44th, 
48th, 51st, 52d, 55th, 60th, 65th, 78th, 79th, 80th, 84th, 86th, 88th, 
89th, 92d, 104th and 111th. Side by side with their equally brave 
comrades of other States they fought for the Union which, instead 
of being disrupted by treason, is destined to ex}»and by the acces- 
sion of new States till one language, the same institutions and a 
common government extend over the whole continent. 

The succeeding night ominous sounds were heard in the direc- 
tion of Atlanta, 20 miles distant, which proved to be the rebel 
magazines which Hood was blowing up preparatory to leaving the 
city. After destroying a large amount of other property, by the 
light of 1,000 bales of cotton to which he had applied the torch, he 
led the bleeding remnant of his army from the scenes of his bloody 
and bootless assaults. He was pursued the next day a distance 
of 35 miles, when our army, greatly fatigued, returned and occu- 
pied the stronghold which they had so valorously won. 



THE WAR OP THE REBELLTO^. 845 

The effect produced ou the despoudent public iniud by thec;uii- 
paigu now closed, was almost magical. Wheu the two great Union 
armies started southward iu the early spring, it was believed by 
many the succeeding summer would witness the end of the rebel- 
lion. 

But how often are the fondest anticipations dispelled by the 
stern logic of events. Midsummer came and Virginia, the great 
charnel house of the nation's defenders, was again dug over to 
make graves for the army which had crossed her borders. Before 
summer was ended more Union troops had perished than in all the 
previous campaigns of the war ou the same ill-fated field. 

As the months wore away hope was succeeded by sober reflec- 
tion and finally by despair, when it beaiue known that Lee had 
destroyed a force equal to his own army, and was still defiant. 
In the midst of this gloom and national humiliation, Sherman's 
series of victories was crowned bj* the fall of Atlanta, and the 
shout which rose from the sturdy sous of the West was taken up 
and prolonged by pealing bells, booming cannon and the loud re- 
spouses of millions throughout the IS'orth. A joy as hopeful as the 
preceding despair had been gloomy, succeeded, and never, after 
the autumn of 18G4, was a reasonable doubt entertained that the 
republic would not only live, but maintain intact the integrity of 
her wide domain. 

But the material advantages must not be overlooked. Atlanta 
was one of the principal manufacturing cities of the South, from 
Avhose rolling mills, foundries and other laboratories, had proceed- 
ed large supplies of munitions for the rebel armies. It was the 
centre of the great railway system, commencing in the eastern 
and western portions of the confederacy, and the heart of the 
rich grain-growing region of Georgia which had contributed large 
quantities of cereals for the susteiuiuce of Lee's army. All these 
sources of supply, after the capture of the city, became tributary 
to Sherman's army. A rebel newspai)er, in expatiating uj^on the 
consequences, declared that the fall of Eichmond in amaterial 
l)oint of view could not have been half so disastrous. 

Nashville Campaign. — As the result of Sherman's inroad into 
Georgia and the downfall of Atlanta, the southwest suddenly be- 
came the principal focus of confederate alarm. As soon as its 
significance become fully known, the Eichmond president hur- 
riedly made his appearance at the scene of danger and found the 
defiles of the Alleghauies, which he had claimed would furnish 
citadels for a century's warfare, pierced in a single campaign, and 
tlie stalwart invader ready, by another advance, to bisect the re- 
mainder of his domain. By frantic apjjeals to the desponding Geor- 
gians he succeeded in reinforcing Hood, but still being unable to 
cope with the federal army in oi)en field, he proposed to draw it 
out of Georgia by operating on its long line of communications. 
With this intent he left his camp at Palmetto, and re-crossing the 
Chattahoochieon the 5th of October, 1864, made an assault on 
Allatoona for the purpose of breaking the railroad and capturing 
Sherman's supplies. The latter, sending Thomas to guard against 
demonstrations north of the Tennessee, and leaving Slocum in 
possession of Atlanta, started after Hood, and came up iu time 
to save his supplies. 



846 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

A fierce battle bad been raging, in wbich the bttle garrison lost 
700 men or near a third of its entire number. From the Spartan 
valor with which the 39th Iowa and the 7th and 93d Illinois met 
the enemy, Gen. Corse, their commander, was styled the Leonidas 
and Allatoona pass the Thermopylae of the campaign. 

Hood next appeared before Resaca, but remembernig his bloody 
reception at Allatoona, he was content after disabling the railroad 
to leave without molesting the town. Sherman, endeavoring to 
bring on a general engagement, followed him as far as Gaylesville 
on the Coosa, when it became evident that the object of the re- 
treat was to transfer the war from Georgia to Tennessee, and the 
pursuit was abandoned. 

The national commander, accepting the issue, ordered the 4th 
and 23d corps, under Stanley and Schofield, and all the cavalry, 
except one division, under Kilpatrick, to report to Thomas at 
Nashville, who was now entrusted with the department of the Ten- 
nessee, with discretionary i)owers as to the use of all its available 
military resources. Not, however, intending by this disposition 
of his forces to be deprived of the fruits of his victories in the 
previous camjiaigns, he lead the remainder of his command back 
to Atlanta preparatory to making his grand march to the sea. 

Hood approached the Tennessee at Decatur and made an 
attack on it as a feint to cover his crossing at Florence, farther 
westward. Schofield and Stanley were ordered to keep the field 
and check his advance as much as possible till Thomas could con- 
centrate his forces, scattered at widely separated points of his de- 
partment. November 24th they encountered Hood at Columbia, 
and while Scholield remained to prevent his crossing Duck river, 
Stanley followed our heavy trains to Spring Hill, whither he arrived 
just in time to save them from capture by the rebel cavalry. The 
enemy, in the meantime, effected a passage of the river 6 miles 
above the town, and when night fell, Schofield started after Stan- 
ley and found the rebels encamped in force at Spring Hill, only 
half mile from his line of retreat. More anxious to place Harpeth 
river between them and our long trains than to interfere with their 
nocturnal repose, he pushed on with all possible dispatch. 

Battle of FranUin. — Marching and fighting the next day and 
night, November 30, he halted on the south side of Franklin for 
his trains to cross the Harpeth, and get fairly on their way to 
Nashville. The river on the north and" east sides of the village 
forms a right angle, and slight breastworks thrown up on the south 
and west sides, formed a rude square, which inclosed and protected 
the most of the Union army. Works were also thrown up on Car- 
ter's Hill, a few hundred yards in advance of the position where 
it is crossed by the Franklin and Columbia pike. Hood in close 
pursuit, came up the same day at 4 o'clock, and with his accus- 
tomed impetuosity commenced an attack. Expecting to crush our 
little army by sheer weight of numbers, he shouted to his men : 
" Break these, and there is nothing to withstand you on this side 
of the Ohio river." So overwhelming was the onset that Wagon- 
er's division, occupying Carter's Hill, was swept back through our 
general line, and 8 of his guns captured without materially check 
ing its progress. The exultant victors rapidly formed on the in- 
side of the Union works to follow up the advantages of their tri- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 847 

umph, when Opdyke's brigade, of Wood's division, snddenl^- moved 
against them, their bayonets flashing bade the rays of the setting- 
sun as they were brought down for a charge. A struggle, fierce 
and bloody, followed, terminating in the expulsion of the enemy 
from their entrenchments, the recovery of all our guns, the cap- 
ture of 10 battle-flags and 300 prisoners. Hood, more exaspera- 
ted than disconcerted by his reverse, moved round to the right of 
our line, and made a number of bloody assaults to again break it, 
but without success. At 10 o'clock the battle ceased, Hood 
having sustained a loss of 702 prisoners, 3,800 wounded, among 
whom were 7 generals, and 1,750 privates, and 6 generals killed. 
The Union loss was ofHcially reported at 189 killed and 1,014 
wounded, the latter including Gen. Stanley, who was temporarily 
superseded by T. J. Wood. 

The severe blow inflicted on the enemy at Franklin, assured his 
defeat at Kashville. To none more than the troops of Illinois, are 
we indebted for this desirable result. The 44th, 73d, 74th and 
88th constituted a part of Opdyke's brigade, which was accorded 
the honor of saving the battle. Gen. Wood, to whose division it 
belonged, accompanied by Gen. Thomas, sought out the colonel of 
the 88th and thus addressed him : "Col. Smith, I desire to report to 
you, in the presence of Gen. Thomas, that Avhich Gen. Stanley said 
to me respecting you and the troops you command: that with the 
exception of Col. Opdyke, commanding the brigade with whom 
you share the honor, to your special gallantry and exertions, more 
than any other man, is owing the repulse of the rebel columns and 
the safety of the army." The 51st lost 149 men, and the 72d 9 
officers and 152 men. The 72d, having lost its colors, subsequently 
retook them and captured 2 flags belonging to the rebels. The 
other Illinois regiments in the engagement were the 38th, 42d, 
49th, 59th, G5th, 84th, 89th and 112lh. 

Battle of NashviUe. — Schofteld having saved his valuable 
trains and dealt the enemy a fatal blow, drew out of his defenses 
about midnight, and by noon the next day was safe in the shel- 
tering fortiti cations of Nashville. Hitherto Hood, with a force 
of some 40.000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry, had only to con- 
tend with 20,000 Unionists, but when he arrived at i^ashville the 
respective strength of the two armies was reversed. The original 
garrison of the city, had been reinforced by a i:)ortion of the IGth 
corps under A. J. Smith, Steedman's division from Chattanooga, 
and now by the accession of Schotield's army, so that when he ef- 
fected to lay the place under siege, it was evident that Thomas 
considerably outnumbered him in the way of infantry. The latter 
was, however, greatly inferior in cavalry, and, on this account, 
deferred an engagement till additional forces could be procured 
and he should be able to follow up his advantages when he put his 
adversary to flight. The Secretary of War was immediately ap- 
prised of the fact, and Gen. Wilson, chief of cavalry, was ordered 
to impress all the serviceable horses he could find in Tennessee 
and Kentucky, to supply the deficiency. Grant, becoming ner- 
vous over the delay and the displays of rebel audacity in the heart 
of Tennessee, left his camp near Richmond and started westward 
to superintend in i)erson the movements of the national troops. 
On reaching Washington and hearing the, Nashville reports, he 



848 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

was satisfied that liis Teuiiessee lieutenant was fully equal to the 
emergency of bis situation, and, like Sherman of Georgia, did not 
require anj^ supervision. 

The employes of the commissary, quartermaster and railroad de- 
partments were immediately set to work on the fortifications, 
and soon two lines of defense, furnished with forts, redoubts and 
rifle pits, encircled the southern side of the city. On the north 
side the Cumberland was patrolled by a fleet of gun-boats, which 
served as a defense to the city, and to prevent Hood from throw- 
ing cavalry across the river to operate on the national line of com- 
munication. Hood occupied a range of hills some four or five 
miles from the city, and evidently wished to completely invest it, 
but the fleet prevented the consummation of his design. By the 
14th of December, the day preceding- the battle, Thomas' forces 
were collected and placed in position, Steedman holding the et^- 
treme left. Wood, in command of Stanley's corps, the left centre, 
Smith, with the 16th corps, the right centre, and Wilson's cavalry 
the right, while Schofield, with the 23d corps, was held as a re- 
serve. 

The plan of battle ordered for the next day, December 15th, 
was to make a feint on the enemy's right, and then, falling with 
an overwhelming force on the left, force it back on the centre. 
The morning- broke auspiciously, and Steedmau pushed forward a 
heavy force of skirmishers, who drove back the enemy's pickets till 
the movement was checked by a deep railroad excavation defended 
by batteries. Hood at an early hour was aroused by firing on his 
right but before he could ascertain the cause, Wood and Smith struck 
his left, which now became the focus of solicitude. Crumbling- to 
pieces under the heavy concussion it was soon hurled back in con- 
fusion on the centre. Wilson's cavalry, meanwhile hanging like a 
thunder cloud on their flank and rear, captured two batteries and, 
dismounting, turned them on their late owners. The centre and 
principal salient of the rebel army rested on Montgomery Hill, to 
which its hurrying squadrons of infantry and artillery were now 
sleeping to reverse the unpropitious tide of battle. At 10 o'clock 
Wood moved against this strong position and carried it. Col. 
Post, of- the 59th Illinois, leading the charge. Bflbrts in other 
parts of the field were attended with similar success, and 
Hood was compelled to abandon his entire line of defense and 
seek a new position at the foot of Hai-peth Hills, two miles in the 
rear of the first. 

The national troops fought with great alacrity and success, and 
their day's labor Avas rewarded with the capture of several battle- 
flags, a large number of small arms, 16 pieces of artillery, and 
1,200 prisoners. The disi)Osition of the Union troops for the next 
day's battle remained the same as on the first, with the excep- 
tion of Schofield's army, which, during the day, had moved into 
position between Wood's corps and Wilson's cavalry. Hood, con- 
tracting his line from six to three miles in length, took a strong 
position on Overton's Hill, where he awaited the coming battle. 

At an early hour the next day Wilson was ordered on a recon- 
noissance round the enemy's position, and if practicable, to cut off 
his line of retreat in the direction of Franklin. Hood was supe- 
rior to Thomas in the strength of his cavalry, but he had made 
the mistake of sending a portion of his force down the Cumber- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 849 



land after our transports, and suffered a portion to dash itself to 
pieces against the impregnable defenses of Murfreesboro, which 
left Wilson almost without opposition. While the cavalry was 
executing this movement, the entire front of the Union army ad- 
vanced to within 600 yards of the enemy's line, and Wood and 
Steedman made an assault on Overton's Hill, Post, as on the day 
before leading the charge. The enemy, anticipating an attack, 
had covered the slopes of the hill with abattis, and, opening with 
^irape, cannister and musketry, repulsed the assailants with heavy 
loss. 

Meanwhile Smith and Schofield, farther to the right, with level- 
ed beyonets had marched straight over the works in their front, 
and in one fell swoop completely turned the enemy's flank. Hear- 
ing the victorious shouts. Wood and Steedman immediately re- 
formed their broken line and a second time moved against the 
key of the rebel position. Scaling the hill and charging over the 
abattis directly in the face of a terrible Are, they captured the fort 
and its 9 pieces of artillery, which had so fearfully slaughtered 
their comrades in the first assault. The charge was final ; the 
discomfited rebels hurriedly fled through Brentwood Pass, lead- 
ing to Harpeth river, and the day being spent the Union army 
rested on the field it had so nobly won. 

Wilson's cavalry started in pursuit early the next day, and four 
miles north of Franklin captured 413 of the rear guard. Again 
attacking them at the village, they were forced to decamp, leaving 
1,800 of their wounded in the hands of the pursuers. The fugi- 
tive army was followed till it crossed the Tennessee, but, as it 
burned the bridges after it, and heavy rains rendered the roads 
almost impassable, it was not again overtaken. 

Among the batteries which achieved distinction at the battle of 
Nashville, none thundered louder or sent its bolts with more 
deadly effect, than that of Lyman Bridges. During the engage- 
ment it was commanded by Lieut. White, Capt. Bridges having 
become chief of artillery. The 72d Illinois had a number of severe 
encounters with the enemy, and in a high degree exhibited the 
soldierly qualities for which it had been pre viouslv distinguish- 
ed. The 47th, 48th, 114th and 122d were in A. J. Smith's com- 
mand, which on the morning of the 15th made the magnificent 
charge on the enemy's left, crumbling it to pieces and hurling it 
back on the centre. The 59th Illinois lead the storming columns 
against the rebel works on Montgomery Hill, and was the first to 
plant its colors within the entrenchments. The next day it was 
in the famous assault on Overton's Hill, in which it lost one-third 
of its number. The 80th captured 3 guns and 100 prisoners ; the 
122d 4 pieces of artillery anci one battle flag. The other Illinois 
regiments in the battle were the 38th, 42d, 44th, 49th, 51st, 65th, 
73d. 79th, 84th, 88th, 89th, 107th, 112th, 114th, 115th, 117th and 
119th. 

To the confederacy the results of the Nashville campaign were 
overwhelming. Thomas, in auditing his accounts after its bril- 
liant actions, found he had captured 1,000 ofiBcers, over 12,000 
men, while more than 2,000 threw down their arms and took the 
oath of allegiance. Among the spoils were 3,000 small arms, 72 
heavy pieces of artillery and immense quantities of military stores. 
54 



850 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

But tlie crowuiug stroke was the destructiou of the confederate 
army of the West. With the elimiuatiou of the invaders from 
Tennessee, it only remained for the Union army to resolve itself into 
separate columns and proceed to other fields. Sherman, with his 
veterans of a hundred battle fields, was now enabled to reach the 
Atlantic almost without opposition. Schofield, with a heavy body 
of infantry, proceeded to the coast of i^orth Carolina to co-oper- 
ate with him and converge on Eichmoud ; and Canby, with an- 
other large force, advanced by way of the Mississippi to Mobile 
for the reduction of the adjacent forts, while Wilson, without a 
foe to confront in the West, dashed in a raid through Alabama 
and Georgia. The days of the rebellion were numbered and the 
silver tracery of the dawn of peace began to light up the cloud of 
war. 



Chapter LXIY. 

1864— 18G5— ILLINOIS 11^ THE MEEIDIAN CAMPAIGN— 
EED EIVER EXPEDITION— EEDUCTION OF MOBILE 
—SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA— REDUCTION 
OF WILMINGTON— MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLI- 
NAS— CLOSE OF THE WAR. 



Consequent upon the reduction of Vicksburg and the opening 
of tbe Mississippi some military movements occurred in the South- 
west, in which our troops were honorably engaged. 

Meridian Campaign. — After Sherman marched to the relief of 
Knoxville, he returned to Vicksburg and organized a force to op- 
erate against Bishop Gen. Polk, in command of an army at Meri- 
dian, also to destroy the Southern Mississippi and the Ohio and 
Mobile railroads. For this purpose Gen. W. S. Smith, with a 
large cavalry force was ordered to proceed from Memphis on the 
1st of February, 1864, while Sherman, with 2 divisions of the 16th 
army corps under Hurlbut, and 2 of the 17th under McPherson, 
left Vicksburg on the 4th. Meeting with little opposition they 
entered Morton on the 9th, where McPherson was halted to tear 
up the surrounding railroads. Hurlbut moved on to Meridian, 
but Polk, apimsedof his approach, decamped, covering his retreat 
with a cavalry force under Lee. 

Smith failing to arrive with his cavalry, pursuit was deemed 
useless. Having no enemy to fight, a warfare was commenced on 
the railroads entering the town — Hurlbut on the north and east 
destroying 60 miles of track, one locomotive and eight bridges, 
and McPherson on the south and west, 55 miles, 53 bridges, 19 lo- 
comotives and 28 cars. The Tom hi gbee being now between the army 
and Polk, and no other foe in striking distance, Sherman headed 
his columns toward the Mississippi, whither he arrived without 
further noticeable incidents. 

His losses in the cami)aign were 21 killed, 68 wounded and 81 
missing. The Illinois organizations in the exjiedition were the 
8th, 15th, 30th, Slst, 49th, 58th, 76th, 112th, 117th, 119th, 124th 
the 5th cavalry and Powell's battery. Its leader, as we have seen, 
next repaired to Chattanooga preparatory to entering upon his 
Georgia camj^aigu. 

Red River Expedition. — During the spring of 1864 an expedition 
was projected to drive Price from Arkansas, Taylor from Louis- 
iana, and Magruder from Texas. This was to be effected by the 
joint efforts of three columns, one moving under Steele, from Lit- 

851 



852 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tie Eock, auother under Biuiks,from Brownsville, and a third un- 
der A. J. Smith, from Vicksburg, concentrating at Shi^eveport. 
On the 12th of March, 1864, Admiral Porter, with the fleet, and 
A. J. Smith with the 1st and 3d divisions of the 16th anny corps, 
and the 1st and 4th of the 17th, in transports, started up Red 
Iviver, on which the objective point is situated. At Semmesport 
Smith debarked his forces and started to operate against FortDe 
liussy, a strong quadrangular work furnished with bastions and 
covered with railroad iron. The assailants moving upon the 14th, 
Dick Taylor, in command of the fort, marched out to meet them, 
when Smith, by a skillful movement, threw himself between the 
rebels and the fort, which, after a sharp fight, he forced to 
vsurrender, the 47th, 49th, 58th, 81st, 95th, 117th and 119th Illi- 
nois demeaning themselves with great gallantry in the engage- 
ment, the 58th being the first to plant its colors on the works. 
As the exx)edition again moved toward Shreveport, the force 
under Banks, en route for the same point, encountered a rebel 
force atPleasant Hill, and Smith, advised of the situation, marched 
to his assistance. Gen. Robinson, commanding the advance Union 
caA'alry, had engaged that of the enemy under General 
Green, after which the latter fell back to Saline Cross Roads where 
the main force under Taylor lay masked in the forest. Thither he 
was followed on the 8th of April by the Union cavalry, now rein- 
forced by two divisions of the 13th army corps under Gen. Ransom. 
The latter suspecting danger, proposed to await the arrival of the 
force under Smith, before renewing the attack. Banks, however, 
overruling his advice, ordered an assault. Taylor's men concealed 
in the woods were posted in the form of the letter V, into the 
open base of which our men unwittingly advanced. The 2 wings 
of the enemy were immediately thrust forward and like huge ten- 
tacula closed in on them and before they could escape lost 2,000 
men and 16 guns, 6 of which belonged to Taylor's Illinois battery. 

Battle of PUasant Hill. — The remainder of the forces returned 
to Pleasant Hill, whither had arrived Gen. Franklin with the 19th 
corps and the force under Smith. The troops of the latter were 
placed in position behind a low ridge on the right, the 19th corps 
on the left, Ransom's men in the rear as a reserve, and 4 guns of Tay- 
lor's battery on an eminence commanding the approaches of the 
enemy. On the 9th he advanced and made an assault on Emery's 
division thrown in advance of Smith, which, according to pre- 
vious arrangement, fell back. This brought the assailants directly 
up to the crest of the ridge behind which were concealed the 
Vicksburg veterans of Smith, who, to the number of 7,000, imme- 
diately rose up, and, pouring an incessant blaze of musketry fire 
into their faces, caused them to stagger back, when a bayonet 
charge was ordered which swept them from the field. 

The 49th, 58th, 77th, 117th and 119th Illinois bore themselves 
honorably in the contest and largely contributed to the result. 

The Union losses in the two battles aggregated the enormous 
number of 3,000 men, 21 pieces of artillery, 130 wagons, and 
1,200 horses and mules. Steele, in playing his part of the pro- 
gramme, was equally unfortunate, and with heavy losses and 
great difficulty fought his way back to Little Rock, whence he 



THE WAR OF THE KEBELLION. 853 



had started. Tims ended in irretrievable disaster tlie ill-starred 
expedition, wliicli,in its return, came near being entirely cut off in 
consequence of a low stage of water in the river. 

Brigadier-General T. E. G. Eansom, who at Saline Cross Eoads 
warned his superior ofiicer of danger, and made such heroic efforts 
to repair the disasters caused by his mistake, was born at Norwich, 
Vermont, IsTovember 29, 1834. Having completed his education in 
the university of his native town, in 1851 he removed to Peru, Illi- 
nois, and engaged in the practice of engineering. At the organi- 
zation of the 11th Illinois, in April, 1861, he was elected a major. 
For his bravery and skill in the battle of Donelson he was pro- 
moted to the colonelcy of his regiment; again, as the reward of 
distinguished service at Shiloh and Corinth, he was raised to the 
rank of major-general. After the battle of Pleasant Hill, in which 
he commanded a division and received a wound from which he 
never recovered, he temporarilj' took charge of the 17th army 
corps in Georgia. While gathering new laurels in the Atlanta 
campaign, he died of a disease contracted by previous exposure. 
He was retiring, modest, and unusually brave. Devotedly at- 
tached to his men, while an invalid he was frequently advised by 
his physician to quit the field, but replied, " I ivill stay icith my 
command till I am carried away in my coffin^ 

Reduction of MoMle. — After the disastrous Red Eiver expedi- 
tion, the department of the Arkansas and Gulf, including Texas 
and Louisiana, were united in one, styled the West Mississippi, 
and Major-Gen. Canby placed in command. In the spring of 1861, 
all the rebel posts had either been successfully blockaded, or cap- 
tured, except Wilmington ami Mobile. To Canby was now as- 
signed the task of reducing the latter, while the former, as we 
shall see further on, fell beneath the sturdy blows of the con- 
querors of Nashville. 

The entrance to Mobile bay is by two inlets, one on each side of 
Dauphin Island. They were guarded by Forts Gaines on the 
island, and Morgan and Powell on the mainland opposite. Hither 
Farragut led his fleet of some 18 vessels, and as a co-operating 
land force, Canby, in July, ordered 5,000 men under Granger, 
from Xew Orleans, The latter were debarked on Dauphin Island, 
on the 4th of August, to operate against the adjacent fort, and the 
following morning the fleet moved up the principal channel, its 
gallant commander lashed in the maintop of the Hartford to over- 
look the field of action. Seeing his vessels arrested by torpedoes, 
he dashed ahead under the tremendous volleys of the enemy's 
guns, and in an hour and a quarter was above the forts. The 
others, animated by his fearless heroism, followed, emptying 
broadside after broadside into the hostile works, and partially 
checking their fire. Next commenced the (uipture of the great 
iron-clad ram Tennessee, which Farragut declares was one of the 
" fiercest naval engagements on record." During the month the 
3 forts surrendered, and the door was opened for a farther advance 
toward Mobile. 

This w^as not effected till the following spring. In the mean- 
time the 13th corps, under Granger, was reinforced by A. J. 
Smith with tlie 16th, arrixing mostly by way of New Orleans, and 
a force in command of Steele, from Pensacola. The army marched 



854 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

up on the east side of the bay in the direction of Forts Spanish 
and Blakely, which it was necessary to reduce before the fleet 
could reach the city. The first being more accessible, an invest- 
ing force containing the 8th, 11th, 28th, 29th, 33d, 17th, 72d, 77th, 
81st, 91st, 95th, 99th, 108th, 117th, 119th and 124th Illinois, was 
pushed up, the artillery, a part of which was Coggswell's bat- 
tery, placed in position, and on the 4th of April a tremendous 
bombardment opened on the fort. On the 8th the assault was 
renewed, and after a furious cannonade, at 3 o'clock 2 brigades of 
Carr's division, containing the 72d, 81st and 124th Illinois, moved 
forward in an impetuous charge, and mounting the ramparts, car- 
ried 300 yards of the works. The advance position was held till 
the next day, when the garrison finding that further opposition 
was useless, capitulated. 

The same day Gen. Steele made a successful assault on Fort 
Blakely. Amidst a furious battle storm, shells exploding over- 
head, and torpedoes underfoot, Garrard's division made its way up 
in front, and Einnaker's and Gilbert's brigades on the right, and 
simultaneously leaping the parapets, the stronghold was won. 
The 8th Illinois was the first to enter and hoist its colors over the 
works ; the 58th and 117tli are also honorably mentioned in con- 
nection with the charge. The other Illinois organizations in the 
engagement were the 11th, 29th, 33d, 72d, 76th,77th, 81st, 91st, 99th, 
119th, 122d infantry, and Coggswell's battery. Our loss in the 
assault was 1,000 men, while the fruits of the victory were more 
than 3,000 prisoners, 4,000 stand of arms, and 32 pieces of artil- 
lery. 

Mobile was now uncovered and the national columns put in 
motion to eifect its capture. Oo the 12th, however, news 
was received of its evacuation, and the army entered with- 
out ojiposition. Its approaches had been carried with un- 
paralleled gallantry, caused by the exciting intelligence of the fall 
of Eiclvraond and other great events, marking the close of the 
war. The beginning of the end was at hand. 

Brigadier-General Eugene A. Carr, who so brilliantly closed his 
rebellion record in the assault on Fort Blakely, was born in Erie 
county, New York, March 30th, 1830. In 1848 he removed with 
his father to Galesburg, Illinois, which, uj) to the time of the rebel- 
bon, was his recognized home. At the age of 16 he entered the 
Military Academy of West Point. After his graduation he was 
commissioned 2d lieutenant of mounted riflemen, and for several 
years was engaged in suppressing Indian hostilities on the west- 
ern plains. Subsequently he was assigned as aid to Gov. Walker 
in the border rufflan war of Kansas. As a captain in the regular 
army he took an active part in the battles of Springfield and Wil- 
son's Creek, Missouri. Next we find him at the head of the 3d 
Illinois cavalry and a division commander under Curtis. In the 
latter position he served with such distinguished success that on 
March 7th, 1862, he received the commission of brigadier general 
of volunteers. 

March to the Sea. — Sherman, after sending a portion of his forces 
to co-operate with Thomas in Tennessee, still retained under his 
immediate command some 60,000 infantry and artillery, and 5,000 
cavalry. These forces were organized in two great wings, the right 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 855 

under Howard, comprisiug the 15tli corps, Geii. Osterbaus, and 
the 17th, Gen. Blair; and the left under Slocum, coini>risi]ig the 
14th corps, Gen. Davis, and the 20th, Gen. Williams. The cav- 
alry was led hy Gen. Kilijatrick, a daring trooper, who had already 
won distinction b}' his fearless encounters with the enemy. For 
the results of the campaign, so valuable to the cause of the Union 
<ind so fatal to that of the rebelliou, the nation is largely indebted 
to Illinois organizations: the 7th, <Jth. 10th, 12th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 
20rh, 26th, 30th, 31st, 32d, 34th, 40th', 41st, 45th, 48th, 50th, 52d, 
53d, 55th, 56th, 57th, 60th, 63d, 64tli, 66th, 78th, 82d, S5th, 86th, 
90tb, 92d, 93d, 101st, 102d, 103d, 104th, 105th, 110th, 111th, 116th, 
125th, 127th, 129th regiments of infantry, companies and H 1st, 
and comjjany I, 2d artillery and 11th cavalry. As his troops 
would have to subsist on the country through which they marched, 
Sherman issued stringent regulations to prevent, as far as possible, 
the excesses incident to this method of obtaining supplies. Brig- 
iide commanders were ordered to organize foraging parties, under 
one or more discreet oliicers, to collect provisions, aiming always 
to keep on hand 10 days supply for the men and 3 days for the 
horses. Soldiers were not to enter the houses of the inhabitants, 
iiiul Avere to leave with each family a reasonable amount of food 
for its maintenance. The cavalry and artillery were authorized 
to press horses and wagons when needed, discriminating between 
the rich and the i)oor. Corps commanders were empowered to ac- 
cept the services of able-bodied negroes, and to burn mills, bridges, 
cotton gins, &c., whenever local hostilities were manifested ; but 
no such devastations were to be suliered if the inhabitants re- 
mained quiet. 

Could these humane regulations have been properly enforced, 
many unpleasant occurrences connected with the expedition would 
have been avoided. Says an officer who commanded in it: "In 
fill cases where the foraging parties were under the direction of 
discreet officers, no improprieties were committed, and only neces- 
sary supplies were taken." Following and preceding them, how- 
ever, were swarms of strangers and vagabonds, such as always hover 
about large armies, to indulge their propensities for violence and 
plunder. These, with impunity, frequently entered the houses of 
the planters and relieved them of their silks, jewelry and other 
articles of value, and to climax their depredations, burnt the 
houses of their victims and committed acts of violence upon their 
persons. 

Before Sherman put his columns in motion, Eome was set on fire 
and its foundries, machine shops, hotels and stores Avere burnt, and 
everything that could be of value to the army was taken. A few 
<lays afterwards the torch was also applied to Atlanta and all its 
public buildings, theatres and costly mansions were consumed in 
a common contlagration. The few remaining inhabitants alarmed 
at the devouring iiames, rushed through the streets and Hed from 
the perishing city. Tiie railroads in the rear were destroyed, and 
about the middle of November the famous march was commenced. 

Howard with the right wing moved along the Georgia Central 
Railroad, and Slocum with the left along the parallel road leading 
to Augusta. The latter tore up the track as he advanced, reached 
Madison without opposition, and while the soldiers were engaged 
in destroying its depot, a band of stragglei'S becoming drunk on 



856 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

the contents of wine cellers, sacked the stores and sho])s of the 
citizens. The ravages were continued till the main body of the 
army came up, when it was quickly brought to a close and guards 
stationed to protect what remained of the town. From Madison 
Slocum moved directly on Milledgeville, and the legislature then in 
session, hurriedly fled, carrying with them the funds, archives and 
other valuables belonging to the State. The rebels at first sup- 
posed that Sherman was only on a raiding expedition, but now 
they were confpelled to admit that a powerful invading army was 
moving directly through the heart of Georgia, and unless it could 
be met the most disastrous circumstances must follow. 

Howard, in the meanwhile, had advanced and destroyed the rail- 
road after him till within a few miles of Macon, where there was 
a large force protected by breastworks well mounted with cannon. 
The rebels supposed of course the city would be laid under siege,^ 
but Sherman not attaching as much importance to it as its de- 
fendants, concluded to pass it by with but slight recognition. 
Wishing, however, to cross without opposition the Ocmulgee, 
which runs by the place, Kilpatrick was sent to make demonstra- 
tions against it and thus conceal the real movement intended. 
The latter charged up to the breastworks of the town, and while 
the alarmed garrison was preparing for defense, Howard quietly 
slipped across the stream at Griswoldville below the city. Leav- 
ing here a portion of the L5th corjis to cover his rear, he pushed 
on in the direction of Milledgeville, whither he arrived the day 
after its occupation by Slocum. 

The Macon rebels, exasperated at finding themselves out- 
witted, made a furious assault on the force left at Griswoldville^ 
but were repulsed Avith the loss of 1,000 men. 

The army having now consumed a week, and marched a dis- 
tance of 95 miles, was again united in the capital of Georgia. At 
Millen, located on the Central railroad, some 80 miles south, was a 
great prison pen where thousands of our captured soldiers had suf- 
fered unspeakableprivations, and Sherman's next object was to lib- 
erate them . With this design in view Kilpatrick was directed to mo ve 
in the direction of Augusta, to create the impression that that 
place, rather than Savannah, was the objective point of the expe- 
dition. Wheeler, with the rebel cavalry, was euc<)uutered on the 
way, and, after some severe skirmishing with him, Kilpatiick 
learned that the enemy had removed the prisoners from Millen^ 
and, deeming it useless to i»ersist in the hazardous march after 
the motive which prompted it had ceased, commenced falling 
back. Closely pursued he retreated and fortified a strong posi- 
tion, and when Wheeler came up, although he fought with the' 
greatest determination, he was repulsed at all points without dif- 
ficulty. 

After the attack Kilpatrick joined the left wing and moved on 
its flank. Though the prisoners had not been liberated, the cav- 
alry demonstrations served to keep the enemy in doubt as to 
the real destination of the expedition, and consequently unable 
to concentrate his forces at any salient point. Shernum meanwhile 
Avith the other wing, leaving Macon far in his rear was advancing 
on Millen, whither he arrived on the 2d of December. 

The railroad and other public property behind him was com- 
pletely destroyed, while the country traversed abounding in the 



THE WAK OF THE REBELLION. 857 

necessaries of life, was despoiled of large quantities of provisions. 
His men had fared sumptuously on chickens and turkeys and a 
profusion of other luxuries, besides collecting large quantities for 
future consumption. This was a necessary precaution, for the army 
was now about to enter along- strip of country covered with pine 
forests comparatively destitute of food. Milieu being the seat of 
the above mentioned bastiles where large numbers of Union pris- 
oners had sickened, starved and died, it required great efforts to 
keep our indignant men from laying it in ashes. The prison was 
a stockade inclosing 15 acres, and hard by was the burying ground 
containing 650 graves as the result of one month's mortality. 

From Milieu Sherman next swept down on ea(;h side of the 
Ogeechee in the direction of Savannah, Kilpatrick careering in 
front and making the green arches of the pine forests echo with 
the tramp of his squadrons and the shrill notes of his bugles. On 
the 9tli of November, Howard struck the canal connecting the 
Ogeechee and Savannah, 10 miles in the rear and west of the city. 
The thunder of signal guns could now be heard booming over the 
swamps from the fleet, awaiting Sherman's advent upon the coast. 
Col. Duncan was sent down the Ogeechee, and three days after- 
ward, stepping on board of one of Dahlgren's vessels, once more 
put the army in communication with the outer world. The next 
dav Sherman advanced to within 5 miles of Savannah, and laid the 
city under siege, the 26th, 30th, 32d, 48th, 53d, 64th, 93d, and 
102d Illinois constituting a jiart of the investing force. Having, 
however, only brought field x)ieces in the long marches through 
Georgia, it was necessary to get siege guns from the fleet before 
he could make a successful assault. These could only be brought 
up the Ogeechee, hence Fort McAlister, commanding the mouth, 
must first be reduced. 

The enemy, in guardingagainst the fleet, which had previously as- 
sailed it, failed to strengthen its landward defenses, and Sherman 
ordered a bold attack on this point, hoping its vulnerable charac- 
ter might facilitate its capture. Hazen with his well tried division 
and a detachment of the 17th corps, consisting in part of the 26th, 
48th, 90th, 111th and 116th Illinois, was selected for this purpose, 
but having to throw a long bridge over the Ogeechee in the place 
of one previously burnt by the rebels, it was not till the afternoon 
of the 13th of December that the fort was reached, and prepara- 
tions completed for the assault. The fortress stood on the right 
bank of the river and could only be reached over a level plain 
three-fourths of a mile wide swept by heavy cannon. These opened 
upon the charging columns as soon as they commenced moving 
up, but produced little damage as the advance was made in a 
single line. The plain, however, was sown with torpedoes, which, 
exi^loding, threw up piles of dust on the men and sent many of 
them mangled and lifeless into the air. Pushing on regardless of 
danger they tore open an abatis, forced a passage over a ditch 
thickly studded with pikes, and, with a bound, made for the par- 
apets. Rushing in, on every side for an instant was heard the clash 
of steel and the whistling of bullets, mingled with the shouts of 
the combatants, and victory was complete. 

Shernian, who had witnessed the charge from the top of a rice 
mill across the Ogeechee, when he saw the national colors run up, 
called for a boat, and being rowed over, warmly congratulated 



858 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Hazeii aiKl his brave troops for liaviug captured the key to Savau- 
iiah. Coiumuuication was opeued with the fleet, and Shermau 
visited Admiral Dahlgren and made arrangements with him to 
send some heavy siege pieces from Hilton Head for the reduction 
of Savannah. The guns arrived on the 17th and Slocum 
was ordered to place them in position. At the same time 
Sherman started to secure the co-operation of General Fos- 
ter, commanding the department of the South, in intercepting the 
rebels, should they attempt to make an exit in the direction of 
Charleston. Encountering high adverse winds he did not proceed 
far before he was overtaken by a steam vessel and informed that 
Hardee, in command of the garrison, had already accomplished that 
which he was endeavoring to prevent. The movement at the time 
was unsuspected, and when discovered the fugitives were beyond 
the reach of pursuit. Before leaving they destroyed the navy 
yard, two iron clads and a large number of smaller vessels, be- 
sides great quantities of military stores and provisions. Gen. 
Geary pushed up to the city next day and received its surrender 
from the mayor, and Shermau, returning, sent the following dis- 
patch to the president : "I beg to present you as a Christmas 
gift the city of Saviinuah with 150 heavy guns and plenty of am- 
munition, and also about 25,000 bales of cotton." 

Thus auspiciously ended the campaign which the European 
press had predicted would meet with toal failure, and which many 
of our own journals spoke of as one of doubtful issue. Much of 
its success was due to the skill with which Sherman had deceived 
the rebels respecting his objective point whereby the large forces 
stationed at Macon, Augusta and Savannah, which might have 
been concentrated to oppose his advance, were rendered ineffect- 
ive. 

Its results may be summed up as follows : The army in the 
brief space of 21 days had destroyed 320 miles of railroad sub- 
stantially made a conquest of Georgia and again divided the 
confederacy. With an inconsiderable loss of men, 1328 of the 
enemy had been made prisoners, theie had been captured 167 guns, 
25,000 bales of cotton, and foraged from tlie country 1,300 beeves, 
16,000 bushels of corn and 5,000 tons of fodder. This abundance 
had been gathered in the region where the Union prisoners of An- 
dersonville had been starved to death or idiocy, under the pre- 
text that their captors were unable to furnish them with the 
necessaries of life. Some 4,000 mules and 5,000 horses had been im- 
pressed into the service, Avhile 10,000 negroes, abjuring the servi- 
tude of their masters, followed the national flag, and thousands 
more would hare been added to the number had not some of the 
officers dri\en them back. Sherman partially atoned for this cru- 
elty by assigning lauds on the sea islands, deserted by the rebel 
owners, to those who were so fortunate as to reach the coast. 

Sherman remained in Savannah over a month, resting his army 
and preparing for more arduous labors. Correspondence had been 
interchanged between him and Grant, respecting his future move- 
ments, and the South looked with alarm at his anticipated depar- 
ture from the city. Some thought he would strike at Charleston, 
others Augusta, but a greater object was to be accomplished than 
either. As arranged by Grant, he was to lead his gallant army 
through the heart of the Carolinas, and after destroying the rail- 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 859 



roads and seizing their capitals, be was to cooperate with the 
forces operating- against Eichmond. One rebel army watched him 
at Augnsta, and another at Charleston, thus affording him an op- 
l)ortiiuity to pursue his favorite strategy of threatening both 
places and preventing the concentrating of a force agfiinst his real 
line of march. Howard, on the right, was ordered to Pocataligo, 
a station ou the railroad leading to Charleston, to menace the city, 
and Slocum on the left and Kilpatrick with the cavalry to threaten 
Augusta. The former started on the 15th of JauuaVv, 1865, the 
17th corps going by water, and the loth by land. At Pocataligo, 
a depot of supplies was established and demonstrations made in 
the direction of Charleston, causing the rebels to keep all their 
available forces ready for the defense of the city. 

Incessant rains prevailed, and Southern Soutlj Carolina being a 
region of swamps, became saturated with water and the roads 
almost impassable. The streams which lay in front of 
Sherman being unable to carry oif the surplus water, the country 
for miles on each side of them was submerged. These difficulties 
proved far more formidable than those offered by the rebel army, 
although Gov. McGrath had impressed every white male citizen 
of the State, between the ages of 16 and 60, to augment its num- 
bers. 

The next point aimed at by Howard, was midway ou the South 
Carolina Railroad. Before this could be reached it was necessary 
to cross the Salkahatchie, behind which, at River Bridge, was 
posted a rebel force and artillery, to dispute its passage. Mower's 
and G. A. Smith's divisions, however, effected a lodgment on the 
opposite side below the bridge, by wading for 3 miles through 
chilly waters, from 2 to 5 feet in depth. The rebels fled precipi- 
tately beyond the Edisto, while the Union corps pushed rapidly 
for the railway at Midway', which it reached on the 7th and com- 
menced tearing up the track. 

The extraordinary freshet in the Savannah had detained Slocum 
in the city till the 2d of February, when the flood partially sub- 
siding, he succeeded in crossing the stream. The demonstrations 
of Kilpatrick kept the force at Augusta shut up in its fortiiica- 
tions, apprehending an attack, while Slocum, encountering little 
op})osition, moved rapidly forward, and also struck the South 
Carolina railroad farther westward, and assisted in its destruction. 
Sherman's army now lay between Augusta and Charleston, and 
the forces stationed at the two places were hopelessly divided and 
unable to act in concert. Leaving the left wing still engaged in 
breaking up the railroad, the right started northward for the 
Edisto, where thej^ found the bridge partially destroyed, and a 
force ou the oiDposite side to prevent their crossing. Forces' 
division dropping down the river, landed a number of pontoons, 
and passing over, pounced upon the astonished rebels and put 
them to flight. The bridge was soon repaired, and the national 
troops on the south side of the river rapidly moved on Orange- 
burg, again waking up the enemy. After a slight brush with him, 
in which the 30th, 3lst and 32d Illinois became engaged, they tore 
up the railroad. 

Sweeping on through the heart of the rebellious State, Howard 
on the 16tli drew up on the banks of the Saluda, in front of its 
capital. Almost simultaneously Slocum a])i)eared on the same 



8G0 HISTOKT OF ILLINOIS. 



stream, having met with no opposition, except from Wilson's 
cavalry, which Kilpatrick alone was sufficient to keep at a prudent 
distance. The 15th, 30th, 31st, 32d, 48th and 63d Illinois, Avith 
other advanced forces, drove back the rebel cavalry and the river 
was crossed without opposition. The mayor, finding- the city at 
the mercy of the Union guns, surrendered it. Sherman, before 
entering, issued au order for burning the public property, its 
schools, colleges, asylums and other buildings which could not be 
made available iu war, being exempted. The main body of the 
army passed west of the city, and the 15th corps marching through 
it, encam])ed on the Camden road beyond. 

Col. Wade Hampton, commanding the rear guard of rebel 
cavalry, ordered all cottou belonging to the inhabitants to be col- 
lected and burned. Piles of the inflammable material were ignited 
in the heart of the city, and, swept by the wind, soon communica- 
ted tire to the adjacent buildings. At dark the flames got beyond 
the control of the brigade on duty in the city, and Wood's entire 
division was brought in to assist in subduing them. Still the 
devouring element raged uncontrolable, lighting up the midnight 
sky with the brightness of noonday, and tilling it with myriads of 
brands, which drifting in eddying circles on the buildings, ex- 
tended wider and wider the conflagration. At 4 o'clock in the 
morning the wind ceased and the tire was checked, but the princely 
abodes of many who had beeu prime movers in the rebellion, 
together with the old state-house, which 4 years before had rung 
with acclamations at the passage of the tirst secession ordinance, 
were now shapeless masses of glowing embers. Says Sherman: 
"I disclaim, on the part of my army, any agency in the fire^ but on 
the contrary, claim that we saved what of Columbia remains un- 
consumed. And without hesitation, I charge Gen. W^ade Hampton 
with having burned his own citv of Columbia, not with malicious 
intent, or as the manifestation of a silly Eoman stoicism, but from 
folly and the want of sense, in filling it with cotton and tinder. 
Our officers and men on duty worked well to extinguish the flames, 
but others, not on duty, including the officers long imprisoned 
there, rescued by us, may have assisted in spreading the fire after 
it had once begun, and may have indulged in unconcealed joy to 
see the ruin of the capital of South Carolina." 

The fall of Columbia involved that of Charleston. Hardee, de- 
clining isolation and capture, evacuated the city. This he effected 
on the 18th of February, by the westerly line of the coast railroad, 
the only avenue of escape which the federal blockaders and in- 
vaders had left intact. Before his departure he fired the arsenal, 
commissary stores and cotton warehouse, the latter containing 
4,000 bales, which perished in the flames. From the burning cot- 
ton, fire was communicated to a large quantity of powder stored 
in the northwestern depot, causing an explosion which sent the 
building a whirling mass of ruins through the air, destroyed 200 
lives, and shook the city to its foundations. Sj^reading thence, 
tlie tlames were soon leaping and crackling among the adjoining 
buildings, and 4 squares were consumed before they could be ex- 
tinguished. The city was formally surrendered to Gen. Gilmore 
and the national flag again hoisted over the ruins of its public 
buildings, where, for the first time in the history of the republic, it 
had been ruthlessly assailed by those who owed it allegiance. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 861 

Forts Sumter and Eipley and Oastle Pinkuey submitted gracefully 
to a similar embellishment, aud the formidable armaments un- 
harmed passed into our possession. Gen. Gil more reported 450 
j>ieces found in all the defences, many of them 8 and 10-iuch 
columbiads, and 7-inch rifled cannon of foreign construction. 

History furnishes few such reverses as that which in the brief 
space of 4 years had befallen the citj-. Here rebellion liad been 
spawned for the purpose of rendering perpetual the servile condi- 
tion of the black man, and now a regiment of the emancipated 
race, wearing the national uniform, was the first to march as con- 
querors through its scarred and blackened streets. Everywhere 
ruin had been wrought by the long and continuous bombardment 
of the fleet. Many of the once palatial buildings were now the 
blackened wrecks of conflagration, some yawning and tottering 
■with seams caused by exploding shells, or pounded to a mass of 
rubbish and strewn in the adjacent streets. As if to make the 
desolation more complete, a latge part of the city which had 
escaped the guns of the besiegers had been set on fire by its 
defenders and thus met a common doom. 

There was a feeling prevalent in the army that South Car- 
olina, the cradle of secession and rebellion, should be made to feel 
some of the evils which she had been so active in bringing on her 
sister States. Hence not only her cities, but her rural dwellings, 
rice mills, aud pine forests and other property, were fired and 
served as a bon-fire to sigiuilize the advance of the invading 
array. In Georgia little private property was destroyed ; here 
little escaped. The devastation was forbidden, but could not be 
prevented where so many of the army, if not directly connected 
with it, evidently regarded it as justifiable retaliation. 

Let no one imagine that he can see in the deplorable fate of 
South Carolina the special displeasure of an angered God. Let 
him rather regard her calamities as the inevitable penalty which 
always attends the infraction of moral and physical law; whether 
the wrong doer be an individual, State, or nation. Our forefathers 
wantonly disregarded the rights of the negro when they kidnapped 
him on the coast of Africa and introduced him a slave into the 
American colonies. Again they were guilty of a moral breach 
when they sought to make his degradation perpetual by tolerating 
slavery in the national constitution. From this abnormal element 
in our political and social fabric sprang sectional discord, treason, 
and civil war with its rapine, burnings and slaughters. The blood 
shed by the sword in the war was the penalty for that which had 
been drawn by the lash from the backs of the bondsmen ; the deso- 
lation caused by the destruction of cities, was the price paid for 
the wealth which had been piled up by long years of unre- 
quited toil ; and the wail which went up from homes all over the 
laud had its precurser in the cry wrung from the families of the 
oppressed when ruthlessly torn asunder by the dealers in human 
souls. Crime and punishment are cause aud effect and cannot be 
separated. No one can trample on the just and inevitable laws of 
God without suffering, aud if the transgression is continued he 
must of necessitj' perish, not hj a special bolt from heaven, but 
as the unavoidable consequence of his own crime. 

Sherman, leaving at Columbia provisions to sustain for some 
time its destitute and houseless population, resumed his march, 



862- HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

moving in the direction of Charlotte. Hither had preceded liim 
under Beauregard the garrison of tlie devastated capital, and 
hither Cheatham had lead the dilapidated divisions of Hood's old 
army which had survived the blows inflicted on it in Tennessee. Not- 
withstanding the heavy storms and almost impassable roads, he con- 
tinued in his course till the 23d, when suddenly heading his col- 
umns for Fayetteville, IST. C, Charlotte, like other points which 
had been threatened, was left far in the rear. His line of march 
now lay across the Catawba and Great Pedee, which, 100 years 
before, had enabled Green to elude the pursuit of Lord Coruwal- 
lis. Kilpatrick, while manoeuvering Avith the enemy, toenableour 
army to cross the river without opposition, was surprised by a 
force of rebel cavalry and driven back into a swamj), losing all 
his guns and most of his staff. He, however, rallied his men, 
and, charging upon the rebels while they were plundering his 
camp, j)utthem to flight and retook his captured guns. 

The army having rapidly crossed Pedee, bringing the 30th and 
31st Illinois into action and capturing 25 guns, the opposing 
force, the ill-starred garrisons of Mobile and Charleston, under 
the luckless Hardee, hurriedly retreated to Fayetteville. Thither 
they were closely followed, and, after a sharp fray, on the 
11th of March, with the 15th, 30th and 31st Illinois, retreated up 
Cape Fear river. 

While the army lay in Fayetteville, the steam tug Davidson, 
and gun -boat Eolus steamed up from Wilmington, bringing news 
of the capture of that city and other important events, which had 
transpired during the six weeks that our army had been forcing 
its way through the interminable swamps and over the swollen 
streams of the Carolinas. 

Reduction of Wilmington. — The capture of Wilmington, in 
which the 65th, 107th and 112th Illinois participated, was inti- 
mately connected with, and had an important bearing on the oji- 
erations of Sherman. As tending to facilitate his movements 
Grant, on the 14th of Januar3", ordered Schofleld from Tennessee 
to the seaboard of jSTorth Carolina. His instructions were to de- 
bark at Wilmington if the place should be captured, but if not, to 
land at JS"ewbern. In accordance with this arrangement he trans- 
ported his corps to the latter place, but detached Cox's division to 
co-operate with Porter in the reduction of Wilmington, still in pos- 
session of the enemy. The only obstacle which now remained to 
prevent the advance of our fleet to the city, was Fort Anderson, 
a place of immense strength inclosing about 4 square miles. To 
eftect its overthrow, a movement was commenced up the river on 
the 11th of February, and, on reaching the fort, Cox's division, by 
wading through a difficult swamp, took a position in the rear. On 
the 18th the gun-boats opened on the works, while Schofleld made 
arrangements to intercept the garrison in case of retreat. Hoke, 
in command, finding himself likely to be surrounded by a formid- 
able force, and Sherman's army in a position to isolate him as it 
had done Hardee at Charleston, the succeeding night evacuated 
the place and pushed northward to form a junction with Johnson. 
The works were occupied, and 700 prisoners and 50 pieces of artil- 
lery passed into the hands of the victors. 



THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. S63 

Sherman now directed Scliofield to meet him in Goldsboro, and, 
after destroying the arsenals of Fayetteville, and costly machinery 
which had been brought from the armory of Harper's Ferry, re- 
sumed his march. Hardee having tied on the approach of our 
army, moved further up the river and fortitied a position on the 
left bank near Areysboro. Here he encountered the 60th, 86th, 
101st, 102d and 105th Illinois, under Slocum, who was moving in 
the same direction to make a feint on Raleigh and thus conceal Sher- 
man's movement on Goldsboro. The enemy's position was almost 
inaccessible on account of swamps, yet it was necessary to dis- 
lodge him, and Wood's division of the 20th corps was thrown for- 
ward to develop his lines. Immediately charging n]»on the outer 
works the division captured three guns and a considerable num- 
ber of iirisoners. Kilpatrick, farther to the right, was, however, 
vigorously attacked and driven back, gallantly fighting. Slocum 
in the meantime had ordered up three additional divisions, which, 
falling upon the enemy, forced him to retire within his entrench- 
ments, where he was held during the remainder of the day. The 
succeeding night being stormy, under cover of the darkness Har- 
dee abandoned his position and retreated over the road to Sinith- 
field. 

Hitherto Sherman had succeeded in interposing his army be 
tween the scattered detachments of the rebel forces, but now they 
were rapidly concentrating, and it became necessary to move with 
more caution. There were gathering about him Cheatham, with 
Hood's forces from Tennessee; Hoke, with the recent garrison of 
Fort Anderson; Hardee, with that of Charleston, and Wheeler's 
cavalry reinforced by Wade Hamj)ton. These forces, numbering 
40,000 veterans, were under the command of Johnson, Sherman's 
old antagonist, rendering it necessary for the latter to keep his 
columns within supporting distance. Slocum, after making the 
feint on Raleigh, wheeled to the right and took the road to Golds- 
boro, whither Howard, on his right, with his forces was also march- 
ing. 

Hopes were entertained by Sherman that the army might reach 
its destination without further opposition. Suddenly, however, 
as Slocum on the 18th neared Bentonville, he found himself con- 
fronted by the whole of Johnson's army. Beforedispositions could 
be made to receive the unexpected enemy, two brigades were 
driven back on the main force with a loss of three guns. Slocum, 
as soon as possible, deployed four divisions behind barricades and 
stood on the defensive. Kilpatrick hearing the roar of artillery, 
also dashed up and moved his forces on the left. Hardly had 
these preparations been made when Hoke, Hardee and Cheatham 
swept up their massive columns, hoping by sheer weight of num- 
bers to overwhelm and break the Union line. The whole fury of 
the assault spent itself within an hour, yet, in this time the rebels 
made six successive charges, all of which were successfully re- 
pulsed. The ra^iid volleys of our batteries did immense execution 
upon the foe, who, divesting himself of artillery, had hurried up 
expecting to crush Slocum before he could be supported. How- 
ard, however, in obedience to orders from Sherman, came up the 
next day, and the rebel general finding himself opposed by an 
army ot 60,000 strong, decamped the succeeding night, and re- 



864 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

treated 4ii the directiou of Ealeigli. Tlie following day, the 23d 
of March, the army, without farther opposition, entered Golds 
boro, whither Schofield two days before had preceded it. 

The battle of Bentonville, honored by the presence of the 30th, 
53d, 56th, 60th, 63d, 6J:th, 8Gth, 92d, lOlsr, lOith and 105tl 
Illinois, was the last engagement of the campaign. It is needless 
to say they, in common with the rest of their comrades, fought 
wp.ll. The results speak for themselves. A track of country from 
oavannah to Goklsboro, 40 miles wide and nearly 500 long, had 
been successfully overridden. The immediate fruits of the march 
were Mobile, Charleston and Wilmington, which, hitherto, had 
defied some of the most destructive naval enginery the world has 
ever seen, while it largely contributed to the downfall of the con- 
federate capital. Walled in on one side by the army of Grant, 
with Sherman rapidly apj)roaching on the other, its evacuation 
was a military necessity. 

Close of the War. — Sherman temi^orarily turned over his army 
to Schofield and hastened to City Point, where he had an inter- 
view with Gen. Grant and President Lincoln. The object of the 
meeting was to concert measures for striking the death blow of 
the rebellion. An important part in the closing drama was as- 
signed to the army of the West, but the end was at hand. Before 
any important movement could be effected, Lee surrendered, and 
the civil war, whose throes had convulsed the continent and dis- 
turbed the commerce of the world, existed only in history. 

The slave jjower, corrupt, defiant and rebellious, had now meas- 
ured its strength with the republic, and the latter had triumphed. 
Not a stripe was erased from her banners; every star still revolves 
in the frame work of the constitution; her domain is unbroken. 
May she still continue to prosper till her expanding dominion is only 
limited by the billows which at every point of the compass l)reak 
upon the ocean's shore ; till her proud destiny becomes a realiza- 
tion of the prophecies written in her" coal-fields, beds of iron and 
seams of gold ; till all nations, taught by her example, are released 
from political oppression, and man attains the full measure of 
happiness foreshadowed in the divinity of his nature. 

How much the nation is indebted to Illinois for the auspicious ter- 
mination of the war, may be inferred from the fact that in the two 
great movements which severed the insurgent States, and so greatly 
paralyzed their efforts, her soldiers were more largely represented 
than those of any other member of the LTnion. Furthermore, we 
must place on the credit side of her balance sheet a large amount 
of legal talent, superior generalship and executive ability; for 
Trumbull was our lawyer. Grant our soldier, and Lincoln our 
president. 

From the scene of its dangers and triumphs, Sherman's army 
proceeded to the national capital to share in the great review, 
which came off on the 23d and 24th of IVIay, as a fitting close of 
the struggle in which it had been so long engaged. At the ap- 
pointed time, in presence of president Johnson, (president Lincoln 
having been assassinated in April preceding) members of his cabi- 
net, foreign ministers, and other eminent personages, the united 
armies of the East and West moved along Pennsylvania avenue. 
Never had more gallant legions been entrusted with the destinies 



THE WAB OF THE REBELLION. 865 

of empii-e than those which received the congratulations of the 
dense masses which packed the spacious streets. The pageant 
was grand, yet grander far was the scene when the miglity host 
which coukl have overrun a hemisphere, peacefully, joyfully 
melted away into regiments and returned to their distant homes. 

Again the cities and villages of Illinois were aglow with enthu- 
siasm when the lengthened trains and crowded steamboats poured 
forth the thousands who had gone forth to battle. Everywhere 
they were met with expressions of welcome. Ovations were pre- 
pared for their reception, and long absent friends who had fol- 
lowed them with their sympathies through weary marches and 
perilous battles, gave them a happy greeting. The greatest re- 
ward, however, was the proud consciousness of having served and 
saved their country. Laying aside their military costume, they 
again assumed the habiliments and duties of civil life, and to-day 
the State is bounding forward in the career of greatness and 
power as the result of their thrift and enterprise. 

Many who had been instrumental in saving the nation, never 
lived to see the consummation of their labors. On the Father of 
Waters; where the Tennessee wanders; by the southern sea; along 
the track of the great contending armies, may still be seen their 
last resting places. As long as vernal suns shall cause the earth 
to bloom, may the sons and daughters of freedom strew with flow- 
ers their graves, and from the remembrance of their deeds 
gather new inspiration to direct them in discharging their duties to 
the country they died to save. 



55 



Chapter LXV. 

POLITICAL AND PARTY AFFAIRS DURING THE RE- 
BELLION. 

Sentiments of the Illinois Democracy in the Winter of 1860-1861 — 
Patriotic Feeling on the hreaJcing out of Hostilities^ irrespective 
of party ^ as inspired hy Douglas — Revival of Partisan Feeling — 
Constitutional Convention of 1862 — Its high pretensions — Conflict 
With the Governor — Some Features of the Instrument fraoned; it 
becomes a party measure — The vote upon it — Party Convention of 
1862 — The last Democratic Legislature — Frauds in passing hills — 
Reaction among the People against the Peace Movement — Mili- 
tary Arrests— Suppressing the Chicago Times — Secret Politico- 
Military Societies — Democratic Mass Convention of June Vlth, 
1863 — Republican Mass Convention, September, 1863 — Peace Meet- 
ings of 1864 — JS'ote, Chicago Conspiracy. 



During the winter preceding Mr. Lincoln's first inauguration as 
president, when State after State was shooting madly from the 
orbit of the Union by passihg secession ordinances, conservative 
men generally, to avoid the horrors of impending civil war, were 
anxious to conciliate the existing misunderstanding and restore 
harmony between the different sections of our country. Several 
propositions were offered in congress as plans for compromise ^ 
one 'by Mr. Douglas; one by Mr. Crittenden, and one known as 
the " Border State Proposition." With the feeling of compromise 
the democracy of Illinois were fully imbued, and for the sake of 
peace they would have conceded much. 

On the 16th of January, 1861, a Democratic State convention 
met in Springfield to give expression to their sentiments upon the 
state of the Union. Ninety-three counties were represented by 
over 500 delegates. The venerable Zadock Case}' presided. More 
than 28 years before he had presided over the Illinois senate, when 
the legislature declared the position of the State upon the nullifi- 
cation of South Carolina, sustaining President Jackson in his 
proclamation, and instructing our senators and representatives in 
Congress "to unite in the most speedy and vigorous measures on 
the part of the government for the preservation of tbe peace, in- 
tegrity and honor of the Union; and we do most solemnly pledge 
the faith of our State in support of the administration of the laws 
and constitution of our beloved country;" resolving further "That 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 867 

disuuiou by armed force is treasou, and should be treated as such 
by the constituted authorities of the nation." But this convention 
of 18G1 adopted a preamble and set of resolutions, counseling- 
concession and compromise, and the accei)tance of any of the 
propositions pending in congress to restore harmony between the 
sections; declared tliat an effort to coerce the seceding States, 
would plunge the country in civil war, and denied the militarj' 
power of the government to enfor(;e its laws in any State, except 
in strict subordination to the civil authorities ; believed "that the 
perilous condition of the country had been produced by the agita- 
tion of the slavery question, creating discord and enmity between 
the different sections, which had been aggravated by the election 
of a sectional president;" condemned the party leaders, madly 
bent on fraternal strife ; did not recognize any conflict in the 
diversity of tlie domestic institutions and industries of the coun- 
try, but rather discovered grounds for a more lasting and perfect 
union in its variety of soil and climate, and modes of thought of 
the i)eople; denied the right of secession; commended the proposed 
Louisville convention, and proposed a national convention to 
amend the constitution so as to produce harmony and fraternity 
throughout the whole Union.* 

In the proceedings of this convention may be found the names 
of men, who, in antagonism to the high national ground occupied 
by Mr. Douglas, ever sought to pla(;e the democracy of Illinois in 
a false light before the country during the rebellion. These reso- 
lutions foreshadowed tlie views which two years later, in a modi- 
fied form, re-api)eared in the Armistice resolutions of the 23d gen- 
eral assembly,and again in the enunciations of the so-called Demo- 
cratic mass convention of the 17th of June, 1863. But the full force 
of the rebellion was not yet, in January, 1861, realized. The bluster 
of extremists was so great in those days that much of it was dis- 
regarded. When the war was actually upt)n us, many other names 
seen there as participants, by their j)atriotic and gallant conduct, 
gave the lie to these enunciations. And prior to this, in Decem- 
ber, 1860, the Hon. John A. McClernand, a leading representative 
democrat in congress from this State, in the discussions incident 
to the state of the Union, had exclaimed that 

" The sacred obligations of patriotism would prompt every loyal citi- 
zen, whether in the North or in the Soutli, to defend and maintain the 
integrity of the Union and the authority of its common government 
against tlie inroads of violence. * * Is it coercion of a State for 
us to do wliat we are sworn to do — to support tlie constitution and tlie 
laws and treaties as the supreme law of tlie land ? Is it coercion for us 
to maintain peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must, possession of tlie 
treasure and other projierty of the United States? Is it coercion for us 
to stay the violent and lawless hand that would tear down the noble 
structure of our government? Sir, it is a perversion of all language ; a 
moclvery of all ideas,to say so." 

Mr. Douglas, devotedly attached to the Union, and anxiously 
laboring for conciliation and compromise, exclaimed to the South : 
'• What are you afraid of! You have now, and will have whenMr. 
Lincoln becomes president, two-thirds of the government, the 
supreme court, and both branches of congress." Unable to assign 
a sufficient reason, it was answered that they coidd not endure 

• lUinois State Register, Jan. 17, 1861. 



868 HISTORY OF ELLINOIS. 



the disgrace of a man in the White House, elected president by 
the Eepublicans. "Well," replied Douglas, "If the South se- 
cedes and takes up arms against the government, there will then 
be an end of compromise. You and your institutions Avill perish 
together." 

The legislature of Virginia had adopted resolutions, extending 
invitations to the other States of the Union, to appoint commis- 
sioners to meet at Washington, February 4th, 1861, with similar 
commissioners from that State, to consider and suggest plans for 
the adjustment of the unhappy differences between thei^orth and 
South. The basis of adjustment suggested by Virginia was the 
" Crittenden Compromise ;" or to so amend the federal constitu- 
tion that "property in African slaves should be effectually pro- 
tected in all the territory of the United States, now held, or here- 
after to be acquired south of the parallel of 36 deg. 30 min., dur- 
ing the continuance of territorial governments therein." The 
legislature of Illinois (Republican) authorized the governor to ap- 
point 5 commissioners, as above, to be at all times, however, sub- 
ject to the control of the general assembly, but disclaimed any 
admission, by their response to the invitation of Virgiuia, that any 
amendment of the federal constitution was requisite to secure the 
people of the slaveholding States adequate guarantees for their 
rights, or that it was an approval of the basis of settlement pro- 
posed by Virginia ; and declared it simply an expression of their 
willingness to unite in an earnest effort to adjust the present un- 
happy controversies. The resolutions in that form did not meet 
the approval of the democrats. In the senate every democrat, but 
one, voted against them. ^ The governor appointed the following 
gentlemen as commissiou*ers : Ex-Governor John Wood, Ex-Gov- 
ernor Koerner, (who declined, and the Hon. John M. Palmer was 
named instead). Judge Stephen T. Logan, Hon. B. C. Cook 
and Hon. Thomas J. Turner, all republicans. The conference of 
these commissioners, known as the "Peace Congress," was duly 
held at Washington, but their labors were unsatisfactory from the 
start, incurring the severest criticism from every direction and 
their recommendations resulted in nothing. 

The first determined expression from leading republican sources, 
and supposed to reflect the views of the new administration as to 
the course to be pursued with the rebels, came, also, from 
an Illinoisan. On the 28th of March, 1861, Mr. Trumbull, 
in the senate of the United States, offered a resolution that " in 
the opinion of the senate the true way to preserve the Union [was] 
to enforce the laws of the Union ; that resistance to their enforce- 
ment, whether under the name of anti-coercion or any other name, 
was disunion ; and that it was the duty of the president to use all 
the means in his power to hold and protect the public property of 
the United States, and to enforce the laws thereof, as well in the 
States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, 
Louisiana and Texas, as within the other States of the Union." 
It was not acted on ; no fixed policy was settled upon or seemed 
to exist at the time. 

When the news of the rebels opening their batteries upon Fort 
Sumter was received at Washington, Douglas, the great champion 
of popular rights, who truly represented more than nine- tenths of the 
mass of the Illinois democracy, freed immediately of aU partisan feel- 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 869 

ing, rose at once to the duty of tlie hour. He called upou President 
Liucolu aud tendered him his sympathy and support in his efforts 
to preserve the Union and maintain the government. It was a 
touching scene to see these old political antagonists thus meet to 
bury the political hatchet and address themselves only to the pa- 
triotic work before them. The president was deeply gratified by 
the interview. To the west Douglas telegraphed, " I am for my 
country and against all its assaihints." The tire of his patriotism 
spread to the masses of the north, and democrat and republican 
rallied to the support of the flag. In Illinois the democratic and 
republican presses vied with each other in the utterance of i^atri- 
otic sentiments. From the former we quote a few sentences: 

"The fratricidal blow has been struck! Civil war Is upon us. The rebels have opened 
batteries on Sumter, and the prospect of a long- aud bloody strife is before us. * * 
The g'overnment has been resisted in the performance of its legal functions. Rebels 
to the national authorities have fired upon the flaff of the country and assaulted one 
of its garrisons when effort was being made to reinforce and provision the noble An- 
derson and his gallant little band. * ' Whatever maybe meti's opinions as to 
the causes which have brought war upon us, there is but one feeling, and that is in 
behalf of the national goyernment and the flag- of the Union. This is as it sho'ild be 
with the true patriot. Whatever may be his opinion of the causes of the war with his 
country's enemies, he is for his country and his country's flat:-, and his hearty support, 
morally and physically, it necessary , should be rendered to the country's cause. * * 
Civil war is our present condition, and the patriot can only sympatliize with his govern- 
ment and with the flag, beneath the folds of which we have achieved our national 
eminence, with which are associated so many glorious memories, anil with which are 
blended all our hopes of future greatness, happiness and prosperity of civil and relig- 
ious liberty, and the cause of democratic republican government." "Whatever may be 
our party leanings, our party principles, our likes or dislikes, when the contest opens 
between the country— between the Union and its foes, and blows are struck, the pa- 
triot's duty is plain— take sides with the stars and stripes. As lUinoisans, let us rally 
to one standard. There is but one standard for good men and true. Let us be there; 
through good and through evil report, let us be there; first, last and all the time."* 

Large and numerously attended mass meetings met, as it were with 
one accord, irrespective of party, and the people of all shades of 
political opinions buried their party hatcliets. Glowing and elo- 
quent orators exhorted the people to ignore political differences in 
the present crisis, join in the common cause, aud rally to the flag 
of the Union and the constitution. It was a noble truce. From 
the many resolutions of that great outpouring of patriotic senti- 
ment which ignored all previous party ties, we subjoin the follow- 
ing: 

"■Resolved, That it is the duty of all patriotic citizens of Illinois, without distinction of 
party or sect, to sustain the government through the peril which now threatens the 
existence of the Union; and of our legislature to grant such aid of men and money as 
the exigency of the hour and the patriotism of our people shall demand." 

Governor Yates promptly issued his proclamation, dated the 
15th of April, convening the legislature for the 23d inst. in extra- 
ordinary session. 

That body remained in session ten days. Their labors were 
cliiefly addressed toward placing the State in proper position for 
defense, and to enable it to respond to the requisitions of the 
general government. In addition to the Gregiinents under the call of 
the president, they authorized the organization, by the State, of ten 
regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one battalion of light 
artillery, to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, &c. The entire 
militia of the State, including all able-bodied men between the 
ages of 18 and 45, was to be organized; $3,500,000 was appropri- 
ated for war purposes : $1,000,000 for the equipment of the ten 
regiments of infantry ; $500,000 for the purchase of arms and the 
establishment of an arsenal, and $2,000,000 for general war pur- 
poses. 

• Illinois State Register. 



870 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Tlieopiuiou of the Supreme Court, tbeu sitting at Ottawa, was 
first taken as to the power of tlie legislature to traneceud the con- 
stitutional limitation of $50,000. The extraordinary emergency 
was decided to be sufficient. 

The Executive department was also provided with a fund of 
$50,000 for extraordinary expenses. An act was also passed re- 
quiring war claims to be audited by three commissioners. Messrs. 
J. H. Woodworth, of Chicago, Wm. Thomas, of Jacksonville and 
C. H. Lauphier, Springfield, (the latter a democrat,) were by the 
governor appointed. 

Political or party questions were not obtruded to mar the har- 
mony of the special session, other than a resolution by Aaron 
Shaw — " That while we are ever ready to stand by, and defend 
with our fortunes and our lives, the constitution, the honor and 
flag of our country, we will frown upon and condemn any effort, 
on the part of the federal government, which looks to the subju- 
gation of the Southern States." Mr. Burr, democrat of Scott, from 
the committee on federal relations, reported a substitute, which was 
adopted by 07 to 0, disclaiming a purpose to subjugate the people 
of any State to awy other duties than those imposed by the con- 
6titutit)n and laws nuide i7i pursuance thereof. 

On the evening of the 25th of April, Mr. Douglas, who had ar- 
rived at the capital the day before, addressed the general assem- 
bly and a densely packed audience, in the hall of representatives, 
in that masterly effort, which must live and be enshrined in the 
hearts of his countrymen so long as our government shall endure. 
Douglas had ever delighted in the mental conflicts of party strife ; 
but now, when his country was assailed by the red hand of trea- 
son, he Avas instantly divested of his party armor and stood forth 
panoplied onl^- in the pure garb of a true patriot. He taught his 
auditory — he taught his country, for his speeches were telegraph- 
ed all over it — the duty of patriotism at that perilous hour of the 
nation's life. He implored both democrats and republicans to lay 
aside their party creeds and platforms; to dispense with party or- 
ganizations and party appeals; to forget that they were ever di- 
vided until they had first rescued the government from its assail- 
ants. His arguments were clear, conviuciiig and unanswerable; 
his appeals tor the salvation of his country, irresistible. It was 
the last speech, but one, he ever made. 

Thus everything moved in accord, as it should at such a time. 
The demon of party seemed swallowed up in the awakened patri- 
otism. Everything was harmony, concord and unity, actuated by 
but one purpose, to uphold the flag and maintain the integrity of 
the Union. 

The first ripple across this smooth sea, in which apparently was 
engulphed all party animosity, arose from the appointment of a 
successor to the lamented Douglas, who died on the 3d of June, 
1861. Some of the leading republican newspapers of the State, 
actuated by sentiments that rose above party, demanded of Gov. 
Yates the appointment of a Democrat to fill the vacancy. But 
the lesser though more numerous republican lights, who, so long- 
as there was nothing to lose or gain, had been loud in praise of 
burying the party hatchet during the war for the Union, now, 
however, opposed this magnanimous concession, so well calcula- 
ted to promote harmony, and severely denounced this step and the 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. S71 

indecent baste of their party associates to guide tlie political seii- 
tiineuts of the State. They did not want to thus buy the loyalty 
of the democracy, they said. The democracy was not to be 
trusted iu the emergency which threatened the perijetuity of the 
Union — citing the anti-coercion resolutions of the January State 
democratic convention, that the government had no constitution- 
al power to put down insurrection by military force. Prom this 
domestic warfare the deinocracy stood aloof ; they did not expect 
the senatorship, a political oftice, as a gift, at the hands of the re- 
j)ublicans. But it may well be imagined that the taunts and 
flings of the latter were not promotive of the amity and unity of 
feeling so auspiciously begun. While the advocates of such ap- 
pointment gave thus an earnest to sink the partisan out of view 
during the war, they ought to have foreseen the inability of his ex- 
cellency to throw off ]3arty shackles and rise to the grandeur and 
indej)endence of such an act. Their good intentions resulted only 
iu harm. The governor appointed a republican, the Hon. O. H. 
lirowning, of Quinc.y, a gentlemau who, by his legal attainments, 
occupied a front rank at the bar of Illinois, and who, by educa- 
tion, large acquaintance with public affairs, natural ability and 
gifts of oratory, was in every way qualified to adorn the senatorial 
ofQce. 

In the meantime the national administration proceeded with 
the work of official decapitation fully as much as iu times of pro- 
fonnd peace, with no common danger threatening and no other 
X)ublic feeliug than party animosity, and a scramble fortheloaves 
iind fishes. While the dominant party press cried "Union" and 
"no party" during the war, they approbated at the same time the 
<;ourse of the administration, and said: " The democrats beloug to 
that political tribe which, for years, have been giving aid and com- 
fort to Southern traitors, and are now only for the Union by the 
force of circumstances, and not inclination ; that the republicau 
party, after driving the disunionists out of office at Washiugton, 
^should not allow their sympathizers to hold office anywhere else 
in the country ; that the people expected the political axe to be 
applied."* 

Democrats and republicans had alike rallied with alacrity to the 
defense of the nation. The former voted unlimited supplies of 
money, men and credit to an administration AA^hich, in its civil ap- 
pointments, drew the line of strict party separation — a jjoor re- 
quital, indeed, for the generous surrender of party feeling in the 
moment of great peril to a common government; and while the re- 
publicans were thus revelling in the full enjoyment of the spoils 
•of party victor}', it could hardly be expected that partisan feeling 
«hould be entirely sunk out of view by the democracy thus irrita- 
ted. 

The Constitutional Convention of 1802. — In ITovember, 1861, 
quite an important election was to take place for delegates to re- 
vise the constitution. This convention had finally been author- 
ized by a vote of the people, after several previous attempts and 
failures. The legislature at its winter sessio)x of 1861, with some 
reluctance, owing to the changed condition of the nation, had 

•See Republican press of the period. 



872 HISTOKY OF ILLrNOIS. 

passed the act for the election and meeting of this imi^ortaut body. 
When the convention was called times were good and the State 
in a prosperous condition; now they were hard, banks daily 
breaking, money worthless, and produce extremely low. 

It was to consist of 75 members, corresponding to the number 
of representatives in the lower house of the general assembly, to 
be elected from tlie same districts. The legislature elected in 
18G0 was republican — the house by five majority and the senate 
by one. Yet the election of delegates to the constitutional con- 
vention, but one year later, resulted in 45 democrats, 21 republi- 
cans, 7 fusionists, and 2 doubtful; the latter 9 acting in the con- 
vention mostly with the democrats. From this result, which was 
entirel^^ unexpected by the republicans, it may well be inferred 
that the democrats, like their opponents, had also not, when the 
scramble for office was at stake, sunk all j)arty issues out of view 
while the war should last. Indeed, for party organization and 
alertness, democratic leaders have ever out-maneuvered their op- 
ponents, probably because the rank and file of their party have 
ever been tractable. It seems that the democracy in some repub- 
lican districts readily agreed to a fusion upon an equitable or satis- 
factory division of candidates, but in districts where they had clear 
majorities, this cognate rule was ignored, a straight party ticket 
brought out, and elected. 

Among the delegates were many well-known politicians of the 
State. In the list of names may be recognized ex-governors, ex- 
congressmen, ex-State officials, ex-legislators, learned jurists who 
held on to their seats upon the bench while they were remodeling 
the organic law, distinguished lawyers, experienced editors, and 
able civilians. 

The convention assembled January 7th, 1862, and at once took 
the high position that, after due organization, the law calling it 
was no longer binding, and that it had supreme power ; that it 
represented a virtual assemblage of the whole people of the State, 
and was sovereign in the exercise of all power necessary to effect 
a peaceable revolution of the State government, and to the re-estab- 
lishment of one for the "happiness, prosperity and freedom of 
the citizen,"limitedonly bythe federal constitution. Notwithstand- 
ing the law calling the convention required that, before entering 
upon their duties, the members should each take an oath to sup- 
port the constitution of the United States, and of this State, they 
utterly refused to include the latter, denying the right of the leg- 
islature to prescribe their oath of office, and holding it inconsistent 
for them to swear to maintain what it was their duty to tear to 
pieces.* 

They claimed their authority from the vote of the people at the- 
election of 1860, and not from the subsequent act of the legisla- 
ture, which had exhausted its power by authorizing their election 
and could attach no condition to their duties ; that if the legisla- 
ture could bind them in their oath, it could in the articles to be 
amended, and thus in advance render null the voice of the peo- 
ple and the labors of the convention. 

•See remarks of Mr. Anthony, of Cook, a republican, who first called attention t» 
this view 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 873 

They went further, and asserted their supremacy, not only with 
reference to the framing of a constitution, but assumed the riglit 
to control the executive departments of the State govern- 
ment — the governor and subordinate State officials — the courts 
and all cognate matters .; that they were sovereign with regard 
to both existing laws and the constitution, as it was their pleasure 
to will. This was high and extraordinary ground to take, though 
not entirely new. Nor did the convention stop with the mere 
claim of these extraordinary powers — it essayed to exercise them. 
This led directly to an onslaught from the republican press of the 
State, which grew in sharpness as its sitting progressed. The con- 
vention was denounced as an illegally organized body — a mere 
mob, exercising usurped powers, &c. 

The legislature, at its special session of April, 1861, had, it will 
be remembered, with a liberal hand appropriated $3,500,000 for 
war pui-poses. When the convention met it speedily ascertained 
that the governor had not stopped with the expenditure of the 
appropriation, but, without authority of law, had greatly exceeded 
its limits — the aggregate claims audited by the military auditing 
board amounting to $4,885,886. This was in express violation of 
the law. But these liabilities had been contracted in a crisis of 
extraordinary peril to our country, to feed, clothe, equip and or- 
ganize the troops of Illinois at a time when the government itself 
was inexperienced in every step it took, and should certainly not 
have caused the arraignment of the governor as being false to his 
official trust and obligations. He had a right to and doubtless 
did rely upon the people for his acquittance, so long as it Avas 
shown that these exi)enditures were necessary, and the money 
was rightfully applied to promote the comfort and efficiency of 
our troops. Besides, the general government was under obliga- 
tions — which it has fully discharged — to reimburse the States for 
necessary expenditures iu theequipment of their volunteers. 

But in the fall of 1861, the U. S. quartermaster's department 
sent its agent to Springfield to take chargeof all expenditures in- 
cident to the supplies and equipment of Illinois troops.* 

This did not accord with the wishes of his excellency. To the 
agent's request to relieve the State, the governor replied that he 
availed himself of the right conferred by act of Congress upon 
each State to furnish supplies for its troops. Contracts for sup- 
plies were still given out, one for clothing alone amounting to 
over $800,000.* 

The State was for a time threatened with a loss of $130- 
000, on account of inferior clothing purchased by the gov- 
ernor's agent in Philadelphia. Finally, but not till in January, 
1862, upon a sharp demand from the Secretary of War, the ex- 
penditures and rich drippings of the quartermaster's department 
were turned over to the general government. In this instance, 
however, the conduct of the governor, by thus fixing aliability upon 
the State beyond the war fund jn^ovided, in thefaceof the demand 
of the war department to relieve the State, cannot certainly be ex- 
tenuated upon the grounds of necessity. 

•See Q. M. Gen. Meigs' letter to the Governor Sept. 28,1861. 
•See correspondence of Q. M. Gen. Meigs. 



874 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The cou veil tiou made mauy of these matters the subject of iu- 
quiiy. They demanded of the goveruor, by resolution, to know 
whether the general government had notified him of its readiness 
to relieve the State of the further expenditures in the oiganiza- 
tiou, equipment and maintenance of troops enlisted in this State 
for the service of the U. S.; whether the general government liad 
not sent its agent here for that purjjose, and if so why the arrange- 
ment had not been made; also all correspondence with the gen- 
eral government in relation thereto. They called upon him (by 
resokition of Mr. Wentworth, republican) to furnish the conven- 
tion the names and pay of all persons appointed to office by him 
since the beginning of the war, and out of what appropriations 
they were paid ; Avhat civil officers or agents he was empowered to 
appoint under the constitution ; and whether the militia of the State 
called into service had been i)ermitted to elect their own officers, and 
if not, by what authority he had exercised those functions, &c. The 
Illinois Central II. E. Company, which, in its grant of land from 
Congress, was bound, in express terms, to render to the general 
government transportation for troops and munitions of war, fiee 
of charge, had brought against this State a claim for military 
transportation of $116,719, which had been audited and approved 
by a majority (Messrs. Thomas and Woodward) of the State mili- 
tary auditing board. The company wanted to set off this claim 
against the semi-annual dividend of 7 per centum of its gross 
earnings. The convention instructed the new board of army au- 
ditors (the auditor, treasurer and governor,) to suspend all action 
in relation to this claim until further notice from them. His excel- 
lency, in several lengthy communications, comi)lied with the de- 
mands of the convention, setting forth in detail all his transactions 
inquired about ; but finally, in a short letter, dated February 5th, 
1SG2, after stating that he had, from the beginning, maintained 
that the claims of the Central railroad could not be brought 
against the State of Illinois, but were properly chargeable against 
the general government, he sharply defined his independence 1)3- 
saying, " he did not acknowledge the right of the convention to 
instruct him in the performance of his duty." 

The convention went still further. Instead of revising the con- 
stitution simply, it also assumed legislative powers and put its 
finger into almost every conceivable State affair. It attempted 
to crush the free banks by instructing the auditor not to issue to 
them anymore bank notes to circulate as money, unless the bank 
first showed, by the affidavits of two credible witnesses, that it 
had on hand, always, previous thereto, a cash capital of not less 
than $50,000; that it had never refused to redeem its circulation 
in specie ; and that at the time of application for further issues it 
had actually, and in good faith, a paid in capital of $50,000. The 
requirement of these impossilDilities from the banks was, per- 
haps, Avell enough, to save the people from further losses by 
" stump-tail " currency. 

It also passed, by a vote of 39 to 23, an ordinance ratifying the 
amendment to the constitution of the U. S., proposed by joint res- 
olution of Congress, March 2, 186L: Article XIII — "No amend- 
ment shall be made to the constitution which will give to Con- 
gress the power to abolish or interfere within any State with the do- 
mestic relations thereof, including' that of persons held to labor 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 875 

or service by the laws of said State." The convention bad not 
been called for the purpose of ratifying this amendment, and Con- 
gress, which has the selection of the nuide of ratification, had des- 
ignated the legislatures. Some leading democratic members 
protested against this step, not that they did not approve of the 
amendment, but because the convention had not legislative power 
to act in the premises. 

A resolucion was introduced to inquire into the feasibility of 
electing a U. S. senator in place of the appointee of the governor. 
And this step was encoumged by the democratic press, as it en- 
couraged all the proceedings. In these ways the bitter hostility of 
the entire republican press of the State was provoked, and it did 
not halt or hesitate, but came to the charge with a will. The cry 
of usurpation was raised. It was charged tliat the convention 
went out of its legitimate sphere to provoke a collision with the 
State authorities ; it was denounced as a mob of political dema- 
gogues who sought by every means to discredit the war for the 
Union, destroy the government and build up secession democracy 
on its ruins. The strictures of the press were unparalleled in gross- 
ness and severity.* 

And now, February 18, 1862, the convention, by a vote of 50 to 
16, passed an ordinance appropriating $500,000 for the exclusive 
purpose of relieving the wants and sufferings of Illinois sick and 
wounded soldiers battling for the Union and the constitution. 
To raise the necessary funds, 10 per cent, bonds were to be imme- 
diatelj' issued, redeemable at the pleasure of the State. The 
governor, treasurer, and finance committee of the convention 
were constituted a commission to properly expend this fund. But 
this most generous action was characterized by Republicans as a 
Democratic effort to make political cajjital out of the war. The con- 
vention was ridiculed as having gone off on a buncombe ordinance, 
and its members sneeriugly denounced as eleventh-hour patriots. 
The bonds bearing the enormous rate of 10 per cent, interest, it 
was argued, would astonish the financial cencres of the country ; 
that the whole scheme was nieant to aim a blow at the credit of 
the State, to give aid and comfort to the rebellion. So difhcult is 
it for one party to please another, with the most liberal acts even, 
in favor of a cause espoused by both. JSTotwithstanding a resolu- 
tion directing the preparation of the bonds and their sale, the 
State officials, all Republicans, wholly ignored the behests of the 
convention, and the ordinance became a dead letter. The sick and 
wounded Illinois sohliers received no State aid, said the Demo- 
crats, because it was not the act of the dominant party. As the 
convention possesse<l probably no legislative power, the ordinance 
was doubtless a nullity, and the bonds would have been worthless 
in market. 

Some Features of the Instrument framed: 

Sec. 30, Article 11, provided that " The people of this State have the 
exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign and inde- 
pendent State, and do and forever shall enjoy and exercise every power 



*A correspondent of the Chicago Tribune boldly charged that 31 members of the 
convention helonged to the Knights of the Golden Circle -commonly reputed to be a 
treasonable political organization in sympathy with the rebelliou. This foolish and 
unsupported charge was dignified by the convention with the consideration of a 
resolution to inijuire and ferret out whether any member did belong to any such or- 
der, or was in treasonable correspondence with the Confederacy; the resolution 
went to its grave by reference.] 



876 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



pertaining thereto, which is not and may not thereafter be by them ex- 
pressly delegated to the people of the United States of America, or pro- 
hibited to the State by the constitution of the United States." 

In this Eepublicaus discovered lurking the abominable heresy 
of State sovereignty and the right of secevssion, which set a State 
above the nation, and had proven the bane of the Union; which 
fostered sectionalism and made of one's own countrymen aliens. 
Long before the labors of the convention were concluded, blind 
partisanism, lashed into fury, was arrayed against whatever might 
be produced by it, good or bad. When the work was finally com- 
pleted and published, it was at once ruthlessly attacked by the 
Eepublicans, notwithstanding its many excellencies and great im- 
provement uijou the old constitution. Its provisions were such 
that where responsibility could be attached it was done ; every- 
thing was fixed, determined and rigidly enforced upon the respec- 
tive departments of government, with nothing left to chance or 
mischievous interpretation. It guarded the interests of the people, 
lessened taxation, and sought to compel an honest administration 
of public affairs generally. It relieved from the useless 2 mill tax 
of the old constitution, saving to the people $1,000,000 annually. 
It abolished the grand jury system in all cases except felony. 
This inquisitorial institution, though venerable with age, is a cum- 
brous and expensive machinery in the administration of justice 
illy adapted to the flexibility of our day. The statistics of 1861 
showed that out of 1,682 indictments found in this State, but 330 
convictions were had, leaving upon the residue an indelible stain 
for the finger of scorn to point at, perhaps to the second genera- 
tion. The constitution placed a curb upon railroad corporations, 
both existing and prospective, and effectually limited all monoj)o- 
lies. The 7 percent, fund, arising from the gross earnings of the 
Central Railroad, was definitely fixed so that no future legislature 
might be tampered with for its removal. Special legislation was 
prohibited, cutting up by the roots the occupation of the lobby 
cormorants. All of which provoked the ardeut hostility of the 
many large and influential interests affected, which thus reinforced 
the partisan opposition to it with a powerful auxiliary. 

But upon the other hand, it should also be said that in contradis- 
tinction of the ancient theory that the State is the fountaiu of jus- 
tice which can do no wrong, it contained a provision for bringing 
suits against the State prostrating its sovereigntyatthefeet of every 
one, and opening a Pandora's box to let loose all manner of frauds 
upon the common treasury. Apportionments, whether fair or 
otherwise, always give partisan offense, and it was so with the 
work of the convention. A revision of the census of 1860 entitled 
Illinois to 14 instead of 13 congressmen, the Slate having been 
apportioned for 13 by the legislature in 1861. The convention 
plan gave to each political party 7 members ; but as the Eepubli- 
cans felt that they had a popular majority in the State, they pre- 
ferred a congressman at large. The opponents further charged 
that while by the census of 1860, the Kepublican counties con- 
tained a population of 942,005, and the Democratic 769,748, yet 
by the apportionment for members of the legislature, the latter 
would have 19 of the 33 senators, and 57 of the 102 representa- 
tives, and that it was so contrived that if the former should carry 
the State by a popular majority the general assembly would still 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 877 

be democratic. In makiugState officers elective bieimially instead 
of quadreuuiallj' , the coiiventioii committed its gravest blunder by 
dismissing from office the iucumbeuts, whose terms would be but 
half ex[)ired, and ordering a new election in November, 1862 ; 
while the circuit and county clerks, mostly democratic, were re- 
tained till the expiration of their full terms. This was an unjust 
partisan discrimination, which the people would not brook, and 
they defeated the instrument in June following. Six different 
propositions were separately submitted to a vote of the people. 
The constitution proper, the article prohibiting banks, and the 
congressional apportionment, were all defeated, the former by a 
majority of 16,()51. But the article prohibiting negroes and mu- 
lattoes from settling in the State, was carried by 100,590 majority; 
that proliibiting their voting, by 176,271, with only 35,649 votes 
against it; and that requiring these provisions to be carried into 
effect b}' appropriate legislation, by 154,524 majority. Such was 
then still the overwhelmingly dominant sentiment of the people 
of this State with regard to the political status of the black man. 
Three months after this overwhelming expression of the people of 
Illinois, Mr. Lincoln issued his preliminary ])roclamation of freedom, 
to the African bondsmen of America; and in November following, the 
State, which in June cast over 16,000 votes majority against the 
constitution as a party measure, went largely against the Eepub- 
licans, the Democrats electing 9 out of the 14 congressmen, in- 
cluding the congressman from the State at large by 16,355; the 
State Treasurer and Superintendent of Public Instruction, and 
carried both houses of the general assembly. The summer of 
1862 had witnessed the great uprising of the people in the ready 
volunteering of 600,000 men, and more, until the government re- 
fused them. After the proclamation, contrary to the predictions 
of Greeley, Andrew and Yates, such patriotic scenes were not 
again witnessed. The conscript law, threatened drafts and local 
bounties afterward supplied the demand. Had the constitution 
been adopted in June, the State, by the election of a governor and 
State officers in November, would have wholly passed into the 
bands of the democrats — whether for good or evil, is left to the 
conjecture of the reader. 

Democratic arid Republican Conventions of 1863. — On the 16th 
of September, 1862, the State Democratic Convention was held at 
Springfield in Cook's Hall. The attendance was not full, the call 
being for 529 and the attendance 381. The contest for congress- 
man at large Jay between Ool. T. Lyle Dickey, of LaSalle, a war 
democrat, himself and sons having enlisted in the service for the 
Union, and James C. Allen, of Crawford. The latter was nomi- 
nated on the first ballot, by 17 miijority, which was regarded as 
an anti-war triumph. Alexander Starne, of Pike, was chosen as 
the candidate for treasurer, and John P. Brooks, of Rock Island, 
for superintendent of jjublic instruction. At this stage of the pro- 
ceedings no little commotion was produced by W. B. Scates, of 
Gen. McClernand's staff, offering a series of resolutions, favoring 
a vigorous prosecution of the war, " whether slavery survived or 
perished," adopting the language of Mr. Lijicoln ; and using the 
language of Mr. Douglas — " There are only two sides to the ques- 
tion — every man must be for the United States or against it. 



HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors. 
The more stupendous our preparations, the less blood shed and 
the shorter the struggle ;" that it was the duty of American citi- 
zens to rally around the flag of their country ; approving, also, of 
the president's call for 600,000 voluiitec^rs. The resolutions were 
immediately tabled by a large nnijoi'ity. 

Of the resolutions reported by the committee on platform, 
through the Hon. W. A. Ricliardson, and unanimously adopted, 
we give the first and second in full, with a synopsis of the re- 
mainder: 

^'■Resolved, That the constitution, and laws made in pur.'^uanee thereof, are and must 
remain the supreme law of the land; and as such, must be preserved and maintained 
in their proper and rightful supremacy ; that the rebellion now in arms against them 
must be suppressed; and it is the duty of all g-ood citizens to aid the general govern- 
ment in all legal and constitutional measures necessary and proper to the accomplish- 
ment ot this end. 

^'Resolved, That the doctrines of Southern and Northern extremists are alike incon- 
sistent with the federal constitution, and irreconcilable with the union and harmony 
of the country. The first have already involved us in civil war, and the latter, if per- 
mitted to retain ascendency, will leave the nation but little hope of the restoration of 
the Union in peace." 

They further protested against congress pledging the nation to 
pay for all slaves that should be emancipated ; condemned as 
tyrannical the recent arbitrary arrests of our citizens by the gen- 
eral government, and their transportation beyond the State, de- 
manding their immediate restoration for trial at home ; denounced 
the military interference with the freedom of speech and the 
press; viewed with alarm the reckless extravagance pervading 
every department of government; considered the new excise law 
as unjust and oppressive to the agricultural States ; commended 
strict economy in State affairs, and the payment of taxes in United 
States treasury notes; sustained the inesidentin his recent declar- 
ation to "save the Union the shortest way under the constitution ;" 
asked from the authorities of Illinois the enforcement of the negro- 
exclusion clause, recently added to the constitution; and ten- 
dered their thanks to the volunteers of Illinois for their gallant 
services at Belmont, Donelson, Shiloh, Lexington and Frederick- 
town. The convention was held about a week prior to the issu- 
ance of the proclamation of freedom.* 

The Republican, or Union State Convention, as it called itself, 
met September 24, 1862, two days after that proclamation. Out 
of 340 delegates entitled to, 328 attended. For congressman at 
large there were a dozen candidates, but the Hon. Eben C. Inger- 
soll, of Peoria, a strong war democrat, who, immediately after the 
adjournment of the Democratic Convention, had taken occasion, in 
a published letter, to denounce its secession proclivities, and made 
a strong call for a State convention, composed of true, loyal 
democrats, who would draw a line between union and disunion, 
without an ''if" or a " but," was now taken up by the Republi- 
cans, and nominated on the 4th ballot, his strongest opponents 
being such original republicans as H. P. H. Bromwell and Jack- 
son Grimshaw. William Butler, of Sangamon, was nominated for 
treasurer, and Newton Bateman for superintendent of public in- 
struction. 

The committee on platform, through Lawrence Weldon, made 
their report, which was adopted, and which we condense. It de- 
nounced the rebellion as the most causeless known to history ; 

*See Illinois State Register, Sept. 17, 1863. 



YATBS' ADMINISTRATION. 879 

acknowledged but two divisions of the people — the loyal, ready to 
make any sacritice for the integrity of the Union and the preser- 
vation of liberty, and those who openly or covertly endeavored to 
sever the former and yield the latter; called upon all patriotic 
citizens to rally for an undivided country and one flag, and the 
prosecution of the war to any extent or sacrifice; cordially ap- 
proved the proclamation of freedom as a great and imperative war 
measure essential to the salvation of the Union, pledging all 
truly lo3'al citizens to the sui)port of the president in its enforce- 
ment; commended the patriotic and efficient aid of loyal demo- 
crats, but deprecated the course of those political leaders, who, 
while studiously avoiding all harshness toward the conspirators of 
the south, found fault with the administration for its manner of 
l)rosecuting the war ; favored a system of direct taxation to sup- 
press the rebellion, but demanded an equitable modification of the 
existing excise law; commended, as a work of great national im- 
portance, the construction of a ship canal, connecting Lake Michi- 
gan with the Mississippi river; expressed gratitude to the gover- 
nor for his labors to bring into the field the Illinois ti'oops, and 
his efforts to care for them in sickness ; and that the Illinois vol- 
unteers were entitled to our lasting gratitude for nobly periling 
their lives in battle, from Kansas to the Potomac* We have 
already stated that the election in November, 18G2, resulted in a 
complete victory for the democrats. The State ticket was carried 
by an average of over 16,000 majority, showing a change of 32,000 
votes since June, when the Eepublicans defeated the new consti- 
tution by 16,000 majority. Democrats attributed this remarkable 
change in the sentiments of the people to the proclamation of free- 
dom of September 22, 1862. 

The Last Democratic Legislature of Illinois. — The political status 
of the 23d General Assembly, elected November, 1862, was as 
follows: Senate, democrats 13, republicans 12; House, democrats 
54, republicans 32. With the meeting of this body on the 5th of 
January, 1863, flushed with tlie democratic triumph at the polls, 
not only in Illinois, but other Northern States, a large outside 
force of well-known politicians, like vultures to their feast, also 
collected at the capital. These, joined by some of the members, 
arranged a jniblic meeting at the Hall of Eepresentatives for the 
evening of the first day of the session, in which every part of the 
State was represented. V. Hickox, of the State Democratic Com- 
mittee, presided, and Capt. Thos. W. McFall, of Quincy, wasraade 
secretary. A committee of 16 on resolutions, one from each con- 
gressional district, and three from the State at lai^ge, was ap- 
pointed, embracing the following prominent names : I. N. Morris, 
L. W. Ross, John T. Lindsay, E. D. Taylor, S. A. Buckmaster, 
John T. Stuart, John Scho field, O. B. Ficklin, W. A. Hacker, H. 
M. Vandev^eer, A. 0. Harrington, M. Y. Johnson, C. H. Lanphier 
and B. L. Caulfield. Messrs. W. A. Richardson, S. S. Marshall, 
Richard L. Merrick and W. C. Goudy addressed the vast audi- 
ence, denouncing the president as a usurper, criticising the con- 
duct of the war in unmeasured terms and characterizing it as bar- 
barous and disgraceful. 

* See lUinois State Journal, Sept. 25, 1863. 



880 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The coinmittee reported the following resolution, which was 
vociferously applauded and unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, Ih-dt the emancipaiion proclamation of the President of the U.S. is as 
unwarrantable in military as in civil 1.t.\v; a gigantic usurpation, at once converting 
the war, professeilly commenced by the administration for the vindication of the au- 
thority of the constitution, into the crusade for tlie sudden, unconditional and violent 
liberation of 3,000,000 of nejiro slaves ; a result which would not only be a total sub- 
version of the federal Union, but a revolution in the social organization of the South- 
ern State's, theirau.ediate and "emote, t!ie present and the tar-reaching conseo.uencea 
of which to both races cannot be contemplated without the most dismal forebodings 
of horror and dismaj'. The proclamation invites servile insurrection as an element iu 
this emancipation crusade a means of warfare, the inhumanity and diabolism of 
"Which are Without example in civilized warfare, and which we denounce, and which 
the civilized world will denounce, as an ineffaceable disgrace to the American name." 

The committee were instructed to report further on the eveniug 
of January 8th, to which time the meeting adjourned — a day sa- 
cred from its patriotic associations — wheu this scene was again 
rehearsed. 

At that time the Hon. I. N. Morris, of the committee, reported 
a set of 11 resolutions, condemning the administration for suspen- 
ding the writ of habeas corpus in the arrest of private citizens, and 
their incarceration in political bastiles ; the dismemberment of 
Virginia; and "That while we condemn and denounce the flagrant 
and monstrous usurpations of the administration, and the en- 
croachments of abolitionism, we remain equally hostile to the 
Southern rebellion." They further commended a cessation of hos- 
tilities with the rebellious foe, to allow, as they said, the people 
of the North and the South to express their wishes for peace, 
and a maintenance of " the Union as it was and the constitution 
as it is," through a national convention to meet at Louisville, 
Kentucky, to which the legislature was invited to send a suita- 
ble number of discreet commissioners in behalf of Illinois. In 
these resolutions we find foreshadowed and prescribed the subse- 
quently notorious armistice or peace resolutions of the legislature, 
which were attended with so much partisan strife and loss of 
time. 

The speeches made in sujjport of the 1'esolutions were of the 
most inflammable anti-war character. The speakers on this oc- 
casion were Judge O'Melveny, Hon. O. B. Ficklin, E. L. Merrick, 
B. Caulfleld and T. Lyle Dickey, the latter the only one who coun- 
selled moderation, saying that to stir up a counter-revolution to 
oppose revolution could only result iu the destruction of our whole 
political fabric. Detraction of the president for issuing the pro- 
clamation of freedom, denunciation of the policy of his adminis- 
tration, criticism of the conduct of the war, and opposition to it, 
were indulged as on the preceding occasion, with added force and 
bitterness of expression. They charged that the war had been 
perverted, for political reasons, from a war for the restoration of 
the Union, to a costly struggle of blood and treasure, purposely 
protracted for the accomplishment of partisan ends. It was de- 
manded that not another dollar or a single man should be contri- 
buted to carrj^ on such a monstrous contest. The people of the 
New England States were charged with causing all the trouble 
leading to the deplorable war ; and a reconstruction of the Union 
by joining with the South, leaving them out, was advocated. Not 
a word was uttered in denunciation of the rebels. The inconsist- 
ency of the republican party was shown by quoting the Chicago 
)latform of 1860: "That the maintenance inviolate of the 



TATES' ADMINISTRATION. 881 

ri<:iits of the States, and especially the rights of each State to 
order and control its owu domestic institutions, according to its 
own judyinent exclusively, was essential to that balance of power 
on which the perfection and endurance of our political faith de- 
pends." The violation of the president's promise to the country 
was shown by quoting from the inaugural address : " I have no 
purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of 
slvnery in the States where it exists; 1 believe 1 have no lawful 
right to do so, and have no inclination to do so. " And the repub- 
lican congress, after the Bull liun disaster, had pledged the na- 
tion " that this war Avas not waged, on their part, in any spirit of 
oppression, or for any purpose 'of conquest or subjugation, or pur- 
pose of overtbrowiug or interfering with the rights or established 
institutions of the States, but to defend and maintain the suprem- 
acy of the constitution, and to preserve the Union, with all the 
dignity, equality and the rights of the several States unim- 
paired."* 

But the numerous military arrests for treasonable utterances 
which the general government had, for some time, caused to be 
made — some of the sufferers being present — afforded the orators the 
rarest field for the display of their declamatory powers, and R. T. 
Merrick, gifted with a singular power of eloquent denunciation, 
shone with unwonted brilliancy. Forcible resistance to these un- 
lawful aggressions upon the rights of the citizen was freely cotin- 
seled. This was doubtless apolitical blunder on the part of tlie 
general government by which little good was accomplished. In 
many instances insignificant, if not contemptible treason-spouters 
were arrested and imprisoned, men never heard of before beyond 
their immediate neighborhoods, who, upon their return found 
themselves notorious, sympathized with, and often by many 
sanctified into martj'rs and heroes. 

Thus duly impressed, and their course mapped out for them by 
the democratic leaders, the dominant partisans of the 23d Gen- 
eral Assembly" were not slow to follow it. They refused, for a 
long time, to print the usual number of copies of the governor's 
long and able message. In the House, M. W. Fuller, of Cook, 
on the 8th of January, introduced a resolution adroitly quoting 
the language of Gen. Jackson's farewell address : "The constitu- 
tion cannot be maintained, nor the Union preserved in opposition 
to public feeling, by the mere exertion of the coercive powers of 
the government.'' Mr. Wenger, of Tazewell, one to the effect that 
after an unsuccessful war of two years' duration to crush the re- 
bellion, hostilities ought to be immediately suspended and a na- 
tional convention appointed to settle the difficultr. In the Senate, 
Mr. Vandeveer, of Christian, on the 21st of Januarj', offered a pre- 
amble and set of resolutions, to the effect that tbe people of the 
loyal States had acquiesced in, ratlier than approved of the coer- 
cive policy of the federal administration; that the government 
was impoverished, the people weighed down with an onerous 
debt and the laud tilled with crip[)les. widows and orphans, with- 
out restoring the Union ; and that as the Union was brought about 
b}' concession and compromise, they should memorialize congress 
to obtain an armistice and cessation of hostilities for a national 

•Crittenden resolution, 1861 

56 



882 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



couventiou to iissemble at Louisville to adjust the difBculties. Mr, 
Uuderwood, of St. Clair, also, with a like view, otiered a preamble 
and resolution soliciting congress to obtain the consent of the 
States to call a national convention to amend the constitution of 
the U. S. 

And now the legislature took a ijleasure trip to Joliet and 
Chicago. At the latter place a large democratic mass meeting 
for the occasion gave expression to the popular opposition to the 
Lincoln misrule, as it was called. Members participated in the 
proceedings, and, by resolution, the Springfield meetings of the 
5th and 8th of January were ai)proved. 

On the Jrth of February, Mr. Wil^e, of Pike, from the commit- 
tee on federal relations, reported to the House the notorious ar- 
mistice resolutions : 

The preamble asserted the supremacy of the constitution in time ol war as well aa 
peace, and its suspension, whetlier by the North or South, to be alike disunion; that it 
could not be maintained by coercion, but by appeal to the people peacefully assem- 
bled through their representatives ; that to it the allegiance of the citizen was alone 
due— not to any man, officer or administration; that the act of the federal administra- 
tion in suspending the writ of liabcatt carpus, the arrest of citizens not subject to mili- 
tary law, without warrant or authority, transporting them to distant States, incarcer- 
ating them in political prisons, without charge or accusation, denying them the right 
of trial by jury, witnesses in their favor, or counsel for their U^fense; withholding 
from them all linowledge ot their accusers, and the cause of their arrest; answering 
their petitions for redress by repeated injury andinsult; prescribing, in many cases, as- 
a condition of their release, test oaths arbitrary and illegal; in the abridgement of 
freedom of speech, and of the press, by imprisoning the citizen for expressing his sen- 
timents, by suppressing newspapers bj- military force, and establishing a censorship 
ovej- others, wholly incompatible with freedom of thought and expression of opinion, 
and the establishment of ii system of espionage, by a secret police, to invade the sacred 
privacy of unsuspecting citizens; in declaring martial law over States not in rebel- 
lion, and when the courts are open and unobstructed for the punishment of crime: in 
declarine the slaves of loyal, as well as disloyal citizens, in certain States and 
parts of States, free; the attempted enforcement of coint>onsated oraaneipation; the 
. proposed taxation of the laboring white man to purchase the freedom and secure the 
elevation of the negro; the transportation of negroes into the State of Illinois, in defi- 
ance of the repeatedly expressed will of the people; the arrest and imprisonment of 
the representatives of a tree and a sovereign State ; the dismemberiiieiit of the State 
of Virginia, erecting within her boundaries a new State, without the consent of her leg- 
islature are,eachand all, arbitrary and unconstitutional— a usurpation of the legislative 
functions, and asuspension of the judicial departments of the State and federal gov- 
ernment— subverting the constitution— State and federal — invading the reserved 
rights of the people, and the sovereignty of the States, and, if sanctioned, destructive 
of the Union— establishing upon the common ruins of the liberties of the peo- 
ple and the sovereignty of the States, a consolidated military despotism. And we 
hereby solemnly declare that no American citizen can, without the crime of inliuelity 
to his country's constitutions, and the allegiance which he bearsto each, sanction such 
usurpation. Believing that our silence will be criminal, and may be construed into 
consent, in deep reverence for our constitution which has been ruthlessly violated, we 
do hereby enter our most solemn protest against these usurpations of power, and j)luce 
thesame before the world, intending thereby to warn ourpublic servants against fur- 
ther usurpations. Therefore, 

Besulvedbij tlie House uf Representatives, the Senate concurring herein. That the army was 
organized, confiding in the declaration of the president in his inaugural address, to 
wit: that he had no purpose, directlj- or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of 
slavery in the States where it existed, and that he believed he had no lawful right to do 
so; and upon the declaration of the federal congress, to wit: that this war is not waged 
in any spirit of oppression or subjugation, orany purpose of overthrowing any of the 
institutions of any of theStates; and that inasmuch as the whole policy of theadminis- 
tration, since the organization of the arrnj% has been at war with the declaration afore- 
said, culminating in the emancipation proclamation, leaving the facts patent that the 
war has been diverted from its first avowed object, to that of subjugation and the abo- 
lition of slavery, a fraud, both legal and moral, has been perpetrated upon the brave sons 
ol Illinois, who have so nobly gone forth to battle for the constitution and the laws. 
And while we protest against the continuance of this gross fraud upon our citizen sol- 
diery, we thank them for that heroic conduct on the battle field that sheds imperisha- 
ble glory on the State of Illinois. 

Eesolvcd, That we believe the further prosecution of the present war cannot result 
in the restoration of the Union and the preservation of the constitution as ourfathers 
made it, iinless the president's emancipation proclamation is withdrawn. 

Resolved. That while we condemn and denounce the flagrant and monstrous usurpa- 
tions of the administration, and encroacliraents of abolitionism, we equally condemn 
and denounce the ruinous heresy of secession, as unwarrantable by the constitution, 
and destructive alike of the security and perpetuity of our government, and the peace 
and liberty of the people ; and fearing, as we do, that it is the intention of the present 
congress and administration, at no distant day, to acknowledge the independence of 
the Southern Confederacy, and thereby sever the Union, we hereby solemnly declare 
that we are unalterably opposed to any such severance of the Union, and that we never 
can consent that the great Northwest shall be separated from the Southern States com- 
prising the Mississippi valley. That river shall never water the soil of two nations, 
but, from its source to its confluence with the Gulf, shall belong to one great and 
united people. 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 883 

The fouitli lesolutiou lecoiumeuded the assembling- of a iia- 
tioual couveutiou at Louisville, Ky., to adjust our difficulties, re- 
store peace, frateruity and "political fellowship among the States. 

Resolved further, therefore. That to attain the object of the foreg-oing- resolution, we 
hereby meinoriulize the congress ot the U. S,, the administnitioo at Washiiifiton, and 
the executives and leg-islatures of the several States to take such itnmediato action as 
shall secure an armistice, in which the rights and safety of the government shall be 
fully protected for such length of time as may be necessary foi- the people to meet in 
conventionasaforesaid. And we therefore earnestly recommend to our fellow-citizens 
everywhere, to observe and keep all their lawful and constitutional obligation.j, to ab- 
stain from violence, and to meet tofrether and reason each with the other, upon the 
best mode toattain the great blessings of peace, unity and liberty. 

And be it furtlier remlved, That to stcure the co operation of the States and the gen- 
eral government, Stephen T. Logan. Samuel S. Marshall, H. K. S. O'Melveny. William 
C. Goudy, Anthony Thornton and .John D.Oaton,are hereby appointed commissioners 
to confer immediately with the congress and the president of the IT. S., and urge the 
necessity of prompt action, to secure said armistice, and the election of delegates to, 
and early assembling of said convention, and to arrange and agree with the general 
government and the several States upon the time and place of holding said conven- 
tion, and that they report their action in the premises to the General Assembly of this 
State. 

The resolutions elicited a long and acrimonious debate in both 
houses, to the delay of nearly all other business. Every parlia- 
mentary expedient to retard legislation, centering chiefly upon 
the appropriation bills as usual, was resorted to. The public press 
took sides, the republicans against, of course, and the democrats 
for. But among the latter there were many notable exceptions 
who deprecated the extremity to which the resolutions looked ; 
who appealed to the magnanimity of the democratic majority to 
cease the bitter strife, unlock the wheels of legislation and allow 
the important labors of the session to go on. This went unheeded; 
and finally, two days before the recess, the resolutions were 
adopted in the House by a vote of 52 yeas to 28 nays. 

Thus did the House of Eepresentatives of the State of Illinois, 
a body fresh from a loyal people whose patriotism never flinched, 
after being first systematically debauched in their sentiments by 
the political meetings at the opening of the session, commit them- 
selves upon the record, and attempt to thrust the State also into 
the erroneous position before the world, that the warfor the Union 
was a failure, that secession was a right under the constitution 
which could not be met or defeated by the sword, and that a ces- 
sation of hostilities with an armed and defiant rebellion was ne- 
cessary. Nay, if we construe the last clause of the 3d resolution 
with the repeated utterances of their speakers and leaders, as well 
as the entire resolution, wherein a man of straw is set up regard- 
ing their fears of recognition of the Southern Confederacy', we see 
a quasi declaration for a union of the Iis^orthwest with the South 
as more desirable than the connection with the hateful abolition- 
ists of the East. 

These legislators were not elected for the purpose which mainly 
engrossed their attention; they assumed unauthorized power and 
proved themselves recreant to their trust. No peace could have 
been made with the defiant rebels at that time, nor for a long time 
afterwards. It was follj' to talk of peace at that stage of the war. 
The Indiana legislature at the time passed similar resolutions.* 

*■ It was a curious con.iuncture that on the 26th of January, 1863, a preamble and set 
of 8 resolutions were introduced into the Confederate Congress at Riclimond by Henry 
S. Foote, of Tennessee, the fifth of whicli reads as follows: 

"The government of the Confederate States, in consideration of the change in the 
public sentiment which has occurred in several Northern States, wherein political 
elections have been recently held— sympathizing most kindly with those by whose 
manly exertions that change has been brought about— would be willing to conclude a 



884 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



Part of the x>rogi-amnie iu connection with the passage of the 
peace resohitions was tlie joint resolution of Senator Unilerwood, 
l)roviding for a legishitive recess from the 14tli of Februaiy till 
the tid of June, by which time the peace commissioners might re- 
port progress of tlieir negotiation for an armistice. This resolu- 
tion was violently fought in the senate, and when a vote coiild be 
staved oft" no longer, the republican members bolted the chamber, 
leaving- the senate without a quorum; but enough were tinally 
brought in and tlie resolution i)assed. When it was brought up 
in the house a simihir attempt was there made, wiiich failed like- 
wise, and the resolution was adopted. 

But the armistice resolutions shared a different fate in the senate. 
They had been tbe subject of acrimonious debate in that body, 
the same as in the house, for a longtime, having been deferred 
from time to time, and now, early in the week (the recess having 
been fixed for the following Saturday,) to avoid a vote, the repub- 
lican members absented themselves, breaking the quorum for 
business. The further consideration of the distasteful resolutions 
was deferred till Friday night. The republicans came in and 
business progressed. In the meantime the democrats lost a mem- 
ber by sudden death, in the person of Senator Kogers, of Clinton. 
This left the senate a tie, with the presiding officer, Lieut.-Gov. 
Hoffman, who had the casting vote in such contingency, against 
the democrats. And thus the armistice resolutions failed of adop- 
tion in the senate and went over to the June session ; whereat a 
portion of the democratic press sent up its w^ailings and lamenta- 
tions about the great disappointment which the people would feel 
at this result; and the democratic members of the senate, who had 
consented to the staving off' of a vote upon the resolutions to the 
evening- before the close of the session, were handled without 
gloves. 

As a fitting commentary upon this wasted session, and also to 
indicate the violence of party feeling, we will reproduce the nota- 
ble speech of Jacob Funk, a senator from McLean, made a day or 
two before the close of the session, the occasion being the intro- 
duction of some trifling resolutions to stave off' a vote upon the 
general approi^riation bill. It also deserves to be preserved for its 
uniqueness, and as off'eriug a fair but now curious oratorical type 
of the early settler of the West, and his manner of settling dis- 
putes; true, brave, and patriotic, though devoid of the breadth of 
diction imjiarted by education. It created a great sensation at 
the time, and was republished all over the Northern States. It 
was delivered in a stentorian tone, gathering in the peoi)le from 
around the capitol square, till the hall was deiisely packed. The 
speaker's great fervor and pathos, born of conviction, wrought 
the audience to the highest pitch of excitement, and upon its con- 
clusion both members and spectators thronged about him with 
congratulations: 

just and honorable peace with any one or more of said States, who (renouncing- all 
political connection with New Enjjrland) may be found willing to stipulate for desisting 
at once from the further prosecution of the war against the South, and in such case, 
the government of the Confederate States would be willing to enter into a league, 
offensive and defensive, with the States thus desisting, of a permanent and enduring 
character." But in tho-lth resolution, the confederates declared their unalterable op- 
position, in the event of peace, to form any commercial treaty with the New England 
States, "with whose people, and in whose'ignoble love of gold and brutifying fanati- 
cism, this disgraceful war has mainly originated." 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 885 

"Mr. Speaker — I can set in my seat no longer and see so much by- 
playing going on. These men aretrifliug with the best interests of the 
country. They should have asses' ears to set otf their heads, or they are 
traitors and secessionists at heart. I say there are traitors and secession- 
ists at heart in this senate. Their actions prove it. Their speeches pi'ove 
it. Their gibes and laughter and cheers here nightly, when their speak- 
ers get up to denounce tlie war and the administration, prove it. I can 
set here no longer and not tell these traitors what I think of them ; and 
while so telling them, I am responsible, myself, for what I say. I stand 
upon my own bottom. I am ready to meet any man on this floor iu any 
manner, from a pin's point to the mouth of a cannon, upon this charge 
against these traitors, [(ircat applause from the galleries.] I am an old 
man of sixty-five. I came to Illinois a poor boy; I have made a little some- 
thing for myself and family. I pay $3,000 a year in taxes. I am willing 
to pay $6,000; aye $12,000! [striking his desk with a tremendous blow, 
sending the ink whirling in the air.] Aye, I am willing to pay my whole 
fortune, and then give my life to save my country from these traitors 
that are seeking to destroy it. [Tremendous cheering.] 

Mr. Speaker, you must excuse me ; I could not sit longer in my seat 
and calmly listen to these traitors. My heart, that feels for my poor 
country, would not let me. My heart, that cries out for the lives of our 
brave volunteers in the field ; tliat these traitors at home are destroying by 
thousands— would not let me. My heart that bleeds for the widows and 
orphans at home, would not let me. Yes, these traitors and villains in 
the senate [striking the desk with his clenched fist, that made the 
chamber resound] are killing my neighbors' boys, now fighting in the 
field. I dare to say this to these traitors right here, and I am responsi- 
ble for what I say to any one or all of them. [Cheers.] Let them come 
on now right here. I am sixty-five years old, and I have made up my 
mind to risk my life right l>ere, on this floor, for my country. [This 
announcement was received with great cheering. Here the crowd gath- 
ered around him — his seat being near the railing — to protect him from 
violence, while many sympathetic eyes flashed defiance.] Tliese men 
sneered at Col. Mack, a few days since. He is a small man, but I am a 
large man. I am ready to meet any of them in place of Col. Mack I 
am large enough for any of them, and I hold myself ready for them now 
and at any time. [Cheering from the galleries.] 

Mr. Speaker, these traitors on this floor should be provided with 
hempen collars. They deserve them. They deserve hanging, I say [raising 
his voice and striking the desk with great violence.] The country would 
be the better of swinging them up. I go for hanging them, and I dare 
to tell them so, right here to their traitorous faces. Traitors should be 
hung. It would be the salvation of the country to hang them. For 
that reason I must rejoice at it. [Cheers.] 

Mr. Speaker, I must beg the pardon of the gentlemen in this senate 
who are not traitors, but true, loyal men, for what I have said. I only 
intend it and mean it for secessionists at heart. They are herein this 
senate. I see them gibe and smirk and grin at a true Union man. Must 
I defy them? I stand here ready for them and dare them to come on. 
[Cheering.] What man, with the heart of a patriot, could stand this 
treason any longer? I have stood it long enough. I will stand it no 
longer. [Cheers.] I denounce these men and their aiders and abettors, 
as rank traitors and secessionists. Hell itself could not spew out a more 
traitorous crew than some of the men that disgrace this legislature, this 
State and this country. For myself I protest against and denounce their 
treasonable acts. . I have voted against their measures; I will do so to 
the end. I will denounce them as long as God gives me breath ; and I 
am ready to meet the traitors themselves here or anywhere, and fight 
them to the death. [Prolonged cheers.] I said I paid $3,000 a year taxes. 
I do not say it to brag of it. It is my duty, yes, Mr. Speaker, my privi- 
lege to do it. But some of these traitors here, who are working night 
and day to put some of their miserable little bills and claims through the 
legislature, to take money out of the pockets of the people, are talking 
about high taxes. They are hypocrites, as well as traitors. I heard 
some of them talking about high taxes in this way, who did not pay $5 
to the support of the government. I denounce tliem as hypocrites as 
well as traitors. [Cheers.] 



886 IIISTOllY OF ILLINOIS. 

The reason they pretend to be afraid of liigh taxes is that they do not 
want to vote money for the relief of the soldiers They want to embar- 
rass the government and stop the war. They want to aid the secession- 
ists to conquer our boys in the field. They care about hi^h taxes ! They 
are picayune men anyhow, and pay no taxes at all, and never did, and 
never hope or expect to. This is the excuse of traitors. [Cheers,] 

Mr Speaker, excuse me. I feel for my country, in this her hour of 
danger, from the tips of my toes to the ends of my hair. That is the 
reason I speak as I do. I cannot help it. I am bound to tell these men 
to their teeth what they are, and what the people, the true, loyal people, 
think of them. [Cheei'ing, which the speaker attempted to stop by 
rapping on his desk but really aided, not unwillingly.] 

Mr. Speaker, I have said my say. I am no speaker. This is the only 
speech I ever made, and I don't know that it deserves to be called a 
speech. But I could not sit still any longer and see these scoundrels and 
traitors work out their hellish schemes to destroy the Union. They have 
my sentiments ; let them one and all make the most of them. I am 
ready to back up all I say, and I repeat it, to meet these traitors in any 
manner they may choose, from a pin's point to the mouth of a cannon." 

With a parting' whack on liis desk, the loyal old gentleman re- 
sumed his seat, amidst the din ol" cheering aud the clapping- of 
hands. 

Legislative Frauds. — The very last hour of this session was 
disgraced by the perpetration of one of those parliamentary 
swindle.^ which in modern times are not infrequent in de- 
liberative bo<lies. The partisan strife which obtained between 
the constitutional convention and the governor, was, if anything-, 
intensitied between this legislature and that functionary. At the 
special session of 1801 the executive department had been pro- 
vided in the most bl^eral spirit with a fund of $50,000 for extra- 
ordinary aud contingent exi>enses, which was largely looked to as 
aid for the sick ami wounded Illinois soldiers in the field. But 
owing to the great number of agents emi>loyed to visit different 
camps and accompany the regiments, to look after the sanitary 
wants of the volunteers ; extra surgeons sent down the rivers in 
anticipation of battles ; steamboats chartered, also in expectation 
of battles, to go and bring home the wounded aud disabled sol- 
diers, all of which, and much more, was in constant operation 
during the winter of 1861-2, prompted, doubtless, by the most 
charitable of motives, but exhibiting- in some instances a prodigal 
disregard of economy aud a lavish display of means, amounting 
almost to recklessness, and resulting i]i the wounded ami disa- 
bled soldiers, for whom ostensibly much of this parade was made, 
receiving- onl}' $1,119 out of the $50,000 appropriated.* 

Much fault had been found by the Den)ocra(;y at home with his 
excellency in the distribution of this fund. Both lie aud his many 
ageuts were charged with having been niore zealous during their 
peri grin ations among the Illinois volunteers in distributing docu- 
ments to defeat the new constitution than in alleviating their snf- 

* Tlic State Treasurer. June 16, 1863, gave the foUowiiiji- items of expenditures, as 
paid out of that appropriation : Steamboat trips by the o^overnor and party: $8,887; for 
the quartermaster's department, $9,874: receipts of John Wood, 5o.264: tor Adjutaut 
General's office. 557,748; Commissary General's Office, S;J.(J4;3; trips to Washington by 
Mess^rs. Yates, Trumbull. Kelloa-i: and others, $4,449; messeng-er and cleric hireing'ov- 
ernor's office, $8,463; J. K. Forest to Cairo and baeli, igl20; sick and wounded Illinois 
fioldiers, who fous'ht at Belmont, Forts Henry and Donelson, and at Shiloh. $1,119. 
The war demonstrated sanitary efforts to be most efficient in the hands of private en- 
terprise. Untold blessinjj-s were metca out b.v the sanitary bureaus in charge of noble 
and devoted men and women, who, unlilie politicians in the employ of the State, did 
not seek personal glorification among the volunteers, but truly to mitigate the suffer- 
ings of the sick and wounded. 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 887 



feriugs. Indeed, Gov. Yatos iu all the exubeniiice of liis patriot- 
ism, was ever charged by tlie Democracy as being actuated by 
partisan motives, and guided by considerations of personal ambi- 
tion ; that in all his transactions with the raising of the vast num- 
ber of Illinois volunteers and in his api)ointments, he looked for- 
ward to political aggrandizement ; and that in his ardent desire 
to earn the honorable soubriquet of the " soldiers' friend," he dis- 
<iovered untold preferment to himself. And both the convention, 
and now the legislature, doubtless mainly from partisan motives, 
refused further to solely entrust him with the distribution of more 
sanitary funds. Earlj' in the session (January 7th) an appropria- 
tion of $10,000 in gold had been made for the Illinois sick and 
wounded soldiers in view of the battle of Murfreesboro, and the 
j)robable advance upon Vicksburg. Three commissioners, (Lewis 
D. Erwin, W. W. Anderson, and Ezekial Boyden), were a[>pointed 
to distribute this fund, who sold the gold for paper, realizing a 
large i^remium, and the whole, it seems, was carefully expended 
with great relief and beneht to the needy soldiers, who received 
over 80 per cent, of it. But the Governor was anxious for another 
#50,000. He sent in a special message upon the subject, couched 
in terms of rare beauty and felicity of expression, evincing a noble 
sympathy for our struggling soldiery in upholding the flag of our 
country. It was a plea such as few men are capable of making, 
and should have gone to the most caloused heart. 

The senate had passed two appropriation bills of precisel}' simi- 
lar titles. These bills were numbered respectively 202 and 203 ; 
they were in the same handwriting, and when folded looked alike, 
except as to their numbers, ^o. 203 provided for the payment of 
the salaries of executive officers, the ordinary expenses of the ex- 
ecutive department, the adjutant general's office, and the various 
other usual items of appropriation. This was acceptable to the 
Deniocrats. i^o. 202 provided besides all these items, a contin- 
gent fund of $10,000, and $2,500 for the hire of a gardener, both 
to be expended at the option of the governor j and an appropria- 
tion of $50,000 to the "• aid of the sick and wounded Illinois sol- 
diers; to defray the contingent expenses of the executive depart- 
ment; for the pay of clerks in the governor's office; of messen- 
gers on public service; of assistants in the adjutant general's 
office, quarterniaster general's office and the commissary general's 
office, lithography, postage and other incidental expenses," all to 
be expended by order of the governor. 

From this array of participants in the $50,000 fund, the sick 
and wounded soldier, although first mentioned, it may be aacU 
imagined, would very likely be the last to receive a slender share. 
The Democrats opposed No. 202, as providing his excellency with 
a "corruption fund," but were williug to pass No. 203. When 
the latter came up for action in the house, a short time before the 
adjournment, it was upon demand twice read at large to be cer- 
tain that the $50,000 item was not in it. The third time the bill 
was read by its title only and i^assed, 59 to 2. The chief clerk who 
had been out, came in as the roll was being called upon the pas- 
sage of the bill, and being informed that it was necessary to use 
liaste in reporting the bill back to the senate, as the hour of ad- 
journment was at hand, he sat down to write the message to that 
effect, but at this juncture, hy some adroit prestidigitation, the 



888 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

obnoxious bill, No. 202, was substituted and received the eudorse- 
meut of having passed, due to No. 203. It was immediately re- 
ported back to the senate, as hastily sent to the governor^ 
approved, and returned to the senate where it originated. 

The house had not proceeded far with other business, when the 
noise and apparent exultation among Eepublican members at the 
north end of the hall, and the adjacent lobby, revealed the fact 
tliar, Democrats, notwithstanding their vigilance, had been tricked 
in the passage of this obnoxious measure. A scene of the wildest 
confusion ensued. Information was menacingly demanded of the 
si)eiiker ; a resolution was introduced, recalling the bill from the 
hands of the governor, but, as many members had in the meantime 
left for home, it failed for want of the requisite three-fourths vote. 
A i)rotest, detailing the circumstances of the fraud, was signed 
by 41 Democratic members and spread upon the journal. The 
treasurer was requested not to honor any drafts upon the fund 
thus fraudulently appropriated. Accordingly, when the governor 
shortly after drew upon the fund, he found that guardian of the 
people's strong box, (a Democrat), recalcitrant. A writ of mau- 
damus was sued out of the Supreme Court, then sitting at Ottawa,, 
a dav before its adjournment, against the treasurer, requiring him 
to show cause why he did not pay the warrants drawn upon that 
fund; but before answer could be made the court adjourned. It 
is probable that it was designed in advance by the suitors that the 
case should not go to trial, rendering public all the facts connected 
with the passage of the bill, in which rumor at the time involved 
a certain noted Democrat, a member and high ofticial of the house. 
And thus the perpetrators of this legislative swindle have escaped 
deserved exposal e and merited ijublic disgrace.* 

The winter session of the 23d general assembly proved a most 
un profitable one to the people. The dominant party, engrossed 
with the peace resolutions, passed but one measure of public ad- 
vantage, that of abolishing the State quartermaster and commis- 

• Another moat audacious legislative swindle, well illustrating the careles3 
manner ot enacting- laws under the old constitution, and the tricks by which cor- 
rupt men, both as lobbv'ists and members,. sained advantages, was the "Chicago Grid- 
iron bill." as it was nicknamed, passed by this general assembly at the June session. 
The Mtle of the bill, "An act to ineorporate the Wabash Railway Company," was calcu- 
lated to convey the deceptive Idea of a railroad in the Wabash region of the State, 
instead of which it gave to a few sharpers in Chicago most extraordinary franchises 
over the streets of that city. It provided for the exclusive construction of horse- 
railways through 18 of the principal streets of Chicago, across 4 of its most impor- 
tant biidues, and on any comrron highways in either or all of the towns of South 
Chicago, Hyde Park, Lake, Worth, West Chicago, Lyons, Jefferson, Cicero and Proviso,, 
adjacent to the city, and from time to titue to changre, enlarge and extend the loi-a- 
tionthnreof. It allowed the corporators to impose and collect such tolls as itshonld 
flx, without restraint from the city council. This was an immense monopoly, affecting 
the material interests of the whole city. It was a subject properly for the city council 
of Chicago, but neither that body nor the people, which they represented, knew aught 
of this monstrous movement which sought to filch from them the control of their own 
streets and highways, though the recess had intervened between its passage in the 
senate and in the house. 

It was introduced into the senate by a member from the southeastern pai-t of the 
State, which added to the deception, and in a loose way permitted to pass that boil.r in 
January, without being read other than by itstitle, the Senate relying upon the state- 
ment of the member introducing it, that it was simply a bill for an ordinary railroad 
charter, containing the usual privileges. Its provisions were not generally known to 
senatois who passed it. or to the public until a few days before it was maneuvered 
through the house on the 8th of June, under the pressure of interested members and 
a powerful lobby influence. And now, the .awindle having transpired, the angry pro- 
tests against it from the people of Chicago came loud and deep, the newspaper press 
of the State ioining its voice to the indignant refrain. The governor vetoed it, and in 
his message of June 19th, 18ti3, exposed its horrid enormity very fully. This message was 
addressed to the general assembly which he had dissolved nine days before— the "rump" 
being still in session. 



YATES' AD3nNISTRAT10N. 889 

sary departments, wliicli, since tlieir sni>orcedure by the general 
government, uot witliout reluctance from Gov. Yates, as we have 
seen, had become useless and expensive encumbrances. Every 
other of its party measures met with disaster. The habeas corpus 
and illegal arrest bills; the prohibition of negro immigration; the 
congressional a})porti()ument, and the armistice resolutions — suc- 
ceeding alone with tlie recess resolution; while the Republicans, 
by their vigilance, fidelity and courage, succeeded in the defeat of 
all these, they were also balked, as we have described, in the full 
fruition of their only affirmative measure, the $50,000 appropria- 
tion for the sick and wounded Illinois soldiers. 

Reaction among the People against the Peace Movement of the Leg- 
islature. — Both (luring the session after the armistice resolutions 
had been brought forward and throughout the recess, the people, 
being awakened by these schemes of the politicians who thus 
sought to place Illinois on record as an anti-war State, held public 
• meetings all o\er the State, giving expression to their loyal senti- 
ments, and evincing the strongest devotion to the war for the 
Union. From Egypt the Douglas democrats sent out their re- 
solves "that as citizens of Illinois and as democrats we are in favor 
of the continued and vigorous prosecution of the war until the su- 
premacy of the constitution is acknowledged in every State of the 
Union ; that the errors of the administration, while they should 
not be adopted by the people, form no excuse for any loyal (dtizen 
to withhold his support from the government;" that they were in- 
flexibly opposed to the secession heresy of a Northwestern Con- 
federacy, »&c., recommending to the "true democracy to organ- 
ize and be prepared to resist all schemes of disloyal men looking 
to a further disruption of the Union." 

It was a gloomy period of the war. The turning point in the 
great civil conflict had not been reached. Vicksburg — strong and 
detiant — had not only not surrendered, but repulsed the national 
troops under Sherman in January preceding. ISov had Grettys- 
burg been fought. The great captains of the war had not been 
revealed on our side. In the West, the battles of Shiloh, Perry- 
viile and Murfreesboro had proven little better than defeats ; 
while in the East, Fredericksburg, speedily followed by Chancel- 
lorville, had spread a general gloom. Said the New York Tribune: 
" If Smonths.more of earnest fighting shall not serve to make a se- 
rious im}>ression on the rebels — if some malignant fate has de- 
creed that the blood and treasure of the nation shall ever be 
squandered in fruitless efforts, let us bow to our destiny, and make 
the best attainable peace." It was at the time no doubt honestly 
believed by many that the States could not be re-united by mili- 
tary coercion— that the war was a failure. 

Gold, the most sensitive index of the fortunes of the war, was 
steadily on the rise. Rebel bonds bore a premium in the London 
nuirket. The picture was a dark ami dreary one and, in the West, 
relieved only by the brilliant military exploit of Gen. McClernand 
in the capture of Arkansas Post. 

But amidst all these dreary scenes — the demand of the democ- 
racy for peace, the low ebb of the tide in the fortunes of the war, 
and the discouragement of the many staunch friends of the 
Union — the heart of the soldier remained undismayed. Hardly 



890 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



an Illinois regiment, learning the situation at home, and the false 
and dishonorable attitude in which the legislature sought to place 
the State before the country, but what held meetings and ex- 
pressed their abhorrence of the " tire in the rear, " as it was termed 
— repledged their loyalty to the Union and devotion to the flag — 
breathing the noblest of patriotic sentiments commingled Avith 
purposes of the most determined valor. These resolutions poured 
in in great i)rofusion, the columns of the republican press being 
fairly laden with them. The democracy charged the voluminous 
loyal ex])ressions to be merely the dictates of those " whose 
shoulders were adorned with the stars, eagles and bars. " If such 
was the case it but showed discipline in the right direction. Few 
of the masses, even under our form of government, exercise eitlier 
original or independent political opinions. 

It was the unworthy action of this legislature that precipitated 
the defection of such men as John A. Logan, Isham N. Haynie, 
John A. McClernand, and a host of others from the democratic 
ranks. 

In his address to the soldiers of the 17th army corps, dated 
Memphis, Feb. 12th, 1863, Gen. Logan, in allusion to the "falsify- 
ing of public sentiment at home," said: '-Intriguing political 
tricksters, demagogues and time-servers, whose corrupt deeds are 
but a faint reflex of their corrupt hearts, seem determined to drive 
our people on to anarchy and destruction. The day is not tar dis- 
tant when traitors and cowards, North and South, will cower before 
the indignation of an outraged people. March bravely onward ! " 
Gen. Haynie, in a private letter, gave his unqiuilitied endorsement 
to every paragraph, line and word of Gen. Logan's address. Geu. 
McClernand, in his letter to John Van Buren, dated Feb. 22d, 
1863, denounced these democratic factionists as "Northern jjeace 
mongers, who 'will be carried away,' if not by the torrent of pub- 
lic opinion, eventually by force of arms." For the expression of 
such sentiments, these gentlemen were now read out of the jjarty 
by the peace organs of the democracy. 

There were also a number of anti-war meetings held in differ- 
ent parts of the State under the management of the democratic 
leaders, declaring hostility to the policy of the war as then prose- 
cuted b^' the national administration, which culminated in the large 
mass meeting of the 17th of June, at Springfield, of which more 
further along. 

The party nomenclature of the period as applied to democrats 
also evinced deep partisan feeling and was of the most insulting 
character: "Copperheads," "Snakes," "Butternuts," "Secesh, " 
&c. The origin of these opprobrious epithets we will not stop to 
give. 

Military Arrests. — Of the many arrests of our citizens by 
military authority we can only relate one or two of the most 
notable. A Capt. Linsley, by order of Col. Carrington of Indian- 
apolis, was stationed at Terre Haute to arrest deserters in Vigo 
and surrounding counties of Indiana, nothing being said about 
Illinois. In March, 1863, he sent two sergeants into Clark county 
of this State who arrested four deserters. The mother of one of 
them, at the instance of the Hon. John Schotield, acting as her 
attorney, to procure her son's release swore out a warrant charg- 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION, 891 

iiig' the officers with kidnapping. The sergeants were arrested and 
taken before the Hon. Ohas. H. Constable, circuit judge, the court 
being tlien in session at Marshall. Ln their examination the judge 
doubted the sufficiency' of the papers exhibited as authority for 
the sergeants to make the arrests in Illinois. Their attorney, R. 
L. Dulanej', then attempted to prove that the men alleged to be 
kidnapped were in fact deserters from the federal army, whom 
any one might arrest as iu the case of any criminal. This was 
not allowed to be showu by the judge. He bound them over 
in a bond of $500 and discharged the deserters. At the request 
of the sergeants, Judge C. gave them a written statement: 

"That Messrs. McFarland and Thomas Long, have been arrested and brought before 
me foi' examination on a chai'se of kidnapping-, and that I have deemed it my duty to 
hold them over In a bond of $500 to appear next Thursday morning-, to answer farther 
to said charge, and I have ordered the discharge from custody of James Gammen, 
Hugh Scott, M. Belcher and Jno. Tanner, four men whom tliey had arrested upon the 
ground that they -were deserters from Co. K, ;30th 111. Vol." 

The sergeants procured bail without difficulty, though they were 
strangers. Subsequently, on the day of their trial, and while it 
was in ])rogress, Col. Carriugton, with a force of 250 infantry, sur- 
rounded the court house at Marshall, and with 50 dismounted cav- 
alrymen in citizens' dress entered the court room without exciting 
surprise, and at the very moment the adjournment of court for 
dinner was announced, stepped forward and arrested Judge Con- 
stable before he had quitted the bench. The infantry were sta- 
tioned outside to quell any attempt at rescue by the citizens. 
There was no molestation, however. Judge Constable, who was 
taken by surprise, was considerably unmanned at this summary 
exhibition of military power.* 

The prisoners were released, and the judge trying them was 
torn from his judicial seat in the midst of his labors, his court 
adjourned by military power, and he conveyed a i)risoner to a 
foreign State. Could audacity, apparently, in a free govern- 
ment, outside of the theatre of actual war, go further"? Yet of all 
the military arrests made in this State, this was the most justifia- 
ble. The offense consisted in no mere disloyal gasconade, but in 
substantial acts which, by the discharge of four deserters and the 
imprisonment of two officers, was an actual interference with and 
injury to the military efibrt of the government to suppress the 
rebellion. 

About the 1st of April Judge Constable was brought from In- 
dianapolis to Springfield and delivered over to the civil authorities. 
An affidavit was filed before the U. S. Commissioner, charging 
him with encouraging desertion by ordering the release of the four 
deserters from the custody of the officers. By agreement the ex- 
amination was had before Judge Treat, of the TJ. S. district court, 
the district attorney, Lawrence Weldon, appearing for the gov- 
ernment, and Stuart & Edwards for the prisoner. After hearing- 
all the evidence, the defendant was discharged. 

Later in the spring of 1863, W. H. Green, a State Senator from 
Massac, and G. W. Wall, of Perrj^, were arrested by order of the 
provost marshal. The charges do not appear. In the Senate Mr. 
Green had signalized himself as an ardent supporter of the armis- 
tice resolutions, laboring earnestly to bring that body to a vote 
upon them. The republican press brought forward many of his 

*See Terre Haute Express. 



802 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

auti-war utterances, such as " we (he and his constituents) stand 
upon the border as peace makers, and we intend that unless it be 
over our dead bodies, there shall be no fraternal blood shed," &c. 
Mr. G. took occasion to deny some of these charges in a pnblisbed 
letter. He was also found fault with for wearing a " butternut" 
suit, &c. General Buford required each of these gentlemen to 
take the oath of allegiance to the U. S.; to write letters to the com- 
mander of the post confessing the acts for which they had been 
arrested, with expressions of regret and promises of future con- 
duct comporting with that of loyal citizens ; and to declare they 
had not aided deserters to escape nor discouraged enlistments, 
whereupon they were released from arrest.* 

Many others of our citizens too numerous to mention were ar- 
rested, some taken to Washington bastiles and others incarcera- 
ted in Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor. It was about this 
time that the noted arrest of Mr. Vallandigham of Ohio was 
made. 

Suppression of the Chicago Times. — But the general government 
did not stop with military arrests and imprisonment of the citi- 
zen for his exercise of the right of free speech ; it also laid its 
hand of ijower upon the freedom of the public press. The 
suppression of the Chicago Times — a newspaper which ex- 
ercised an unusual license in its criticism of the policy of 
the administration and the conduct of the war — formed the 
most notable event of that sort in Illinois. This was done by or- 
der of Major Gen. Burnside, in command of the department of 
the Ohio, dated Cincinnati, June 1st, 1863. Brig. Gen. Jacob 
Ammeu, in command of the district of Illinois, stationed at Camp 
Butler, was charged with its execution. The cause assigned in 
the order was "the repeuted expression of disloyal and incendiary 
sentiments" bj' that newspaper. The same order (No. 84), in par- 
agraph 1, included the N. Y. World. Gen. Ammen was directed 
to allow no more issues of the paper to a[)pear, and if necessary 
to "take military possession of the Times office." The editor was 
also notified of the order by telegrai^h from Gen. Burnside, June 
2d. Late in the night of that day Messrs. Storey and Worden, 
the proprietors, made application to Judge Drummond, of thi' U. 
S. court for the Northern district of Illinois, for an injunction to 
restrain Gens. A. E. Burnside, Jacob Ammen, and Capt. Jas. 
S. Putnam, of Camp Douglas, detailed to act, from carrying 
into effect the order of suppression. About midnight the court 
granted a temporarj- restraining order upon the defendants, until 
the application could be heard and determined in open court, learn- 
ing which, Capt. Putnam hastily departed to his post at Cam]) Dong- 
las, gathered a sufficient military force, returned, andaboutio'clock 
in the morning of the 3d, executed Gen. Burnside's order by 
taking possession of the Times office, in dehanceand contempt of 
the order of the civil tribunal. In the meantime the Times issues 
of the 3d of June, in great part, had been struck off and found 
circulation. 

Here was presented the grave question of a collision between 
the civil and military authority" of the U. S. A stay of proceed- 
ings in court was granted on the same day to give time for service 

•See Illinois state Register, May 6 1863 



YATES ADMINISTRATION. 893 

on Geii. Ammeu. Judge David Davis, presiding iu the U. S. 
Circuit Court at Springfield, was telegraphed to come to Chi- 
cago and join in hearing the application for the injunction, with 
which he complied. 

Meantime the excitement created in Chicago was intense. On 
the eveiiiug of the same day a large concourse of citizens met and 
expressed their deep indignation against this military despotism. 
On the following day the intensity of the popular feeling having 
steadily hi ci> ased. fears were entertained that an outbreak of 
mob violence would attack the T>-/^i<«e establishment (republican). 
A secret njeeting of j^romiuent republicans, and a few democrats, 
was now held in the circuit court room, to devise wajs to preserve 
the peace of the city. It was participated in by Senator Trum- 
bull, Hon. I. N. Arnold, Wm. B. Ogde:i, Judge Van Higgins, (a 
heavy stockholder in the Trihune^) S. W. Fuller, Jas. F. Joy, 
C. Beckwith, A. C. Coventry, Judge Dickey, S. S. Hayes, 
A. W. Harrington and others. A petition to the president 
was prepared representing that the peace of the city, if 
not the welfare of the country, would be promoted by rescinding 
the order suppressing the Times; that this was asked upon the 
ground of expediency alone, without regard to party ; and his fa- 
vorable consideration was respectfully asked. The" petition was 
telegvaphed to the i:)resident. Messrs. Trumbull and Arnold sent 
an additional dispatch especially inviting his prompt and serious 
consideration of the very grave state of affairs. By half-past six 
p. m. of the same day, he replied by telegraph unconditionally re- 
voking the order ( f suppression. But one number of the Times' 
issues, that of Thursday, June 4th, failed to appear. Pecuniarily 
it may well be guessed the paper was not long injured, as by this 
it gained largely in its sales. 

After thus saving it from the fury of the gathering mob, the 
Tribune said : " The order of revocation was, and is universally 
felt to be a most unfortunate blunder. * As the matter stands it is 
a triumph of treason. The minions of Jeft'. Davishave wona victory 
by which they will not fail to profit. * Oh ! for a Gen. Jackson 
while this war lasts, and it would not last long." The republican 
press was generally chagrined at the wavering conduct of the 
president, and in a tone of irony exclaimed : '' It is not true that 
any republican has telegraphed to Washington to seek the presi- 
dential revocation of Gen, Grant's order to suppress Pemberton's 
issues of shot and shell at Vicksburg." The Belleville Zeitung 
(German republican), somewhat profanely said : " May the devil 
take the 'honesty' of Lincoln and his cabinet. We are for the en- 
ergy and power of action of Fremont. Let Fremont be our next 
president." 

In the meantime Judges Davis and Drummond had been hear- 
ing the able arguments of counsel on the api^lication for an in- 
junction, but the president's revocation stayed all further proceed- 
ings in court, and, wfiat is to be regretted, no opinion was ren- 
dered upon this very interesting question. From Judge Drum- 
mond's remarks upon the motion to defer the application till after 
service, we gather the following: 

"As the officer of the grovernment, I will seek to maintain that government, but 
I believe that the constitution and the laws furnish ample means to suppress 
the rebellion. * When there are military operations going on— when there are 
armies in the field in hostile array, in battle, in movement, then the civil law ceases 



894 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



and then comes in the martial law. But the armies of the TJ. S., the major generals of 
theUS., act under the authoritj' of law, and the military law is just as much under 
the constitution and under tl»e law as is the civil law, precisely. * It is desii'able 
that we should know whether we live under a government of law or under a s'tn'ern- 
ment of force. * i believe that we live under a government of law, and I trust that 
every citizen of the coininunity also rests under the same belief, and that all, each for 
himself, will remember that we live under a government of law." 

Secret Politico- Military Societies. — The year 1863 was also pro- 
lific iu tlie orgauizatiou of secret political orders with semi-mili- 
tary attributes. They were variously kuown as "Knights of the 
Goldeu Circle," "Union Leagues," the "S. B's," (whatever that 
stood for) &c. The former of these was of democratic and the two 
latter of republican origin. Various circumstances contributed to 
the wide extension of these orders. The ox)en clamor for peace on 
the part of many leading democrats; the opinion that the war 
was a failure — indirectly conceded b}^ some of the staun chest re- 
publican uew^spapers; the unpopularity of the conscript law with 
the $300 exemption clause and its frequent denunciation, these, 
joined with the j^olitical excitement by the peace resolutions of 
the legislature, and the many expressions from public meetings iu 
opposition thereto, produced a serious impression among the peo- 
ple not unmingled with feelings of personal insecurity. During 
this year, too, many deserters were at large, prowling about the 
neighborhoods of their homes, often leading their friends or rela- 
tives into difBculties with the secret agents of the government in 
pursuit of them, who, when they became known, of course swaggered 
and boasted notalittle of their prowessand the terrible retribution 
to be visited upon certain localities supposed to harbor them. 
There were also at home rather an unusual number of soldiers on 
furlough — roistering blades, pompous in their neat, blue uniforms 
— into whose ears were poured by partisan friends tales of horror, 
how the venomous -'Copperhead democrats" purposed resisting 
the draft, subvert the State government, and form an alliance 
with the rebel confe<leracy. The soldiers, thus incited by narrow 
and prejudiced republicans, often swaggered about insulting good 
citizens and making threats of dire vengeance, which they felt it 
their duty and privdege to wreak, and sometimes they went so 
far as to actually perpetrate indignities and outrages upon really 
unoffending democratic civilians. The genera! government, too, 
as we have seen, was making numerous military arrests for the 
mere utterance— often but an idle or thoughtless boast — of dis- 
loyal sentiments. 

There was consequently little open discussion of the war in- 
dulged on either side in many portions of the State. A deep feel- 
ing of mistrust regarding the thoughts and purposes of one's own 
neighbor w'as all-pervading. The air was rife with whispers of 
direst portent as to the treatment to be visited upon this or that 
citizen, who should have uttered this or done that disloyal thing. 
The State was under martial law; and it was generally felt that 
outrages growing out of the political condition of the times, or 
perpetrated at such a period, would either meet with ready excuse 
and escape of punishment, upon the one side, or a summary visita- 
tion of revenge from the other. Each was thus steeled against the 
first overt act. Under these circumstances men of prior partiban 
affinities, even if not then in full accord upon the great question 
of the war, instinctively sought to bind themselves together by 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 895 

ties of the strongest oaths for mutnal protection, wliich doubtless 
did not always stop with provisions against personal indignities 
and local outrages alone, but may have included puri)osed resist- 
ance to the lawful demands of the government in the enforcement 
of the conscript law to carrj* on a war odious to their political 
sentiments. 

For greater eftlciency, here and there these combinations, on 
both sides, partook of the character of military organizations ; 
but it is questionable if any were furnished with arms other 
than home affairs, shot guns, &c. The drilling was often done with 
cornstalks. The associations of one side caused the other to do 
the same; vrhile the utmost quiet prevailed as to the usual 
wrangles and discussions incident to all i)ul)lic questions of great 
interest in this country. Both sides feared and guarded against 
precipitating a general collision. So one knew what a personal 
affray might instantly develop as to the number of sworn assist- 
ants on either side, nor what ^\ eapons were concealed, ready to leap 
forth upon the first emergency. To such considerations an active 
imagination was of course ready to add its legions of numbers and 
dire results. In some respects this mutual forbearance, born of 
caution, may have been well. But these secret associations by 
skillful and industrious agencies were extending their power and 
inlluence all over the country. 

All secret political societies are dangerous to the State and to 
the liberty of the people. The very fact of their secrecy stamps 
them as wrongful and hazardous. Secrecy eviscerates true de- 
mocracy or republicanism of its essential principles. To deny an 
open comparison of views and a free discussion of questions af- 
fecting the public weal, or the rights of the citizen, is to remove 
the underlying safeguards of an intelligent liberty. It is but just 
to say that the democratic press counselled the people against 
them. 

The republican press, with untiring industry, circulated reports 
that the democrats were preparing and intended to resist the 
draft under the conscript law. A regiment was organized and 
armed by the State, by order of Adjutant General Fuller, "for 
the purpose of guard and protection of the State of Illinois" — 
meaning that it was to aid in enforcing the draft. Col. R. H. 
Hough was assigned to its command. Tiiis ill-advised step, one 
would suppose, was rather calculated to provoke the armed col- 
lision so much dreaded. Many indeed feared, that, by these va- 
rious means, a struggle might be brought about in the State. 
Judge O'Melveny, a fierce anti-war democrat, wrote: "I still 
think we are nearing convulsion in the North. It must be with 
us the last alternative, but free speech ought to be made the issue 
— no point more available; to surrender it, is to perish; and if fate 
and destiny so will it, let the democracy go down with the consti- 
tution and with liberty in one common struggle forlife and power." 
So much was said of secret traitorous political organizations, and 
their threatened violent resistance to the draft underthe conscript 
law, that Judge Davis, of the U. S. circuit court, during the June 
term at Springfield, charged the grand jui-y that there were 
secret organizatioTis with "grips, signs and pass-words, having for 
their object, resistance to law, and the overthrow of the govern- 
ment. * If anywhere in this State bad men have combined 



896 HISTOHY OF ILLINOIS. 



too-etber for such wicked purpose, bring them to light and let 
them receive the punishment due their crimes"— charging tbem 
further with reference to any kind of resistance or obstruction to 
the enforcement of the draft, and the aiding or abetting of de- 
serters by advice, assistance or harboring them. 

While the many rumors of lawless conduct on the part of these 
organizations, with which the press teemed, were exaggerated, all 
was not smoke. A number of atrocious murders were committed. 
and armed resistance offered to the arrest of deserters 
in many portions of the State, which we have neither the 
space nor disposition to give in detail. Of the counties 
in which these disreputable proceedings occurred, we may 
mention (commencing south and proceeding north) Union, Wil- 
liamson, Richland, Clark, Coles, Fayette, Montgomery, Greene, 
Scott, Tazewell and Fnlton. The most pertinacious resistance 
was offered in Scott and Greene, whither a detachment of over 100 
mounted soldiers was sent to ferret out the camps of lawless men 
hid among the glades and swamps bordering the Illinois river. 
The most fatal collision occurred in Coles, at Charleston, on the 
22d of March, 1864, between citizens in attendance upon circuit 
court, under the lead of Sheriff O'Hara, and the re-enlisted veter- 
ans of the 54th Illinois regiment. Four soldiers were killed and 
8 wounded, one mortally; of the citizens, 3 were killed at the time; 
one accidentally. Some time after, two of the O'Haras were way- 
laid and assassinated in the woods.* Assaults upon various men 
were nmde in Edgar and some other counties. A raid, projected 
from Cass, was made ui^on Jacksonville to intimidate the federal 
authorities in the discharge of their duties. In Hancock, Adams, 
Pike, Calhoun and other counties bordering the Mississippi, incur- 
sions were made by rebel " bushwhackers" from Missouri, who 
were said to be but too freely countenanced and harbored. It is 
also doubtless true that these scenes of lawlessness uniformly 
occurred in regions where unconditional unionism was in minority 
and the loyal sentiment of the people overborne. But aside from 
these comparatively petty outbreaks of a few misguided, perhaps 
lawless men in scattered localities, no serious purpose to any con- 
siderable extent really ever existed to resist the draft in Illinois, 
or to obstruct the operations of the laws of the general govern- 
ment. The great mass of the people, Democrat as well as Re- 
publican, were ever willing and ready to obey the law, both State 
and national, dutifully, quietly and cheerfully. 

Prorogation of the Last Democratic Legislatnre. — The 23d gen- 
eral assembly, upon the ex])iration of its recess, met again, June 
2d, 1863. Besides a number of bills of a private or local character, 
patriotic resolutions, resolutions of thanks to the Illinois volun- 
teers for their valor in the field, and resolutions of a political char- 

* Much disaffection obtained between citizens (who often gave vent to treasonable 
utterances by shoutinsr tor Jetf. Davis. &c ,) and soldiers, and many personal indigni- 
ties were inflicted by the latter upon the tornier. In Cuks, it is said that soldiers, per- 
haps when intoxicated, out of mere wantoness, would seize larmers, (many of them 
doubtless, belonKimr to the order of the Golden Circle), from their watjons and compel 
their, to take an oath of allegiance manufactured for the occasion: "You solemnly 
swear to support the administration, Abraham Lincoln, all proclamations now issued, 
and all that may hereafter be issued, so help you God." AtVandaliaa Mr Smith w>»s 
made to take the oath, and afterwnrds. in an altercation, killed . One of the soldiers 
escaped, and his associates, on examination were discharged. Citizens, doubtless Amer- 
ic«n Knig-hts, to the number of .50 or 60, sought to avenge the murder, but failing in 
this, burnt a railroad bridge and committed other depredations. 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 897 

acter, covering the military order suppressing the Chicago Times, 
the military arrests of Illinois citizens, particular!}' the case of 
Judge Constable, were numerously introduced. The con- 
sideration of the latter character of resolutions elicited warm de- 
bate and consumed much valuable time. At this time the army 
in the West, containing nearly all the Illinois troops, had been 
active iu its approaches upon Vicksburg, and all the se- 
vere fighting iu the investment of that rebel fortress was 
over. The casualties to Illinois volunteers were great, and the 
demands for sanitary aid pressing. On the first day of the ses- 
sion, therefore, in the senate, Mr. Green, who had but recently 
been the subject of military arrest, as we have seen, introduced a 
bill, appropriating $50,000 for the sick and wounded Illinois sol- 
diers. In the house a similar bill was introduced by Mr. Fuller, 
appropriating $100,000 to be disbursed by a commission, consist- 
ing of Messrs. John T. Stuart, C. H. Lanphier, and W. A. Turney, 
all opposed to the administration policy of the war. A bill for 
taking the Illinois soldiers' vote was also introduced. 

On the 3d day of the session, in the senate, a proposition to 
adjourn sine die was extensively discussed and made the special 
order for the following day. On Monday, June 8th, three Demo- 
crats being absent, the senate, ou motion of Mr. Vandeveer, a 
democrat, passed a resolution b,y a vote of 14 to 7, to adjourn sine 
die ou that instant, at 6 P. M, This the house amended by insert- 
ing the 22d of June at 10 A. M. instead. The senate refused to 
concur by yeas 11 to nays 12. By the constitution, in case of dis- 
agreement between the two houses with respect to the time of 
adjournment, the governor was empowered to adjourn the assem- 
bly to such a day as he deemed proper. Such conjuncture now 
obtained. On the 9th the senate transacted but little business. 
There was also disagreement upon the house soldiers' relief bill, 
the senate having added the names of the governor and the treas- 
urer to the commission, to which the house refused to accede. 
On the morning of June 10th, iu the house, shortly after a motion 
by Mr. Lawrence to take up the general appropriation bill had, 
at the instance of Mr. Fuller, been laid on the table, and while 
not a Democrat was dreaming of such a move, the governor's pri- 
vate secretary entered the hall, and being announced by the door- 
keeper, but without recognition from the chair, (Mr. Burr), read 
hurriedly, but in a loud tone, his message adjourning the general 
assembly to the Saturday next preceding the 1st Monday in Jan- 
uary, 1865. 

This unexpected stroke fell upon the dominant party like a clap 
of thunder from a clear sky. Their chagrin and anger knew no 
bounds. They were beaten' by the hated governor in parliamen- 
tary tactics. Amidst the unexampled din and confusion, all sorts 
of inotions were made. The Kepubhcan members at once with- 
drew, breaking the quorum. The speaker vacated the chair, and 
the house took an informal recess. In the senate, upon the read- 
ing of the prorogation message, a similar scene of excitement took 
place. Lieutenant-Governor Hoffman said: " In obedience to this 
order, I do now ailjourn this senate until the Saturday preceding 
the 1st Monday in' January, A. D. 1865." He then vacated the 
chair and retired from the chamber. Senator Underwood Avas 
called to the chair. In the afternoon 13 senators were present — 



898 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

tbe 12 Republican members haviiific left. In tlie house 44 mem- 
bers were present ; a majoritj' in either house, but not enougli to 
do business, the constitution requiring the i)resence of two-thirds 
of the members in each house to constitute a quorum. Regarding 
the prorogation as illegal both houses continued the session. 

It is probable the absconding members knew of the governor's 
purpose, judging' from the promptness with which they and the 
lieutenant-governor took their departure. Yet upon the otiier 
hand, in the senate, Mr. Vandeveer, a democrat, made the motion 
to adjourn, on which the disagreement occuri-ed. 

Prior to the prorogation in the house a motion had been adop- 
ted for a conference committee to reconcile the differences upon 
the soldiers' $100,000 relief bill. This was, in the present strait, 
proffered to be accommodated by the house agreeing to the senate 
amendment to insert the names of the governor and treasurer 
with the other commissioners. A joint resolution was thereupon 
adopted, inviting the co-operation of enough Re}>ublican members 
to help pass this much needed measure. If a quorum had been 
obtained and the bill regularly passed, it would have been void 
because of the legality of the prorogation, as subsequently decided 
by the supreme court. But the Republicans showed no disposi- 
tion to accede to this request, although the legality of the adjourn- 
ment was then generally doubted by both parties. The fiat had 
gone forth, political capital was at stake, to retract was to i)rove 
vacillating and contemptible, and they braved it through. 

The sincerity of the Democrats — wlio believed the bill might be 
legally passed if a quorum could be obtained — in making this 
proposition, luxs been doubted, as inferred from the fact that there 
had been ample time to pass the bill. True, they had shown no 
haste, but after the disagreement, there was at stake the pride of 
consistency with either house, for whicli some allowance should be 
made. It cannot be possible that such trilling was intended; that 
the olive branch was held out only as a lure and deceitful snare. 
It may also be safely asserted, that the bill would have passed had 
more time been allowed and the prorogation not been interposed. 
But for the sake of gratifying the vanity of partisan tri- 
umph, the law-makers were dispersed, and this beneficent measure 
failed. Besides this measure, which appealed directly to one's 
sympathy and humanity, there were others pending of great pub- 
lic utility, which were thus also defeated ; the bill for the sale of 
coin and the payment of interest in treasury notes ; an appropria- 
tion to the State Normal University ; the general appropriation 
bill; an appropriation for the erection of a monument to Douglas, 
and some needed local measures, all in an advanced state of ma- 
turity. 

Immediately after the prorogation the Democrats prepared a 
protest, setting forth in detail the injurious consequences to the 
public of the governor's "monstrous usurpation" of power, signed 
by 56 representatives and 13 senators. A counterblast to this, 
addressed to the people of Illinois, Avas published by 3 Republi- 
cans of the senate, and 6 of the house, acting as a committee for 
this purpose, in defense of the Republican members and the act 
of the governor. Both were extreme partisan documents, full of 
accusations of corruption, and devoid of neither errors of factuoi 
intemperate language. 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 899 

After the pioio^mition, the ''rump," or moot legislature, as it 
was variously called, still kept up the session technically. The 
roll call was studiously uAoided so as not to have it appear from 
the journals that a quorum was not present, and thus the legiility 
of their acts would turn upon the validity of tlie prorogation 
alone, which was to be tested in the Supreme Court. On the liScl 
and 24th of June business was transacted. The governor was in- 
formed that they were about to close, asking if lie had any fur- 
ther communication to lay before them. He replied that he had 
not, and did not recognize their legal existence. A joint resolu- 
tion wMs thereupon passed, taking- a recess until Tuesday after 
the tirst Monday in January, 18(J4. 

Before the close of the year a decision was obtained from the 
Supreme Court, sustaining the validity of the prorogation. This 
was the first political question that had been before the Supreme 
Court since the alien case in 1840. A portion of the Democratic 
press assailed the court (which was Democratic in political senti- 
ment) with great virulence, charging that the 

"Decision was not only wholly wronj^, but had been made from unworthy motives. 
It was time that judges who made wrong- decisions, to avoid the lash and propitiate 
the impending anger of their political opponents, should be made to feel the indigna- 
tion of their former friends whom they had thus betraye'l. The iJemocratic 
party had asked, and would ask for nothing but impartial fairness at the hands of the 
judges, and no consideration of delicacy would impel it to silence, if it felt that unwor- 
thy personal motives had moved them to deal unfairly with it. We had fondly hoped 
that in Illinois there was a State court in whom the people could contidentlj' repose as 
a barrier to frightful invasions of executive power. This hope is dispelled, and we are 
overwhelmed with sorrow and mortification in view of it.''* 

The deep chagrin of the Democrats at the dispersion of the 
legislature by the governor is eloquently portrayed by a member, 
before the Supreme Court, in his capacity as attorney in one of 
the cases involving the validity of the prorogation. He exclaims : 
"Malignant i)artisanship could go no farther. The annals of 
political warfare display no grosser infraction of the dignities 
and amenities of private or ofhcial life. * * Snice the members 
of the long parliament were driven from their seats with oppro- 
brious epithets by Cromwell, there has been no such exhibition of 
virtuperative lawlessness."! 

We will carry this parallel further by adding the concluding 
part of Cromwell's address to the commons, and see where it leads : 
"But now I say, your time hath come. The Lord hath disowned 
you. The Grod of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, hath 
done with you. He hath no need of you any more. So, he hath 
judged you and cast you forth and chosen fitter instruments to 
Him to execivte that work in which you have dishouore<l Him." 
History repeats itself. The chronicler of the scene adds: "Sullen, 
humiliated and unpitied, for they had lost the respect of honest 
men of all denominations, the members of that [>arliament now 
sneaked away to find a miserable refuge in the despised obscurity 
of private life, deserted by the people in their turn, whom they 
first deserted at the dictates of a depraved and poor ambition." 

The Great Democratic Mass Convention of June nth, 1863. — The 
Democratic State committee had issued a call on the 28th of May 
for a mass convention to assemble at Springfield June 17th, 1803, 
being the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, for the pur- 
pose of consultation and deliberation upon the state of the conn- 

* From the Chicago Times. 
tSee M. W. Fuller's brief 



900 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

try, and to give exi)ressioii in au autlioritative form to the views 
of public policy entertained by the Illinois ^emocracj'. Prom- 
inent democratic orators from foreign States were ad\ertised to 
be present to speak, confer and counsel with the Illinois Democracy. 
The result was the most extraordinary gathering, in resi)ect of 
numbers, fine personal appearance, high character of the men in 
attendance and the spirit which pervaded them, that ever 
assembled in Illinois. Not less than 40,000 men were present, 
representing all i)arts of the State. It was not a gala day assem- 
blage of men, women and children, but of solid looking, well 
attired men, whose countenances betokened thought, earnestness 
and determination. They were evidently' politicalleaders of more 
or less influence in whatever sections they belonged. Their out- 
ward appearance indicated not only this, but also that the great 
body of them were men of means. While all classes were more or 
less represented, the solid element greatly predominated, giving 
tone and character to the whole. No drunkenness, brawling or 
semblance of nnseemly conduct marred the occasion. No taunt- 
ing acts of disloyalty by the display of secession flags, shouting 
for Jeii" Davis, or like conduct calculated to provoke a breach of 
the peace, was manifested. A disturbance of the peace while this 
immense crowd was in the capital city, leading to a serious out 
break, perhaps a collision with the soldiers, was greatly feared by 
some prominent officials. Gen. Ammen, commandant of Camp 
Butler, took the precaution to order that no soldier be allowed to 
leave camp during the whole of that day. But this crowd, though 
large, was not a mob. It was com^josed rather of respectable, 
well-to-do and reflective citizens who — whatever their opinion 
regarding the war, and that was for peace — would not pre- 
cipitate a collision voluntarily. Yet it may be well considered, 
had it been forced upon them tbey were not the men to quail ; 
doubtless many were well prepared for such a contingency. They 
had come, not for an excursion to seek relief from ii^id vary the 
monotony of home life, but, moved by a feeling of tleep earnest- 
ness, to compare views and take counsel of one another, and 
repledge their devotion to that democratic faith that was in them, 
which stood steadfast for the "Union as it was and the constitu- 
tion as it is ;" to condemn the aggressions of arbitraiy power both 
State and National, and denounce the "abolitionizing" of the con- 
duct of the war. Prominent rei^ublicans had themselves asserted 
that "the problem Mould be [when the war was past] to com- 
bine the forms of republican government with the powers of a 
monarchical government."* They met to place their ban upon the war 
at a time when many earnest hearts were trembling for the cause of 
the Union, and when discouragement might be doubly effective. 
In the west, Vicksburg was invested, it is true, but it had not 
fallen. In the east the victorious legions of Lee, fresh from the 
blundering contests on the Rappahannock, and inspired by a 
contempt for the Union forces under Hooker, with the utJnost 
audacity moved clear around him, boldly crossed into Maryland 
and deliberately pushed forward to Pennsylvania, while the coun- 
try stood amazed, and the deepest anxiety pervaded every breast. 
Gettysburg, though not far in the futuie, was not foreseen. 

•See Forney's Press. 



YATKS' ADMINISTRATION. 901 

The meeting was held at the old Fair Ground or Camp Yates, 
about oue mile due west of the old State House. The day was 
oppressively warm. To give an idea of some of the leading par- 
ticipauts we will a[)j)eud a few names : 

Senator W. A. Richardson, president ; vice presidents ; Hons. Chas. A. Constable, 
Win. McMurtry, Peter Sweat, J. M. Young, Aaron Shaw, O. B. Ficklin, Wm. F. Thorn- 
ton, J. W. Merrltt, H. M. Vandeveer, B. K. Prettynian, Chas. D. Hodges. John S. 
McDonald. James Kobb, W H. Gilnian, Virgil Hickox, James S. Ewing, E. D.Tay- 
lor, A. D. Wrigtit, l.P Rogers, John V. Ayer, A. Withers, David A. Gage, Sargent 
Gobble, John Cunuingbam, iN'oah Johnson, M. Y. Johnson, B. S. Edwards, S. Staats 
Taylor, John Pierson. C. L. Higbee, R. L.- Merrick, S. S. Hays, Cyrus Epler, R. M B. 
Wilson, JohnD. Wood, S. A. Buckmaster, Jacob Bowman, S. J. Cross, J. M. Epler, 
Robert Halloway, Henry Dresser, J. L. D. Morrison, J. I^.Stitt, James C. Robinson, 
W. A. 3. Sparks, F. C. Sherman. J. S. Bogan, John C. Ciiamplin, C. A. Walker, and 
Dr. N. S. Davis. Among the speakers in attendance Irom abroad we notice the names of 
Daniel Voorhees, of Indiana, S. S Cox of Ohio, and Chris. Kribben and Gen. McKmlr 
stry, of St. Louis, and from our own State, Richardson, S S. Marshall, J. B. Eden, 
Jas. C. Allen. Ex Gov. John Reynolds, J. C. Robinson, Greathous, Bryan, Connolly, 
Wescott, Chas T. E. Merritt, M. Y'^. Johnson, J. L D. Morrison, W. M Springer, 
and a host of others , Speaking was constantly had from six different stands, enthusias- 
tic crowds thronging about each.* 

The position of the Democracy of Illinois was declared at 
length in 24 separate paragraphs, which we summarize, except the 
two last. They declared the supremacy of the constitution 
of the United States, as well in time of war as peace, 
which they were ready and willing to obey, as also all laws made 
in pursuance thereof, so long as they remained upon the statute 
books, claiming the right to constitutionally change them; they 
quoted the bill of rights, and upon it arraigned the federal admin- 
istration for violating nearly every one of its guarantees to the 
citizen; they condemned the arrest and banishment of Vallandig- 
ham, demanding his restoration : denounced tbe arrest of Judge 
Constable and the imprisonment of Hon. W. H. Carlin and other 
citizens of the State, demanding their release; condemned the 
suppression of the Chicago Times; declared their determination 
to exercise the right of electing public officers in defiance of the 
demands of power ; adhered to the doctrine of State sovereignty ; 
denounced martial law in this State ; condemned the recent act of 
prorogation of the legislature by Gov. Yates as a high handed 
usurpation by one department of government of the rights of 
another; charged the governor with not only not protecting the 
citizen in his constitutional rights, but violating them himself; 
denounced secession as a ruinous heresy, and offered their (;ordial 
co-operation in securing to the seceded States equal rights if they 
would return to their allegiance. 

"23. That the further offensive prosecution of this war tends to subve-t the consti- 
tution and the government, and entail upon this nation all the disastrous consequences 
ot misrule and anarchy. That we are in favor ot peace upon the basis of a restoration 
of the Union, and for the accomplishment of which we propose a natioual convention 
to settle upon terms of peace, which shall have in view the restoration of the Union 
as It was and the securing, by constitutional amendments, such righs to the several 
States and the people thereof, as honor and justice demand. 

" 24. That we denounce as libellers of the Democratic party, and willful insMgators 
of mischief, those fanatics whoare engaged in representing the democracy as wanting 
in sympathy tor our soldiers in the field. Those soldiers are our kindred, our friends 
and'our neighbors, whose interests are identifled with our own ; whose prosperity is 
our pleasure ; whose suffering IS our pain : and whose brilliant achievements are our 
pride and admiration. Promptly rushing to arms as they did, in answer to the call of 
their country, they merit our warmest thanks, our sympathy and our support ; and 
we earnestly request the President c f the United States to withdraw the '" Proclama- 
tion of Emancipation," and permit the brave sons of Illinois to fight only for the 
"Union, the constitution and the enforcement of the laws.'' 

The assembled multitude testified their faith in the last of these 
declarations by their works on the spot, in contributing the muni- 
ficent fund of $47,400 for tlie sick and wounded Illinois soldiers. 
This very liberal response was one of the noblest and most toueh- 



•See Illinois Register, June 18th, 1863. 



9015 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



iiig scenes ever witnessed. When the call of the committee for 
this purpose was announced, wallets flew out of pockets thick and 
fast, and thousands of upi^aised hands held waiving aloft innumer- 
able greenbacks, inscribed with the interesting $ figures of 5's, 
lO's, liO's, 50's, &c., impatiently waiting for the i^assing hats to 
come round to gather them in. The hats were filled and crammed, 
passed to the committee, emptied, passed back again and as 
quicklj' refilled. Some individual subscriptions were as high as 
$500. And thus the errand of mercy prospered; the glorious con- 
tagion of a philanrtiropic enthusiasm spreading the while, en- 
couraged with inspiring cheers, while many a thoughtful eye, set 
perhaps in a stern countenance, dropped a silent tear in sympa- 
thy with this beautiful manifestation of a grateful i)atriotism. 
Thus were wrought ui) those tender emotions of love of country, 
which transported the fond recollections of affectionate hearts 
after the absent ones, gallantly defending the union and our 
homes against the cohorts of treason. The warm hearts of these 
contributors pulsated in unison with a genuine patriotism, albeit 
their unyielding heads, influenced by partisan feelings, 
enunciated what we now know to have been a wrongful stand 
against the further prosecution of the war for the Union. Doubt- 
less they were thoroughly honest in their belief at the time, but 
its results upon this nation, if carried out, must have been attended 
with unnumbered woes. 

In this munificent offering "the soldier's friend" and his 
goading backers, who, rather than forego the opportunity of 
wreaking a partisan triumph by the prorogation of the legisla- 
ture, defeated the appropriation of f 100,UUU for the sick and 
wounded Illinois soldiers, doubtless discovered a merited re- 
buke. It has been asserted that this feeling prompted the large 
contribution rather than the dictates of a generous philanthropy. 
But a good deed should not be attributed to bad motives ; to do 
good to those that despiiefully use you, is of the highest christian 
spirit. Crowds of men are not likely to seek revenge in such 
noble and generous actions; neither was this assemblage the legis- 
lature which had been attronted. Col. W. E. Morrison was selected 
to disburse the fund raised at this meeting, for the relief of tiie 
sick and wounded Illinois soldiers. 

While this meeting was "called" to give authoritative expres- 
sion to the views of public policy entertained by the Illinois demo- 
cracy, the position here assigned to them in the 23d declaration, 
was but the position of those who framed it, or of that assemblage, 
not that of the great mass of the party. It was not a delegate 
but a mass convention, each attendant representing himself and 
no one else. By this declaration it was proposed precisely to do 
all the rebels had ever asked — to be let alone. It did not express 
the sentiments of the Democracy of lUinds. The Democracy had 
ever been the war party of the country, in all the wars it ever had. 
The great body of the rank and file were loyal to the core and 
unconditionally for the war, contending, with rare exceptions, that 
there was no othei- honorable alternative but to i^rosecute it until 
the authority of the government was acknowledged and respected 
over all the broad domain of our country. The leading spirits of 
this meeting forsook the exalted loyal stand of the party as cor- 
rectly defined by Mr. Douglas, and placed themselves in perfect 



YATES' ADMIKTSTRATION. 903 

antagonism witli liis patiiotic utterances, that Avbiletbe war lasted 
there could be but two parties in the country — " patriots and 
traitors." They assumed to speak fur the Democracy of Illinois, 
without delegated authority so to do, and assigned to them a posi- 
tion before the country which they abhorred. Their unworthy 
eft'orts met with a withering rebuke from the people, and they dealt 
the party a last blow, from which it has not recovered. If not in 
articulo mortis, it has been paralyzed ever since in the State. 

The first fruit of these legislative and convention proceedings 
was exhibited in the elections of November, 1863, for county 
officers, which resulted in favor of the Republicans by an aggre- 
gate majority of 30,000 votes. A full vote was not polled, it is 
true, yet there was an actual Union gain of 5,000, and a compar- 
ative gain of 46,000 votes over the preceding year.* 

On September 3d,lS63 — the country having been in the mean time 
encouragedby the victory of Gettysburg and thefallof Vicksburg — 
the meeting of the 17th ot June was offset by an immense Union 
gathering at Springfield. Hons. Henry S. Lane, J. R. Doolittle, 
Zachary Chandler, Gov. Yates, Gens. R. J. Oglesby, John A. 
McClernand, I. N. Haynie, B. M. Prentiss and many others, 
addressed the vast assemblage. Mr. Lincoln sent a long and 
patriotic letter, addressed to the chairman, J. C. Conkling, which 
was read. Many other patriotic letters from prominent gentle- 
men in various parts of the country were likewise read. A vigor- 
ous prosecution of the war for the Union was urged by all the 
speakers, and in all the letters — that that was the only true way 
to an honorable peace,! 

The peace efforts of a faction of the Illinois Democracy may 
be said to have culminated in 1863. With the approach of 
the election contest of 1864 we discover a manifest weakening in 
the wonted unanimity of their demands for peace. The desire for 
party success was stronger than any other political sentiment. 
The leaders, not unmindful of the expression of the people of 
Illinois at the polls in November, 1863, were inclined to greater 
caution in taking advanced unconditional peace ground. Indeed 
many were the other way. McClellan had loomed up as the most 
available Democratic candidate for the presidency. It could not be 
expected that the hero of Antietam, who it was supposed would 
carry the soldiers' vote to a man, could consistently be run as an 
unconditional peace man. Accordingly when the first State Dem- 
ocratic Convention of 1864 met at Springfield, June 15th, they 
contented themselves with appointing delegates to the national 
convention and State presidential electors, withoutputting a ticket 
in the field or adopting a platform, deferringthatmatter by an over- 
whelming majority to the action of the national conventtou shortly 
to meet at Chicago. A buncombe resolution was adopted to stand 
by Vallandigham (who had just returned from exile), and the de- 
niocracy of Ohio (then, also, assembled in convention) in the preser- 



•Oiitofthe resolutions of the 17th of June sprung a curious quarrel between the 
»..'!ice policy and no policy factions of that meeting, led respectively by Col 
Bifthardson and Gen. Singleton. The "declarations," it seems, were prepared and 



pnsscd upon the day before by a self constituted committee of congressmen, judges, 
oflice holders and office seekers, whose retreat, the latter ns he asserted for a. long 
time, could not discover. He claimed the paternity of the 23d "declaration with 
only the word "offensive" in the first line added by the committee. Doubtless honors 
are eosy upon tliat point by this time. 

tSee Illinois State Journal, Sept. 9th, 1863. 



904 HISTORY OF. ILLINOIS. 



vation of their liberty, but the reiteration of the former bold staud 
for peace, for which the masses in Illinois in their expression at 
the polls had shown no relish, was shrewdly avoided. This was 
regarded as a McClellan triumph, and a rebuke to the peace-on- 
any-term's party. But the peace faction against which the tide 
w^as thus strongly setting, was not to be squelched without making 
an effort. With the view to influence the approaching State con- 
vention, a mass meeting to the number of perhaps 20,000 assem- 
bled at Peoria, August the 3d, under the management of the lead- 
ing peace men of the State. The meeting was also said to have 
been called by "a secret organization whose members acted with 
the Democratic party. "*General Singleton, author of the 23d dec- 
laration of the 17th of June, 1863, presided; and Amos Green^ 
Grand Commander of the Order of American Knights in Illinois^ 
who, subsequently, in the trial of the Camp Douglas conspirators 
at Cincinnati, turned state's evidence, H. M. Vandeveer, W. W. 
O'Brien and others, reported a series of resolutions, in the 2d 
of which they "declare that the coercion and subjugation of sov- 
ereign States was never contemplated as possible or authorized 
by the constitution, but was pronounced by its makers an act of 
suicidal folly. But whatever may be the theory of constitutional 
power, war, as a means of restoring the Union, has proved a fail- 
ure and a delusion," etc. ; and in the 3d, "that the repeal and 
revocation of all unconstitutional edicts and pretended laws, an 
armistice, and a national convention for the peaceful adjustment of 
our troubles, are the only means of saving our nation from unlim- 
ited calamity and ruin. "f 

In the meantime another Democratic mass convention had 
been called to assemble at the capital. The Peoria meeting, 
doubtless fearing that the policy to harmonize all the discordant 
elements manifest in the party would there prevail, now resolved 
to then re-assemble at Springfield, being the 18th of August fol- 
lowing, and stamp thai meeting, also, with their character. Accord- 
ingly, upon that occasion, General Singleton claimed that the 
Springfield meeting, which was very largely attended, was but a 
continuation of the Peoria meeting ; that the officers were already 
chosen, and nothing remained to be done but for him as president 
to call the multitude to order, listen to the speaking, and pass the 
Peoria peace resolutions. Bub his assumptions met with earnest 
protest; however, for the sake of harmony, it was agreed in cau- 
cus that Singleton should preside, that the Peoria resolutions 
should be reported stripped of two objectionable clauses, and in 
addition to pledge the party to the Chicago nominees. This was 
strenuously opposed by the ultra peace faction, who declared they 
would appeal to the people. The meeting was forthwith called to 
order, General Singleton became chairman and addressed the 
masses in a forcible and able speech. He was followed by Henry 
Clay Dean, of Iowa, in an eloquent effort. The Peoria resolutions 
unchanged were then offered for adoption, as also those of June 
17th, 1863, and by the chair declared passed. The caucus resolu- 
tion pledging the efficient support of the Illinois Democracy to the 
Chicago nominee for i)resident, whoever he might be, was., then 

•See correspondence Chicago Times. 
tSee Illinois Register, Aug. 5th, 1864 



YATES' ADMINISTRATION. 905 

offered. It was sharply attacked and laid on tlie table. Kext 
the Peoria and 17th of June resolutions were offered for adoption 
at stand No. 2, and there, also, declared i)assed. The resolution 
pledging unconditional support to the Chicago nominees Avas 
now again offered. A bitter debate, not unmixed with gross per- 
sonalities, was instantly- aroused, resulting this time in the adop- 
tion of the resolution. And now the cloven foot having been 
revealed to the multitude, when the latter resolutiou was again 
moved at stand N^o. 1, amidst much confusion and opposition it 
was there, also, vociferously adopted. The presiding ofhcer, who 
had been assailed as a disorganizer, thereupon retired from the 
meeting in disgust.* 

Thus this meeting, after adopting the Peoria and 17th of June 
resolutions, demanding an armistice, pronounchig the war for 
the Union a failure and unconstitutional, and proposing an almost 
unconditional peace with defiant rebels, in the next breath pledged 
themselves in advance to support a war Democrat for the presi- 
dency. But this glaring inconsistency only indicated after all that 
many of the democratic leaders, in their ardent and ultra opposi- 
tion to the war for the Union, had been really less disloyal in their 
true feelings and sentiments than partisan and factious. They were 
anti-war men because it was not, as they thought, the war of their 
party. They did not love the Union less, but office more. The 
partisan strife for place, power and position is a terrible thing in 
our country, and not at all on the wane. 

^ov was this meeting more inconsistent than the Chicago Dem- 
ocratic national convention of 186-1, which met a few days later, 
in the adoption of their platform and the choice of a candi- 
date to be placed upon it. 

The 3d resolution declared it as thesenseof the American people "that after four 
years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during- which, under 
the pretense of military necessity or power higher than the constitution, the consti- 
tution itself has been disi-etfarded in every part, and the public libei'ty and private rights 
alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired ; 
justice, humanity, liberty and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be 
made for the cessation of hostilities, with a view to an ultimate convention of the States 
or other peaceable means to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace 
may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States. 

To which the distinguised military chieftain. Gen. McClellan, a 
strong war Democrat, who had dispersed the Maryland Democratic 
legislature at the point of the bayonet, replied in his letter of 
acceptance : 

"But the Union must be preserved at all hazards. I could not look in the face of my 
■gallant comrades of the army and navv, who survived so many bloody battles, and tell 
themthat their labors and tiie sacrifice of so many of our slain and wounded brethren 
have been in vain." 



CHICAGO CONSPIRACY. 

During- the autumn of '64 a conspiracy was detected at Chicago, which had for its object 
the liberation of the prisoners at Camp Douglas, the burning of the city, and the in- 
auguration of rebellion in the north. Gen. Sweet, who had charge of the camp at 
the time, first had his suspicions of danger aroused by a number of enigmatically 
worded letters which passed through the Camp postoffice. 

From subsequent developments he became convinced it was the intention ol tne 
conspirators to carrv out their nefarious designs during the session ot the National 
Democratic Convention ill August, but before the time arrived defensive measures 
were instituted, and the leaders deemed it best to postpone the consummation of their 
object till the presidential election. They were, however, again destined to be foi ed. 
On the 3d of November, a citizen of St. Louis, an avowed secessionist, but in reality 
a"-overnment detective, followed a criminal from that city to Springfield, and thence to 
ciiioau-o Here, while on the alert for the fugitive, he met a former acquaintance, a 
member of the order of American Knights, from whom he learned that the rebel 

*See Illinois Register, Aug. 19th, 1864. 



906 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Marmaduke was in the city. After a short interview he met Dr. Edwards, a citizen of 
Chicago and a rebel sympathizer, who ..sked hiim if he knew Southern soldiers were in 
town. The detective answering- in the neg-ative, his interlocutor further informed 
him that Marmaduke was stopping at his house under the assumed name of Burling, 
and mentioned asa "g-ood joke ' that he had a liritish passport made out under the same 
cognomen by the American Consul. The detective, in his report to the Provost Mar- 
shal General of Mo., says : -'The same evening I again met with Dr. Edwards on the 
street going to my hotel. He said Marmaduke desired to see me and 1 accompanied 
him to his house. There in the course of a long conversation Marmaduke told me that 
he and several othcers were in Chicago to f)perate with other parties in releasing 
the prisoners of Camp Douglas, and in inaugurating a rebellion in the north. He said 
the movement was under the auspices of the American Knights, and was to begin ope- 
rations on the day of the election,"The detective immediately called on Col. Sweet and 
communicated to him the startling intelligence, and ihe latter telegraphed for troops. 
There were in the camp S.UOO prisoners, among whom were Morgan's freebooters. 
Texas Rangers and others, precocious, daring and ready for reckless adventure. To 
guard the large force there were only TOO eliective men, and the commandant felt 
as though there was a mine b-neath him, and oulj' 70 hours remained in which to pre- 
vent its being sprung with disastrous consequences to the garrison and adjacent city. 
Disclosures soon reached him from other sources whereby he learned the full partie- 
ularsof the gigantic scheme. The blow was to be struck on the 8th of November, 
and Camp Douglas was the tiist objective point. The 8.000 prisoners when liberated 
were to be joined by tlie 5,000 knights of Chicag'o, making a nucleus of 13,000about which 
would gather Canadian refugees, bushwhackers from Mo., prisoners from otherCamps, 
and members of the same order in other localities. The city of Chicago was first to be 
sacked and burned, after wiiich a similar fate was to be meted out to the other cities 
of the north. A general uprising of the treasonable element in the loyal States was to 
follow, and simultaneously Hood was to move on Nashville, Buckner on Louisville, and 
Price on St. Louis. 

It must not be supposed these seemingly extravagant arrangements were without 
some prospect of success. Investigations before military commissions in different 
partsof the west indicated the existence of treasonable .'societies of almost fabulous ex- 
tent. A report of the .Judge Advocati^ General of the U.S. disclosed "the existence 
of a military organization having its commander-in-chief, general and subordinate 
officers, and' 500, (XH) enrolled members, all bound by a blind obedience to their superiors, 
and pledged to take up arms against anj' power found waging war against a people 
endeavoring to establish a govei'nment of their own choice." 

Col. Sweet duly apprised the police of Chicago of the presence of the conspirators, 
and at 2 o'clock in the morning preceding the election, made a descent on their respec- 
tive places of lodging. Among the arrests were the rebel officers Grenfell, Morgan, 
Adjutant General Marmaduke. brother of the general. Cantrell, of Morgan's command. 
Buckner Morris, treasurer of the Sonsof Liberty, Charles Walsh, a member ot the order 
were also arrested. In the house of the latter were found two cart-loads of loaded 
pistols, and in another part ot the city two boxes of guns. The startling intelligence 
of the arrests spread with lightning rapidity, and as the sun rose up from the bosom 
of the lake and looked down on the inilesof palatial residences, stores and well-lilled 
houses marked out for rapine and burning.their inhabitants were in arms, patrols were 
marching and countermarching through the entire city which presented the appearance 
of an extended military encampment. Thus in one short hour the scheme which was 
to transfer the theatre of the war to the free states, and apply the torch to northern 
cities, collapsed and its reckless projectors were in the custody of the officers in the 
narrow cells of a prison. 

Early in January, 1865, Gen. Hooker, commandant of the Northwestern Department, 
convened a court martial in Cincinnati to try the leaders of the conspiracy . They were 
charged with violating the laws of war by attempting to release the prisoners confliied 
at Camp Douglas, and conspiring to lay waste the city of Chicago. The trial lasted till 
April, when Walsh was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the penitentiary, 
Grenfell to be hung. Rafael Seinraes, captured after the first arrests, to two years im- 
prisonment. Of theotherprisonersone committed suicide by shooting i'nis'-'ll:, one 
escaped from custody and the remainder were acquitted. After remaining in prison 9 
months all the convicts except Grenfell, whose sentence was commuted to imprison- 
ment for life, were pardoned. 



Chapter LXVI. 
1865— 1869— ADMINISTRATION^ OF GOV. OGLESBY. 



Republican and Democratic State Conventions of 1861 — Lives and 
Characters ofOgleshy and. Brass — Prosperity and Condition of the 
State during the BeheUion — Legislation, Political and Special, in 
1865--7 — Board of Equalization established — Location of Agricul- 
tural College — Lllinois Capitals and their removals — History of 
the Penitentiary. 



The Republican, or Uiiiou State Convention of 1864, was held 
at Springfield, May 25th. A. J. Kuykendall, of Jolauson, was 
chosen to preside. For Governor four names were proposed. On 
the first or informal ballot, Allen 0. Fuller, of Boone, received 220 
votes ; Richard J. Oglesby, of Macon, 283 ; Jesse K. Dubois, of 
Sangamon, 103 ; and John M. Palmer, of Macoupin, 75. On the 
next ballot Oglesby was nominated, receiving 358 out of 681 
votes cast. William Bross, of Cook, was nominated for lieuten- 
ant governor; Sharon Tyndale, of St. Clair, for Secretary of State; 
O. H. Miner, of Sangamon, for Auditor; James H. Beveridge, of 
DeKalb, for Treasurer; Newton Bateman, of Morgan, for Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction ; S. W. Moulton, of Shelby, for 
Congressman for the State-at-large. Thus far all w^as harmony, 
but now came trouble. The committee on platform gave the na- 
tional administration but a quasi endorsement, saying that the 
president's ''war measures were planned with an honest purpose; 
that it was not necessary to approve of every act of the adminis- 
tration to enable them to say Mr. Lincoln was an honest man and 
prudent statesman ; and that in the nuxin the acts of the admin- 
istration had been highly conducive in suppressing the existing 
rebellion, and should Mr. Lincoln receive the nomination of the 
Baltimore convention they would give him their earnest sup- 
port."* 

This resolution excited intense opposition and was laid on the 
table. A new committee was appointed and in the evening a new 
set of reyolutions were reported and adopted after a ])rotracted 
sitting. The administration was strongly indorsed, and the dele- 
gates to the Baltimore convention instructed to use all honorable 

*See Illinois State Register, May 28th, 1864. 

007 



908 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

meaus to secure the re-nomination of Mr. Lincoln for the presi- 
dency; a determination was expressed to prosecute the war until 
the cause of the Union triumphed; slavery was charged as the cause 
of the rebellion ; they breathed the sentiments of a genuine patriot- 
ism and noble sympathy for the soldiers; extended thanks to the 
governor and all the State officials ; indorsed the 13th amend- 
ment abolishing slavery ; and asserted the Monroe doctrine — that 
it was the duty of the U. S. to reinstate republican institutions 
on the continent of America, which looked to the French opera- 
tions in Mexico. 

The Democratic State Convention of 1864 also met at Spring- 
field, but not till September 6th. The Hon. S. S. Hayes, of Cook, 
presided. The Chicago national democratic platform was adopted. 
Jimies C. Eobinson, of Clark, was nominated for Governor; S. 
Corning Judd, of Fulton, for Lieutenant Governor; John Hise, of 
LaSalle, for Auditor ; Alexander Starue, of Pike, for Treasurer ; 
William A. Turney, of Morgan, for Secretary of State; John P. 
Brooks, for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and James C. 
Allen, of Crawford, for Congressman for the State-at-large. 

Tlie election in November, ISOi, resulted in favor of the repub- 
licans on the State ticket by an average majority exceeding 31,- 
000 votes. The estimated gain of the republican vote on 1802 
was over 69.0(K). The Legislature was republican, as follows : 
Senate 14 republicans to 11 democrats; House 51 republicans to 
34 democrats; Union majority on joint ballot 20. Eleven out of 
the 14 congressmen elected were also republicans. 

Richard J. Oglesby was born July 25th, 1824, in Oldham county, 
Kentucky. Bereft of parents at the tender age of eight, his 
early education was neglected. When 12 years old he removed 
with an uncle to Decatur, He was subsequently apprenticed to 
the carpenter's trade, worked occasionallyat farming, studied law, 
essayed to practice it at Sullivan, this State, returned to Decatur, 
volunteered in the Mexican war, was elected 1st Lieut. (Jo. "C," 
4th Illinois regiment, and participated in the battle of Cerro 
Gordo. On his return he sought to perfect his law studies by at- 
tending the lectures at Louisville, took the gold fever then raging 
and crossed the plains to California, returned, and, in 1852, first 
appeared in politics as a Scott elector. Later he visited Europe 
and the Holy Land, returned, and, in 1858, ottered for congress, 
but was beaten by the same competitor he had for governor in 
1864. In 1860 he was elected a State Senator, but the following 
spring when the rebellion broke out, his ardent nature quickly re- 
sponded to the demands of patriotism, and, as <-olonel of the 8th 
regiment, he tendered it as the second raised by the State for that 
conflict. He was shortly entrusted with important commands, and 
fora time stationed at Bird's Point and Cairo. At FortDonelson his 
brigade was in the van, and, on the morning of the last day, the 
first to be attacked by the enemy, resulting in the loss of 500 
men before reinforcements came to his support. At Corinth his 
and Hackleman's brigades held the rebels at bay during a large 
part of the afternoon ; but in a daring charge the latter was 
killed, and Oglesby dangerously wounded in tlieleft lung was borne 
from the field in expectation of immediate dissolution. On his re- 
covery he was promoted for gallantry to a major generalship, 



OaLESBY'S ADMINISTRATION. 909 



and iu the spriug of 1863 assigned to the command of the lOth 
army corps, but owing to the trouble of his wound, (he carries 
the rebel lead in his person) he relinquished active service within 
three months after. 

Governor Oglesby is a line appearing^ affable man, with regu- 
lar, well defined features and rotund face. In stature he is a little 
above medium height, large frame and somewhat fleshy. His 
physical appearance is striking and prepossessing, while his 
straight-out, not to say bluff, manner and speech are well calcula- 
ted to favorably impress the average masses. Ardent in feeling 
and strong in party bias, he inspires deep partisan xirejudices 
in others. He is quite an effective stump orator. With vehem- 
ent, passionate and scornful tone and gestures, tremendous phys- 
ical power, which, in speaking, he exercises to the utmost; with 
frequent descents to the grotesque, and with abundant homely 
comparisons or frontier figures, expressed iu the broadest vernacu- 
lar and enforced with stentorian emphasis, he delights a promis- 
cuous audience beyond measure ; while his bitter invective, be- 
stowed without stint upon the opposition, must gratify the 
extremest feeling of partisan hatred and animosity. 

Lieut. Gov. Bross was born in Sussex couuty, New Jersey. 
His youth was mostly spent in the wilds of Pennsylvania, aiding 
his father iu the hard toil of a lumberman and rafting on the Del- 
aware. He acquired, however, a classical education, and after- 
wards, for many years, taught school. In 1848 he removed to 
Chicago and became a partner in the publishing house of Griggs, 
Bross & Co. But in Illinois he is chiefly known by his career as 
an editor. In 1852 he united with Jolm L. Scripps and started the 
Democratic Press, a political and commercial newspaper. He was 
originally a democrat, but with the repeal of the Slissouri com- 
promise his paper forsook the democracy and aided in forming 
the republican party. In 1858 it was "consolidated" with the 
Tribune, and iu 1860 the name of "Press" was dropped. No 
paper has perhaps exercised a larger influence upon the politics 
of Illinois, while at an early day it was the leading commercial 
medium of the northwest. Mr. Bross is a man of sound prac- 
tical sense, varied and extensive inlormation, exact, thorough, 
and untiring iu effort. He has shown himself an able statistical, 
commercial and political writer. Energy and resoluteness are of 
the essence of his nature, and with wonderful rapidity of utter- 
ance, as presiding officer of the senate, he was capable of dis- 
patching a large amount of business in those days of omnibus legis- 
lation. He is of medium height and robust frame, with angular 
features, high forehead, and ruddj' complexion. Honest himself, 
he despises the tricks and arts of the politician ; and his own 
aciiievemeuts being the result of industry, he entertains little rev- 
erence for genius.* 

Governor Oglesby was duly inaugurated January the 17th, 
1865, tbutbefore proceeding with his administration it is properthat 
we take a short retrospect at our material prosperity during the 
rebellion. 

•See Ward's speech in senate Jan. 11, '69, and Western Monthly, June, '69. 

tThe day before the time first set for Go%^ Oglesby to assume the duties of his office, 
death visited his homeat Decatur, and took therefrom his oniy son, an iiitellisrent and 
spnii-htly lad ot 6 years, a threat favorite with the bereaved parents. This causeU the 
inauguration to be postponed for one week. 



910 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



NotwitlKstiiiidiug the demands of the war had drawai upon Illi- 
nois to the extent of near 200,000 men — hale, vigorous and with- 
out physical blemish, taken from the most active producing 
classes — the great industries of the State had not only speedily 
recovered from this enormous draft, but her material prosperity, 
retarded the first one or two years, was unparalleled by any other 
State. The census of 1S65 revealed a population of 2,141,510, be- 
ing an increase of 429,559, or near 25 per cent, since 1860 ; and 
nearly every department of ju'oduction and industry exhibited a 
like ratio in advancement, as evidenced by the area of land under 
cultivation, and its yield of agricultural wealth, the triumph of 
invention and substitution of machinery for manual labor, the aug- 
mentation of skilled laborers and mechanical production, the rapid 
growth of our cities, villages and increase of fixed capital, the 
excellent remuneration for tdl employment, the high prices for all 
products, and above all the abundance of money which stimulated 
all manner of business to unusual activity. 

While this material piosperity prevailed with the close of the 
war, and for some time before, the times were hard with us during 
the first two years of the civil conflict. The writer saw corn, our 
great staple, sell in 1862, in Central Illinois, as low as 9 cents a 
bushel. The failure of our local banks, which in a manner left us 
without a currency, contributed not a little to the condition of the 
times. Prosperity during the war was first experienced in the 
Eastern States, where the lavish expenditures of the government for 
clothing and munitions of war caused money to be profusely scat- 
tered from the outset. With us, beef and pork, and the products 
of the soil, were the first to experience an advance In prices. 

Corn, our most unfailing crop, made its first great bound up- 
Avard immediately after the severe frost of August 29th, 1863. 
Lands remained for a long time a drug. This class of [troperty 
the experience of centuries has shown to ever be the last to rise 
in price, but once starting it excels all other, as it atibrds the 
safest and surest investment, and not uiifrequently the largest 
speculative return. Finally the tide of abundant money set into 
Illinois and began to influence realty. Now, to many of our peo- 
ple, was heard abroad in the land the pleasant voice of the stran- 
ger inquiring the price of lands, and seeking to invest his abund- 
ant and daily cheapening money in lots, lands and farms. Popu- 
lation, with a renewed current, Mas pouring over our borders ; 
houses in cities and towns became scarce ; rents rose beyond pre- 
cedent, and the prices of lands passed the most sanguine expecta- 
tion. An enhancement of 100 per cent was not unusual; many 
of our i)eople never dreamed of such prices, and that all in cash 
too. Many transfers were made, the proceeds re-invested to bet- 
ter advantage, and comparative independence acquired by owners. 
The abundance and cheapness of money, and high prices of prop- 
erty enabled others of our people to extinguish mortgages, which 
had hung like a pall over their homes ; and thus thousands of 
families were placed in comfortable circumstances and rendered 
haj)py. While an intestine war piled a debt on the nation by the 
billion, upon the individual were conferred benefits and unexpect- 
ed independence. But, while some, for years dissatisfied, now that 
the}' could get perhaps double their prices, were content to hold 
their jnoperty and neither lose nor profit by the times, others, 



OGLESBYS ADanNISTRATlON. 911 

it is Slid to relate, who bad never hoped to realize old values, eager- 
ly sold with the first advance of prices, failed or neglected to rein- 
vest, easily spent or squandered the proceeds, and are to-day 
renters. It was generally better to buy than sell — to be in debt 
for lands purchased than hold credits for i)roi)erty sold. Debts 
did not increase except by accruing interest, while the money 
wherewith to pay them, cheapened sometimes in a few days 25 to 
50 percent, taking gold for a standard. 

The permnnent debt of the State, funded and unfunded in 
1SG5, was $11,178,564, being an inci-ease since 1800 of oiil\' about 
$1,000,000. notwithstanding our heavy war api>ropriations ;iud 
expenditures. But the general government, it may l)e remarke<l 
X)arentherically, largely refunded to the States their advances (tu 
account of the war. From iJeceraber, 18G4, to December, 18(58, 
our bonded debt was reduced $7,051,790. leaving a balance of 
$5,t89,ir>8, whicii was gradually reduced each year until 1880, 
when the Avhole was paid. The total taxable property of the State 
in 1883 was |818,000.000. The total number of acres in cultiva- 
tion for 1883, was 25,000,000, of which 8,000,000 were in corn. 

Legislative. — After 1864 our field is barren of interesting or im- 
portant political or party events. Peace came to the Union in the 
following spring ; and the results of elections in the State have 
since been substantially the same. With a few exceptions, (no- 
tably the loss of a republican United States senator through 
the election of David Davis, independent.) party contests have 
been decided in favor of the republican hosts. The democratic 
party, in the hope of changing the tide of fortune, has taken a 
number of new departures, until, in a manner, its time-honored 
tenets are abandoned. Governor Oglesby, in his inaugural mes- 
sage, commenting upon the majority of the preceding election, siiid: 
" So marked, indeed, lias been the expression of the popular will, 

1 do not fail to recognize in it the absence of mere party triumiih." 
The political events of the legislative session of 1805 were the 

election of Ex-Gov. Yates to the U. S. Senate, and the ratification 
of the loth amendment to the constitution of the United States 
abolishing shivery. Early in the session a joint resolution was 
passed, instructing our delegation in congress to vote for this 
amendment. On the 1st of February, a telegram was received by 
the legislature from Senator Trumbull, announcing its passage in 
congress. The utmost precipitation now obtained in both houses 
to ratify the measure so immediately as to place Illinois in the 
van of prompt loyal States, and it was i)assed the same day. 

This legislature also signalized itself by repealing the notorious 
" black laws," part of wiiich, although a dead letter, had held 
their place upon the statute books since 1819, to the disgrace of 
this free State, in the opinion of many of our citizens. In oppo- 
sition it was earnestly argued by the demo(;rats that these laws 
were a positive requirement under the amendment to the State 
constitution adopted by an overwhehning majority of the people 
in 1862. The governor had urged the repeal in his message, 
petitions numerously signed by colored men of the State and sent 
in, prayed for the same. Another partisan measure was the cut- 
ting down of the 4th judicial circuit. Judge Constable's, from 6 to 

2 counties, to punish that functionary for his decision in the 
Clark county deserter-kidnapping case, some 2 years previously. 
This was done in the face of the remonstrance of the people of the 



912 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

circuit. And in the very opening the house, it seems, passed a 
resolution, inviting only " the loyal clergy of Springfield t© open 
each day's session with prayer." The law reqniring the regis- 
tration of electors was also enacted at this session. The inii)osi- 
tion of this restriction upon the elective franchise has ever been 
most distasteful to democrats; and thej' opposed its passage by 
all the arts known to parliamentary rules. By later modili- 
cation it now applies only to cities of 5,000 inhabitants and over. 
But it was this legislature which, owing to the increasing demands 
of activity throughout the State, first gave itself up almost 
wholly to the enactment of special, local and private laws. The 
pressure of an insatiate lobby was extraordinary all winter long. 
Now was entered upon in full plenitude that pernicious legisla- 
tion, continued afterwards with a most prodigal hand, of granting 
s])ecial privileges and protection, by charter, for every conceivable 
object of association or business, without reserviuo- a check or 
right of subsequent control in case of oppression. Railroad cor- 
porations levied exorbitant charges for passengers and freights, 
and often discriminated unjustly between points. In 1871, in 
response to the urgent demands of the people, the board of Railroad 
and Warehouse Commissioners was called into being, and much 
good has been accomplished by limiting railroads in their rates. 

Among the measures of general interest, not political or parti- 
san, were the increased fees allowed to county ofiicers. To com- 
pass this, a systematic pressure was brought to bear upon the 
legislature. Conventions of sheriffs, circuit clerks, county clerks, 
and prosecuting attorneys were held at the capital. These re- 
spectively deliberated upon their schedules of fees and prepared 
their bills to be enacted into laws, and as to the demands of these 
county officials, who are a power in elections, what could the 
august legislature of the State of Illinois do but to yield to them. 
The raising of the fees, which were already ample, has cost the 
people many millions. To wind up for instance a small estate by 
passing through all the various stages of the courts and the hands 
of these officers, it would be found at the end to be wound up in- 
deed ! And the most difficult feat of legislation is the reduction 
of fees or the abolishment of an office, however oppressive the one 
or useless the other. 

Gov. Oglesby interposed his veto to but one bill during the ses- 
sion, which was an amendment to a charter for a Chicago hoise rail- 
way, granted in 1859 for 25 years and now sought to be extended 
99 years. This long period of time was an insuperable objection 
with his excellency, which he elaborated at length, but as the 
measure was promptly passed over his veto by both houses, he 
doubtless deemed it useless to further attempt to check their head- 
long career. 

The various appropriations made at this session amounted to 
$1,120,000. The constitution limited the expenditures of the legis- 
lature to 1^ mills on the dollar of assessed value of the real and 
personal property of the State, then aggregating about $333,000,000 
and yielding, at this rate, $759,000, which made an excess in the 
appropriations of $361,000, and which was regarded as invalid and 
denounced by the Democrats as prodigal. 

The members, finding there was gold in the State treasury, that 
commodity being then at a high premium in market, coveted it in 
payment of their mileage and per diem. But in this enterprise 



OGLESBY'S ADMINISTRATION. 913 

they were balked. Tlie auditor possessed no authority to issue to 
•them warrants different in character from those for any other pur- 
pose and without a specification to tluit effect the treasurer could not 
pay out the gold; thus this precious little scheme was nipped in 
the bud, which gave very general satisfaction to the people. No 
law of a general useful character or public interest was perfected 
at the session of 1865, if we except the turning over of the canal 
to Chicago to be deepened. 

1867. — The session of 1867 was still more productive of private 
and special acts than the preceding. Indeed this class of legisla- 
tion now reached peiliaps its culminating x)oint in successful 
audacity. The omnibus* was very active throughout the session, 
and that vehicle, by which laws were passed by the wholesale, was 
time and again freighted witli bills, exceeding 200 in number. The 
occasion was most propitious for every axe presented to receive ready 
grinding. The contests over the location of the Industrial College, 
the Capital, the Southern Penitentiary, and the canal enlargement 
and Illinois river improvement, dominated everything else. For 
these engrossing measures members yielded a ready assent to all 
others. It was a busy and arduous session of 53 days, during 
which an unprecedented amount of work was accomplished. The 
monopolists and cori)oration kings, in faultless attire and with 
amiable manner, were out in full force. The lobbyists, which fairly 
swarmed the halls and toyed with the "rings," gloated in the 
magnitude and number of their successes. The senate, as a par- 
tial protection against the wiles of this ubiquitous and cheeky 
race, adopted a resolution forbidding the perusal of bills in the 
custody of the secretary by any one but senators and clerks of 
committees. 

There were also a number of very important ijublic laws passed. 
Among these maybe mentioned the act establishing the State 
Board of Equalization. This measure was advocated by the gov- 
einor in his message. The great need of it may be inferred from 
the varying assessments of the same kinds of property in differ- 
ent portions of the State. Horses, in Kane countj', were valued 
at $15 52 per head— in Franklin, at |60 08 ; cattle, in Piatt, $24 04 
— in Jo Daviess and Putnam, $4 36; mules, in Madison, $129 SQ 
— in Hamilton, $10 69 ; swine, in Douglas, $3 50 — in Jefferson, 50 
cents. The burdens of taxation ought ever to be distributed 
with the utmost uniformity. 

There was also passed the important law enabling parties to 
suits or civil actions to testify as witnesses, which worked a rad- 
ical change in the time-honored rule of the common law. And 
there was the law, adopted at the instance of the philanthropic 
Mr. Bovee, which, in a manner, abolished capital jjunishmeut — 
or rather which allows the jury in case of murder to fix the punish- 
ment either by hanging, or imprisonment in the penitentiary not 
less than 14 years. 

But the question of most absorbing sectional interest, not ex- 
cepting that of the capital removal, the canal enlargement, or the 
Southern penitentiary, was the location of the Agricultural or In- 
dustrial College. This had been a disturbing element two years 
before. Under the terms of the land grant the question had now 

• This was the term applied to the passage of bills by the bundle, practiced under 
the constitution of 1848. 

58 



914 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



to be met. Congress, by act of July 2, 1862, donated to the sev- 
eral States and territories, which should, within five years from the 
date thereof, i^rovide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and 
the mechanic arts, land, or its equivalent in scrip, at the rate of 
30,000 acres for each senator and representative in Congress. The 
amount apportioned to Illinois was 480,000 acres. The legislature 
in 1803 had signitied to the Secretary of the Interior the accep- 
tance of the grant, and the government land scrip was now in the 
hands of the governor'. If one such college at least was not pro- 
vided by July 2d, the State should return the scrip or pay for it. 

To this munificent grant from Congress many places in the 
State were eager to add further donations, in some instances ex- 
ceeding that of Congress, to secure the location of the college. 
In the bidding for that object, invited by the legislature, there was 
a generous comx^etition. Jacksonville, Lincoln, Pekin, Blooming- 
ton and Champaign, participated in it. The best offer was that 
of the last named jdace, and consisted of 970 acres of farm land, 
a large college building (completed with special reference to this 
object) and its site of 10 acres of ground in the city, and $100,- 
000 ten per cent, interest-bearing Champaign county bonds, the 
whole estimated at $555,400. The Bloomington bid, estimated at 
$470,000, was the next best. A legislative committee was charged 
with the duty of visiting the various points contending, and of 
inspecting the property proffered to be donated. It was also a 
season of numerous legislative visits, and the enterprise of the 
friends of Champaign caused one to be made to that place. 

Champaign being the highest bidder, it was next sought to 
stave off the location and refer it to a commission. But this fin- 
esse did not succeed. Having invited competition the legislature 
could not consistently do otherwise than ac(;eptthe best bid and 
make the location accordingly; and it was but proper and emi- 
nently just that Champaign was selected as the Industrial Uni- 
versity seat. 

Little time of this long and laborious session was wasted in par- 
tisan debates, a circumstance as unusual as it was praiseworthy. 
The political events were the re-election of Lyman Trumbull to the 
U. S. Senate, aucl the adoption of the 14th amendment to the 
constitution of the U. t;. conferring citizenshii) upon the blacks^ 
which was resisted, on the part of the democrats, by all the known 
rules of parliamentai'y warfare. A set of resolutions was adopted 
by the House, 43 to 15, against rebels settling in Illinois, and ex- 
ercising the elective franchise which none but the truly loyal 
should exercise, and that a bill should be framed forever exclud- 
ing from office all traitors voluntarily taking the oath of allegi- 
ance to the rebel confederacy, and those who left home to escape 
the draft, encouraged or concealed deserters, or by force of arms 
opposed the draft. The feelings here manifested are by this time 
greatly mitigated. 

Illinois^ Capitals — Our Several Seats of Government. — The loca- 
tion of the Capital of any country has ever been a subject of 
prime importance; audit is no less so with the States of this 
Union than it has been with the empires of the old world. It is 
a subject which, for obvious reasons, has ever been attended with 
bitter disputations, jealousies and rivalries between contending 
points for the honors or fancied benefits to be derived from it. 










Jlfe^^^^'V NV^'> ^^^^ 



OGLESBY'S ADMINISTRATION. 915 



County seat questions are notoriously acrimonious, and often for 
a considerable time work a blight u[»on the prosperity of the sec- 
tions contending'. In some States the seat of government ques- 
tion has only found a qnietusby theestablishnient of two capitals, 
while in others, particularly in the growing West, the flow of pop- 
ulation, or possibly the desire of legislators to serve the interests 
or caprices of their constituents, has prevailed to keep the sub- 
ject in a ferment, causing frequent changes. Illinois, in her short 
career as a State, has had three locations for her cajiital, and 
more agitations for irs removal. The tirst seat of government in 
Illinois was at Kaskaskia, where it remained during the 9 years 
of our territorial existence and for two years afterward. It was 
then removed to Vaudalia, where it remained for 20 years, since 
when it has been at Springfield. 

When Congress, in 1809, erjected Illinois into a separate terri- 
tory, it was provided that Kaskaskia should be and remain the 
seat of governmentiuntil the legislature should otherwise direct. 

"The sessions of this august body were held in a large, rough building, in the centre 
of a square, in ihe village of Kaskaskia. the body of it being of uncut limestone, the 
gables and roof, which was ot the ganibrel style, of unpainted boards and shingles, 
with dormer windows. The lower floor, a large and cheerless room, was fitted up for 
the House, whilst the council sat in a small chamber above, around a circular table, 
and, it is said, when the labors of the day were over, the interesting game of "Loo"' 
at once succeeded. This venerable structure was, during the time of the French oc- 
cupancy of the country, prior to 1T63, the headquarters of the military commandant, 
and diiubtless within it, many an arbitrary edict was framed, to be executed with all 
the severity attendant upon the administration of military law by military men."* 

The Convention which framed the first State Constitution also 
met in this "old stone house." 

"It was provided by this instrument that the seat of government shovxld remain at 
Kaskaskia until the general assembly should otherwise direct; and that body was re- 
quired, at its flist session, to petition Congress to grant to the State a quantity of land 
of not more than four and not less than one section, or to give to the State the right 
of pre-emption in the purchase of that quantity, the land to be situated on the Kaskas- 
kia river, and as near as might be east of the third principal meridian, on that river. 
Should the petition be granted, the geueral assembly, at their next session, were re- 
quired to appoint five commissioners to make the selection of the land, and provide 
for laying out a town upon it; which town, it was declared, should be the seat of gov- 
ernment for the term ot 20 years. * VVhen the question was before the conven- 
tion two points were in contemplation bj' the members and outsiders; one was Car- 
lylf-i just then located on the Kaskaskia river by two Virginia gentlemen, and an ele- 
vated site, higher up the river, known as 'Pope's Bluff,' the property of Nathaniel 
Pope. He and his friends were of course very desirous the seat of government should 
be located there, while the proprietors of Carlyle had no less desire that the latter 
place should he the favored spot. While the subject was under discussion in doors 
and out, there come to look in upon that body a noted hunter and trapper, one 
Reeves by name, who had his cabin still higher up the river, and near where the third 
principal meridan crossed the stream. He spoke in glowing terms of the beauties of 
Reeves' Bluff ; 'that Pope's Bluff nor Carlyle wasn't a primin' to his bluff,' &c. Such 
was the force of his representation, that the language 'on the Kaskaskia river, as 
near as might be east of the third principal meridian,' was adopted by the convention; 
and when the legislature, at the session of ISIO. ai'pointed the commissioners to select 
the land granted by congress, they flxeil upon the old hunter's home. 'Reeves' Bluff.' 
It proved to be a most beautiful spot, a heavily wooded tract, covered by gigantic 
trees under whose shades the former lords of the soil might have held grave council. 
A town was laid out with a handsome public square and broad streets, and christened 
•Vandalia,' but these vandals did not suffer one of these forest kings to remain on the 
square, but cut them down to the ground, leaving not one to sigh in the summer wind 
or bend to the blast." 

Gov. Ford, page 35 says : 

"After the place had been selected, it became a matter of great interest to 
give it a good sounding name, one which would please the ear, and at the same 
time have the classic merit of perpetuating the memory of the ancient race of 
Indians by whom the country had first been inhabited. Tradition says that a wag 
who was present, suggested to the commissioners that the 'Vandals' were a powerful na- 
tion of Indians who once inhabited the banks of the Kaskaskia river, and that 'Van- 
dalia,' formed from their name, would perpetuate the memory of that extinct but 
renowned people. The suggestion pleased the commissioners, the name was adopted, 
and they thus proved that the name of their new city (if they were fit representatives of 
their constituents) would better illustrate the character of the modern than the an- 
cient inhabitants of the country." 

Mudge Caton's address at the laying of the corner stone of the new State House, ^/ 
Oct. 5, 1868, using .Tudge Breese's language. The headquarters of the French military •* 
commandants were at Fort Chartres. ''the centre of life and fashion in the West." 
Monette's Val. of the Miss. Vol. 1, 164-2 Ibid. 



916 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The location was in the midst of the wilderuess, northeast of 
the settk^nents. 

"Lots were sold at public auction on credit, at fabulous prices, few of wbicli were 
paid for in full. The enterprising- and sclieniing- came to it, some from tlieold world, and 
soon the nucleus of a town was formed. Measures were inaugurated for the erection 
of a State House which culminated in a plain two-story frame building-, of rude archi- 
tecture, set upon a rough stone foundation and placed in the centre ot tlie square, the 
lower floor of which was devoted to a passage and stair-way to the upper story, and a 
large, plain room, devoid of ornament, (for the accommodation of the House;) tiie up- 
per floor was divided into two rooms, the largest for the accommodation of the Senate 
and the smaller one for the office of Secretary of State, the Auditor and Treasurer oc- 
cupying detached buildings, hired for that purpose. Noceremonies were observed in 
laying the corner-stotie ot this unsightly structure; no music disturbed the solitude 
olthc forest, then in its primeval beauty; no crowd in pageantry lent excitement to 
the scene; no sound was heard save the rap of the mason's hammer and the sharp 
click of the trowel."* 

The archives of State were removed from Kaskaskia to Vanda- 
lia early in December, 1820, at one load in a small wagon. They 
were in the care of Sidney Breese, then clerk to the Secretary of 
State, Mr. Kane, and the route being quite difficult, the driver 
and he had to cut a road through the woods at several points. 
The Auditor, Elijah 0. Berry, with his family, occupied the new 
State House at the time, but soon moved out into a cabin. The 
day on whicli the session of the legislature opened in Vaudalia, 
was most beautiful. "The sun shone in cloudless splendor and the 
tempera.ture of the air was autumnal ; all was excitement and all 
seemed pleased." This structure was destroyed by fire about 2 
o'clock in the night December 9, 1823. So rapidly did the flames 
spread that not a single article of furniture was saved. The U. 
S. Land Receiver's ofice was kept in one of its rooms, and the 
books, papers and every article pertaining to the office were con- 
sumed. The cause of the Are was not ascertained. The house 
had been occupied the day preceding for the sale of non-resident 
lands for State taxes. A subscription paper was immediately 
started by the citizens of Vandalia to rebuild it. In three days 
$3,000 was raised. " It was succeeded by a commodious brick 
building, of sufficient dimensions, built in part at the expense of 
the citizens of Vandalia. The corner-stone was laid without any 
public display ; it still stands, renovated and embellished by the 
people of Fayette county, and is now devoted to the administra- 
tion of justice and the various public offices of the county."t 

Eight years before the expiratiou of the 20 years' term 
for which" the capital was to remain at Vandalia, the question 
of removal was already agitated in the legislature. The initiative 
came from Greene county, strongly seconded by the delegation from 
Sangamon. The house passed a bill providing for the appoint- 
menli of commissioners to permanently locate the seat of govern- 
ment; but the senate amended it by striking out all after the 
enacting clause and submitting the following places to be voted 
for by the i)eople at the next election for the legislature: The 
geographical centre of the State, Jacksonville, Springfield, Alton, 
Vandalia, and Peoria, the point or place receiving the highest 
number of votes to be the permanent seat of government. The. 
house, at the instance of Cyrus Edwards, sought to further amend 
this by having the two places receiving the highest number of 
votes voted for again at the succeeding general election. The 

•Caton's address— Breese's words. 
tCaton's address— Breese's words. 



OGLESBY'S ADMINISTilATlON. 917 

siuiite amendment, after some reluctance by the liouse, was finally 
agreed to. As the time for taking the vote approached, the places 
ambitious for this high and honorable distinction in the State be- 
stirred themselves to obtain concert of action. Spirited addresses 
were issued to the people, ably setting forth the many excellen- 
cies and great advantages of the respective places contending. 
The election took place in August, 1834:. Alton received 7,511 
votes; Vandalia, 7,148; Springfield, 7,014:; the geographical cen- 
tre (llliopolis), 741; Peoria, 480; and Jacksonville, 272. 

Alton was thus designated as the seat of government after the 
20 years at Vandalia sliould expire. But it requires something 
besides votes to erect capitol buildings. No ajjpropriation was 
made or further steps taken by the legislature to second this choice 
and nothing came of it. Still the removal question would not 
down ; it continued to be canvassed by the press at the various 
points whose expectations had been raised by the election,and in- 
fluenced the local elections in man}' parts to no inconsiderable de- 
gree! Springfield, particularly, felt greatly encouraged by the 
vote of 1834. By the apportionment of 1835 Sangamon county 
was accorded 2 senators and 7 representatives in the legislature. 
Tliat couiity, in the incredibly short space of 15 jears, had become 
the most populous in the State. The tide of emigration had begun 
to set into the north part of the State with a steadily augmenting 
current, and it became ai^parent that the seat of government could 
not be long retained at Vandalia, so far from the centre of popu- 
lation. It was a period before we had railroads, and travel to and 
from the capital, conducted in the same primitive manner it had 
been all over the world since its earliest dawn, made distance no 
inconsiderable object. 

In the summer of 1836, the great fever of land and town lot 
speculation of that iieiiod spread from Cljicago, like an epidemic, 
all over the State, and the legislature at the session of 1836-7 
fully embarked in the disastrous policy of the State internal im- 
provement system. And now the opportunity for the actual i-e- 
moval of the capital had come. In the general rage for develop- 
ing the infant resources of the State, the delegations from almost 
every county had improvement axes to grind, and to attain their 
objects hesitated not to lend their aid in grinding those of all the 
rest. What we call in modern parlance " rings," were thus 
readily formed, and every bill of importance was passed without 
inquiry, until everybody was satisfied, including that for the re- 
moval of the seat of government. The Sangamon delegation of 9, 
known as " the long nine," because they averaged 6 feet in hight, 
some more and some less — there being precisely 54 feet in the 
stature of them — were able, persistent and tlextrous manipulators, 
acting ujton all questions as a unit, and exercising thus a most 
potent influence. They gave it doubtless, a long i)ull, a strong- 
pull, and a pull altogether. They were: Senators — A. G. Hern- 
don and Job Fletcher; Eepresentatives — Abraham Lincoln, 
Jfinian W. Edwards, Dan Stone, John Dawson, W. F. Elkin, An- 
drew McCormick and liobert L. Wilson. 

The act required that the two houses meet in Representatives 
Hall on the 28th of February, 1837, at 10 o'clock, A. M., and \no- 
ceed to select a suitable point or place for the permanent location 
of the seat of government, after the expiration of the constitu- 



918 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



tional term at Vaudalia. The election was to be comlucted much 
after tlie maimer of choosing a U. S. Senator. During the ballot- 
iugs, 29 places were voted for, of which we will only give the 6 
highest. Springfield started with 35, and on the 4th received 73, 
a majority; Vandalia started with, and continued to receive 
throughout the 4 ballotiugs, 10 votes ; Alton started with 15 and 
ran down to 6; the highest Jacksonville received was 15, and the 
lowest 10; Peoria came in on the 2d ballot with 8, increased to 11, 
butou the 4th was down to 8; Illiopolis started with 3, increased 
to 10 and fell back to 3, No other place received a higher num- 
ber than 4 votes. $oO,000 was ;ipi)ropriated for the purjiose of 
erecting a state Louse, but the act was to be null and void unless 
$o0,000more was donated by individuals secured by their bond, pay- 
able to the treasurer by the 1st of May following, to be ajjproved 
by the governor, and to become due as he should direct; and also, 
unless not less than 2 acres of ground, upon which to erect the 
State House, be donated and conveyed without expense to the 
State. The donation of $50,000 was to be exclusively' applied 
toward the erection of the building. The act of February 5, 1833, 
Mas repealed. By a supplemental act of March 3d, 1837, the 
county commissioners of Sangamon county were authorized to 
convey to the State, for the use of the people, the public square at 
Springfield. Archibald Job of Morgan, and A. G. Henry iind 
Thomas Houghton, of Sangamon, were a})pointed commissioners 
to superintend the erection of the State House at Springfield. 
Tliey gave bonds in $10,000, and received a per diem compensa- 
tion of $3 each. The legislature first met at Springfield (in ex- 
traordinary session), December 9, 1839; but as the new capitol 
was not then completed, the House was accommodated in the 2d 
Presbyterian church, the senate in the 1st Methodist (an old frame 
structure) and the supreme court in the Episcopal.* 

As early as during the war of 1812, the troops and rangers, in 
their various expeditions against the hostile Indians on the Peoria 
Lake, noted the country of the Sangamon as one of surpassing 
attraction. The Indians well appreciated this fertile region, for 
in the Potawatamie tongue the word Sangamo meant "the coun- 
try where there is plenty to eat," in our phrase " the land flowing 
with milk and honey." It was not, however, until some years 
after the close of that war that the hardy pioneer pressed into it. 
Then, with little delay, along the borders of the timber, the log 
cabin of the adventurous settler began to rear its humble walls, 
and the smoke from its ample chimney went curling heavenward. 
The '- St. Gamo Kedentry," as it was pronounced in the vernacu- 
lar, soon became famous, and emigration set freely in that direc- 
tion. In the autumn of 1819, a weary emigrant family, originally 
from Korth Carolina, with its teams, encamped on the right bank 
of Spring Creek, in the west part of the present city of Spring- 
field. This was the end of their journey. Soon the camp fires 
were lighted, and parents and children gathered about the homely 

* Sprinafield afterwards paid off one-third of her $50,0001ioni]swiththe evidences of 
State indebtedness, which after the failure Qf the internal improvement system, at one 
time, as we have seen, touched 14 cents on the dollar in market. But this transaction, 
■which has been occusionallj' animadverted, was perfectly legitimate. The last install- 
ment of $H),606 (J7 was obtained from the State Bank on one year's time, at6 per cent , 
101 of the best citizens executing their promissory note to the bank ; and it was this 
note that was afterwards paid off with internal improvement scrip, which the State 
has ultimately redeemed dollar for dollar. 



oglesbt's ADINISTEATION. 919 



supper-board for the first time ou the spot of their home in the 
M'ikleruess. In the morning the echoino- ring- of the ax lesounded 
in the adjacent forest, and in a few days a rough cabin home shel- 
tered Jolm Kelly and family, the first white settlers of the site 
since become the capital of this great State. The county of San- 
gamon was organized in 1821. On the 10th of April, the same 
year, the temporary county seat was fixed at Kelly's, the stake for 
a court house being set at the northwest corner of the present 2d 
and Jeft'ersou streets, and in honor Spring Creek and Kelly's field, 
-were christened Springfield. On May 1st, a term of court was 
held at Kelly's cabin. In 1823 the public h.nds having been pre- 
viously surveyed, were offered for sale by the government. A town 
had been laid oil' and plotted under the name of Calhoun, but as 
settlers came in, the name of Calhoun was gradually dropped and 
that of Spriugfield revived. In the name of SpriiigfieUl for the 
capital of this State, there is nothing suggestive of meaning or of 
origin— nothing to perpetuate any aboriginal race, deed, or histori- 
cal name. Besides it is so common that in using it the name of 
the State has ever to be added to give it definiteness. When you 
sijeak of Kaskaskia,Vaudalia, Peoria, LaSalle, Chicago, or Illiopo- 
lis — the last best of all — youi- reference is clear, without adding 
Illinois. Not so when you mention Spriugfield, for there are 
places of that name in many States.* 

Springfield, at the time of the location of the seat of govern- 
ment, contained some 1,100 inhabitants. The corner stone of the 
Capitol was laid July 4th, 1837. The brilliant orator, E. D. Baker, 
then a resident of the place, ])ronouuced a beautiful and thrilling- 
address ou the occasion. The estimated cost of the structure was 
$130,000, but this, as usual in such cases, proved too low by 
nearly 100 percent. 

When the Capitol was first reared it was the wonder of tlie 
country round, it was admired by the people as a model of arch- 
itectural beauty, and supposed to be ample enough to answer 
the purposes of the State for all time. But such has been the 
march of Illinois to empire that in less than a quarter of a cen- 
tury the public demand became rife for a new structure commen- 
surate with our growth, our pride and pretensions. Our popula- 
tion in that time has been more than quadrupled, being, in 1840, 
470,183, and in 1865, 2,141,510. If, under the restrictions of the 
constitutions of 1848 in the number of our legislators, we did not 
actually lack for room to accommodate the two houses, our pride 
as a State was touched whenever we cast a glance at the squat 

* The present capital gave early promise of rare capacity for legislative finesse. 
The county seat of Sanj?amon was permanently located at Springfield in 1825. Prior 
to that an election for the legislature turned upon the question of location. One of 
the eundidiites, W. S. Hamilton, favored Sangamo Town, a beautiful elevated blulf on 
the river, 7 miles northwest from the city, a most charming town site. Jonathan H. 
Pugli was the Springfield candidate. Hamilton, son of the great Alexander Hamilton 
of Revolutionary fame, Avas elected, and the aspirations of Springfield seemed crushed. 
But unwilling to yield, she raised a fund and sent her defeated camlidate, a man of 
considerable ability, to Vandalia as a lobby member. His tact and skill in ihe manage- 
ment of honorable members made him more than a match for his competitor on the 
floor. Hamilton failed of having an act passed fixing the county seat at Sanganio 
Town ; Pugh did succeed in having special commissioners appointed to make the loca- 
tion. These came to Springfield to examine the sites. Conveyance was prepared to 
take them over to Sangamo Town. On the way they passed ovorsomueh low and wet 
ground, and through so many sloughs and mild holes, particularly as they approached 
the projjosed site, that their minds were made up. They decided in disjust that it 
■would never do 'o fix a count.r seat at a point so surrounded b.v swamps. Whether the 
route was chosen by accident or design does not appear, but it has been sh rewdly sus- 
pected thatso much good luck for Springfield was not wholly aeoidental. -Taken from 
a volume of the Springflold City Ordinances. 



920 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

aud unshapely pile represeiitiug the Capitol of the fourth State 
of the Union. Public editices in all ages and countries have been 
types, or marked the greatness and dignity of the rulers or peo- 
ple who have reared them. This seems to be a law of man's civi- 
lization. 

In 1865 Senator Lindsey introduced a bill into the legislature to 
removetheseat of government to Peoria. ThisAvas the first renewal 
of the agitation. Chicago, Jacksonville and Decatur, (the latter 
probably dreaming of benefits because one of her burghers 
occupied the gubernatorial chair), were also clamorous for the 
capitol. The Chicago Tribune, in an elaborate leader, favored 
removal, and so did many other papers. Springfield was much 
faulted for its inferior hotel accommodations aud their exorbi- 
tant charges. The senate special committee, to which the ques- 
tion had been referred, reported in favor of removal to Peoria, 
and no little alarm was experienced in Springfield. Later the 
Chicago bill was laid upon the table in the house by 61 to 16, and 
the star of capital removal, erst so refulgent, waxed dim, and 
gradually dipped its bright disk below the horizon. But it was^ 
apparent that the question must be again confronted with the 
dawn of another legislature. The building of a new State House 
could not be much longer delayed. 

Intimations from various parts of the State began to be early 
thrown out that powerful infiuences would be brought to bear in 
favor of removal at the next session of the legislature. To the 
various objections brought against Springfield as the capital^ 
that city, keenly appreciating the consequences which might en- 
sue to her i)rosperity, did away with the chief one, the want of 
hotel accommodations, by building the Leland, than which, except 
perhaps in size, there is not a more elegant and commodious hotel 
in all its appointments, in the State. She further resolved to 
take the threatening question by the forelock, and in November^ 
1866, one of her most capable imblic-spirited citizens, the Hon» 
J. C. Conkling, was elected to the lower house of the legislature. 
All the tact and address of her prominent citizens were besides 
brought into requisition. The county board agreed to take the 
old State House and square for a court house at $200,000 ; the 
city council oflered to furnish the Mather lot, some six or eight 
acres, which cost $62,000, and cause it to be conveyed free to the 
State as a site for the new capitol — which was to be so elegant 
and ornate in architecture, so grand and ample in its proportion s» 
as to control by its cost and magnificence the seat of government 
question for a long time. Upon the assembling of the legislature^ 
the honorable members became the objects of much polite atten- 
tion. The ladies, with all the agreeable arts of the sex, lent the 
charm of their presence in attendance upon the sittings of the 
two houses. Invitations to pleasant social gatherings, to parties 
and receptions at elegant i)rivate mansions, were frequent. The 
Leland, just finished with the commencement of the session, Avas 
opened with a grand ball and supper, to which the members and 
high dignitaries from various parts of the State present in the 
city, with their ladies, received free tickets of invitation. And 
now, with the assembly in a proper frame of mind, the bill pro- 
viding for the erection of a new State House at Springfield, was 




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oglesby's administration. 921 



introduced. It appropriated $450,000, as a commencement, $200,- 
000 of which was , to be the proceeds of the sale of the oUl State 
House to the county of Sangamon, its use being reserved until 
the new one should be completed.* 

The bill was not free from opposition in the legislature ; 
but from many other local measures pending, such was the high 
expectation of benefits in various parts of the State, that, while 
each section looked to its own interest, little was done toward 
forming combinations for the defeat of this. One of the verj' ear- 
liest to be introduced was the location of the Industriiil Univer- 
sity. It was the general understanding of the peoplfe that the 
legislature at that session would take steps to secure the congres- 
sional grant for that school. A number of jjlaces were bidding 
high for its location. Jacksonville, Pekin, Lincoln, Bloomington ; 
and Chicago wanted to divide the fund ; but in the eastern por- 
tion of the State the Champaign interest was all-absorbing and 
dominated everything else. Tlie south was moving for the South- 
ern penitentiary, while Chicago was engrossed with her park bills 
and the canal extension and enlargement, in which Peoria and 
the Eock River country were also deeply interested. The imme- 
diate ojiposition to the State House bill was therefore in the main 
narrowed down to the eflbrts of Decatur, which presented the 
very munificent offer for its location of a fine 10-acre lot of 
ground, and $l,000,000in money from Macon county, whose entire 
taxable wealth on realty amounted to only $2,422,000. The proposi- 
tion was said to be backed by the Illinois Central R. R. Much indig- 
nation was vented upon this effort to huckster or hawk the loca- 
tion of the seat of government. The names of seven commissioners to 
superintend the erection of the building and disburse the funds 
appropriated, were also so judiciously chosen and distributed as 
to impart to the measure much strength. f Besides, it was urged 
that the present capital had become historic ground ; that it was 
illustrated b.y the life and residence of the best, the purest, and 
the noblest of American statesmen, Abraham Lincoln, and sancti- 
fied by his grave.| 

The bill became a law February 25, 18G7. This was the senate' 
bill of Mr. Cohr's ; it limited the total cost of the new capitol 
to $3,000,000. 

The commissioners, in March, advertised for plans and specifi- 
cations to be submitted by July 15, offering $3,000 for the success- 
ful design. But while the act for the new State House met gen- 
erally with ajjproval, some leading Chicago newspapers, chagrined 
probably over the canal legislation, continued their assaults upon 
the measure, bitterly charging it to be a fraud and swindle upon 
the people. The aspiring city of Decatur, too, illy brooked her 
disappointment in not becoming the Capital. And now. May 13, 
1867, at her instigation and cost, a writ of quoicarranto — an in- 
quiry into the right or power to act — was granted against Philip 
Wadsworth and the other commissioners, impleaded by Judge Wil- 
son of the Superior Court of Chicago, and judgment of ouster en- 
tered. The legal objection urged, was that the commissioners 

*Fora copy of Voris' hufnorous bill to dislocate the Capitol, see the III. State 
Retrister, Feb. 22, 1867. It provided for a peregrinating legislature by railroad, to stop at 
every place where a notice appeared that legislation was wanted. 

+See Bailey's speech. 

JHurlbut's speech. 



922 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

were officers, whose appointmeut under the constitution should 
have been made by the governor and confirmed by the senate, 
and who could not be designated in the bill as had been done. 
On appeal to the Supreme Court, that body, at the September 
term following', reversed the decision of Judge Wilson, holding 
that the Commissioners were not officers, aud therefore rightfully 
entitled to carry out the law. 

From the great number of designs submitted by architects from 
various parts of the Union, that of J. C. Cochrane, of Chicago, 
was chosen and adopted. Its style does not exclusively follow any 
one of the ancient or classic orders of architecture, but harmo- 
niously blends these with modern art, imparting massiveness, 
strength and durability, while preserving external grace and airy- 
ness. The groiuid plan is in the form of a great cross or 4 wings, 
whose grand outlines are 359 feet north and south by 266 east and 
west, exclusive of the porticos. The basement story, excavated 
to the depth of 10 feet, contains the engines for the elevators, lum- 
ber-rooms, etc. The story next above is 19 feet high, on which are 
located the offices of the Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners, 
Board of Health, Bureau Labor Statistics. Printer Expert, studios 
of Supreme and Appellate Judges, shipping rooms, etc. The floor 
is to be laid in mosaic marble, imbedded in cement, the whole sup- 
ported by brick arches. That part of the ceiling constituting the 
floor of the rotunda, is to be of glass. Next above is the princi- 
pal story, 22 feet in bight. The grand corridors, runnmg the 
whole length and breadth of the building, crossing each other at 
right angles on the glass floor of the rotunda, are beautifully fin- 
ished with variegated marble pilasters projectmg from the walls, 
forming panels, and opening from them on this floor are located 
the rooms of the different State departments, including the Su- 
preme Court room and Clerk's office, State and law libraries, 
etc. With the Treasurer's office are connected 4 massive stone 
■fire-proof vaults. The floors are supported by wrought iron beams 
imported from Belgium. The next, or 2d principal story, is 45 
feet in altitude. Here is the great hall of the house of repre- 
sentatives, in the southern arm of the cross, 66 by 100 feet, and 
the senate chamber, (i2 by 75, in the northern wing. Here, too, on 
the main floor, are the geological museum, memorial ball, (con- 
taining battle flags and war relics,) post-offices, etc. On two sides 
of the grand legislative halls, half way up, there are commodious 
galleries, from which extend back floors, divided up into com- 
mittee rooms. The means of communication between the difl'er- 
ent stories are by grand marble stairways and two steam eleva- 
tors. The roofs over each wing are of the mansard style, slated 
on the sides and covered with copper. Through the centre of 
these rises the stately dome, 320. feet from the ground, sur- 
mounted by a lantern 16 by 25 feet, crowned with ball and pin- 
nacle. An iron stairway ascends inside the dome to the floor 
of the lantern. The rotunda is 76 feet in diameter, and from 
its glass floor to the fresco painting on its ceiling, presents a 
clear, dizzy view of 217 feet. The north, south and east wings 
are to have porticos of ten stone columns, each 45 feet in eleva- 
tion. The east wing is to be the principal front, and here, from 
each corner of the portico, 90 feet wide, will rise a turret 182 feet 
in height. The north portico will be surmounted by a statue of 



oglesby's administration. 923 

Lincoln, and that on the south by one of Doughis. The outside 
walls of the structure are of cut stone, takinj;- 750,000 cnbic feet, 
and their linings, together with the partitions, require 20 millions 
of b)rick ; 1,200 tons of wrought iron and 1,800 tons of cast iron were 
consamed in its building. Such is but an imperfect outline of 
the new capitol, which, in its massiveness, durability, symmetry, 
beauty and grandeur, will, when completed, symbolize the extent, 
the resources, the power and pride of our young and giant State. 

Owmg to the litigation, the year 1807 was little fruitful of re- 
sults in building. The uext year the foundation, 8 feet thick, was 
well brought under way, and the corner stone laid, October 5th. 
lu 1800 the legislature appropriated $650,000, to be expended onlv 
after ascertaining that the work could be brought within the origi- 
nal maximum limitation of $3,000,000, and reduced the number of 
counnissioners from 7 to 3. The stone work was to be procured 
from the penitentiary at Joliet. The constitutional convention, 
influenced by the constant cry of a portion of our State press, 
forbade the legislature expending more than $3,500,000 on the 
grounds, construction and furnishing of the new State house, with- 
out first submitting the question to the voters of the State. 

In 1871 a further appropriation of $600,000 was asked. Bills 
for this purpose were early introduced, and that in the senate 
readily passed. But in the house opposition was developed. The 
canal and Illinois river improvement project was again ou foot. 
The Chicago press, perhaps with a view to making it a lever for 
the river improvement measure, attacked the State house appro- 
priation bill with exceeding virulence. Startling developments 
in regard to the building contracts, the character of the work, &c., 
were threatened. The removal of the capital was advocated. 
Peoiia came forward with a ijroposition to reimburse the State to 
the full amount ($805,303 08) already expended on the new struc- 
ture, donate a beautiful ten acre lot as a site, and furnish free of 
rent, for 5 years, accommodations for the meetings of the general 
assembly, in consideration of the location of the capital there. 
An offer so munificent was well calculated to arrest attention. 
This, with her other indebtedness, would have placed Peoria 
under obligations to about half of all her taxable wealth. To 
avoid the constitutional objection which forbids the creation of a 
debt exceeding 5 percent, on assessed values, her private citizens 
of undoubted character and ample means tendered their bond for 
the amount. The capital removal question now ran up to fever 
heat all over the State. A large committee from Peoria, duly em- 
powered, visited Springfield, and for a time creatiu'e comforts 
lacked in neither style nor abundance. The two houses accepted 
an invitation of a free excursion to Peoria. The occasion proved 
one of unusual enjoyment to the members, who were treated with 
distinguished consideration. Upon arrival there, carriages were 
provided and the visitors taken to view the site for the capitol ou 
the bluff, than which there is not a more charming and command- 
ing spot in all the State. A steamboat trip past the city and a 
few miles up the lovely lake was next in order, followed by a ban- 
quet at the hotel, and a grand ball at night. On their return the 
members w ere accompanied by a large lobby force. 

These movements were of a character and magnitude to fairly 
alarm the capital city. Its council hastened to pass an ordinance, 
tendering a guaranty of additional ground for the capitol. The 



924 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 

gallery of the house and the lobby were daily thronged by her 
anxious citizens, deeply intent on its proceedings. To remove the 
capital it was necessary first to defeat the appioi)riation bill. This 
was the test. The house was a large, unwieldy body of 177 mem- 
bers, and its rules were such that by dilatory motions — parliamen- 
tary " filibustering" — time could easily be consumed so as on no 
day to reach the order of business in which the bill stood on the 
calendar. All manner of parliamentary tactics were practiced to 
kill time and tire out the house. Quantities of weary memorials 
on the capital question found their way in and were diligently in- 
sisted upon to be read at length, and when this was refused 
speeches were nuide on the right of petition. Thus the time of 
adjournment for the recess, A\nil 17th, was reached without action 
on the bill, notwithstanding a majority of the house Avere for it. 

The feeling of depression at Springfield was very great. Gov. 
Palmer next convened the legislature on the 24th of May, and re- 
quired, among many other important measures omitted, action on 
the State house appropriation. Bills for this purpose were again 
introduced and pressed duly forward under tlie rules. The pre- 
vious scenes were re-enacted by the opx)osition ; but the calendar 
was not so full. And now the move was to tack on a submission 
clause. The Peoria lobby, reinforced fVom other parts of the State, 
was again on hand. Day by day the beauty and fashion of 
Springfield thronged the galleries of the house like a bright gal- 
axy, as they were, and patiently sat out the weary hours with the 
l)unct.uality of members, eagerly and anxiously watching the dila- 
tory movements below. Gradually but slowly the measure was 
pressed along in its order Finally, when every parliamentary re- 
sistance was under the rules exhausted, a vote was reached at 10 
o'clock at night, June 7th, and the bill passed by 100 yeas to 74 
nays. Peoria's apple of hope was turned to ashes. The senate 
the next day substituted the house bill and passed it. It provided 
for a bond of the citizens in the penal sum of $500,000, condi- 
tioned that the obligors procure such additional ground as the 
State might require, not exceeding 4 acres, to be demanded within 
two years after the building is ready for use. Thus ended the 
last effort to remove the capital. The agitation of the question 
had a most depressing effect upon the building business and the 
price of real estate at Springfield for a full year or more. 

The Joliet Penitentiary — A Resume of its History. — In June, 1867, 
Gov. Ogles by convened the Legislature in extraordinary seBsion, 
inviting action upon ten subjects, chief of which was to provide 
for the taxation of the shares of banks, State and National. The 
assembly, however, acted upon but five. But l)efore the session 
Avas two days gone another occasion arose to again convene that 
body, which was done for the 14th inst. This was the abandon- 
ment of the peniteutiary by the lessees, which threw ui>on the 
hands of the State 1,058 convicts to be immediately provided for, 
fed, clotlied and i)ut to work. 

To go back 40 years, the first step taken toward the estab- 
lishment of a penitentiary in this State was at the legislative 
session in 1826-27. The need of a State's prison had been greatly 
felt for some time. The jails of the conntry were very inferior, 
and the breaking of them by the more energetic and desi)erate 



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OGLESBY'S ADMINTSTRATIOTi. 925 



offenders was of frequent occurrence. The State was poor and 
oppressed by the broken currency of the First State Bank. There 
was, however, at the time a project on hand for the k^gis.lature to 
memorialize con,<iress to allow the State to sell 30,000 acres of the 
Ohio and 10,000 acres of the Vermilion Saline lands. The Saline 
reserves, which had been granted to the State in 1818 on condi- 
tion that they be never sold, had become useless for the manufac- 
ture of salt, and they retarded the settlement of the country. 
Congress readily made the concession, the lands were sold, and 
the proceeds, according to i^revious arrangements, were divided 
between the eastern and western sections of the State — the former 
applyiug its share toward tlie improvement of the Great Wabash, 
the draining of Purgatory Swamp opposite Viucennes, and of the 
Cache river flats ; the latter devoting its share toward the building- 
of a penitentiary. Governor Edwards opposed the measure, and 
great efforts were made to further divide the fund for the benefit 
of local river improvements, but all failed. 

Ex-Go\\ Bond, Dr. Gersham Jane and W. P. M'Kee were ap- 
pointed the first penitentiary commissioners. They selected the 
site at Alton, for which ten acres of ground was donated. Be- 
sides the proceeds of the Saline land sales, the legislature, in 1831, 
appropriated $10,000 toward the completion of the penitentiary. 
The first building, which was a neat stone structure, contained 24 
cells, and was ready for occupation in 1833. The system of State 
prison confinement in Illinois has ever been (except in the case 
of some special sentences) what is known as the congregated in 
contradistinction of the dreadful solitary plan, in vogue in Penn- 
sylvania and elsewhere. 

The criminal code had been adapted the preceding- legislative 
session to the penitentiary system by abolishing the barbarous pun- 
ishment of whipping, the sto(;ks and pillory, and substituting con- 
finement and hard labor. A close observer of the effects of this 
chiinge (Gov. Ford) states that the increase of crime for 15 years 
following- greatly exceeded the relative increase of the population 
in Illinois. 

For the first 5 years the State conducted the prison herself. A 
warden was biennially elected by the legislature, who received a 
salary of $600, and 3 inspectors were also elected, whose powers 
and duties were much the same as those of our present peniten- 
tiary commissioners. They received $2 a day each for the time 
actuall.y employed, not to exceed $100 each annually, however. 
Whether candidates for this position were numerous or not we are 
unable to say. 

Under the law of 1837 the inspectors were authorized, in their 
discretion, to farm out the convicts and give a bonus of $800 
annually besides. Accordingly, on the 10th of June, 1838, the 
penitentiary, then containing- 38 convicts, passed from the control 
of the State into the hands of a lessee, Mr. S. A. Buckmaster. 
Thence forward the lease system was continued for 29 years — from 
1838 to 1867. In 1812 it was leased to Isaac Greathouse and K. 
Buckmaster, but without a bonus from or expense to the State. 
In 1815 it was re-leased to S. A. Buckmaster for a term of 8 years, 
the bonus — $5,000 annually— -now coming- to the State; besides 
wiiich he agreed to feed, bed and guard the prisoners, pay physi- 



926 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

ciaus' bills, fees of the inspectors, and save the State li arm! ess from 
all exi)ense. The lease was subseqneutly extended 5 years on Tlie 
same terms. Under the lease system the lessee was vested with 
the powers of a warden. 

As the nnmber of convicts increased, additional cells were built 
from time to time, and other bvuldings, such as the warden's resi- 
dence, etc., for all of which tlie State paid. In 184:7 there were 96 
cells antborized to be constructed. By 1857 the cells numbered 
256, and the convicts, averaging two to a cell, far exceeded the 
capacity of tbe institution. At this time the penitentiary was 
leased to S. K. Casey for 5 years, on the same terms as tbe Buck- 
master lease of ISio. The legislature at the same session pro- 
vided for the building of a new prison with 1,000 cells, which, it 
was thought, would be ample for generations to come; but the 
limits of its capacity were reached in less than 7 years. The old 
prison was to be sold. The inspectors were discontinued, a 
superintendent provided, and 3 commissioners charged with tbe 
sui)ervision of the new structure. They were instructed to con- 
tract with the lessee and employ the convict labor in the build- 
ing of it. The new prison was located at Joliet on a tract of 
72 19-100 aci'es of laml. Its construction was commenced the same 
year, temi>orary structures for the workmen being provided. In 
May, 1859, prisoners were forwarded in batches of 40 or 50, and 
in June, 1860, the Alton penitentiary was hnally abandoned. Au 
area of 16 acres is at present inclosed within the main walls of the 
Joliet prison, which are 6 feet thick and 25 high. The prison 
proper contains 900 congregate cells, 100 separate, and 100 for 
females. 

In 1863 a 6 year lease was given by the State to J. M. Pitman, 
who was to keep, provide for and work the convicts, and save the 
State harmless and free of all expense. No bonus was to be paid 
either way. Three others, Boyer, Buck and Buckmaster, each a 
one-fourth interest, bought in under Pitman. Owing to disagree- 
ment between them, Bucknmster, in April, 1864, bought out all 
his partners and received an assignment of the lease to himself. 
Pitman surrendering his charge as warden to Gov. Yates. Buck- 
master took in a number of partners, the two Mitchells, Acres, Job 
and Judd, he retaining a one-third interest. 

At this time, 400 cells were completed, but 500 in the west Aving 
still remained unfinished. The commissioners, under the pressure 
for room (the number of prisoners being very great and steadily on 
the increase), authorized the new firm to finish these cells, which, 
together with rex^airs and other changes, made a claim against 
the State by January, 1867, considerably exceeding $100,000. 

It now became apparent that State appropriations beyond a lim- 
ited amount of a few thousand dollars could no longer be looked 
forward to, and the firm having found purchasers, on the 28th of 
January, 1867, in consideration of $200,000, transferred the stock, 
fixtures and lease to Messrs. Burns and Hatch. The latter ad- 
mitted to the partnership three others— -Bane, Osburn and Dns- 
tin— and sanguine in their new vocation, the firm obtained from 
the legislature an extension, or rather a new lease for 8 years from 
and after the expiration of their assigned lease in 1869, upon the 
same terms, thus making them the lessees till 1877. 



oglesby's administration. 927 



Up to this time, owing- to the State's expenditures for work done, 
which was well pa-id for, as public corporations always pay, the 
leasiug of the couvict labor had proved more or less profitable to 
the lessees, notwithstanding the high prices of provisions and 
clothiug, and the constantly augmenting number of convicts dur- 
ing the war anil immediately after, many of whom were physically 
disabled. But now, with the speedy completion of the building', 
State appropriations must cease, and the lessees were thrown ui)oii 
their own business enterprise for manufacturing- contracts and 
outside jobs. These things had been for a long- time of secondary 
consideration. The penitentiary work bad consequently suffered 
in character and it could illy compete in price with other like man- 
ufactured articles. 

The new lessees in a short time apprehended the situation, but 
instead of attempting to improve the management of the concern, 
the discipline of its inmates and character of the work like busi- 
ness men of energy and pluck, they were appalled by the i)rospect. 
They saw nothing but utter ruin before them, as they alleged, 
and threw u[>on the State their threatening losses. They notitied 
the governor they should abandon the institution on the 30th day 
of June, 18(i7. It is ever thus in contracts between States and 
individuals j the former are bound, but the latter will find methods 
to either secure profits to themselves, or if loss threatens, to cast 
it upon the State. 

In this emergeucy the governor, as we stated in the outset, con- 
A'ened the legislature to take actionin the premises, either by again 
leasing the penitentiary, or to provide for the State taking control 
of it. The policy of State control had been mooted before ujjon 
humanitarian grounds. It was urged as the duty of the State to 
retain custody and control of its convicts, provide them employ- 
ment, look after their welfare, and seek to leform them ; and that 
the hiring of them out for iirivate gain was unchristian and in 
conflict with public morals. The governor advocated an 
abandonment of the lease system, believing that the pen- 
itentiary coitld be made self-sustaining. A committee was 
appointed to make a thorough investigation of the conduct and 
workings of the prison during the recess, which the legislature 
took until the 25th of June, ensuing. At this time it was deter- 
mined that the State retain control of the penitentiary. Three 
commissioners were provided for (to be then appointed but made 
elective at the next regular election), a warden, chaplain, physi- 
cian, matron, &c., and thus, on the 1st day July, 1867, the peni- 
tentiary i)assed again into the control of the State, the first time 
for 29 years. At this time 900 cells and the warden's residence 
were completed ; $175,000 had been expended thereon, the orig- 
inal estimate of the entire cost being but $550,000. It is how- 
ever, a superb structure, complete in all its ai)pointments and 
fully eqital to any in the United States. The convicts numbered 
1,000. It i^roved a grievous burden to the State at first. Large 
sums of money were demanded and obtained. Everything was to 
buy almost — machinery, stock and tools. The sum of $;i{R>,000 was 
ai)propriated. In 1869, $350,000 more was ai)i»roi)riated to de- 
fray its expenses, $50,000 going to pay the late lessees for stock, 
machinery, &c. In 1871, $175,000 more was required to pay de- 
ficits. 



928 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



The choice of commissioners by the people, renderiug them in- 
dependent of executive supervisiou,did not tend to promote that 
harmony and unit}' of action among them requisite to the attain- 
ment of success. In the spring of 1869 they were found to dif- 
fer widely upon important points in the management of the es- 
tablishment, and in 1871 the legislature thoroughly revised the 
law for the government of the penitentiary. The ajipointmeut 
of commissioners was vested in the governor after the expiration 
of the terms of the then incumbents, and they were to be subject to 
removal by him at his discretion. It was also made the executive's 
duty to semi-annually visit the penitentiary and examine its af- 
fairs thoroughly. The commissioners were empowered to hire out 
tlie labor of the convicts on sealed bids, a special or semi lease 
system which seems to be the secret of its present success. Since 
then its management has steadily improved, and the discipline 
is of the highest order. In the last year of Gov. Palmer's admin- 
istration the penitentiary became self-sustaining, and now yields 
a surplus. 



,:^;->- -■-^'%, t 




Yic^^^'^p^c^c^ 



Chapter LXVII. 

1869-1873— ADMIKISTKATION OP GOVERNOR PALMER. 

Republican and Democratic State Conventions — IJfe and Character 
of Governor Palmer — Legislation^ the Tax Grabbing Law, Lalce 
Front Bill, Land Companies, tfcc. — The Constitution of 1870 — 
The Great Chicago Fire. 



When, in 1867, Geu. Palmer failed to obtaiu the Republican 
caucus iiomiuatiou for U. S. senator, tlie feeling in his party be- 
came very general to reward him for his eminent services with the 
governorship, and he was thence tacitly looked forward to as the 
Republican candidate for that oflice in 1868. But the object of 
this high distinction was far from seeking it. In March, 1865, he 
wrote that the invalid condition of one of his children would com- 
pel his absence from the State during the ensuing campaign, and as 
he would consequently be unable to do his full share of labor in 
the canvass it was not proper that he should become the head of 
the ticket. Aspirants enough now sprang up for the exalted posi- 
tion, but they had no desire to embarrass Gen. Palmer. The Hon. 
R. G. Ingersoll, under date of Chicago, April 3d, asked him to 
state explicitly whether he was a candidate or would accept the 
nomination. He answered by telegraph, "I am not, and do not in- 
tend to be a candidate for governor." But his objections, it was 
thought by some of the Republican press, might be overcome, and 
the Carliuville Free Democrat, his former home organ, thought 
that "for some time past it had observed strenuous efforts made in 
certain quarters to compel Gen. Palmer to announce a priori that 
he would not serve the Republican party if nominated for gover- 
nor 5" that the party had not asked him to take the position ; that 
while he was not thrusting himself forward, it spoke with assur- 
ance, he would not decline the nomination if tendered him by the 
Peoria convention. To this the Illinois State Journal replied : 
" We are requested to state that this is not the position which 
Gen. Palmer occupies." Still it was thought he was in the hands 
of his friends ; that if the nomination was pressed upon him he 
would regard the voice of the convention as a summons to duty 
which must be obeyed.* 

The Republican State convention of 1868 met at Peoria, May 
6th. Franklin Corwiu presided. An informal ballot to select a 
candidate for governor resulted: For John M. Palmer, 263 votes j 
Robert G. Ingersoll, 117; S. W. Moulton, 82; J. K. Dubois, 42. 

• Chicago Post. 

59 



930 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

The frieuds of Anson S. Miller refused to submit his name against 
Gen. Palmer. After a spirited debate with refereiice to Palmer's 
candidature, Gen. Eowett from Macoupin telegraphed to him : "It 
is asserted that you will be nominated for governor. Will yon 
accept f He replied promptly, " Do not permit me to be nomi- 
nated. I cannot accept." Whereupon he was immediatelj" nomi- 
nated ; the first formal ballot being, for Palmer, 317; Ingersoll, 
118; Moulton, 52 ; Dubois, 17. Previous to this, however, a let- 
ter Irom him to Horace White had been read, stating that if nomi- 
nated he would be governed by the duty of the hour. But for 
Gen. Palmer's repeated objections, he would undoubtedly have 
been selected by acclamation. He more than came within the 
Jeffersonian rule, neither to seek nor refuse oiUce. 

The remainder of the ticket was made up, either on the first bal- 
lot, or by acclamation, of John Dougherty of Union, for lieuten- 
ant-governor; Edward JRummel of Peoria, secretary of state; 
Charles E. Lippincott of Cass, auditor ; E. N. Bates of Marion, 
treasurer; Washington Bushnell of LaSalle, attorney-general; 
and for penitentiary commissioners, after some delay and discus- 
sion, the old board, Andrew Shuman of Cook, Eobert E. Logan, 
of Whiteside, and John Eeid of Will, were re-nominated. Gen. 
John A. Logan was nominated for congress from the State at 
large. 

The platform reannou need the Eepublican doctrine; condemned 
the policy of President Johnson ; denounced all forms of repudia- 
tion, and affirmed that the indebtedness of the United States 
should be paid according to the letter and spirit of the law under 
which it was contracted ; that the principal of the debt should be 
a heritage of the future ; instructed in favor of U. S. Grant as 
the Eepublican nominee for president and the natural successor 
of Abraham Lincoln ; and oddly enough declared in favor of " the 
most efficient means to raise the moral standard of the people." 

The Democratic State Convention met at Springfield, April 15^ 
1868. Hon. A. L. Thornton, of Shelby, presided. The proceed- 
ings were not harmonious. The disturbing question was that of 
paying the national debt in " greenbacks," as proposed by Mr. 
Pendleton of Ohio. The committee on resolutions brought in 
majority and minority reports, the former, (which was adopted), 
made by eight, favoring payment of the 5-20 bonds, the vast bulk 
of the national debt, in legal tender notes, but where the faith of 
the government was pledged to pay gold, to so fulfill the obliga- 
tion; favored the abolition of the national bank system ; and in- 
structed the delegates to the national convention to vote as a unit 
for the nomination of George H. Pendleton as a candidate for 
president. The minority report, made by five members, insisted 
upon paying the 5-20 bonds in "the lawful money of the country," 
gold ; and opposed trammeling our delegates to the national con- 
vention by instruction in favor of Pendleton. For a candidate for 
governor, the names of S. A. Buckmaster and John E. Eden were 
presented. On the first ballot, when it Avas found that Eden was 
largely in the lead, the name of Buckmaster was withdrawn and 
Eden was nominated by acclamation. The remainder of 
the ticket was made wp of William Van Epps of Lee, for lieuten- 
ant-governor; Gustavus Van Hoorbeeke of Clinton, secretarj- 



PALMER'S ADMINISTRATION. • 931 

of state;. Jesse J. Phillips of Montgomery, treasurer; John E.. 
Shannon of Randolph, auditor; W. W. O'Brien, of Peoria, con- 
gressman at large; and for penitentiary comraissiouers, John 
W. (Jonnett of Cook, W. W. Garrord of Edgar, Calney Zarley 
of Will. 

The canvass of 1868 was unattended by interesting events, and 
the election in November resulted in favor of the Republicans by 
large majorities, that for governor being 44,707. 

John McAuley Palmer was born on Eagle Creek, Scott county, 
Kentncky, September 13th, 1817. During his infancy his father, 
who had been a soldier in the war of 1812, removed to Christian 
county in Western Kentucky, where lands were cheap. Here the 
future governor of Illinois spent his childhood and received such 
meagre schooling as the new and sparsely settled country afforded, 
to which he added materially by diligent reading, for whicli he 
evinced an early aptitude. The father, an ardent Jackson man, 
was also noted for his anti-slavery sentiments, which he thoroughly 
impressed upon his children. In 1831 he emigrated to Illinois and 
settled in Madison county. Here the labor of improving a farm 
was pursued for about two years, when the death of the mother 
broke up the family. About this time Alton College was opened 
on the " manual labor system," and in the spring of 1834 young 
Palmer with his elder brother, Elihu, afterward a mini:;ter of the 
gospel and noted for his learning and eccentricities, entered this 
school and. remained 18 months. Next, for over three years, he 
tried variously coopering, peddling and school teaching. 

During the summer of 1838 he formed the acquaintance of 
Douglas, then making his first canvass for congress, who, young, 
eloquent and in political accord, won his confidence, fired his am- 
bition, and fixed his purpose. The following winter, while teach- 
ing near Canton, he began to devote his spare time to a desultory 
reading of law, and in spring entered a law office at Carlinville, 
making his home at his brother Ehhu's, stationed at that place in 
the ministry. On the next meeting of the Supreme Court he was 
admitted to the bar, Douglas, who took a lively interest in 
him, being one of his examiners. He was not immediately 
successful in his profession, and would have located elsewhere 
tha.n Carlinville, but for the want of means. Thus his early 
poverty was a blessing in disguise, for to it he now attributes the 
success of his life. From 1839 on, while he diligently pursued the 
practice of his profession, he was more or less involved in local 
politics. In 1843 he became probate judge ; in 1847 he was 
elected to the constitutional convention, where he took a leading 
part. In 1852 he was elected to the State Senate, and at the 
si)ecial session of February, 1854, true to the anti-slavery senti- 
ments bred in him, took a firm stand in opposition to the repeal 
of the Missouri compromise on two sets of resolutions then 
before the legislature; and when the Nebraska question was made 
a party issue he refused to receive a renomination for senator at 
the hands of the Democracy, issuing a circular to that effect. Still, 
as if hesitating to break Avith his party, a few weeks later he par- 
ticipated in the congressional convention Avhich nominated T. L. 
Harris against Richard Yates, and which approved unqualifiedly 
the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska act. But later in the cam- 



932 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



paign he made tbe plunge, and running for tlie senate as an anti- 
Nebraska democrat, was elected. Tlie following winter he put in 
nomination for the United States Senate Mr. Trumbull, and was 
one of the five steadfast men who voted for him until all the whigs 
came to their support. In 1856 he was made chairman of the 
Republican State Convention at Bloom ington. In 1859 he was 
defeated for congress. In 18(30 he was a republican elector for the 
State at large. In 1861 he was appointed one of the five delegates 
(ill) republicans) sent by Illinois to the peace congress at Wash- 
ington.* In 1872 he joined tbe Liberal-Republican movement, and 
shortly after returned to the democratic fold. He was delegate- 
at-large and chairman of the Illinois delegation at the National 
Democratic Convention at Chicago, in 1884. 

When the civil conflict broke out, he offered his services to his 
country and was elected colonel of the 14th regiment. Of the 
engagements in which he participated may be mentioned the cap- 
ture of Island No. 10; Farmiugton, where he skillfully extricated 
his command from a dangerous position ; Stone River, where his 
division for several hours, on the 31st of December, held the 
advance and stood like a rock, and for his gallantry here he was 
made Major General of volunteers ;Chickamauga, where his and 
Van Cleve's divisions, for two hours, maintained their position, 
when, by overpowering numbers, they were cut off. Under Sher- 
man Major General Palmer was assigned to the command of the 
14th army corps, and porticipated in the Atlanta campaign. At 
Peach Tree Creek his prudence did much to avert disaster. When 
Gen. McPherson fell, and Gen. Howard, a junior officer, was pro- 
moted to the command of the army of the Tennessee, both Generals 
Hooker and Palmer asked to be relieved. 

In February, 1865, Gen. Palmer was assigned to the military 
administration of Kentucky. This was a delicate post. Ken- 
tucky was about half rebel and half union, the latter daily 
fretted by the loss of their slaves. He, who had been bred 
to the rules of the common law, he has said, trembled at the con- 
templation of his extraordinary power over the persons and pro- 
perty of his fellowmen, with which he was vested in the capacity 
of military Governor. But it is not our province to detail his 
administration in Kentucky. Suffice it, notwithstanding the many 
objections urged against him, it is now conceded that he blended 
a conspicuous respect for municipal law consistent with his func- 
tions as a military commander. 

The business of Gov. Palmer's life has been the pursuit of the 
law. Few excel him in an accurate appreciation of the depth and 
scope of its principles. The great number of his able veto mes- 
sages abundantly testify not only this but also a rare capacity to 
point them out. He is a logical and cogent reasoner, and an inter- 
esting, forcible and convincing, though not fluent nor ornate, 
speaker. Without brilliancy, his dealings are rather with facts 
and ideas, which he marshals in solid phalanx and leads to invin- 
cible conclusions. And while he ever betrays the hedgings of legal 
rules, he is a statesman of a very high order. Physically, he is 
above the medium hight, of robust frame, ruddy complexion and 
sanguine-nervous temperament. Nature has endowed him with a 

' Taken from "Annals of the Army of the Cumberland," a volume of biographical 
tikctches. 



palmer's administration. 933 

large cranial development. He is social in disposition, easy of 
approach, unostentatious in his habits of life, correct in deport- 
ment, democratic in his manners, and as a man of the people, he 
has a large sympathy for his class. He has been indifferent to the 
acquisition of Avealth. 

On the meeting of the legislature, in January, 1<S69, the first 
thing to arrest public attention was that portion of Gov. Palmer's 
inaugural message which took broad State's rights ground. In 
discussing the rights of railroads, their oppressive charges, and 
the remedies, he called attention to the proposition in some quar- 
ters to enlist the national government in the creation of rail- 
road corporations to construct railways in this and other 
States and operate them, which he deprecated : "Ah-eady the au- 
thority of the State is in a measure paralyzed by a growing con- 
viction that all their powers are in some sense derivative and sub- 
ordinate, and not original and independent ;" he asserted that " one 
of the best established and most distinctly recognized [principles 
which underlie our system of government, was] that the federal 
government is one of enumerated powers ;" that it was " the clear 
duty of the national government to decline the exercise of all 
doubtful powers when the neglect to do so would bring it into 
fields of legislation already occupied by the States :" and that " a 
frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of government 
[was] essential to civil liberty." 

Such old democratic doctrine was distasteful to many republi- 
cans, who, with a portion of their press, took ground in opposi- 
tion to it. The democrats, on the other hand, were heartily 
pleased with it, and it was moved by them in the house that 35,- 
000 copies of the message be printed, which passed with consid- 
erable reluctance. In the senate the republicans moved to cut 
down this number to 2,000, and here also the democrats became 
the champions of the republican governor in a debate which fol- 
lowed, characterized by no little acrimony. Indeed, the cordiality 
in the dominant party, between the legislative and executive de- 
partments, was for a time threatened with interruption. Finally 
the senate concurred with the house, only to reconsider its vote ; 
after the lapse of near two weeks, and the infliction of many 
speeches, the resolution was agreed to. 

The session of 1869, the last under the flexible constitution of 
1848, a revision of which Ijad then been authorized by the people, 
was moved upon by the monopolists, the lobbyists and the "rings'^ 
with a thirst for advantages and spoils, unprecedented in the his- 
tory of legislation in this State. Their action Was characterized 
by an audacity, a prodigality, and an abandon never before ex- 
hibited. Their remarkable success in 1867 had but whetted the 
appetites of the cormorants. Notwithstanding Gov. Palmer,in his 
message, characterized special legislation as anti-republican and 
dangerous to the liberties of the people, saying : "Many of the 
most imi)ortant functions of government are now claimed and ex- 
ercised bj' incorporations b}' special laws ; they take private prop- 
erty and impose and collect taxes ; they construct railroads and 
canals, and, in many instances, by the exercise of their vast pow- 
ers, control the course of trade, and distract the business of the 
whole country" — uotwithstandingthis warning, bills to the number 
of 2,478 were introduced, covering every conceivable object for 



934 • HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 



corporate purposes, nearly all of which sought some advantage 
over the general laws of the State or the people. The then lead- 
iug orgaii of the dominant party was constrained to say that " no 
previous legislative body has exhibited such unblushing disregard 
of all the requirements ot common decency as the legislature now 
in session," — that it was " reckless beyond precedent."* 

But it was early found there was an incumbent of the executive 
office with both the will and industry to look into their little schemes 
before they became laws, and with the courage and capacity to 
expose their many machinations. Perhaps this exercised some 
restraining influence. In obedience to his determination to care- 
fully overhaul every bill before signing it, and to give him time to 
do so, the legislature took a recess from March 8th to April 17th. 
Of the 2,478 bills introduced nearly 1,700 were passed, an im- 
mense mass of dry legal verbiage, but none escaped bis patient 
scrutiny — a labor and investigation never before bestowed upon 
the acts of a legislature. He sifted from the mass a large number 
which he deemed inimical to the constitution or to public policy, 
and at great pains reduced his objections to writing, in terms re- 
spectful and indicating the ripe jurist and forcible reasoner. But 
his vetoes in nearly every important instance were overridden by 
a determined body, unwilling to brook what they were pleased to 
characterize anarrogance of both legislative and judicial functions 
by the executive. The veto under the constitution of 1848 was of 
little value further than as a short stay of proceedings to induce 
the legislature to pause and reflect upon their action. Its free 
use by the executive was not Avithout an interpretation as being 
only a greater exhibition of insubordination to partisan require- 
ments, after his first avowal of State's rights doctrines. With a short 
session of three days, the veto messages were disposed of; and 
after voting each member $40 in addition to the $300 previously 
voted to each for room rent, fuel and contingencies, over and above 
his per diem, in utter violation of the constitution, the general as- 
sembly' of 1869, on the 20th of April, adjourned sine die. 

Among the acts of general interest passed at this session, was 
one limiting railroad charges for passenger travel to a maximum 
rate of 3 cents per mile. The governor fulminated his veto against 
it, holding that when a charter is once accepted by those to whom 
it is made, it " in all essential circumstances, takes upon itself the 
qualities of a contract, and at that instant passes from legislative 
and becomes subject to judicial control. Such a contract upon 
well settled principles of constitutional law, cannot be impaired." 
It was passed over the veto, but has been a dead letter ever since. 
If law grows out of the necessities of a peoj)le, then it is high time 
that our courts overruled the Dartmouth College case, or revolu- 
tion will do it for them. 

What is known as the " tax grabbing law" to pay railroad sub- 
scriptions, passed at this session, is such a reprehensible specimen 
of legislation as to well merit consideration. It provided that all 
counties, townships, cities or towns having contracted bonded 
debts in aid of the construction of railroads through any of them, 
were entitled to register such bonds with tbe State Auditor, where- 
upon it became the duty of the treasurer to set apart to their 

*Chicafe-o Tribune. 



PALMER'S ADlVnNISTRATION. 935 

credits, to be applied toward the payment of tlieir railroad in- 
debtedness, annually, for 10 years, (1) all the taxes for any purpose 
whatsoever, arising' from the property of a railroad so aided and 
situate within such municii)ality ; (i!) so much of the State tax as 
might be collected upon an increased assessment on all the prop- 
<?rty of any such muuicii)ality over and above the year 1808, ex- 
cepting in both cases the L' mill and State school taxes. It was a 
question w^hether this was an appropriation of public money, which 
the Supreme Court had decided to be >\ ithin the province of the 
legislature under the power to appropriate money, or w^hether it 
was violative of the principle of equality of taxation recognized 
by the constitution. The governor took the latter view, and in a 
very able message vetoed the bill ; but it was passed over his veto. 
The act is very ingeniously drawn with reference to these two 
views and by its terms, really only diverts the taxes paid upon 
the property concerned, the same as other property, howexer the 
proceeds may return to the corporation or municipality. It was 
designed for the benefit of Southern Illinois, which had fallen be- 
hind in railroad development, and met with violent opposition 
from the north, being denounced as wrong and unjust by every 
principle of law and honesty, but finally became a law. The bonds 
registered under the act amounted to about $15.5(i0,000, and the 
"tax annually diverted by it amounted to over !?60,0C0, until in the 
year 1874, the question of the constitutionality of the portion of 
the law which provided for said diversion, was passed upon by the 
Supreme Court in the case of * Ramsey vs. Hoeger, and abrogated. 

Lake Front Bill. — Chicago, like a modern Briareus, besides many 
private measures, now grasped for four parks; parks to the north, 
south, west and east of her; the three first named to be connected 
by a grand boulevard or avenue, 400 feet wide. These 3 parks 
were to embrace hundreds of acres of land, much of which would 
have to be acquired bj^ pi'ocess of condemnation, and which, un- 
less duly guarded by just and proper legislation, was liable to be 
converted iuto a business whereby' to dispose of unsaleable lands 
at high prices, and to acquire the poor man's lot without due com- 
pensation, by setting off benefits against damages. 

But of these park measures what was known as the Lake Front 
bill was by far the most important. To raise a park fund it was 
proposed to confer upon the city council of Chicago power to 
sell all the right, title and interest of the State to a strip of canal 
laud, 310 feet wide, lying east of Michigan avenue, and extending 
from Park Bow north to Monroe street, containing 3U acres, land 
and water; to confirm the Illinois Central railroad in its riparian, 
ownership to, and further for the State to nuike a grant to it of 
the submerged lands constituting the bed of Lake Michigan, east 
of its railroad track, extending north and south nearly two miles 
in front of the city, and covering an area of 1,050 acres, over 

* This decision was quite a blow to many of the localities which had issued large 
amounts of bonds to aid iu building railroads, as the particular benefits of the law 
in regard to the diverting of the State ta:!4to the credit of the localities, was held out 
as ail inducement for the incurring of..the3elarse debts. The result of this iieci^ion 
worked a great hardship upon the various oounties, townships, cities and towns 
that had issued railroad aid bonds with the expectation that the State would assist 
in the payment of interest and principal thereon, and so great was the burden 
upon many localities, they were driven to repudiation. The question of relieving 
the embarrassment occasioned by the abrogation of this law, has been discussed in 
the various sessions of the Legislature since 1875, but not until during the st^ssion 
of 1883 was tnere ever anything tangible presented, which, not being full v pei fected, 
did not pass, but probably will again be presented during the session of 1885. 



936 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

which the navigable waters of the lake rolled to a depth of from 
10 to 25 feet. This, of itself was regarded as an imperial grant; 
but it was further proposed that the State transfer to the three 
railroad companies centering there, her 3 blocks of ground north 
of Monroe street and east of Michigan avenue, in consideration 
of $800,000, payable to the city of Chicago, for park purposes, in 
four equal installments — a price so ridiculously low as to fall short 
of its actual market value by $1,800,000. And, as if anticipating 
objections from Chicago, which claimed title by dedication, it was 
provided that if the city council did not quit claim to the railroad 
companies within 4 months, being prior to the maturiug of the 
second installment, they should be released from further payment 
and yet hold the property by fee simple title from the State for 
one-fourth the sum offered. These lands, except the bed of the 
lake, had been dedicated for public use, but while the State had 
parted with her beneticial proprietary title, they were still regarded 
as subject to her paramount authority and might control or dis- 
pose of them as would best promote the purposes of dedication.* 

The bill was passed contrary to the wishes of a large majority 
of the people of Chicago and her representatives. The governor 
vetoed it on account of the inadequacy of price to be paid for the 
3 blocks of ground ; of there being no limitation tixed for the com- 
mencement of the outside harbor improvements ; of the State having 
reserved no right to limit charges for the relief of commerce, and 
because the property was not to be subject to taxation. But it 
was promptly repassed over the veto. It was one of the measures 
in the charmed circle of legislation ordained to become a law.t 
Steps under the law, however, have been arrested by injunction, 
issuing from the U. S. Circuit Court at Chicago.§ 

Of the flood of local and private acts pernicious in principle and 
contrary to public policy, we can only cite a few from the niany 
that incurred the governor's veto. A number of localities — 
Bloomington, Joliet, Canton, Bond county, &c. — sought franchises- 
to enable them to employ the taxing power of the State to raise 
money to be expended for mere private speculative or fanciful 
objects, such as to induce railroad companies to locate their ma- 
chine shops and erect depots; to start private manufacturing 
establishments; build hotels, &c., all supposed to be of general 
value to the place securing them, and toward which those most 
deeply interested sought to compel all the helpless, voiceless and 
reluctant, to contribute alike of their property. 

Then there were acts for the incorporation of land companies- 
(already numerous), whose sole aim was to create huge land monop- 
olies, to escape theembarrassmentattaching to personal ownership; 
the casualties incident to trade and business ; distribution after 
death ; and keep out of market for a lojig term of years, with the 
speculative intent of enhancing its value, property needed for 
homes for the people, which in the hands of private parties would 
be improved and rendered more valuable to the State.:): A nota- 
ble instance was the "Illinois Land Company," which owned some 
1,200 acres in East St. Louis, sought to be controlled as above, for 

♦ Gov. Palmer's Message. 

t There is a not very secrat scandalous history connected with the passage of this 
measure which we do not care to revive here. 
S No final decision has yet been reached. 
J Gov. Palmer's Message. 



palmer's administkation. 937 

a period of 25 jears. But the most presumi^tuons of these cor- 
porations, nnder a title at the same time the most seductive, not 
exceptiug- that of the '' Illinois Benevolent Loan Company" for 
a pawn-broker's establishment, was that of the " Southern Emi- 
grant Aid Society," a title, as the governor said, which "suggests 
ideas of weary strangers, feeble and poor, on the one hand, and of 
benevolent men on the other, ministering" to their wants, feeding; 
the hungry and clotbing tlie naked;" but which really established 
offices in about 30 counties of this State, (the principal one at 
Cairo), to speculate in lands that emigrants wonld be likely to 
need, and receive their money and other valuables on deposit, buy- 
and sell exchange, and by means of a captivating- title, win their 
confidence. * Not one provision of this act contemplated the aid 
or relief which its title imported. 

An iinj)ortant event of this session was the ratification of the 
15th amendment to the constitution of the United States, giving 
suffrage to the blacks. 

Our Xeic Constittition. — The year of grace, 1870, will be distin- 
guished in the annals of Illinois for the peaceful revolution other 
organic law. It is a grand feature in the governments composing 
this Great Eepublic that they frequently undergo most radical 
and important transformations without tumult or outbreak from 
the populace, showing that their will is the source of power. The 
constitution of 1848 had lor years been systematically violated in 
its plain and positive provisions by nearly every department of 
State. The last executive under it, himself records that " The 
history of American States presented no example of a government 
more defective than that of Illinois." Officers received or took 
compensation for their services under authority of laws known to 
be inconsistent with the constitution ; and what was designed by 
its framers to be a most economical government, became, in fact, 
extravagantly expensive. The clear limitation upon the powers 
of the general assembly was overborne, and legislation was 
often hasty, imprudent and depraved until the people felt 
that their public and private rights were unsafe ; that the officers 
charged by the constitution with the enactment, the interpreta- 
tion, and the enforcement of the laws were alike unworthy of their 
full confidence, t The notorious evasions of the plain requirements 
of the constitution, and the pernicious practices thus indulged, 
tended to sap the integrity of the i)ublic service generally, while it 
must have also contribute*! to lessen the respect if it did not beget 
the contempt of the people for all law. A popular reverence for 
law is the most essential guaranty for the stability of the State, the 
peace and good order of society, and the protection to life, liberty 
and i)roperty of the citizen. 

It was therefore high time to erect new limitations upon the 
powers of the several departments, instead of those persistently 
disregarded, and viewed as obsolete. Upon the question being 
submitted to a vote of the people, at the election of November, 
1868, the revision of the old constitution was by them ordered. 
The succeeding legislature authorized the election of delegates, 

* Gov. Palmer's Veto Message. 
t Palmer's Message, 1871. 



938 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

(apportioned to the districts and corresponding in number to tlie 
representatives in the lower house of the general assembly,) who 
were to meet at Springfield, December 13, 1869, to alter, revise, 
or amend the constitution. Of the So members returned, 44 were 
set down as republican in politics, and 41 as democratic. But 15 
were elected on independent tickets, all in republican districts, of 
whom 8 were democrats and 7 republicans. Thus neither jjarty 
had a majority in the convention, and the "independents" held 
the balance of power, of which they made the most. Its members 
were composed of learned jurists, experienced statesmen, and i>r(>- 
found thinkers, whose work, prepared with much care at the time, 
was very generally pronounced the best and wisest in its limita- 
tions and restrictions that the union afforded. Time has shown 
that these high encomiums were well bestowed. We can allude 
to only a few of the prominent features wherein it differs from 
the old, and which are regarded as salutary reforms. 

The change from the fee system to that of fixed salaries, fair 
and ample in their amounts, will tend more perhaps to eradicate 
the vice of evading the law and elevating the standard of 
the public service than anything else. The salary system, 
in the option of county boards, may also be extended to county 
officers, and if settlements with these are i)roperly enforced, 
will both save and increase materially the revenue. — Special 
legislation has been very greatly circumscribed, and irrevocable, 
private franchises and immuinties are prohibited. This does 
away with a most fruitful source of corruption in that department 
of government. It breaks, in a measure, legislative rings and 
destroys the business of the professional lobbyist, and the result is 
the halls and corridors of the capitol and hotels are thronged no 
more by tins shiewd, genial and elegantly attired class, ever on 
the alert and ready with a hint to this member and a whisper to 
that, and an adroit suggestion to another. — While the number of 
members of the general assembly has been about double, the steps 
to be pursued in the enactment of laws are retarded and hedged 
by wise provisions ; the former practices of reading bills by their 
titles only, and their passage by the bundle, known as the omnibus 
system, are prevented ; and while the per diem compensation of 
members is allowed to be raised, being now $5, the reprehensible 
practices of entering into speculative contracts or "commutations" 
with State officials or others, for stationery, fuel, etc., voted to 
themselves, which at the last session under the old constitution 
averaged $500 for each member, and aggregated $54,000, besides 
their pay of $2 a day, and charges for connnittee rooms, often 
neither occupied nor jierhaps rented, are all effectually squelched, 
and instead members are allowed but $50 each. — To the governor, 
who heretofore as part of the law-making power, was a mere ad- 
visory agent and for want of power destitute of influence, has 
been given a qualified veto for the first time in the history of the 
State, with good results. Prior to this a bare majority of the 
legislative department of the government was practically the 
supreme power in the State. One of the grossest wrongs to 
individuals heretofore was the taking of private property by 
municipal and other corporations for public use, as it was 
called, without compensation, by setting off fancied benefits, no 
matter how general to the vicinity, against the damages of the 



PALMER'S ADMINISTRATION. 939 

owuer. This cannot now be done, Neither can a majority (often 
representing little or no property) of any mnnicipality, now vote 
to lend its credit or impose a debt upon the property of the min- 
ority for the benefit of some corporation or impro\ement. — The 
general assembly is prohibited from discharging any county, city 
or town from its proportionate share of taxes, the commutation of 
such taxes, or the diverting of tliem from the treasury, as uiuler the 
railroad tax-grabbing law of 1809. — The revenue article of tbe old 
constitution has been rendered more efficient, and with later legis- 
lation will bear more evenly upon the i^roperty of the State. — The 
two-mill tax was abolished. — Minority representation in the legis- 
lature, by means of cumulative voting, is a new but promising 
feature in the organic act, adopted for the first time by any State 
in the union. — Our judiciary system has been rendered uniform, 
and greatly modified. To county courts, as supplemented by law, 
has been given extended civil jurisdiction, and they are authorized 
to try minor criminal cases with a view of saving to counties large 
expenditures for boarding prisoners while awaiting the terms of 
the circuit courts. The provision which seeks to control the rail- 
roads of the State, prohibiting parallel or competing lines from 
consolidating, and which declares all railroads public highways, 
requiring tbe general assembly to establish reasonable maximum 
rates of charges, and to prevent unjust discriminations and extor- 
tions, has also been productive of much good to all classes of our 
citizens. Under it, acts have been passed limiting the powers of 
railroad companies for fencing and operating their lines, carrying 
and delivering grain, to prevent extortion and unjust discrimina- 
tion in rates, and estalishing a board of Eailroad and Warehouse 
Commissioners. 

The Great Chicago Fire. — Chicago was first laid off in 1830, at 
the mouth of the river of that name. Prior to that the point was 
known as Fort Dearborn, built by the government in 1804. By 
an unprecedented growth and prosperity, Chicago had by 1871 
attained to a city of 300,000 souls. As the radiating centre of 
more than a dozen trunk lines of railroads, reaching far into the 
interior, with their innumerable branches and connections, she is 
enabled to grasp with Briarean hands, as it were, the products of 
a \ast and fertile region ; possessed of an extended lake, canal, 
and river commerce, and a large manufacturing interest, and ani- 
mated by enterprising and sagacious capitalists, energetic mer- 
chants and pushing business men generally, she was truly, not 
only the chief cit/ of Illinois, but the emporium of the great 
northwest — the pride of her State and the wonder of the civilized 
world. While she had miles upon miles of structures of the most 
combustible nature, being wood, her large business centre was 
built up of brick, stone and iron blocks, massive in size and of 
rare architectural beauty ; her palatial residences, profusely scat- 
tered through many parts of the city, but particularly toward the 
lake front, were the admiration of every visitor, besides her many 
well built, superb, and costly church edifices and various elegant 
public institutions, all these were solid, non-combustible struc- 
tures, regarded as tire proof. But in the great conflagTation, 
which, like death, knew no distinction, the stately block and most 
ornate column, as well as the lowliest wooden shanty of the poor, 
found a common leveler. 



940 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

It was iu the night of October 8th aud 9th, 1871, that the oceau 
of flame burst upou the doomed city. For eighteen consecutive 
hours, borne by a jjarched aud strong southwesterly gale, the Fire 
Fiend, gathering strength and volume as he marched, strode 
through the fated city. The fire broke out in a poor quarter 1^ 
miles southwest from the business centre, which was closely built 
up of inferior structures that kindled like tinder and blazed like 
a bou lire. The flame, fanned by the gale, was so intense that the 
fire department was powerless before it. At midnight, having 
devoured 500 buildings, and burnt over an area of 175 acres, 
reaching the southern limits of the burnt district of the hre of the 
night preceding, which was of no inconsiderable magnitude ordi- 
narily, and which it was expected would arrest it, the licking 
column, casting a shower of kindling brands far in advance, easily 
leaped the south branch of the river, lighting where several blocks 
of wooden rookeries, the abodes of squalor aud vice atibrded it 
vivifying food. Sending off flaukiug columns to the right and 
left, it pursued a due northeast course before the driving wind to- 
ward the court house, the large stone, brick and iron structures in 
its way, commonly called fire-i)roof, many of them among Chica- 
go's handsomest blocks, crumbling and melting down by its su» 
Ijer-heated breath as completely, if not so speedily, as those of 
wood. All hope of staying its progress was now abandoned, and 
the eflbrts suspended. The court house, from whose basement, 
(the common jail) 150 prisoners were released to save their lives, 
was built of large blocks of stone, and though standing isolated 
in the middle of a square, succumbed, its great bell falling from 
the dome with a last dying peal. At this time, as if instinct with 
a deadly strategy, the tire disabled the pumping engines a mile 
iu advance at the waterworks, which cut off the supply of water. 
Buildings now would suddenly ignite all over, and the danger to 
human life became exceedinglj- great. 

The left flanking column of flame, gathering volume as it pro- 
ceeded, swept all that jjart of the city in the angle nuide by the 
south branch aud the main river. The right also gathering head- 
way as it went, took a detour almost due east from the south 
branch toward the lake and noithward, making a wide swath and 
rioting in the destruction of the most superb hotels, splendid bus- 
iness blocks, and elegant dwellings in the city. Here, in the south 
division, the fairest and most ornate portion of Chicago, and the 
great centre of her wealth and commerce, 100 acres were swept over 
by the terrible flames and 3,650 buildings laid in ashes. But aside 
from the great value and beauty of this portion of the city, less 
than one-third in territory, or the number of houses, was as yet 
swept over, or cunsumed. The three columns of flame towanl noon 
on the 9th, (Monday) intensified by their union, now vaulted across 
the river, and, marching in solid phalanx at double-quick, licked 
up everything in the way ; the ocean of flame, with a terrible 
crackling roar as it advanced, in a few hours burnt over an area 
of 1,470 acres of the 2,533 in the north division, leaving only 500 
buildings standing out of the 13,800 which it contained, aud ren- 
dering homeless 75,000 people. 

As a spectacle the conflagration was at the same time the sub- 
limest and most appalling — terrifying to the weak and unnerv- 
ing the strong. The roaring flame and crackling wood, the crash 



PALMETi'S ADMINISTRATION. 941 

of falling buildings, the detonations of explosive material iu 
them, and the maddened Babel of human voices, all intermingled, 
were awful and terrific iu the last degree. 

The scenes in the streets of the burning city beggar description. 
All the baser attributes of the human heart found manifestation. 
Fear, precipitancjy, profanity, insults, obscenity, rapacity, theft, 
robbery, arson and assassination, all wrought to the highest pitch, 
with intoxication, and amid the noise, confusion and turmoil, found 
vent and ran riot. Great crowds, fascinated by a mingled feeling 
of horror and admiration at the grandeur of the terrible spectacle, 
moved with the dazzling column of tire as it proceeded. Now and. 
then the crash of a wall near at haud, the report of explosive oils, 
or the rumor that they were surrounded by the fire, or that a 
bridge was burnt to cut oflt" their retreat, would scatter them iu 
precipitate flight, panic stricken. In many cases, people were 
driven into the lake for refuge agaiust the scorching flames. Capi- 
talists, rushing to their vaults to save their valuables, were over- 
powered by the sutibcating heat, and never seen again ; others, 
loaded with treasure, were strickeu down by assassins and robbed. 
The speed of the conflagration and its great heat were such that 
it was impossible to save much property. Besides, owners of ve- 
hicles, taking advantage of the occasion, charged enormous prices 
for taking loads ; $10 to $50 was common and $1,000 is recorded. 
Stores were opened and the crowds invited to help themselves to 
goods, as they must all go at any rate, while others were entered 
by hordes of plunderers unasked ; and goods piled np iu the streets 
to be carted away, were seized and freely borne off. The torch of 
the incendiary, for pur})Oses of plundering, was added to the gen- 
eral conflagration. Saloons were thrown open, and under a free 
invitation, their contents flowed unchecked, maddeuing the vicious 
and stimulating to ruffianism. Amidst the turmoil of the crack- 
ling and roaring fire, falling walls, dazed animals dashing about, 
streets gorged by passing vehicles and crowds of people, and the 
shouting and uproar of men, families became separated, children 
cried for parents, wives and mothers wailed and became distracted 
and husbands and fathers, skurrying hither and thither in vain 
searchings for the lost ones, were frantic with agony and despair. 
It was a night of unspeakable horrors. Many incidents of tenants 
occupying rooms in the upper stories of high business blocks wrapt 
in flames, suddenly appearing at their windows begging for assis- 
tance from the frantic crowd below and some of whom found succor 
and others that perished, are related with thrilling effect iu the 
papers of the time. 

The loss of human life, which can never be accurately ascertained, 
has been estimated at 250. During the first two weeks following, the 
remains of 107 persons, consisting often of but fragments, or so 
charred that few could be identified, were collected by the coroner 
and iuteiTed. It is supposed that the intensity of the heat iu 
many cases wholly consumed the bodies, leaving no vestige be- 
hind. The whole area burnt over, including streets, was 2,124 
acres; uumber of buildings destroyed, 17,500; sidewalks burnt, 
121 miles; total value of property swallowed up by the devouring 
element, $195,000,000, on which there was an insurance of some 
$45,000,000, leaviug a net loss $150,000,000— these figures being 
approximate.* 

• See History of Chicago and the Great Conflagration. 



94:2 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

About 98,500 people were bereft, not only of homes, business, 
and property, but even shelter. These collected at points on the 
beach of the lake, in the old cemetery south of Lincoln Park, but 
mostly on the bleak prairie back of the city. Many were blinded 
from smoke and blistered with heat. Not less than one hundred 
women were thrown into prematnreparturitionfromfright and the 
excitement caused by the terrible scene. All, the sick and help- 
less, the young- and old, the vile arid vicious, the beggar and mil- 
lionaire, were here promiscuously huddled together. Witlnmt suf- 
ficieut clothing in the chill Octoi)er rain, which set in during the 
night of Monday; destitute of food since Sunday, and all more ov 
less exhausted from hunger, the suffering of the smitten ones 
was exceedingly great. 

And now was manifested on the part of the people of this broiul 
land and the (dvilized portions of Europe, whither the shock had 
thrilled, a noble sympathy and practical benevolence, attesting 
the brotherhood of man. First the people for hundreds of miles 
in every direction, in prompt response to the click of the telegraph 
(and but for this modern handmaid to the business of the world, 
many must have perished), sent in hundreds of car loads ot cooked 
food and provisions of all kinds and raiment of every description, 
in quantities more than sufficient to relieve the wants of the suf- 
ferers. Bureaus, to systematically distribute the donations, were 
organized. Next, and almost simultaneously, followed most liberal 
contributions of money in large sums by nearly all our great and 
many snudl cities and some from Europe, aggregating some 
$7,000,000. Governor Palmer, deeming it a proi)er occasion, con- 
vened the general assembly in extraordiiuiry session on the 4th 
day after the fire, and that body donated virtually to the stricken 
city, $2,955,34:0 from the treasury of the State — finding in the 
great emergency a way to evade the strict provisions of the new 
constitution for this purpose by redeeming the canal from the lien 
of its deepening by Chicago, which, though a valuable improve- 
ment to that city, is dead and unyielding capital to the State ; but 
no one will blame the legislature for this benevolent act so neces- 
sary under the circumstances. Six per centum bonds, payable in 
10 years, were to be issued for that amount. Not less than one- 
fifth nor more than one-third of the proceeds was to be used in 
restoring the bridges and public buildings on the old sites, and 
the residue in payment of the bonded debt of the city, and to 
maintain its fire and police departments. 

Immediately succeding the fire, stories of incendiarism for pur- 
poses of plunder became rife; that theft, robberies, and arson 
were the order in the uuburnt portionsof the cit^ , and that hordes 
of "roughs" from other large cities were on the point of invasion. 
The ignorant, desperate from their losses, were represented as 
jjossessed by a mania for further destruction ; others in great 
masses, together with the police, as taking the law into their own 
hands, shooting down, beating to death, or hanging to lamj^-posts, 
numerous alleged offenders, without close scrutiny as to their 
guilt or innocence. These stories, which were utterly untrue, 
gained credence in the city at the time and a considerable panic 
prevailed. Telegrams disseminating them were sent broad cast 
over the land, and the flying fugitives from the city, whose exodus 
by the 16th amounted to 60,000, impressed with these stories, 



PALMER'S ADMINISTRATION. 943 



si>rea(l reports of seeing blackeued corpses of robbers and iticen- 
diaries hanging- to gibbets. Gen. Anson Stager, a prominent cit- 
izen, telegraphed Grov. Pahuer on the 10th that great consterna- 
tion and anxiety existed on account of the presence of "roughs" 
and thieves, plundering in all directions, and that two incendia- 
ries were shot the night preceding while in the act of firing build- 
ings. 

Under the apprehensions prevailing, the police force was largely 
increased, 1,500 being sworn in on the west side, and 500 on the 
south. Indeed, on Monday morning. Major Alstruf had tendered 
the services of a battalion of three militia companies to the su- 
perintendent and were accepted. Gov. Palmer, in answer to Gen. 
Stager's dispatch, proffered a military force to the city, to preserve 
proi)erty and enforce order, which, in the reply by telegraph, Avas 
immediately requested by the mayor to be sent by special train, 
and later, on the same day, 1,000 muskets and ammunition were 
also asked for. Adj't.-Gen. H. Dilger at once, by telegraph, or- 
dered to Chicago the"BloomingtonNatit)nal Guards," "Champaign 
Cadets," "Sterling City Guards," "Eock Fall Zouaves," "Eock 
Island Liglit Artillery" with four pieces; and under his iminediare 
charge, the '-Springfield Zouaves," "O'Mara Guards," and Ca[)t. 
IJonigan's colored company, L'OO men, the latter arriving there 
early the next day, the 11th, and before evening the other militia 
companies also arrived, making a military forcje of 510 men, well 
armed and equipped to i)rotect the property, maintain order, and 
enforce the laws in the city. But Geu. Dilger now found the wild 
rumors of lawlessness to have been greatly exaggerated, and the 
mayor, i>rofessing no knowledge of the dispatches calling for 
State troui>s,and, at the time, confiding in the strong arm of the 
military i)ower of the U. S., was ready to issite his proclamation 
entrusting the peace of the city to Lieut. Gen. Phil. H. Sheridan, 
of the U. S. army, who was stationed there. The State authority 
being thus superseded by tliat of the U. S., Gen. Dilger, with a 
23ortion of his force, after some three days time, returiied. Some 
of the police authorities, jealous of the military occupation thus 
assumed, ])rotested against it for the reason that policemen were 
acquainted with the people and possessed large discretionary pow- 
ers in the arrest of parties, the prevention of breaches of the 
peace, and the commission of crimes; whilu a soldier was the rig- 
id instrument of orders, regardless of consequences. The city, 
however, was surrendered to the military, U. S. regulars being 
ordered thither from Omaha, Forts Leavenworth and Scott, and 
from Louisxille. The police were ordered to act in conjunction 
with the military, good order was maintained throughout, and, 
what was perhaps of more importance than all else, confidence 
was restored. 

At the time that the city was thus turned over to military 
rule. Gen. Sheridan directed a citizen of Chicago, Gen. Frank T. 
Sherman, to enlist and organize a regiment of infantry for 20 
days, to serve as guards in protecting the pro[)erty of the city. 
They swore allegiance to the U. S. and obedience to the officers ap- 
pointed over them; they were to arrest all citizens who, in their 
judgment, might be suspicious persons, and fire upon, wound or 
kill any one refusing to obey their commands to halt, after a cer- 
tain hour in the night. In the regiment was a company of cadets 



944 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

— students from the University of Chicago, mostly young and 
non-residents. To this regiment, asserted by high authority to 
have been illegally called into being, Gen. Thomas W. Gros- 
venor, a citizen of Chicago, who had earned his title by mereto- 
rious conduct in the late war and was maimed for life, became a 
martyr. About 12 o'clock in the night of the 2Uth of Octobei, 
while quietly proceeding to his home, he was ordered bj' a young 
cadet to halt and give the countersign or pass-word, and, disre- 
garding the order, was deliberately shot down, expiring in a few 
hours after. 

The Governor, who it seems was not advised until about the 
17th of the full extent of the military occupation of Chicago, which 
he deemed a violation of law, both State and national, had in the 
meantime written a letter to the mayor, coached in no ambiguous 
terms, vigorously protesting against that functionary's virtual ab 
dication of his office and turning the city over to the mili- 
tary control of the soldiery, asserting the adequacy of the State 
to furnish all needed protection to the smitten city. The mayor, 
sstuiig by the lecturing epistle, replied that when the lives and 
property of the people, the peace and good order of a large city, 
were in danger, it was not the time to stop and consider ques- 
tions of policy. But the killing of Grosvenor was a circnmstance 
to awaken reflection upon the anomalous posture of affairs, and 2 
days after, at the request of the mayor, the occupation was discon- 
tinued. 

His excellency, however, did not allow the matter to drop here. 
He wrote and urged the State's Attornej^ of Cook county to bring 
the murderer of Grosvenor before the grand jury, and to advise 
that body to include in the indictment, besides the party doing 
the act, R. B. Mason, the mayor. Lieutenant General Sheridan, 
and Frank T. Sherman, colonel of the 20 day regiment, as being 
eqnally guilty. A sharp and not very elegant correspondence 
followed, and the matter getting into the public press, much criti- 
cism was evoked. Later General Sheridan was again appealed to 
by prominent citizens to cause 4 companies of U. S. soldiers to be 
stationed at Chicago for the protection of the immense amount 
of stores in charge of the Relief fund and Aid Society, and upon 
his request at Washington they were granted. This still further 
intensified the matter, and the governor, in a letter to President 
Grant, protested againstthis stej), asserting the abnndant ability 
of the State to i»rotect every interest of the people dependent 
upon its internal peace and good order. The letter was referred 
to Gen. Sheridan with instructions to rescind all orders in conflict 
with the laws or constitution of this State. Protesting now against 
an officer of the army passing upon a matter so grave and impor- 
tant, Gov. Palmer brought the whole subject before the legisla- 
ture, and that body, after a thorough in\estigation by a commit- 
tee, who brought in majority and minority reports, on the 25th of 
January, 1872, sustained the former, declaring "as unlawful, and 
an infraction of the constitution, both of this State and the U. S., 
the so-called military occupation of Chicago;" but the federal au- 
thorities were exonerated from intent to willfully trespass upon 
the constitutional rights of this State, or to interfere with its 
properly constituted authorities during the emergency of the 
great fire. 



'fAjtfi>r-!K-^ '^" ■- 4- '>a^' ^i 




Chapter LXVIII. 

1873—1877. ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. BEVEEIDGE. 

Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1872 — Elections and 
Organization of the Legislature — Life and Character of Gov. Bever- 
idge — Stormy opening — Railroad Commissioners — The Revision 
o/1874 — The Committee and Revisor — The Farmers' Movement — 
The Election o/1874, Conventions and Candidates — The " Haines 
Legislature" — The Refunding Act — Sketch of Speaker Haines — 
Illinois in the Centennial — The Educational Display — The Agri' 
cultural Board — Glenn's Claim — Gov. Beveridge's closing Message; 
extracts — State Charities, histwy and development. 



At the close of the session of the Legislature, in 1872, it was no 
secret that Gov. Palmer desired a re-nomination. He had been 
nominated once against his desire, had served for four years, at a 
time when the salary was notoriously insufficient for a man to 
live on, had during that term set his face against the most glaring 
imperfections and frauds in our legislative system, and its prac- 
tices ; had interposed his veto, ineffectually it is true — for it only 
required a majority vote of both branches to pass a bill over the 
executive — against measures which his clear judgment had con- 
demned : had been one of the chief factors in setting on foot the 
measures looking to a new constitution, an instrument which 
proved to be fully in accord with the views which he had tena- 
ciously held in regard to special legislation. State and municipal 
indebtedness, vetoes, and dealing with monopolies and corpora- 
tions ; that constitution had made the office one of dignity and 
desirability ; he was eligible to reelection, and desired it. But in 
one respect he was in bitter hostility to the republican party. The 
persistency with which he asserted, and spirit in which he argued 
the old democratic doctrine of "States' rights," was exceedingly 
unpopular with the party which had elected him, and which he 
must look to for reelection. The leaders of that party in the 
Legislature — or some of them at least — determined to throw him 
overboard, and during the last days of the session united in a 
letter to Ex-Governor Oglesby, calling on him to be the candidate 
for Governor. It was understood that if he was elected, and a 
republican Legislature was elected in 1872, Oglesby should be sent 
to the United States Senate. This made a lively scramble for 
the position of Lieutenant Governor. The "liberal movement," 
so-called for want of a better name, started apparently by the few 

60—945 



946 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



United States Senators who took part in it, and endorsed enthu- 
siastically by a few of the leading republican newspapers, was for 
a time exceedingly popular at the political capital of this State, 
and many of the republican officials and ex-ofticers residing here, 
joined in it. Governor Palmer naturally found himself in that 
company, and cut loose from a party with which he was in sym- 
pathy upon every question except that of States' rights. The 
fiasco of the nominations at Cincinnati, destroyed whatever of 
opportunities the "liberal movement" had, and it expired imme- 
diately after its first campaign. 

The republican convention met in Springfield, May, 1872, and 
sent to the national convention a delegation in favor of the 
re-nomination of President Grant, and selected the following 
ticket : For Governor, E. J. Oglesby ; Lieutenant Governor, John 
L. Beveridge ; Secretary of State, Geo. H. Harlow; Auditor, 
Chas.E.Lippincott; Treasurer, Edward Rutz ; Attorney General, 
James K. Ed sail. 

The democratic convention met in Springfield, June 26th, and 
the ticket which was presented, composed in equal numbers of 
democrats and liberal republicans, was an exceedingly strong one. 
The names were as follows : For Governor, Gustavus Koerner ; 
for Lieutenant Governor, John C. Black : for Secretary of State, 
Edward Piummel ; for Auditor, Daniel O'Hara ; for Treasurer, C. 
H. Lanphier; for Attorney General, Laurence Weldon. The 
mistake of selecting the candidate at Cincinnati was enough to 
defeat the whole ticket, and did. A more rediculous political 
blunder was never known in this country than the selecting of 
Horace Greeley as the standard bearer of the democratic hosts. 
It is a piece of history which will probably never "repeat itself, " 
in this century at least. The election of the repu!)lican ticket 
followed from the force of circumstances, by majorities ranging 
from 85,334 to 56,174, the latter for General Grant, and a Legis- 
lature of like political shade. The organization of the Legislature 
was effected by the election of Shelby M. Cullom, Speaker, and 
Daniel Shepherd, Clerk, of the House ; John Early, President _/7m 
temijore, and D. A. Eay, Secretary, of the Senate. Governor 
Oglesby was at once elected to the Senate, and resigned his seat 
as Governor, and Lieutenant Governor Beveridge became Gov- 
ernor by virtue of the position to which he was elected. 

John L. Beveridge was born in Washington county, New York, 
July 6th, 1824. His parentage was Scotch Presbyterian. His 
grand-parents had come to this country, along with many others, 
under the patronage of the Duke of Argyle, who owned a con- 
siderable tract of land in that county. _ They were a stern and 
rigid people, wavering naught from a strict obedience of the letter 
and spirit of the law. Under such influences, and on a soil which 
yielded far from liberal returns to the labors of the tillers, the 
subject of this sketch grew up to early manhood, helping, by daily 
toil, to increase the slight household stores, giving a few months 
of each year to such common schools as the community he lived 
in demanded and could provide. The parents could give but little 
in the way of advantages, as that word is usually understood, but 
they gave more, they gave him an example rich in christian 
experience, taught him industry, frugality and honesty, the richest 



beveridgb's administration. 9J:7 

inheritance that can be bestowed. The boy who learns to 
work is on the road to salvation. As he grew up he never for ot 
this portion of his education. Later he became attached to the 
Methodist church, and has been through life a member of that 
denomination of christians. 

In 1842, the elder Beveridge removed with his family to DeKalb 
county, Illinois, where the son continued to work on the farm and 
attend school. He attended academy one term, in Granville, 
Putnam county. From 1843 to 1845, he attended Eock River 
Seminary, at Mt. Morris, one term each year. Arriving at his 
majority, he set out for himself, and made his home in Tennessee, 
and engaged in teaching, studying law during his spare hours. 
He was married in Chicago, in 1848, and returned to Tennessee, 
where he remained until 1851, then moved to Sycamore, in this 
State. He remained here until 1854, when he made Evanston 
his home, opening a law office in Chicago. Later he formed a 
partnership with Hon. J. F. Farnsworth, which continued until 
the firm enlisted for the war. He raised a company for the 8th 
cavalry, and on the 18th of September, was elected Major, and 
started at once for the Potomac. In November, 1863, he was 
authorized to raise a cavalry regiment, which was filled in Jan- 
uary, 1864, and set out for Missouri, where it did valiant service 
until the close of the rebellion. He was retained in service on 
special duty until February 6th, 1866, when he was mustered out 
with the rank of Brigadier-General. Always an ardent republican, 
and having in five years service become used to active life rather 
than that of the office, he turned his attention to official life, with 
what success the record will show. He was elected sheriff of 
Cook county in 1866 ; State Senator in 1870 ; Congressman for 
the State-at-Large in 1871 ; Lieutenant Governor m 1872, and 
became Governor on the resignation of Governor Oglesby, January 
21st, 1873, three times in succession in as many years resigning 
one office to accept another. In October, 1881, he was appointed 
to the important position of Assistant United States Treasurer, at 
Chicago, by President Arthur, without his knowledge. What 
experiences, what duties, what varied views of life, have been 
crowded into those twenty years ! Twenty years is not long, even 
in the life of a man, but those have been to Mr. Beveridge years 
crowded with varied and wonderful occurrences, — trials, dangers, 
triumphs, success. Mr. Beveridge is tall, erect, of splendid figure, 
his features regular, his hair already nearly white, while in every 
other outward indication he has the appearance of middle man- 
hood. He is a man of correct and regular business habits, easily 
approachable, true as the needle to his convictions, and kmdly 
and generous in his dealings and intercourse. His administration 
was successful in every branch. Free from even suspicion of 
wrong. At the very outset of his administration he encountered 
an opposition, which marred for a time the usefulness of one 
branch of his administration, the Railroad Commission. The 
terms of office of the Railroad Commissioners had expired, and 
there was a strong pressure brought to bear on the Governor to 
reappoint Mr. R. P. Morgan. He was a civil engineer by occu- 
pation, and had been engaged all his life in railroad building and 



948 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



management. He was credited also, by the "farmers' interest," 
with being friendly to their view of the railroad question. He 
had their support, and they clamored for his reappointment. 
When the Governor sent in the names of the Commission, which 
did not include Mr. Morgan's, his friends raised an opposition to 
the confirmation of the appointment, and it became evident it 
would fail. The names sent in were all republicans, and it was 
openly charged, by the friends of Mr. Morgan, that no Commis- 
sion would be confirmed which did not contain his name. The 
democrats in the Senate were "opposed to the Commission on 
principle;" could not see any good to come from it, and were 
prepared to vote against the nominations, to a man. In this 
juncture the Governor took counsel of the circumstances, with- 
drew the names he had sent in, and sent in their place the names 
of three more, two of whom were prominent and influential 
farmers, and one a democrat. This solved the difflculty, and 
Messrs. D. A. Brown, H. D. Cook, and John M. Pearson, were 
promptly confirmed, receiving enough of democratic votes to make 
their election sure. This was the reason for putting a democrat 
upon that board, and the plan continued for eight years. Mr. 
Cook died at the end of the tirst year, and Hon. James Steel was 
appointed in his place, serving until the end of the Governor's 
term. The unfortunate misunderstanding, and more especially 
the reasons industriously given for his course, rendered his 
administration, so far as the railroad question was concerned, 
unsatisfactory at its opening. The failure of the first laws to 
stand the test of the courts, was a still farther hindrance, but the 
legislation which he was called on to approve, as Governor, and 
to administer as executive, put the important questions which 
surrounded this question in the way of practical permanent 
settlement. 

The Revision of 1874; — One of the important matters of this 
administration was the completion of the revision of the statutes 
which had been inaugurated in 1869, a few chapters of which had 
been passed by the 27th General Assembly, at the regular session 
in 1871, and others at the adjourned session in 1872, 

In the interval between the revision of 1845 and that of 1874, 
the constitution of the State had twice been changed. The first — • 
in 1848— did not materially chEinge that of 1818. That of 1870, 
however, differed so widely from either of its predecessors that 
the work of revising and making the statutes conformable to it 
was largely increased. 

It is hardly probable that the legislature which passed the act 
to raise the Commission to "revise and rewrite the statutes" 
contemplated the extent or magnitude of the undertakii'g, as it 
I'equired the Commission to make only such changes and additions 
as were necessary to render the existing statutes "harmonious 
and complete," and to make "a printed report to the succeeding 
General Assembly." The act required a Commissioner to be 
appointed from each of the three grand divisions of the State. In 
accordance with this, Michael Schaetfer, of Salem ; W. E, Nelson, 
of Decatur, and Harry B. Hurd, of Evanston, were appointed. 
Though they entered upon the work with the understanding that 



beyeridge's administration. 949 

they were to collect and harmonize the existing laws, and com- 
prise the same in one enactment, to be called the " Revised 
Statutes," they soon found this could not be done under the new 
constitution, which required that no act should embrace more 
than one subject, which must be embraced in its title. This 
necessitated the enactment of each chapter by itself. In addition 
to this the constitution required so many changes in existing laws, 
and the enactment of so many new ones, that the Commission 
were compelled to construe their authority to require them to 
make all such changes and additions as should seem necessary. 
The time between the adoption of the constitution and the meeting 
of the next General Assembly was, of course, too short to do all 
the work, but such chapters as had been prepared were submitted. 
These bills received but little attention until the last of the session, 
when a few were passed. At first many of the members did not 
seem to take a very favorable view of the Commission. They did 
not think they needed outside help. Sensible of the necessity of 
the work, they had a greater estimate of their own ability to do it 
than comprehension of the magnitude and difficulty of the work. 
The less his ex] erience the more the confidence of the member in 
his ability to untangle the legal knot of fifty years special legisla- 
tion, and wave a consistent, harmonious fabric. To carry out the 
reforms of the new constitution was what he was elected to do. 
Perhaps he did not magnify his office, for its importance could 
hardly be overrated, but he did overestimate his ability, and any- 
thing which looked like "outside aid" was not to be cultivated. 
Several thousand bills were introduced to meet the requirement 
of the constitution, and make changes in the existing laws. After 
a loDg session it was agreed to hold another session the following 
wmter, at which about one-half of the revision was completed. 
Mr. Nelson having been elected to the legislature, he ceased to 
act with the Commission, and Mr. Schaetfer resigned soon after. 
There was no law for supplying their places, and no disposition to 
do so. Among the members of this Assembly who devoted time 
and intelligent study, coupled with great ability for the work, to 
the revision, the name of Senator Underwood, of St. Clair, must 
stand first. He was in every sense a great man. Coming into 
legislative halls at a time of terrible political commotion, his 
patriotism, legal attainment, and conscientious devotion to duty, 
made him a marked man. He stood like a wall against anarchy 
and corruption, and few of those who knew him will feel like dis- 
puting the statement that he had not his superior for the times. 
He afterward edited an annotated edition of the statutes. His 
death removed from the State one of its most valuable public 
men and estimable cicizens. Senators Allen C. Fuller and L. D. 
Whiting gave valuable aid to the work. In the House, a few only 
can be here named in this connection. Among the most efficient 
were, Mr. Cary, of Jo Daviess ; G. W. Armstrong, of La Salle, 
and P. H. Sanford, of Knox. 

At the opening of the 28th General Assembly, Mr. Hurd, the 
remaining Commissioner, found matters in a condition which did 
not bade great success. The bills which had been passed, had 
been published without arrangement or indices ; in many instances 



950 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



the laws passed were not in harmony with each other, and the 
same feeling of sufficiency remained in the new as had been in the 
last Assembly. The want of results precluded a depressing effect. 
The Commissioner had to overcome this feeling before he could 
accomplish anything. Another and perhaps greater difficulty 
arose. The people of the State were in a state of excitement, 
bordering on revolution upon the railroad question. The mem- 
bers of the Assembly, sympathizing with their constituents, 
thought that about all that was required' of them was to pass 
such laws as would forever put down monopolies, and preserve 
the " rights of the people." A law which was passed by a former 
legislature had just been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme 
Court, and the temper of the Assembly, urged on by public meet- 
ings held at home and in the hall of the House at Springfield, was 
more in favor of abolishing the Supreme Court, than of adopting 
a revision which would enable that court to give a satisfactory 
interpretation of the laws. For a time it seemed as though 
'•revising" had received its death, but later in the session, com- 
mittees of the two houses before which the "revision bills" came, 
as they began to examine into their real merits, became convinced 
that the plan of Mr. Hurd was not only a good one, but that it 
was favorable, and an adjourned session was decided on, at which 
these bills should be considered. To perfect these bills a special 
committee, consisting of Hons. Clark W. Upton and Charles B. 
Steele, of the Senate, Milton Hay, John M. Eountree and Charles 
Dunham, of the House, was raised, with power to sit during the 
intermission, and report at the adjourned session. When the 
Assembly met in 1874, these gentlemen, together with the Com- 
missioner of Eevision, made their report, and the work was 
pressed with all the vigor they possessed, which was no small 
amount. Mr. Hay had long been recognized as one of the best 
legal minds in the State, and, from being a member of the late 
Constitutional Convention, was fully acquainted and in sympathy 
with the radical changes which that instrument had produced. 
His colleagues, Messrs. Dunham and Eountree, while lacking the 
State reputation of the former, were men of well-balanced minds, 
broad views and large information. In the Senate Messrs. Upton 
and Steele were recognized leaders. The former, who still lives 
to grace the bench of the State, has few superiors in the State in 
elegant mental powers, knowledge of the law, and a wonderful 
tact and ability to use such knowledge to the best account. He 
became so thoroughly imbued with the work, that he seemed to 
have no care for anything else. His enthusiasm for it did more 
to popularize the work which Mr. Hurd had been four years 
engaged on, than all other things put together ; indeed, with the 
common man, (he who does the voting for others' thinking,) the 
fact that "Upton says its all right," was sufficient guarantee. 
Senator Steele, whose early death was a public loss, was one of 
the most remarkable men this State has produced. He was an 
Adjutant in the Mexican war, at the age of eighteen, and held a 
like position in the regiment which Col. U. S. Grant led at the 
opening of the rebellion. With an extremely nervous temperament, 
he suffered a shock which almost completely paralized his left 
side, rendering him at times almost helpless. As a speaker he 



beveridge's administration. 951 



was without a peer. With a wealth of language, superlative tact 
in the manner of presenting his thoughts, an autliority which 
comes only from full conciousness of ability, he seldom failed to 
make himself felt. Indeed he was an anomaly. With his little 
trembling form was coupled as fine a face as an artist could wish 
for a model, and without the physical strength to study deeply 
the subjects which he wished to talk on, (which embraced every 
subject before the Assembly) he seemed to receive by intuition 
that which, to those who heard him, was put in the most con- 
yincing way. The work of presenting the bills, explaining and 
defending them on the floor of the House, fell upon Mr. Kountree, 
and most admirably did he accomplish it. Though new to legis- 
lative life, he had a wide acquaintance with men, a thorough 
knowledge of the law, great tact and power in argument. His 
good management carried the work of revision through the House. 

Mr. Hurd, upon whom rested the real work of revision, had a 
most difficult task to perform, a task which for a time seemed 
almost hopeless. What at first appeared to be divided among 
the three Commissioners, little more than clerical work, was, by 
the requirements of the new constitution, the resignation of two 
members, the jealousies of individuals, the opposition of legisla- 
tors, and above all, the procrastination caused by all of these 
influences, became a heartless, almost thankless, and apparently 
endless endeavor. Confident of the correctness of his own theory, 
the value of his labors, the real necessity for it, he continued, 
hoping almost against hope, until at the end of five years he was 
able to lay before the people of the State a volume containing all 
the statutes in a compact, intelligible and consistent form, which 
was, under the direction of the legislature, sold at two dollars per 
■volume. It proved a triumph worthy the labor bestowed. 

The scope of this work does not permit of going into detail, but 
it is enough to say that in some chapters very material changes 
were made, notably, in "Practice," "Husband and Wife," 
" Clerks," and " Dower." In all these, as in others, the changes 
were in the direction of progress, and toward the more liberal 
legislation of the age. The common law pleadings were not dis- 
pensed with, but the more important provisions of "the code" 
were incorporated into the Practice Act. While the chapters 
which were adopted in 1872, show evidence of an intention to 
retain the disabilities of married women, those adopted in 1874 
show that, by that time, both the revisor and the legislature had 
reached the conclusion that the wife was " and of right ought to 
be" equal in the eye of the law to her husband or any other man. 

The chapters on " Ptailroads " and "Warehouse," were of 
course new, the latter being prepared by the Chicago Board of 
Trade, and was largely the work of its secretary, Mr. Eandolph. 

The Farmers' Movement. — The organization known as the 
""Farmers' Movement," came into being, and grew out of the dis- 
satisfaction which depression and high rates of transportation 
produced. In another chapter, which pertains largely to the rail- 
road question, all the causes of this dissatisfaction are fully given. 
Earnest men, laboring under the same difficulties, always band 
together for a common cause. The men who found themselves 



952 HISTORY OF ILLLINOIS. 



suffering under the disadvantages which oppressive rates of trans- 
portation brought on them, met and formed county organizations 
to make an organized effort to demand rehef and discuss their 
interests. It was but a Httle step from that to a State organization. 
The first State meeting of the Farmers was held in Blooming- 
ton, in the latter part of January, 1873. Senator Whiting made 
the opening address, and struck the key note in more thorough 
organization, restriction of the growing power of railroad corpora- 
tions, and relief from the oppression which weighed down 
agriculture in a State rich in everything but wholesome laws. 
Among the men who by voice and pen made their power felt in 
this movement, were John H. Bryant, of Princeton, who had 
probably taken lessons in radical thought and expression from 
Mr. Lovejoy; Prof. Turner, of Jacksonville; Hon. Willard C. 
Flagg, of Madison county, one of the most comprehensive and 
instructive writers upon agricultural subjects in the west, and 
many others less prominent. Probably none of these men looked 
toward party action, in the political sense of that word, at first, 
but proposed to discuss their grievances and demand measures 
of redress. What might easily have been foreseen, and indeed 
was probably contemplated by many, soon followed. An organized 
political party appeared. It took the name of Anti-Monopolist, 
and demanded the nomination of county and State tickets. Later 
in its history it became known as the Greenback party, and, 
while surrendering none of its opposition to the growing power of 
monopolies, it took strong position against national banks, and 
demanded a currency issued by the government, sufficient for the 
demands of trade, and that it be made a full legal tender for all 
debts, public and private. 

The Election of 1874. — In 1874 the new element made itself felt 
in the politics of the State. The fasco of 1872 had played itself 
out. The next movement for a third party had a very different 
basis, and was actuated by a different force. Men, who were 
themselves affected by ratf^s of freight which were being charged, 
saw — or at least that was the way they reasoned — that there was 
no way to overcome and correct the evils complained of except by 
organization. Two views took root, according to circumstances, 
in different men, one that the surest way out of the matter was 
by remaining in present political harness, and keeping the party 
to which he was attached firm upon the main question, the other, 
that both -parties were corrupt, and the only way to purify the 
body politic, and tumble the railroads, was to form a new party. 
The "Farmers' Movement" thus assumed the proportions and 
paraphernalia of a new political party. Like all parties under 
such conditions, it was inclined to unite with the weaker of the 
two existing ones, to defeat the stronger. This new movement, 
became strongest in the "corn belt" — in these counties which 
were the largest producers of corn. By 1874 it had become strong- 
enough to make a State canvass, and held its convention and . 
nominated David Gore for Treasurer, and S. M. Etter for Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction. When the Democratic convention, 
met, a strong effort was made to induce it to endorse these candi- 
dates, and there was an evident intention to do so. After agreeing 



beveeidge's administration. 953 

on Mr. Etter, Mr. Beatty T. Burke, a veteran democrat of 
Macoupin county, the home of Mr. Gore, used his utmost 
endeavors and great influence with the members of the convention 
against endorsing Mr. Gore. He was successful, and Charles 
Carroll was nominated. The secret of Mr. Burke's opposition 
was never publicly known, but whatever it was, it defeated the 
only chance the democrats have had in more than twenty years 
to elect their State ticket. The republican convention nominated 
Mr. W. B. Powell for Superintendent, and Thomas S. Ridgeway 
for Treasurer. For the first time in the history of that party in 
this State, it stood in imminent danger of defeat, and for the first 
time a contest arose in regard to the currency question. The bill 
passed by Congress to increase the "greenback" currency — 
looked upon by many as a measure of "inflation" — had been 
vetoed by President Grant, and in its stead a measure diametri- 
cally opposed to it had been passed by the republicans as a 
party measure. Mr. Green B. P,aum, since then Commissioner 
of Internal Revenue, was a delegate to this convention, and suc- 
ceeded in incorporating into the platform, in committee, a clause 
which pledged the republicans of this State in favor of "retiring 
the United States notes, and supplying their place with national 
bank currency." The opposition to such a measure was so strong 
in the convention, that it was stricken out of the platform by the 
convention, by a majority of nearly one hundred. This was the 
real turning point, so far as this State was concerned, in the 
currency question, and the next Congress passed a bill, by a large 
majority, stopping farther retiring of the "greenbacks," and they, 
the currency of the people, were restored to favor as the perma- 
nent currency of the country. The election resulted in the success 
of Mr. Eidgeway for Treasurer, and Mr. Etter, the candidate of 
the democrats and anti-monopolists, for Superintendent, with a 
legislature in which the republicans were in a minority in both 
houses. In its organization a union was effected between the 
democrats and independents, electing A. A. Glenn, President pro 
tempore of the Senate, and E. M. Haines, Speaker of the House. 

The Haines Legislature. — That Mr. Haines was the controlling 
spirit in this combination will hardly be denied, and as such, is 
entitled to all the credit, as he certainly received all the denun- 
ciation resulting from it. He was a man of consummate skill, 
great experience in the affairs of the State, ready, quick, plausible 
and positive. The House, under his Speakership, was in a state 
of chronic confusion and turmoil. The Speaker was never 
excited. Not so however with the members. A picture of that 
House, which would represent the placid Speaker, surrounded by 
Hopkins, swinging his only fist in defiance ; Jones, doubling both 
himself and his voice to demonstrating his proposition ; Plater, 
cutting the air with his long fingers, and shaking his flowing 
locks, while he piped out his intense demand for "two more 
policemen;" Major Connolly, stamping his foot at the Chair in a 
way which enforced the authority of mental vigor ; Dick Holmes, 
performing his soliloquy of swearing in the abstract ; Claflin, 
reading " Jefferson's Manual," in well modulated tones ; with the 
splendid form of Judge Bradwell, smoothing out the intricate 



954 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



wrinkles of a legislative day ; while a half dozen other members 
were striving for recognition, which to their disgust they seldom 
received, with the back-ground streaked with undeveloped states- 
men, would be a choice addition to our meager art display. 
Demonstrations of rank confusions, called "circuses," were pain- 
fully frequent. The only wonder is, that any legislation was 
accomplished. As it was, all the regular appropriation bills went 
through, and among the more important measures adopted were 
the following : To appropriate $10,000 for the expenses of State 
representation in the Centennial Exposition ; to provide for the 
trial of the right of property and claims of exemption in the 
county court ; to regulate the sale of railroad tickets, and to pre- 
vent the traffic in such tickets by " scalpers ;" uniform regulation 
of the management of State institutions, and to enlarge the powers 
of the State Board of ' Charities, and an act to provide for the 
repaying to the tax payers, that portion of the State tax which 
had been declared by the Supreme Court to have been illegally 
collected, under what was popularly known as the " Grab Act." 
This law, which will be found mentioned on page 934 of this 
volume, was finally declared unconstitutional in 1874, the court 
holding that it had been repealed by the constitution of 1870, and 
that the money which had already been paid in on the tax levy 
under consideration, 1873, amountmg to seven thirty-sixths of the 
State tax, had been illegally collected, and belonged to the per- 
sons who had severally paid it. It became then a serious ques- 
tion for officers who had been collecting the tax, for each one of 
them had made himself and his bond liable to each individual 
tax payer for one-sixth of all the State tax collected, and some 
legal method by which it could be returned must be discovered 
and authorized. State Senators Canfield and Murphy undertook 
to frame a bill for such a purpose. No precedent was known to 
exist in this or any other country, for no court had probably been 
called to pass on such a law. This bill required all the money 
thus illegally collected to be a refunding fund, — the State to be 
trustee of such "fund," and county collectors were authorized to 
pay it back to the original tax payers on presentation of their 
receipts or other evidence. All remedies for collecting by law 
from collectors, except the one prescribed in this law, were abol- 
ished, and the law officers of the State were directed to defend 
any suits at law commenced in violation of the provisions of this 
act, and any judgments rendered, and not reversed, were directed 
to be paid out of the county treasury of counties where the suits 
were instituted. This heroic measure, it is needless to say, 
accomplished the object, and no suits were commenced by those 
who had paid taxes. It seemed to be one of those cases where 
the end justified the legal means. 

Sketch of Speaker Haines.— Elijah M. Haines was born in 
Oneida county. New York, and, his father dying when he was only 
six years old, he was early thrown on his own resources. At the 
age of twelve he made his way west, in company with his brother 
John, and soon made his home in Lake county, Illinois. He 
acquired his education in the stern events of life. If he ever fol- 
lowed anybody's beck or leadership, he did it unknowingly. He 



beveridge's administration. 955 

commenced the study of law, and in 1851 was admitted to prac- 
tice, and opened a law office in Waukegan. In 1855 be published 
his first volume, "A Compilation of the Laws of Illinois relating to 
Township Organization." Following this he soon published like 
compilations for other northwestern States, and followed these, a 
year later, with a Treatise on the Duties of Justices of the Peace. 
These books of his became about the only stock in trade and law 
libraries of the justices through the State. "What does Haines 
say ?" was the standard question incontested cases before justices' 
courts. Always an independent, it can haxdly be said of Jiim 
that he ever really belonged to any party. At first he voted with 
the democracy. In 1859 he left it on the slavery issue, and for 
the few years following voted with the republicans. In 1860 he 
was elected to the Legislature, and reelected in 1862. His studies, 
in the line of his publications, gave him prominence in legislation, 
and, at the same time, made him naturally opposed to many 
changes in the existing laws. In 1865 he went with the Johnson 
movement, and has never called himself a republican since. In 
1867 he began to agitate the anti-monopoly question, making his 
fight against a system of warehouses, then not uncommon, and 
in 1869 was elected to the Constitutional Convention as an inde- 
pendent, on the warehouse issue. In that convention was a 
majority of one against the republicans, and Mr. Haines was that 
one, a fact that he was not slow to put to good use. He was 
elected to the legislature in 1870 and again in 1874, and was 
elected Speaker. 

Mr. Hames has been a useful man in the history of this State. 
It has become popular to criticise and traduce him. Perhaps he 
has, at times, deserved criticism, but he has few superiors in 
ability, experience and usefulness as a factor in the legislative 
history of the State. 

Illinois at the Centennial. — The Centennial Exposition, thanks 
to the enterprise and liberality of private citizens, rather than 
any display of munificence on the part of the State, presented a 
creditable exhibition of the leading characteristics of the State. 
The Legislature appropriated the meager sum of $10,000 to meet 
the expenses which a Commission, appointed by the Governor, 
might incur, no part however was to be paid to the Commissioners 
themselves. The Governor appointed John P. Reynolds and Hon. 
Carlile Mason, of Chicago; Gen. John C. Smith, of Galena; 
Francis Colton, of Galesburg ; and A. C. Spoft'ord, of Piockford, 
such Commissioners, who, together with Hon. Laurence Weldon, 
of Bloomington, and Dr. F. L. Matthews, of Carlinville, previ- 
ously apponited, formed the Illinois Board of Managers. Of this 
board, Mr. Reynolds was President, and Gen, Smith, Secretary. 
As soon as the managers notified the people of the State that 
applications would be received for space. State Superintendent 
Etter, and Dr. Gregory, of the Industrial University, began pre- 
paring for a complete educational display for the State. The 
State Board of Agriculture, through its officers, Lewis Ellsworth, 
H. D. Emery, and Secretary S. D. Fisher, began collecting a 
display of serials and products. A circular was issued calling on 
the newspaper publishers to send their papers during the months 



956 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



in which the Exposition would be opened, and manufacturers and 
others were invited to take that interest which the importance 
of the case demanded. The managers early decided that a build- 
ing for the State must be erected, and such an one as the meager 
means at their disposal would allow was built and furnished. 
Busniess men in Chicago and elsewhere supplemented the State 
appropriation by donations to complete the work. The Ihinois 
building was forty by sixty, with rear addition, two stories high, 
a veranda all around, with tower and flag-staff. In front of the 
building was a bust of Lincoln. The interior was furnished Iby 
the business men who have made Chicago famous by their enter- 
prise and success, Messrs. Field, Leiter & Co.. Ee'ed & Son, H. 
A. Elkin, A. H. Andrews & Co., and Geo. Wilson. In this elegant 
and comfortable Illinois home, supplied by the press of the State 
with two hundred and fifty newspapers, with writing paper and 
stationery, postoffice, water and fire, pianos, and of course the 
inevitable appurtenances of high civilization, such as no Illinoisan 
would fail to appreciate, looking-glasses and cuspidors, the weary 
pilgrims from the prairies found the three E's : rest, reading and 
recuperation. Those who spent any portion of that summer at 
the Centennial know how like home it was to them to drop in and 
rest from the intense fatigue which "pleasure seeking" brings. 
The mammoth Registry which was open there, and which when 
filled with the names of Illinoisans who were there, was deposited 
in the State Library, at Springfield, was the donation of Messrs. 
Culver, Page & Hoyne, 

The space which Gen. Smith, the Secretary of the Board of 
Managers, secured for the display of the cereals and minerals 
was, later, parceled out to the State Board of Agriculture, and to 
the Department of Education, and, with the space, the collec 
tions which the Secretary had made, so that they formed part of 
the displays of those two departments. 

The Educational Display. — The Superintendent of Public 
■Instruction, when he decided to prepare for an educational repre- 
sentation of the State, called on the leading educators of the State 
to meet him at Chicago, and there laid before them the impor- 
tance to the State of a creditable exhibition, and also the difficul- 
ties in the way, the first of which was want of funds. Such an 
undertaking would cost several thousand dollars, and no public 
funds were at the disposal of the department for such purpose. 
The State had grudgingly given ten thousand dollars, every dol- 
lar of which had been appropriated, and the managers had 
already been industriously "passing around the hat" to enable 
the richest western State to go to the show decently. The 
teachers of Illinois had seen "hard times" before this, and did 
not shrink from the endeavor. They adopted a plan for the dis- 
play and for raising the necessary funds among themselves, the 
general outline of which was the following, understood to have 
been suggested by Prof. Duane Doty : The subject should be 
divided into two general divisions. Private and Public schools, 
each of which to be again divided into history, appliances and 
results. The financial scheme adopted was, to appeal to county 
superintendents, and through them to teachers and friends of 



beveridge's administration. 957 

education for voluntary contributions. Committees were appointed 
for each of these brandies. The work was immense, but not 
beyond the enthusiastic devotion of the noble men and women 
who had it in charge. The catalogue of exhibits bore the follow- 
ing title : '"This exhibit is prepared under the direction of the 
Illniois State Teachers' Association, and is made at the expense 
of the teachers, officers and pupils of the schools of the State. 
It presents the educational condition of the State as shown by 
its Primary Schools, Ungraded Schools, Graded Schools, High 
Schools and Seminaries, Normal Schools, Colleges, Industrial 
University, other Educational and Charitable Institutions, Mu- 
seum of Natural History, other Educational and Professional work, 
and by its Department of Public Instruction." (For the full 
catalogue, which is of itself a very interesting study, the reader 
is referred to the Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, 1875-76, which ought to be in every public library in 
the State.) The amount voluntarily contributed, principally by 
the teachers of the State, for this purpose, was $4,652. The 
arduous duty of preparing the collections for shipment, and 
arranging after arriving at their destination, was assigned to 
Professor S. H. White, of the Peoria County Normal School. 
That this exacting duty was faithfully performed need hardly 
be stated. While engaged in writing this sketch, the sad news 
of the death of this estimable and devoted educator is received. 
His labors are ended. Not so his valuable example and good 
works. Of the exhibit, Prof. White wrote, "In its character 
the exhibit is creditable to the teachers of the State. As a 
presentation of work actually done by pupils and students, it 
is not surpassed in its completeness and excellence when taken 
as a whole. In a single feature others are superior, as Massa- 
chusetts, in art. No State has, by any means, so good an exhibit 
of its higher educational work as is made by our Industrial Uni- 
versity, and I think that the work of the Ungraded Schools of the 
country districts is not represented by any so fully as by several 
of our county superintendents." Prof. White made a full report 
of the display when he returned. The articles themselves were, 
after the exhibition, returned. The Diploma awarded, and the 
bronze medal, are on exhibition in the rooms of the Department. 

Agricultural Board.—The State Board of Agriculture undertook 
the work of having the Banne r Agricultural State represented, but 
owing to the penurious policy of the State, encountered a "sea of 
troubles." At an expense to the board of more than two thousand 
dollars, a collection numbering several hundred specimens — in 
addition to the number General Smith supplied — consisting of 
eereals, seeds, woods, wools, soils, samples of stone, brick, tile, 
coal, etc., were forwarded. The endeavor to make a showing of 
fruits failed, and live-stock does not seem to have been in the 
plan. Mr. H, D. Emery had charge of the undertaking for the 
board, assisted by Mr. Jonathan Periam, of the Prairie Farmer. 
The board received a Diploma for the largest display of cereals. 
Very many of the samples were exchanged with foreign exhibiters, 
and those received were returned with the exhibit to the Museum 
of the Department at Springfield. The display was creditable to 



95S mSTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



the State, but not what it ought to have been. No other State 
exhibit surpassed that of Illinois in quantity, classification and 
arrangement of cereals, and completeness of details. 

General Smith, in his report to the Governor, says: "Of the 
general exhibition, the good eifect upon the industries of the 
nation, advantages to all classes of visitors and grand success, it 
is not necessary to speak in detail. It can be said that in this 
exposition Illinois did her part and did it well, ranking as sixth in 
number of exhibiters and amount of space occupied. The citizens 
of this State bore off their full share of prizes, very many of whom 
have expressed in terms of gratitude, their indebtedness to your 
State Board for their labors in securing a full and impartial con- 
sideration of the merits of their exhibits. When we consider our 
distance from the place, the fact that trade is still depressed from 
ihe late panic, our principal cit,\ not yet recovered from the 
disastrous conflagration which destroyed the leading houses, the 
result is very gratifying." 

On the close of the exhibition the State building was sold for a 
sum much larger in proportion to its cost than any other building 
on the ground. This was owing to the fact that it was erected 
with a view to this result. When the Commission closed its 
labors, a report was made to the Governor, showing full results, 
and was accompanied by a resolution, setting forth that its Sec- 
retary had given a year of time continually to the labor of 
superintending the exhibit of the State, and spent a considerable 
portion of his time the previous year in correspondence and 
preparation, that he ought to be reimbursed, and that, in the 
judgment of the managers, the State should pay him $3,000. 
This was communicated to the Legislature, but not a dollar was 
ever voted. 

Glenn's Claim. — During the latter part of the administration of 
Governor Beveridge, Archibald A. Glenn, a Senator from the 36th 
District, was President of the Senate, and as such, became acting 
Lieutenant-Governor, and acted as Governor when Governor 
Beveridge was absent from the State. Mr. Giemi had been long 
a resident of Brown county, where he enjoyed to a very large 
degree the confidence and respect of his friends and neighbors. 
He was almost continually in official position, and had character 
well fixed for honesty and frugality. No breath of suspicion was 
ever raised against him. During the revulsion which followed the 
panic of 1873, his property, like that of thousands of others, was 
swept away, and then past the meridian of life, he found it neces- 
sary to commence life anew. He removed to Kansas and engaged 
in business. In 1881 he appeared before the Legislature of this 
State, asking that he should receive pay as Governor during the 
time he had acted as such officer, under Article V, Section 17, of 
our Constitution, which says : "In case of * * absence from 
the State or other disability of the Governor, the powers, duties 
and emoluments of the office * * shall devolve on the Lieut. 
Governor." Mr. Glenn had acted in that capacity sixty-eight 
days. The Judiciary Committee took the matter under advise- 
ment, and reported that there was no precedent for paying an 
acting Governor who served in temporary absence, but the legis- 



beveridge's administration. 959 

lature decided to pay it, and appropriated $1,118, There was 
some hesitancy about making the precedent, some doubt about 
the legality of it, but every one seemed ghid to see the old man 
draw the money, and felt that if the Constitution was never 
stretched any worse than that, the liberties of a free, enlightened, 
and wealthy people would never be in immediate danger of fading 
away. 

Goi'ernor Beveridge's Closing Message. — The administration was 
a clean and an honorable one. Extending over four years of 
depression, financial wreck and consequent political agitation, 
disaster and complaint, it was beyond doubt a sati-sfactory and 
successful one. One difficulty it encountered was "tax-fighting," 
the combined result of financial depression, bungling laws, a bad 
line of judicial decisions and innate dishonesty of the average 
human heart, which satisfies a man that he is a pretty good 
citizen as long as he is "law honest." The occasion was happily 
taken by the Governor to impress on the legislature, in his closing 
message, the trouble which the executive power of the State had 
with "tax-fighters." The Governor says the theory of our law is, 
first, to list all property ; second, to ascertain its true cash value ; 
third, to collect all taxes ; this every one knows is never done. 
Tax-fighting is made a remunerative occupation, and he advised 
that authority be given to the courts, when tax cases came before 
them, to determine just what the complainant ought to pay, and 
enforce it by judgment and execution, "I trust this subject will 
receive careful and candid consideration. No subject will come 
before the assembly more complex and more difficult of legisla- 
tion." It is not too much to say that there is not a worse revenue 
system in the Union. In regard to the State institutions, the 
Governor says: "The twelve public institutions receiving State 
aid have lived within their income. At the close of the fiscal 
year, each had a surplus on hand — a condition of out public 
institutions unprecedented in the history of the State." 

"The charitable and reformatory institutions were placed by 
the last Legislature under the especial supervision of the State 
Commission of Public Charities. The result of this supervision 
is, comparison of expenditures and uniformity of accounts, tend- 
ing to greater watchfulness and economy," 

In regard to the question of pardons the Governor says — which 
is creditable alike to the head and heart of the man — "Experi- 
ence, as chief executive, has taught me that men differ as to what 
IS justice — that justice, as administered by man, is not perfect 
and exact, and can only be so when admiuistered by him who 
tempers justice with mercy ; that while there is a difference in 
crimes, and of guilt in crimes of the same class, there is great 
disproportion in punishment of crimes, and that punishments are 
oftentimes severe, if not absolutely cruel and inhuman." 

"The power to grant reprieves, commutations and pardons is 
vested solely and absolutely with the Governor. * * Invested 
with this authority, amid his varied and responsible duties, he 
should carefully and patiently consider each case presented to 
him ; and keeping in view the interest of society, the discipline 
of the prison and reformation of the convict, and that all people, 



960 



HISTOEY OF ILLLINOIS. 



Governor and convict, are but men crying daily for mercy, fear- 
lessly and faithfully discharge his duty under the Constitution, as 
he sees it, and not as other men, devoid of authority and responsi- 
bility, and ignorant of the facts, see it. Over 1,200 applications 
have been presented to me for executive clemency. It is impossi- 
ble for the Governor to give so many cases the consideration 
they deserve. I am conscious of having made mistakes. The 
experience of every parent, especially those who have laid their 
little ones away in the earth, or seen their grown up sons and 
daughters choose a life of infamy and crime, is, that in dealing 
with their children, they have made sad mistakes. I have par- 
doned some I ought not, and with the light of to-day, I wish I 
had not ; and I have omitted to pardon some whom I would now 
pardon, could I call them back from their graves in the thick 
woods behind the begrimmed walls of that solitary prison, and 
send them home to die amid friends, and in the arms of a mother." 

State Institutions and the Board of Public Charities. — In addition 
to the Penitentiary, a historical sketch of which is given in 
another chapter, those known as "State Institutions," embrace 
the four asylums for.the insane, the institutions for the education 
of the blind, the deaf and dumb, and the feeble-minded, eye and 
ear infirmary, soldiers' orphans' home, and the State reform 
school, ten in all, and are under the supervision of the State 
Board of Commissioners of Public Charities. These institutions 
have all been the outgrowth of necessity and humanity in its 
practical developments. For several years the dependent classes 
were under the not too tender provisions of various pauper acts, 
and their care depended largely on the kindness of township 
overseers and those to whom county commissioners entrusted 
them. 

Deaf and Dumb Institution. — In 1839 the Legislature passed an 
act for establishing an "Asylum for the Education of the Deaf 
and Dumb," at Jacksonville. The directors to whose care and 
management the institution was given, nineteen in number, were 
made personally responsible for the faithful expenditure of the 
funds voted for that purpose. A portion of the interest of the 
"Seminary fund" was appropriated to meet its expenses, and so 
continued until 1873. In 1851 a tax of one-sixth of one mill was 
laid for the support of the institution. It was not, however, until 
1849 that the building, supposed to have cost about |25,000, was 
completed. This building was afterwards known as the south 
wing ; the center was commenced in 1849 and finished in 1853, 
and the north wing, began in the s,ame year, was completed in 
1857. The buildings, together with improvements and lands, 
have cost about $300,000. Mr. Thomas Officer was appointed 
principal in 1846, and retained his position for ten years. With 
all the years of preparation it is singular, indeed almost incon- 
ceivable now, that few pupils could be collected for education. 
The first term opened with four pupils and closed with nine. The 
Principal advertised and even traveled over the State with a class 
of his pupils, giving exhibitions of their powers, and explaining 
his system of education. With all this only about fifty were in 



beveridge's administration. 961 

attendance until be began receiving pupils from other States. 
In 1857, Pbillip G. Gillett, a gentleman of great energy, skill and 
ability, was appointed superintendent, a position wbicb be still 
retains. Under bis management new life was infused, and tbere 
was little reason to complain of want of advertisement. Tbe 
institution was expected to receive its support from tbe tuition of 
pupils, in addition to wbat it received from tbe seminary fund — 
scarcely :|3,000 per annum — but from tbe first, additional appro- 
priations were necessary. Tbe grand total of money appropriated 
is, according to Secretary Wines. $1,725,000, wbile tbe average 
number of attendants for live years last past, is five bundred, 
making tbis tbe largest institution in tbe world. 

Insane Asylums. — In 1847, Miss Doratby L. Dix, known as 
tbe "Crazy Angel" for ber labors in bebalf of tbe most unfortunate 
class of mankind, appeared before tbe Legislature of tbis State, 
and induced tbat body to pass tbe bill for establisbing tbe first 
hospital in tbe State, tbe twenty-eighth in tbis country. Tbis is 
not the place to speak at length of tbe labors of that wonderfully 
useful woman, but the credit belongs to ber for having impressed 
the legislative mind with the deplorable condition of the insane 
in tbis State, and of inaugurating the hospital which has in about 
thirty years grown into tbe system of wbicb tbe citizens of this 
State may well feel proud. The hospital was located at Jackson- 
ville, and tbe first board of trustees was organized by the election 
of Judge S. D. Lockwood, president. Tbe appropriation was 
made to cover the grounds and tbe building, wbile the expense of 
care and maintenance was to be charged to the patients, if able 
to pay, and to tbe county from which sent, if unable. Dr. J. M. 
Higgins was appointed superintendent, and superintendent of the 
building. In 1852 tbe east wing was completed, and tbe $80,000 
expended in the five years had required nearly fifty independent 
contracts. The first patient was received in November, 1851, 
and by tbe end of 1852 there were eighty-two. The administra- 
tion of affairs did not work entirely smooth in those "good old 
times." Legislative investigation, unwillingness to vote appro- 
priations — some called it economy — and lack of water, followed by 
epidemics, were among the ills. These were followed up by com- 
plaints of patients and discharged employes, in regard to cruelty, 
fraud, etc. Appropriations were scanty, and the unfinished 
building went to ruin. Collecting pay from patients or from the 
county, was found often impracticable, and in 1865, after twenty 
years of trifling, the State adopted the plan of paying annually a 
sum for the support of the institution. 

In 1869 appropriations were made for the establishment of two 
additional asylums, and after the usual contests for various sites, 
they were located, one at Elgin, and tbe other at Anna. Time 
and experience bad not been entirely wasted, and the work of 
accepting plans and building was more rapidly and more satis- 
factorily performed. The legislature readily voted tbe appropria- 
tions necessary, and tbe buildings were completed at a cost not 
varying much from $600,000 cash. 

In 1877 the Legislature provided for tbe building of an eastern 
hospital for the insane, which was located at Kankakee, and is 
61 



962 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



now in process of building. In this the "cottage plan" is inaugu- 
rated in this State, that is, in place of the large buildings with 
wards, small buildings separate from each other are provided. 
This is done by the advice of some of the most experienced menj 
but is largely experimental. 

By the last report of the State Board of Charities the inmates 
in the four hospitals were : Northern, 522 ; Eastern, 185 ; Central, 
639; Southern, 498; total, 1,844, and the annual ordinary 
expenses for the last year, $381,810. 

The Cook county asylum for the insane is capable of accom- 
modating about five hundred patients, and there are small private 
asylums at Batavia and at Jacksonville, Hundreds of this 
unfortunate class are in the county poor houses, the condition of 
most of whom is hopeless. 

After several changes in the law, it seems now to be the policy 
of this State to send to the asylums only such as are proved to be 
insane by a regular trial before a county court and jury, thereby 
excluding from the benefit of asylum treatment that interesting 
class, the one which might reasonably hope for more benefit 
from such treatment, those who show symptoms of approaching 
dethronement of reason. 

Institution for the Blind. — The third in order of State institu- 
tions, also located at Jacksonville, from an impression probably 
that the State could better protect her interests if her charities 
were in one location — an idea now gradually vanishing — was 
that for the blind, in 1849. The board of trustees of this State, 
like those of the others, had Judge Lockwood for president, and 
appointed Mr. Bacon, superintendent, a blind man, who had 
recently opened a school for the education of the blind there. 
Twenty-three pupils were cared for the first year. The next year 
Dr. Joshua Ehodes was appointed Superintendent, and continued 
to act until 1874, when he was followed by Eev. F. W. Phillips. 
The building originally erected -was destroyed by fire in 1869. It 
has been peculiarly fortunate in its financial management, and 
with reference to absence from internal commotions calling for 
investigations or complaints. The average attendance now is 
seventy-seven, and the last annual statement of ordinary expenses, 
'"3,348. 



The Asylum for Idiots, — Jacksonville was again, in 1865, the 
place chosen to inaugurate an institution for the dependents of 
the State, when an appropriation was made to provide a school 
for idiots. The appropriation of $5,000 per annum was given in 
charge of the trustees for the institution for the deaf and dumb, 
who rented a building, and appointed Dr. C. I. AVilber as super- 
intendent. For years the superintendent of the latter, and of the 
insane hospital, had felt the necessity for such a place in conse- 
quence of the frequency with which persons who were wanting in 
mental capacity had been sent to their institutions for treatment. 
The institution was continued at Jacksonville until other pro- 
vision was made. The legislature of 1875 appropriated $185,000 
for grounds and buildings. The commissioners to whom the 
selection was given chose Lincoln as the place for location. 



beveridge's administration. 963 

Forty acres of land was purchased, and the necessary buildings 
erected, and in 1878 it was occupied. The central idea of the 
plan of education, which is a comparatively new one, is to 
encourage the growth and expansion of whatever mental capacity 
the child may, by experience, be found to have, in exercise, habits 
and manners, accustoming them by kind and regular treatment 
to certain things easy of comprehension. Colors and forms are 
used to educate through the eye, leading rather than instructing, 
as that word is ordinarily understood. There is a wide difference 
in the public estimation yet, as to the value of the results of the 
experiment, but no doubt as to the institution from a humani- 
tarian standpoint. The average attendance is now 286; the 
annual ordinary expense, $56,711. 

The Soldiers' Orphans' Home — Originated, as its name would 
indicate, in a desire on the part of a great State to provide for the 
small children of those who died or had become disabled in their 
country's service on the field of battle. This was afterward so 
extended as to include the children of those who had been soldiers 
and who have since died. The appropriation was made in 1865, 
and the site selected at Normal, where buildings were erected, 
and after going through with the usual incidents of State institu- 
tions, financial loss by carelessness, or worse, improper and 
insecure buildings, ineffectual "heating apparatus," charges, and 
legislative investigations, it stands as one of the noblest and most 
satisfactory State charities. Mrs. Virginia C. Ohr is, and has 
been from the beginning, superintendent of the institution, a very 
efficient and successful officer. The time of the inmates is largely 
given to attendance on school duties and in learning useful 
employment in the house and on the farm. The average attend- 
ance is now 301 ; annual ordinary expense, $43,461. 

The State Reform School. — The very general feeling that, in the 
interests of humanity and reformation, some more suitable place 
than the jails and penitentiaries should be provided for youthful 
criminals, and those who were without suitable parental restraint, 
induced several attempts on the part of gentlemen of humani- 
tarian ins incts, to secure legislative action in the direction of a 
State Keform School. Confinement in jails and penitentiaries, 
where punishment and restramt were the objects saught, could 
hardly be expected to perform any marked degree of reformation. 
An institution of this kind was already in suecessful operation in 
Cook county, and in 18G7 an act was passed appropriating suffi- 
cient money to purchase a site and erect suitable buildings for 
an institution "for the reformation of juvenile offenders and 
vagrants." The institution was placed under the management of 
a board of seven trustees, appointed by the Governor, and was to 
receive such criminals, boys only, between the ages of eight and 
eighteen, as were, under then existing laws, confined in the jails 
or penitentiary, and was also to receive such boys "destitute of 
proper parental care, or growing up in mendicancy, ignorance, 
idleness or vice," as seemed to be proper subjects for the care and 
restraint of such an institution. Of this latter class the board of 
trustees were constituted the legal guardian, and was authorized 



964 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



by this organic act to deal by them as a guardian may by law 
deal by a ward, and to bind them out when thought best. This 
was the comprehensive plan upon which the State Eeform School 
was instituted. Later, by a judicial decision, an account of which 
is given below, the entire plan was changed, and the Reform 
School became, in reality, a juvenile penitentiary, retaining only 
in name and discipline, the character originally intended. 

The act applied to all ttie State except Cook county, which 
already had a reform school. Girls were to be sent to the Cook 
county institution in case suitable provision should be made for 
them there, otherwise the trustees of the State institution were 
authorized to provide a separate building for them. 

Like all the acts for establishing State institutions of that 
period, this one authorized counties, towns or cities to offer a 
bonus for the location within its borders, of the school, a vicious 
system of legislation now happily discontinued in this State. 

The board of trustees organized by the election of Hon. S. W. 
Moulton, of Shelbyville, chairman, and decided to locate the 
institution at Pontiac, Livingston county, accepting offers of 
donation of $50,000 by the county, and $25,000 by the town, and 
sixty-four acres of land from J. W. Fell, for its location. Bonds 
for this amount were issued by the county and town, sold for par, 
and the entire amount, in cash, paid to the treasurer of the board 
of trustees. 

The trustees purchased one hundred and forty-six acres of land 
adjoining, and erected a building at a cost of $76,000, which has 
since been supplemented by several additional buildings, as 
necessity called for them. The institution has contained an 
average of about two hundred inmates up to the present time. 
The time of those confined is divided between study, work and 
recreation. After the Chicago fire, the Cook county reform 
school was closed, and those confined in it transferred to the 
State institution. In 1874 an act was passed authorizing the 
trustees to make contracts with manufacturers for the time of the 
inmates, for not to exceed six hours a day, to do such light work, 
within the institution, as they were able to do. Under such con- 
tracts shoe making and cane chair making has been carried on. 
The board of trustees was afterward reduced to three in number. 

While the building was in course of construction, and before it 
was formally opened, a boy who was confined in the Cook county 
reform school, of that class who were "destitute of proper parental 
care," was brought before the Supreme Court upon a writ of 
habeas corpus, and discharged from the control of the institution, 
on the ground that he was illegally restrained of his liberty, the 
court holding that under our constitution, a boy of tender years 
was a person, and could not be confined except by "due process 
of law;" that "due process of law" meant trial and conviction of 
a crime by a court of competant jurisdiction. This decision may 
be considered the law of this State to-day. It of course set at 
liberty all other than convicts, and prevented the wholesome 
restraint of those "destitute of proper parental care or growing 
up in mendicancy, ignorance, idleness or vice," whom this institu- 
tion was especially intended to benefit. There is no reason to 



beveridge's administration. 965 

suppose that the same ruling would not also prevent the enforce- 
ment of any law calculated to require the compulsory attendance 
upon public schools. 

Geo. W. Perkins, who had been superintendent of the Cook 
county institution, was the first superintendent, but resigning at 
the end of a year. Dr. J. D. Scouller, who had served as physician 
and superintendent of the St. Louis reform school, was selected. 
A worthier selection could not have been made. 

The Eye and Ear Infirmary. — This institution, formerly a purely 
voluntary charity, under the management of several gentlemen, 
with the late W. L. Newberry at their head, became, after years 
of very gratifying success, a State institution, through the effects 
of the wording of the constitution of 1870, which prohibited the 
Legislature from voting any appropriation to any institution not 
owned and controlled by the State. Appropriations had been 
made to it for several years by way of providmg means by which 
indigent citizens of the State might be treated. The institution 
was formally conveyed to the State, with a reservation that it 
might revert in case the Legislature should fail to make annual 
appropriations. The management of the institution has always 
been above even the charge of irregularity or impropriety, and in 
scientific skill and success is a monument to the judgment of the 
men who founded and have controlled it. By the last report 
its average attendance is 72 ; amount of State appropriation 
expended, ^16,280. 

State Board of Public Charities. — With the rapid growth of the 
State, and the demands upon its treasury for increased annual 
appropriations to provide decently for its dependent classes, came 
the demand for system and supervision which could not be attained 
by the methods then in vogue. Systematic charity in church or 
State is so different from spasmodic efforts, that no argument is 
needed to prove its desirability. With thinking men, the only 
question was, what form this systematic supervision should take. 
Massachusetts, foremost in practical development of ideas, and 
the machinery for making effective tjie management of public 
affairs, — ethical manufacturing perhaps, — gave the suggestion ; 
and Illinois, which holds the leadership of the Bay State worthy 
of emulation, soon adopted the plan. In 186 •, Governor Oglesby, 
whose great heart always beats warm on charity's behalf, recom- 
mended the establishment of a board which should be empowered 
to systematically supervise all State charities, consider new ques- 
tions, modes of treatment and improvement, and advise the 
Legislature by reports. Gen. A. C. Fuller promptly introduced 
a bill for that purpose into the Senate, which passed and became 
a law. 

The first board appointed by Governor Palmer, consisted of 
Hons. Wm. Thomas, S. M. Church, Elmer Baldwin, Dr. J. N. 
McCord, and Geo. S. Kobinson, Esq. They accepted the trust 
with something like a full conception of its importance, and with 
a determination to honestly inaugurate a system from which so 
much was reasonably expected. Their first work was to select a 
secretary competent for the work. They selected Rev. Fred. H. 



966 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Wines, at that time pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
at Springfield, upon whom the work of organizing a systematic 
supervision of the State's charities has devolved. The attention of 
the members of the board was first called to him in consequence 
of his supposed qualifications for the position, which he has now 
held thirteen years. Under the wise and prudent management 
of the board the business of the State institutions has been reduced 
to a system, the annual cost of maintenance very much dimin- 
ished, their efficiency increased, and their relation to the State 
Legislature greatly improved. The institutions of Illinois have 
been raised to a high rank, and given a national reputation. 
A permanent impress has been made upon the policy of the State, 
and citizens of other States come here to learn. Besides the 
oversight of the State institutions, the commissioners report on 
the jails and alms-houses, and in many counties their visits of 
inspection have resulted in great improvement. 



Chapter LXIX. 
ADMINISTEATION OF GOVERNOE CULLOM. 

Party Conventions in 1876 — Sketches of Governor Culloin and Lieut, 
Governor Shuman — Election of Judge Davis Senator — Life and 
Services of Senator Davis — Railroad Commissioners — Tlie Revenue 
System— The Southern Penitentiary — The July Riots — East St. 
Louis, Chicago and Braidwood Campaigns — The National Guard — 
The Appellate Courts — State "Boards" — Health, Pharmacy, Labor 
Statistics — Election in 1878 — Revenue Again — Pardons — State 
House Bonds — Election of Senator Logan — Life and Character 
of Gen. Logan — The Socialists — Political Conventions of 1880 — 
Candidates — Election — Sketch of Lieut. -Governor Hamilton — 
General Legislation — Special Session. 



In the Republican Convention which met May 25, 1876, at 
Springfield, the only real contest was in regard to tbe nomination 
for Governor, the contestants being Gov. Beveridge and Ex- 
Speaker Shelby M. Cullom. The convention sent to the National 
Convention a delegation unanimously, or nearly all so. for James G. 
Blaine for President, of which the central figure was Col. Robert G. 
Ingersoll, upon whom, by "natural selection," devolved the duty, 
the honor and the priviledge of placing in nomination at the con- 
vention his friend and choice for the Presidency. He did it in a 
speech which was in the best vein of the peculiar type of eloquence 
with which the general public is now so familiar. The nominations 
"were made as follows : For Governor, Shelby M, Cullom ; for 
Lieut. -Governor, Andrew Shuman ; for Secretary of State, Geo. 
H. Harlow ; for Auditor, Thos. B. Needles ; for Treasurer, Edward 
Rutz ; for Attorney-General, James K. Edsall. There were two 
tickets opposed to this, but they united upon the candidates for 
Governor and Auditor. The anti-monopolists met first in Decatur 
and nominated for Governor, Lewis Steward, a prominent and 
wealthy farmer and manufacturer, but who up to this was unknown 
politically in the State ; for Lieut. -Governor, J. H. Pickerell ; for 
Secretary, M. M. Hooton ; for Auditor, John Hise ; for Treasurer, 
H. W. Aspern ; and for Attorney-General, W. S. Coy. 

When the democrats held their convention in Springfield, July 
27th, doubt and uncertainty reigned. If they could coalesce with 
the anti-monopolists, there was a fair prospect of carrying the 

'907 



968 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



State. Two years before they had elected Mr. Etter Superinten- 
dent of Public Instruction by such a union. No terms could be 
made for an equitable division of the ticket, and the convention 
decided to nominate the candidate for Governor, Mr. Steward, 
and for Auditor, Mr. Hise, hoping that the anti-monopolists would 
withdraw the other names on their ticket and substitute those 
named by the democrats. They nominated for Lieut. Governor,. 
A. A. Glenn ; for Secretary, S. Y. Thornton ; for Treasurer, George 
Gundlach ; and for Attorney-General, E. Lynch. 

The election of the republican candidates followed in Novem- 
ber, the vote on Governor being closer than had been usual, the 
majority being only 6,800. The Legislature was divided, the 
House being republican and the Senate having a majority against- 
that party. The State officers were inaugurated in January, 
1877. 

Sketch of GoiK CuUom. — Shelby M. Cullom was born in Wayne 
county, Kentucky, November 22, 1829. The next year his parents 
removed to this State and settled in Tazewell county, where his 
father resides. He worked on the farm until eighteen years of 
age, attending school in the winter months. A ready scholar, he 
acquired sufficient education to teach school under the moderate 
requirements of the day, when he entered Mount Morns Semi- 
nary, which he attended nearly two years. Inheriting from his 
father the Whig doctrines of the school of Henry Clay, as also 
his dislike of that "institution," now happily no more, he early 
imbibed political tastes, and turned his attention to the study of 
law. After reading law with Stuart and Edwards, he was admitted 
to the bar, and was immediately elected City Attorney of Spring- 
field. In 1856, he had hardly out-grown his whig notions suffi- 
ciently to call himself a republican, but was elected to the Legis- 
lature by the combined votes of the republican and Fillmore par- 
ties, while a candidate for elector on the ticket of the latter. In 
1860, he was again elected to the Legislature on the ticket which 
Abraham Lincoln headed, and became Speaker of the House. 
In 1862, he was appointed upon the Commission for examining, 
the accounts and transactions of army officers, and was an unsuc- 
cessful candidate for the State Senate and the Constitutional 
Convention. In 18G4, he was elected to Congress, and arrived in 
Washington in the spring of 1865, to accompany the remains of 
his dearest friend, the martyr President, to their last resting 
place. In 1866, he was reelected and secured the appropriation 
for erecting the government building at Springlield. Eeelected 
again in 1868, he took a leading position in the discussion of the 
important measures then before Congress, and introduced the 
first radical measure against polygamy in the Territories. Had 
his bill been adopted, the institution which has become historical 
in republican platforms as the "twin relic," would have, ere this, 
disappeared. The bill passed the House, but was too radical for 
those twins in the Senate. In 1872, he was again elected to the 
Legislature, and was elected Speaker, a position for which he has 
few superiors, and fully brings out his powers. In 1874, he wa& 
reelected to the Legislature, and was the republican candidate for 
Speaker; but the House was organized by the combination of 



cullom's administration. 969 

democrats and independents, electing E. M. Haines Speaker. In 
1872, he engaged in banking, being one of the originators and the 
president of the State National Bank. In 1876,^ he was elected 
Governor by a majority of 6,834 over Lewis Steward, the caridi- 
da.te of the independents and democrats. In 1880, he was reelected 
by a majority of 37,033 over Lyman Trumbull, being the tirst 
Governor of the State who has been his own successor after serv- 
ing a term of four years. Governor Cullom is of medium height, 
rather spare, with dark eyes and hair, which, though he is past 
fifty, has not yet began to present a trace of gray. His long and 
intimate connection with pubHc affairs, in the office he has held, 
has given Mm a thorough acquaintance with the interests of the 
State, and his administration has been a remarkably successful 
one. He is a ready speaker, with large information in National 
and State affairs, an industrious, active and indomitable worker. 
His early devotion to politics has prevented him from ever becom- 
ing prominent at the bar, or successful in accumulating property. 
He teels, with abundant good reason, flattered with the marks of 
public confidence shown him by his city, county and State, in 
their repeated election to public trust. His success in the various 
positions show that the confidence has been well placed. 

Sketch of Lieut. -Governor Slmman. — Andrew Shuman was born 
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1830. His father dying 
when Andrew was only seven years old, he was left to the care of 
his uncle. At fifteen years he entered the office of the Lancaster 
Union and Sentinel as an apprentice. In 1846, he accompanied 
his employer to Auburn, New York, then the home of Senator 
Seward, and for some time engaged on the Advertiser. At eigh- 
teen he published the Auhurnian, a paper upon which he did all 
the work, that of editor, coinpositor and printer. A year later he 
went into the office of the Cayuga Chief, (as partner with the 
veteran T. W. Brown,) a weekly paper of large circulation and 
great influence. Feeling the need of a better education, he pre- 
pared for college, and in 1851, he entered Hamilton College, at 
Clinton, New York, meeting all his expenses I ly work at the case. 
In 1853, he left college to edit the Syracuse daily Journal, at the 
solicitation of Governor Sewards' friends. He only remained 
about three years, when he sought a wider field by his connection 
with the Chicago Evening Journal, then as now the leading even- 
ing paper of the metropolis of Illinois. He has steadily advanced 
'from the position of assistant editor to that of proprietor and 
editor-in-chief. He served as Penitentiary Commissioner from 
1865 to 1871, and was elected Lieut. -Governor in 1876, by a 
majority of 22,084, over A. A. Glenn, then acting Lieut. -Gover- 
nor of the State. 

With whig antecedents, Mr. Shuman has always been a republi- 
can, and has held the paper which he has so long controlled, 
firmly in position. As a writer, he is forcible and positive, deal- 
ing in facts and' arguments, rather than theories and sensation. 
In stature, he is under the medium size, with a massive head and 
full face. As President of the Senate he was cautious about per- 
mitting the partisan to assert itself in his rulings and decisions. 
He was a candidate for the nomination for Governor in 1880, but 



970 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



though receiving very flattering encouragement, the death of the 
proprietor of the Journal presented to him an opening much 
more favorable ; in fact seemed to render it impossible for him to 
do otherwise than withdraw from the canvass, and devote himself 
to his profession. 

The legislature was organized by the election of Hon. James 
Shaw, Speaker, and E. F. Dutton, Clerk of the House. James 
H. Paddock, republican, was elected Secretary of the Senate, 
upon his merits and long experience, although the Senate was 
controlled by a majority adverse to the republicans. 

Senatorial Election. — The first and only exciting matter of the 
session, was the election of a Senator to succeed Gen. Logan. 
There were a few republicans who desired another candidate, but 
the representatives of that party were very nearly unanimous for 
his reelection. The democrats presented Ex-Gov. Palmer as 
their candidate, and the few greenbackers showed a preference 
for Judge Davis. The contest was long and at times bitter, but 
finally the democrats withdrew their candidate and voted for and 
elected Davis. That there was no political significance in the 
selection, is evident from the fact that Senator Davis had never 
claimed before his election, nor has he since, to be a member of 
either of the parties which combined to elect him. 

Sketch of Senator Davis. — David Davis was born in Cecil county, 
Maryland, in 1815. He became a member of Kenyon College, 
Ohio, where he graduated in 1832. While there, or immediately 
prior, this college contained among its students Edwin M. Stan- 
ton, afterwards Secretary of War ; Stanley Matthews, R. B. Hayes 
and Henry Winter Davis, men who have made their names famous 
in this country. He studied law in Lennox, Mass., and married 
there a daughter of Judge Walker. He came West in 1835, and 
located at Pekin, but soon after chose Bloomington as his home, 
and has resided there ever since. He was a w'hig in politics, and 
soon became the ardent personal and political friend of Abraham 
Lincoln, a friendship which had no break during the life of the 
martyred President. He gave his time to the practice of 
law, and by wise investments, coupled with plain habits, he 
became wealthy. In 1847, he was elected to the Constitutional 
Convention, and took an important part in framing the Constitu- 
ti( n of 1848. In that year he was elected judge of the 8th Circuit, 
and was twice reelected, continuing in that capacity until 18(32. 
He became early attached to the republican party, and gave a full 
adherence to its doctrines as at first held, but was conservative 
in regard to following the lead of the more radical, in positions 
taken upon questions growing out of the war and reconstruction. 
President Lincoln appointed him Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court in 1862, where he remained until he was elected to the 
U. S. Senate, by a combination of the democrats and greenbackers, 
in 1877, (though he had never belonged to either party), and left 
the bench just before the Electoral Commission sat to decide the 
presidential question. He accepted the position of Senator to 
consistantly observe one of the cardinal doctrines of his political 
belief, — that no man ought to seek or refuse office. When Vice- 



cullom's administeation. 971 

Presid^it Arthur became President, on the death of President 
Garfield, Senator Davis was elected President of the Senate by 
the republicans. In politios he is an independent. Judge Davis 
is, in figure, large and corpulent, of ordinary height, with large, 
facial features, and extremely fleshy. His mind, conservative by 
nature, has become trained to judicial habits, rendering him in- 
competent to become a partisan, or even to desire to be one. He 
has well defined convictions, which he holds as tenaciously as the 
most pronounced partisan could. He looks upon public service 
as a trust rather than a prize. Extremely sensative of insinua- 
tion as to motive or position, it has been his aim to honestly and 
faithfully observe public confidence and respect. His judicial 
decisions (and it is in them that he desires to live in history) have 
been marked by a breadth of information, clear, legal perception 
and appreciation of the true position of the judicial bench in our 
form of government. 

The Governor had been among the earliest advocates of the 
doctrine of State control of railroad and other corporations. By 
voice and pen, in the Legislature and on the stump, he had helped 
to make and defend- the legislation of the State on this question. 
Early in the session he signified his determination to take no 
backward step in enforcing the laws for the protection of the 
people against the railroads and warehousemen, by appointing 
Wm. M. Smith, Geo. M. Bogue and John H. Oberly, Eailroad 
and Warehouse Commissioners, following, perhaps, as much by 
choice as necessity, the precedent set by his immediate predecessor, 
by appointing one democrat upon the Board. All of these gen- 
tlemen had been members of the Legislature, Mr. Smith having 
been Speaker of the House which passed the first Piailroad and 
Warehouse laws ; and the other two having been members of the 
House which passed the law of 1873, Mr. Oberly being the 
author of that section of the law which provided for fixing, by 
a schedule of maximum rates, the prices beyond which the rail- 
roads should not charge. All were in hearty sympathy with the 
purposes for which the law had been passed, and had taken lead- 
ing parts in perfecting the legislation which they were now called 
on to execute. They have been criticized in the administration 
of their office, for not bringing more suits against the companies 
for violations of the law, but under that administration, every 
provision of the laws have been declared constitutional by the 
highest courts, and as fast as elicited, known violations have been 
stopped, and both railroads and warehouses have accepted and 
operated in conformity to law. 

Revenue System. — Both the retiring Governor and the new one 
called attention to tlie anomalous condition of our revenue laAvs. 
The notorious inequality of assessment, and the frequency with 
which persons found excuses for contesting the payment of taxes 
were noticed, and Governor Cullom suggested a way out of the 
trouble, which seems reasonably satisfactory, but has not, thus 
far, been acted on. He showed that the extinguishment of the 
State debt in the near future, and the turning of the income of 
the Illinois Central Eailroad (nearly $400,000 per annum) to the 



972 HISTORY OF ILLLINOIS. 



general revenue fund, would enable the State to raise, by a tax 
upon corporations and occupations, a sufficient revenue for all 
State purposes, without raising anything by assessment upon real 
estate and personal property by valuation. Such a course, which 
is within the alternative permission of our Constitution, would 
leave the counties and cities to raise what revenue is needed with- 
out regulating their assessments by the assessments of other 
counties. Of course, it was never pretended that the State could 
be run after the State debt was paid without taxation of some 
kind ; but the propriety of raising the State revenue by taxes upon 
corporations and occupations was urged. The last dollar of the 
State indebtedness was called in in 1880, and all was paid except 
bonds amounting on their face to $23,600, which either have been 
lost or mislaid by their owners, and have not yet been presented 
for payment. The State will pay no interest after that date. It 
is difficult to appreciate, at this time, the trouble, anxiety and 
discouragement which this debt, now gone, has produced. 

The Southern Penitentiary. — In 1877, a demand was made on 
the Legislature for additional room for the confining of prisoners, 
the accommodations at Joliet being too crowded. Recent discus- 
sion of labor questions, including the competition which honest 
labor had to meet in those branches of manufacture which are 
carried on within prison walls with convict labor, appealed 
strongly to the Legislature to turn the labor of prisoners into 
other channels. Increased prison room at Joliet would only tend 
to increase the evils of this competition, and it was deemed best 
to secure a place in the southern portion of the State, for a new 
prison, where the constantly increasing number of convicts could 
be employed without coming in competition with those who were 
justly complaining. Chester was chosen as the place to locate 
it, and buildings are being erected on the most approved plan. 

The July Riots. — The only time, in the history of this State, 
when the internal peace was threatened, was in July, 1877. Escap- 
ing with so little loss of property and life, compared with what 
was suffered in some other States, was owing, in part, to the 
less determined spirit of the rioters, with less cause for complaint, 
and in part, by the prompt and sensible action of the authorities 
and the military under their command. The causes of the riots 
were deep-seated and various. From the time when large num- 
bers of laborers became employed in localities, in factories, mines, 
or upon railroads, strikes have occurred, and are justified as the 
only means of settling questions which arise between labor and 
capital. Orders are issued at which the employes feel aggrieved, 
and they agree to stop work so as to compel the withdrawal of the 
order, or to compel the employers to agree to their requests or 
demands. When these strikers content themselves with defend- 
ing and protecting their own rights, they are justifiable, but when 
they interfere with the rights of others, they become mobs, which 
cannot be justified, either in the eye of the law, or by public 
opinion. In July, 1877, from years of depression in all classes 
of business, laborers found themselves in such financial straits, 
that any farther reduction of wages seemed unbearable. In most 



cullom's administeation. 973 

instances, their living was bare existence, without comforts or 
even the necessities of Hfe. On the other hand, most employers 
were continuing business at a loss. Capital invested in railroads 
and manufactures was continually shrinking or had vanished 
under foreclosures and bankruptcies. Employers asserted their 
right to farther reduce wages, and employes resisted it by the only 
means in their power, — systematic strike, and re-inforced by the 
grand army of unemployed of both sexes and all ages, began 
assault upon those who from necessity or inclination desired to 
continue work. It required but a day for the tramps, the thieves 
and restless spirits, urged on by the men who make an avocation 
of destroying any settled existing condition of things, to get con- 
trol of the movement, and in many cities of the country riot and 
arson were rife, and destruction of life and property was immense. 
In no State in the Union did all the elements for a terrible dis- 
play of unlawful power exist more fully than in Illinois. With 
more miles of railroad ; suffering more than any other from stag- 
nation of trade ; large coal and iron industries, which were espe- 
cial marks for riotous display; a large city, having all her 
principal industries prostrated from circumstances it is not 
necessary to mention ; and her laboring people either without 
work, or on starvation prices ; the present unbearable, and the 
future dark. That the State escaped with little real loss, was 
principally owing to two circumstances : First, the general 
unwilhngness of employes themselves to be driven into unlawful 
attitudes ; and second, the prompt, sensible and efficient measures 
of protection and subjugation. The law to place the militia of the 
State upon a better footing, passed in 1877, had only, gone into 
effect July 1st. Of course, little had been done to reorganize and 
fill the ranks. The suddenness of the affair, and the determined 
spirit displayed, the threats and immediate danger, left no time 
for preparation, and the Governor gave orders calling the entire 
military force of the State into the field. The demonstrations of 
the revolutionary force were directed principally against the lead- 
ing railroad companies, forbidding the running of trains, taking 
possession of the yards, and by threats and intimidation prevent- 
ing any who desired to work from doing so. Crowds of men and 
boys collected in the streets, and spent their time in visiting rail- 
road shops, mills and manufacturing establishments, warning 
laborers to quit their work, and threatening vengeance if their 
warnings were not heeded. Demagogues, with more talk than 
judgment, harangued the crowds with stories of the terrible op- 
pressions which capital was visiting upon labor, and advised 
measures which the mob spirit was but too willing to accept. In 
some instances, those who were thus driven from work united 
willingly with the mob. It would have been sheer folly to resist 
such proceedings, except by orgaAiized force, disciplined to united 
action, and able and willing to enforce the law. Business was 
at a stand still ; trains on all the principal roads, either through 
force or the dictates of discretion, were idle ; the mails were 
delayed; the markets were fast growing bare of the ordinary 
articles intended for the table ; while in the large cities and the 
mining localities, crowds of exasperated men were continually 
dealing out threats of arson, robbery and destruction. It is upon 



974 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



such occasions that the true value of an intelhgent, loyal citizen 
soldiery is felt, when the men, who by the poet are said to "con- 
stitute the State," are safe from temptation to join the rabble, 
and stand like a wall against riot and rapine, because they have 
an interest in maintaining law and order, and every sentiment, 
habit, hope and desire is on the side of law. 

The condition was desperate, and danger imminent. While 
all was doubt, and every hour was expected to bring outbursts 
which might destroy life and property, there was no doubt in 
regard to the reliability of the National Guard, and to them the 
people turned as instinctively as a child will turn to its parent 
for aid and support. The military of the State consisted of three 
brigades, under the command, respectively, of Gen. J. T. Tor- 
rence, Gen. E. N. Bates and Gen. C. W. Pavey, with A. C. Ducat, 
Major-General, in command, and H. Hilliard, Adjutant-General. 
The two objective points were Chicago and East St. Louis, where 
the demonstrations were of such magnitude, as to be confessedly 
beyond the power of the local authorities to control. 

The East St. Louis Campaign. — The Second and Third Brigades, 
composed of regiments and companies in the central and southern 
parts of the State, were placed under orders July 23d, to prepare, 
at their respective headquarters, for marching on a moment's 
notice. The promptness with which every company responded 
to this order, is worthy of all commendation. On the 27th, the 
Governor having preceded them to the scene of turbulence, Gen. 
Bates received orders to move his command to Alton, and Gen. 
Pavey to Belleville. On the 28th, each command moved to East 
St. Louis, 'where the mob, estimated at 10,000 men, were holding 
the city, in grand contempt of both the civil and military power 
of the "state. Governor Cullom remained on the field in consul- 
tation with the city and county authorities, that no occasion 
might be given for complaint that the civil authority was in any 
way superseded by the military. The troops were stationed at 
the machine shops, round houses and freight depots, to protect 
them from attacks of the mob, now made furious by the arrival 
of the military. The Governor, the local authorities and the 
General commanding, were in entire unison upon the question of 
subduing this riot without the shedding of blood. Next to this 
was the desire, no less strong, to prevent destruction of property. 
The disposition of the forces of Gen. Bates and Gen. Pavey were 
made with a view to this latter object, and by nine o'clock on the 
morning of the 28th, the commanding General felt satisfied that 
that object was secured. As soon as this was effected, details of 
troops, with the aid of detectives, set about shadowing and arresting 
the principal leaders, who were promptly turned over to the civil 
authorities. This, in a certain measure, disheartened the mob. 
When the attempt was made to start the trains, the excitement 
became intense, and thousands of lawless men, many of whom 
were well armed, followed after and for a time prevented the accom- 
plishment of the purpose. The military were directed to protect 
the departing trains at all hazards. So promptly was this done, 
and with such wisdom and discretion on the part of the men who 
were detailed to do it, that before the close of the day of the 29th, 



CULLOll's ADMINISTRATION. ^ 975 

business had resumed its wonted course, those who had not been 
arrested by the mihtary had dispersed, and on the 31st, the citi- 
zen soldiery of Gen. Bates' command were reheved of further duty 
and ordered to their homes. No men ever, under like trying cir- 
cumstances, performed duty better, or conducted themselves in a 
way more justly entitling them to confidence and respect. 

The Chicago and Braidwood Campaigns.— The situation at the 
beginning of the troubles at Chicago, was even more threatening 
than at St. Louis. By reason of the large force of unemployed 
men, the more desperate condition of the men themselves, the 
larger interests to be protected, and the open sympathy of at 
least one, probably more, of the voluntary military organizations 
with the rioters, the expectation of serious work was justiiied. 
By direction of the Governor, Adjutant-General Hilliard ordered 
Major-General A. C. Ducat to put the men under his command in 
readiness, to aid the mayor of Chicago in protecting the city, and 
to disarm the Bohemian Guards. These orders were promptly 
obeyed. The same evening Governor Cullom, taking counsel of 
experience, sent the following dispatch : "To Gen. A. C. Ducat — • 
Under the charter of cities and towns, the mayor, subject to the 
Governor, has the power to call out the militia. Confer with 
him. — S. M. Cullom, Governor," The consultation which fol- 
lowed resulted in an understanding that the military would not 
be called out if they could be dispensed with. Gen. Ducat, in 
evident- fear that the mayor did not feel the full gravity of the 
case, telegraphed his fears, and a desire for orders to bring the 
Tenth Battalion and the Third Piegiment into the city ; but the 
Governor would give no orders to move troops without the direc- 
tion of the mayor. Under this state of things, the regiments 
were kept in readiness for orders, at their armories, until the even- 
ing of the 25th, when the intense heat induced Gen. Ducat to 
move the Second Eegiment to the Michigan Southern depot, and 
the First to the Exposition Building for comfort. There were 
six companies of U. S. troops ordered East before the riots, now 
in Chicago, and at the request of the Governor, they were ordered 
to remain there, subject to his orders. On the 26th, mayor 
Heath thought the time had come to use the military, and called 
on Gen. Ducat to dispose them for action. Eioting had com- 
menced in various parts of the city, notably in the southwestern 
and northwestern portions. Men and boys, largely the latter, 
were engaged in stopping the street cars, visiting factories and 
ordering employes to leave their work, and were getting into that 
frame of mind which would fit them for more desperate work. 
The troops were distributed over the city, and those of the United 
States, under command of Gen. Drum, were disposed of in like 
manner. Voluntary Companies were organized, and the threat- 
ened outburst passed by. Factories and shops resumed their 
work, and in a few days the railroad trains were running in regu- 
lar oi'der. A feAv arrests were made, but in most cases were dealt 
with very leniently by the authorities. 

Word having reached the Governor that the troubles at Braid- 
wood had assumed a still more serious aspect, orders were sent 
at once to Gen. Ducat to move his available force by rail to that 



976 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



city. The striking miners there had taken the occasion, which 
general fears had given them, to drive the colored miners from 
the mines, and their families from town. These men and their 
helpless families were refugees in the surrounding towns and 
neighboring counties, where they were being fed by strangers, 
and housed in churches, sheds and barns. The condition at 
Braidwood was still more complicated through the circumstance 
that the strikers formed a majority of the people, and the mayor 
was a man of their own selection, whose sentiments and views on 
all labor questions were those of the men who were now defying 
the civil authorities. Gen. Ducat ordered the Third Kegiment 
into Chicago, and leaving Gen. Torrence in command of the 
Second Kegiment, took the First and Third with him. Stopping 
at Joliet, he was joined by Capt. King's Light Battery, and hav- 
ing, ordered the Tenth Battalion, Lt.-Col. Parsons, to meet him 
at Braidwood from the south, proceeded from that city, where 
he arrived in the afternoon of the 27th. Arriving within one 
mile of town, he disembarked his troops and marched toward 
town until he was met by about 500 men, who refused to disperse. 
He then sent for the Mayor, whom he ordered to disperse the 
crowd within twenty-five minutes, and to return the arms which 
had been seized from the colored miners. The former he did, 
but not the latter, and Gen. Ducat sent detachments to guard the 
mines, and detailed parties to search for arms, who collected 
thirty-four muskets, the property' of the refugees. 

During the night, shooting was heard, which caused the "long 
roll" to be sounded, under the impression that the pickets had 
been fired on, but no enemy was discovered and no blood was 
shed, except that of a stray half-grown hog, which was promptly 
paid for by the chaplain of Col. Parsons command, rather than 
have the owner make any fuss about it. 

On the 29th, two trains of refugees returned, numbering about 
350, and were directed to their homes, and the civil authorities 
notified that they must be protected. The same day Gen. Ducat 
received orders to send two companies each to Galesburg and 
Mattoon, but word soon reaching the Governor that the threat- 
ened trouble at those places were amicably quieted, the order 
was countermanded. On the 30th, Gen. Ducat left Lt.- Col. Par- 
sons in command of the Tenth Battalion to preserve order, and 
returned to Chicago with the two regiments, who were dismissed 
to their homes. During all this excitement the only firing done 
by the troops was on the night of the 26th, at the viaduct, when, 
in order to protect the men from the missiles of the mob. Col. 
Quirk ordered his men to fire two volleys, which had the desired 
effect. The Tenth Battalion remained under orders at Braidwood 
for several days, and then returned to their homes. 

The Braidwood miners, while they maintained the peace con- 
tinually, failed to become reconciled to the condition of things, 
and maintained the strike for many months. Suits were. com- 
menced in large numbers against the proprietors of the mines, 
for refusing to pay the balance claimed to be due the men, and 
several of those who had been most conspicuous in the affair 
were indicted and prosecuted. The courts of the county were 
burdened with these suits for several years. The settlement of 



cullom's administration. 977 

what bid fair to be a most serious matter, in such a short time, 
and such an orderly manner, is a marked triumph of law and 
order, creditable alike to the Executive, the commanding officers 
and the rank and file of the militia. 

The Governor reported to the Legislature at its next meeting 
that bills to the amount $86,880, had been incurred, most of 
which was due to the militia for services, only |-i,8'20 of which 
had been paid out of the contingent fund. The money to pay 
this amount was appropriated, and in just two years from their 
services, the men of the National Guard received their pay. 

The effect of these proceedings, and the excellent record made 
by the members of the National Guard, was to give an impetus 
to its organization, and make it more popular with the Legisla- 
ture and the people. 

The National Guard. — The law to organize the militia, like all 
other important laws passed, had its run in the courts. Among 
its more notable provisions were, that companies other than those 
belonging to the National Guard, and United States troops, 
should not parade with arms, and that members of the Guard 
should be exempt from jury duty. When the case came before 
the Supreme Court, it was agreed that the court should not only 
pass upon the question of exemption from jury duty, but should 
give an opinion upon every provision of the law. In this "omni- 
bus" manner the court rendered its decision, holding every feature 
of the law constitutional under both the State and National Con- 
stitutions. It affirmed the full power of the Legislature over the 
militia, when not in the service of the United States, and held 
that the provision making it unlawful for any body of men, other 
than the regular militia or troops of the United States, to parade 
without a license from the Governor, a binding law, and the con- 
stitutional right to "bear arms" is not abridged by it. 

The Appellate Court — The establishment of the Appellate Court 
became a matter of necessity, in order to give to litigants speedy 
final hearing of their causes. The court was constituted by unit- 
ing two of the then existing circuits, and providing for the elec- 
tion of an additional judge in each circuit so formed, one of the 
three being then assigned to the Appellate bench. Four Appel- 
late Court districts were formed ; one each to sit at Chicago, 
Ottawa, Springfield and Mt. Vernon, They have final jurisdic- 
tion in certain cases as prescribed by law. The law was contested 
in the courts, but the Supreme Court held it constitutional, and 
probaby if there had been any way to learn their views would 
have held that it was a measure of great relief. In his message 
in 1879, the Governor recommended the reduction of the legal rate 
of interest to eight per cent., in view of the fact that interest had 
been decreasing in the money markets. An act was passed in 
accordance with the recommendation. 

State Boards. — A growing disposition appears in the State to 
make use of boards of commissioners to aid, in specific directions, 
the enforcement of the laws. Under wise legislation they become 
valuable arms of the Executive ; their value as such assistants 
depending largely, of course, upon their honesty and faithfulness 
62 



978 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



to the trust reposed in them. The criticism which has been 
indulged in against them is summed up in a sneer at "board gov- 
ernment." Cei-tainly, the history of the "boards" which have in 
the past worked in unison with the chief Executive for the enforce- 
ment of the laws, does not present one single, isolated argument 
against the system ; nor will they in their present condition offer 
any reason to doubt the proper workings of that system. The State 
boards of "Agriculture," "Eailroad Commissioners," "Peniten- 
tiary Commissioners," "Public Charities," "Education" and 
"Health," are each and all stubborn facts, presenting their 
records as unanswerable arguments to hostile criticism. The State 
Board of Equalization, an elective body, is of a different class. 

Board of Health. — The legislature of 1877 passed two laws, the 
one to organize a State Board of Health, and the other, its com- 
plement, the "Medical Practice Act." The former provides that 
the Governor shall appoint seven persons, who shall constitute a 
Board of Health. The terms of office shall be seven years, but 
of those first appointed, one shall go out each year. To this 
board is given the authority to make all needful rules and regula- 
tions for preservmg the lives and health of the citizens of the 
State ; police officers, sheriff's and other officers, are placed under 
their authority for the purpose of enforcing such rules ; a system 
of registration of births, marriages and deaths is provided, and 
of registering physicians and accoucheurs. The authority given 
them is very full, almost absolute, for the purpose of the act. 
The Medical Practice Act provides that the Board of Health shall 
give certificates to such as are entitled to practice medicine in the 
State ; that the practitioner must be a graduate of a medical col- 
lege, or must pass an examination ; but physicians who have prac- 
ticed ten years in the State before this act shall have gone intO' 
effect are not subject to the prohibitions of this act. Severe pen- 
alties are provided, and itinerant venders of drug or nostrum are 
required to pay a license of $100 per month. The board 
appointed by the Governor at once set to work to ascertain who 
were entitled to practice medicine, and soon discovered that there 
were bogus diplomas in use. They proceeded to hunt up the evi- 
dence in regard to those who were engaged in the fraud, and 
secured their conviction. Another difficulty which they encoun- 
tered was the fact that certain medical colleges were graduating 
students without requiring a sufficient course of study. By refus- 
ing to grant certificates on such diplomas, they compelled the col- 
leges to increase their course. Their principal labor, however, 
was to drive out of the State, or out of practice, a class of human 
hyenas, who, without medical knowledge or skill, were preying 
upon the fears or superstition of ignorant or tlioughtless people. 
"A dying man will catcb'at a straw," is an adage known to all per- 
sons. A portion of this general truth is, that persons who are 
sick, or imagine themselves so, are ready to believe the most spe- 
cious offers of aid. So energetically was the law enforced that 
probably not less than one thousand who were practicing medi- 
cine were compelled to discontinue or leave the State. Suits 
were brought against the advertising specialists, and of course 
there were not wanting those who wanted to "test the law," 



cullom's administration. 979 

believing it was unconstitutional, etc., but the courts sustained 
the board, and the people of the State have abundant reason to 
sustain the courts in this regard. During the year 1878, the board 
was called upon to quarantine the State against yellow fever, 
epidemic along the Mississippi, and during the winter of 1881 
and 1882, it thoroughly tested its temper, power and effectiveness 
in its battle with small-pox, and the strange inefficiency of local 
authorities in regard to it. The order of the board upon that 
occasion, that children should not be allowed to attend school 
until thorougly vaccinated, may be looked upon as heroic as wise. 
Dr. J. H. Ranch has been, during most of the existence of the 
board, its energetic and efficient Secretary. No more legitimate 
occasion presents itself for the exercise of the legislative authority 
of the State, than wise and effective measures to protect the 
health of the people, or to protect sufferers, physical or mental, 
from becoming the prey of charlatans and frauds. 

State Board of Pharmacy . — The Legislature of 1881 established 
a State Board of Pharmacy, and provided by law for the practice 
of that profession. Those engaged in the sale or compounding 
of drugs, poisons or medicines must be registered, and those 
applying for registry must be competent. The board has the 
authority to decide, and prosecute violations of the law. The 
expenses are met by the fees of practitioners. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics. — This Bureau was authorized by 
the law of 1879. A Board of five is appointed by the Governor, 
two of whom shall be employers and three employes The Board 
is authorized to appoint a secretary and collect statistics in 
regard to labor, and make a report for publication biennially to 
the Governor. 

The Election in 1S78. — The candidates of the three parties in 
1878 were : Eepublican, for Treasurer, J. C. Smith ; for Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, J. P. Slade. Democratic, for Treas- 
urer, E. L. Cronkrite; for Superintendent, S. M. Etter. Green- 
back, for Treasurer, E. N. Bates; for Superintendent, F. M. 
Hall. The former were elected ; the average vote being : Piepubli- 
can, 205,000, Democratic, 170,60 ), Greenback, 65,500. It will be 
seen that in an "off year" the Greenback party still held the bal- 
ance of power, and had the efforts, which were made early in the 
campaign to coalesce on one ticket, been successful, the ticket 
might have carried the State. 

The Thirty-first General Assembly was, for the first time in 
several years. Republican in both branches, though there were a 
few representatives of the Greenback and Socialistic parties. It 
organized by the election of Col. W. A. James, Speaker, and 
W. B. Taylor, Clerk, of the House ; John M. Hamilton, President 
pro tempore, and James H. Paddock, Secretary, of the Senate. 
In his message to the Assembly, the Governor again calls atten- 
tion to the necessity of a revision of the State revenue system, 
and expresses a doubt whether the present system, in its practical 
workings, comes up to the requirements of the Constitution. He 
informs the Assembly that he has adopted as a rule, to notice no 



980 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



application for pardon unless three weeks notice of such applica- 
tion has been published in a newspaper in the county where the 
conviction took place, and the application has also been presented 
to the presiding judge for his reccommendation. The Legisla- 
ture adopted this rule by passing a law requmng conformity to it. 
The same message acquainted the Legislature with the fact that 
the commissioners who were appointed under the law of 1877 to 
assess the compensation and damages for the additional land 
needed to complete the State House, had awarded the sum of 
$34,100 ; that suit had been commenced on the " State House Bond" 
for that amount. The "State House Bond" is one of the "facts 
of History," which ought not to be overlooked. The facts in 
regard to it are these : After the foundation of the new State 
House had been built, and about $800,000 expended on it, and the 
constitutional convention had given the sanction of its wise 
authority to the building, by limiting the expenditure to three 
and a half millions, it was discovered that, while the lot which 
had been given by Springfield to the State for the purpose of 
erecting the present magnificent building, was large enough for 
half a dozen such buildings, the commissioners had located it so 
far south that the building actually stuck out into the street 
about six feet, and that the approach to it from that direction 
could not be built until more land had had been secured. This 
land had on it some residences, and would cost nearly $40,000. 
The building of the new state house, always exceedingly unpopu- 
lar in some portions of the State, was bitterly attacked, and the 
appropriation for continuing it was likely to fail in the Legis- 
lature. At this juncture, Mr. Snively, a legislative correspondent 
for the Peoria papers, aroused another opposition, by proposing 
that the Capital should be removed to Peoria, where plenty of 
land would be given free, and a capitol could be erected on a 
sightly place. Peoria held a public meeting and made the offer 
to furnish the land free, and put in as good a foundation as had 
been built at Springfield, with no expense to the State, if the 
capitol was removed to that city. Meetings were worked up in 
other places, and resolutions were freely adopted and sent down 
to their representatives, instructing them to vote for the sub- 
mission of a proposition, to a vote of the people, to remove the 
capitol to that city. So urgent did the Peoria people become that 
the Legislature was invited over there. A Pullman train was 
provided, and the Legislature went over to "view the land- 
scape o'er." The site proposed was all that could be desired, and 
the banquet and speeches began to tell on the legislative mind. 
On their return to Springfield, in order to quiet this Peoria senti- 
ment, some forty of the leading citizens of Springfield made and 
executed a bond to the people of the State, conditioned that they 
would furnish, without cost to the State, the additional land, 
when it was needed to complete the south approach, within two 
years from the time that the building was occupied by the two 
houses of the General Assembly. With the aid of some lively lobby- 
ing, and some "expense," the Peoria scheme was voted down, and 
the State House Bond accepted. Time rolled on and the amount 
limited by the Constitution was expended, and propositions were 
made for submitting to a vote of the people the question of fur- 



cullom's administration. 981 

nishing more money to complete the building. As the building 
coiiid not be completed until the people had voted the money, it 
looked to the signers of the bond as though it was not needed. 

When the Legislature of 1877 provided for the submitting to a 
vote of the people the question of voting the additional amount, it 
also passed a law to enforce the bond. When the Attorney-General, 
on the part of the people, asked for a judgment against the 
signers of the bond for the amount neccessary to pay for the 
additional land, a new difficulty made its appearance. The court 
decided the bond could not be enforced in the way provided by the 
act of 1877, and on appeal to the Supreme Court, that decision was 
' affirmed. The law of 1877 provided that three commissioners 
should be appointed, who should assess the value of the land 
wanted, and the damages ; that when so determined, the Auditor 
should draw his warrant for the amount, and the Treasurer should 
pay it out of any money in the treasury appropriated to State 
House purposes, and the amount should then be collected from 
the obligors on the bond and paid into the treasury. The Auditor 
would not draw his warrant, because there were no funds in the 
treasury for that purpose, and could not be, as the amount limited 
by the Constitution had been expended. The Court held that the 
power to appropriate any money for the State House had been 
exhausted, and if the money due from the obligors was paid into 
the treasury, it could not be appropriated for paying for the land, 
as there was no authority to appropriate any more, hence the 
bond could not be enforced, at least not until the amount to com- 
plete the building had been voted by the people. Twenty-two of 
the signers of the bond had died, and probably one-half of the liv- 
ing had become financially irresponsible. The proposition to vote 
for the additional amount was voted down by the people, and the 
bond and State House stands incomplete. 

Senatorial Election. — Little was done in the Legislature until 
the question of Senatorial succession was disposed of; Gov. 
Ogles by 's term was about to expire, and he felt naturally that a 
reelection was due him. On the other hand, Gen. Logan wanted 
to return to the Senate. The Repulican press of the State, early 
indicated that public sentiment was in that direction. The cau- 
cus decided the question in favor of Gen. Logan by a vote of nearly 
three to one, and he was elected, receiving in both houses 105 
votes to 84, for Gen. John Charles Black, Democrat, 10 for Alex- 
ander Campbell, Greenback, and 4 for John McAuliffe, Sociahst. 

Sketch of Gen. Logan.— John A. Logan was born in Jackson 
County, Illinois, February 9th 1826. He was educated ni the 
common schools, and at the age of twenty he enlisted for service 
in the Mexican war, and was later appointed Quarter-Master with 
the rank of First-Lieutenant. In 1849 he was elected clerk of 
Jackson County, and afterwards attended Louisville University, 
where he graduated in 1852. Admitted to the bar, he soon 
yielded to the allurements of politics, which suited his taste, and 
was elected to the Legislature in 1852. He was elected prosecut- 
ing attorney in 1853, and served until he was again elected to the 
Legislature in 1856. He was elected to Congress as a democrat in 
1858, and again in 1860. In September, 1861, he resigned his seat to 



982 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



accept the command of the Thirty-first Eegiment of Illinois Volun- 
teers, which he had been largely instrumental in raising in 
Southren Illinois, His regiment first met the rebels at Belmont. 
At Donelson, where his great leader first made himself felt in hia 
demand for "unconditional surrender," Col. Logan was wounded. 
He recovered, and was in the engagement at Pittsburg Lauding, 
having been promoted. In November, 1862, he was promoted to 
the rank of Major-General. At the death of McPherson, he was 
left in command of the Army of the Tennessee, until relieved by 
Gen. Howard, when he returned to the command of the 15th Army 
Corps, and was with it until the fall of Atlanta. In the march 
through the Carolinas, from Savannah toward Richmond, he 
commanded that corps, and after reaching Washington, was again 
put in command of the Army of the Tennessee. His military 
career was a success. He seems to have been one of the Generals 
drawn from civil life, whose usefulness was not checked by army 
jealousies, about which so much has been said, and of which 
there was too much which was true. From being an ultra demo- 
crat in 1861, he became, before he laid aside his sword, one of the 
most radical republicans. In 1866, he was the unanimous choice 
of the republicans for Congressman-at-large, and was elected, as 
again in 1868 and in 1870 ; and became, from his commanding posi- 
tion, wide experience, and great ability to master whatever subject 
he engaged in, and readiness in debate, one of the leaders in the 
House. He declined a nomination in 1870, stating, that he would 
be a candidate for the Senate before the next Legislature, but he 
was nominated, from a desire to keep his name at the head of 
the ticket, and an unwillingaess on the part of the convention to 
open what appeared to be an exciting contest for his successor. 
The Legislature of 1871 elected Gen. Logan to the Senate, but he 
failed of reelection in 1877, through a combination of Democrats 
with the Independent and Greenback elements, which together 
made a majority in the Legislature. He was reelected, however, 
in 1879. Gren. Logan's characteristics are great energy, industry, 
vigor, honesty to his convictions, and readiness in debate. He 
has managed, all through his political life, to retain the conhdence 
of the people in his integrity and ability, and at the same time to 
call down upon him a bitterness of opposition whitcli it is very 
difficult to account for. Gen. Logan is rather below the medium 
height, firmly built, dark complexion, with hair as black as well 
can be ; is now in the prime of life, and in the full power of his 
great abilities and usefulness. As a party leader he has few 
superiors. His loyal attachment to his friends, his safety in 
council, his force and energy in action, and his ability as a speaker, 
place him in the front rank, while his habits of industry and 
energy make him one of the most useful to the State and Nation. 

The Socialists. ^So far as they may be said to have had a poli- 
tical existance or influence, the Socialists were the growth of this 
period. A few of their respresentatives were elected to the Legisla- 
ture, and made their demands felt in various ways. Allusion has 
already been made to their opposition to the employment of 
prisoners upon branches of industry which seriously compete with 
honest labor, and to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was 



cullom's administration. 983 

primarially a Socialistic measure. Their position, as expressed to 
the writer, by one of their leaders who is well qualified to speak 
for them, is this : "We are not communists ; our creed is a devel- 
opment of the cardinal doctrine that *the duty of the State is to 
furnish to the individual whatever his necessities require, at 
<;ost.' " 

This includes cooperative labor; State or city ownership of 
transportation lines, gas-works, w^ater works, street railways, etc ; 
opposition to prison labor competition ; opposition to children's 
labor ; citizen suffrage ; compulsory attendance at school ; free 
land ; government currency only ; opposition to monopolies of every 
kind. The Socialists would, if they could develop the matter 
practically, require the government to do with transportation 
what it does with the mails ; with gas what it does with water 
and parks ; they would not abolish prison labor, — for they admit 
ihe necessity of labor everywhere except among those of tender 
age, — but they would employ prisoners upon labor which would 
not come in competition with honest labor. They look upon 
communism as the position which society could and would 
assume if this world were perfect, but not possible in this sinful 
state of things. In short, they aim to enoble labor. 

The Republican convention met at Springfield in May 1880, 
under circumstances of intense excitement. The third term can- 
didacy of Gen. Grant, bitterly opposed by some Eepublicans, had 
caused a breach in the councils of the party, which seemed likely 
to rend it. The seats of many of the delegates were contested, 
but the friends of Gen. Grant were strong enough to pass resolu- 
tions of instruction for him, and send delegates who would 
support him for nomination. Some of the delegates, however, were 
excluded from the National convention, and contestants admitted. 
After several days occupied on the question of National delegates, 
the following State ticket was nominated : For Governor, Shelby 
M. Cullom ; for Liutenant-Governor, John M. Hamilton ; for Sec- 
retary of State, Henry D. Dement; for Auditor, Charles P. 
Swigert; for Treasurer, Edward Rutz ; for Attorney-General, 
James McCartney. 

The Democrats nominated in their convention, for Governor, 
Lyman Trumbull ; for Lieutenant-Governor, L.B. Parsons; for 
Secretary of State, John H. Oberly; for Auditor, L. C. Starkel; 
for Treasurer, Thomos Butterworth ; for Attorney- General, Law- 
rence Harmon. The Independent Greenback party had previ- 
ously put in the field the following ticket : For Governor, A. J. 
Streator ; for Lieutenant-Governor, A. M. Adair ; for Secretary 
of State, J. M, Thompson ; for Auditor, W, T. Ingram ; for Treas- 
urer, J. W. Evans ; for Attorney-General, H. G. Whitlock. The 
election resulted in favor of the Republicans, the average vote 
being Republican, 316,000; Democratic, 276,000; Greenback, 
27,000 ; total 619,000. The highest vote received for any one was 
for James McCartney, 318,173. 

Both houses of the Legislature again became Republican, and 
no representative of the Greenback or Socialist parties were 
elected. 



984 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Sketch of Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton. — John M. Hamilton 
was born in Union county, Ohio, in 18-47, so that at the time 
he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, he had just completed 
his thirty-third year. Coming with his parents to lUinois, in 
1854, he lived the life of most farmers' sons, on the farm of his 
father, in Marshall county, until seventeen years of age, when 
he enlisted in the army, and served as a private until the close 
of hostilities. In 1865 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University. 
at Delaware, graduating with high honors in 1868. After teach- 
ing a while at Henry, in 1869, he became professor of language 
in the Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois, and carried 
on his law studies until admitted to the bar in 1870, when he 
formed a law partnership with Capt. J. H. Kowell, which con- 
tinues to the present time. This partnership was a fortunate 
one, and he soon developed ability of a high order as a lawyer 
and advocate, and commanded a lucrative practice. His life of 
soldier, student, teacher and lawyer did not quench his love for 
public affairs, and in 1876 he was elected to the Senate, from 
McLean county, by a majority of 1640. Though the youngest 
Senator, he took a leading position both in committee and debate, 
and at the second session, held in 1879, was unanimously selected 
by the republicans as their candidate for President of the Senate 
pro tempore, a position to which he was elected, serving with emi- 
nent success. With his experience, he could hardly have been 
other than a friend of education and of the militia in his new 
position. He was the author of the bills to estabhsh Appellate 
Courts and the State Board of Health, two of the most important 
measures of the session. As the presiding officer of the Senate, 
he has rarely had a superior. Quiet, reserved and self-poised ; 
well-informed, though cautious and just in his ruliugs, he is quite 
as popular \vith tiie minority as with those of his own party. 
Almost without a struggle he received the Republican nomination 
for Lieutenant-Governor in 1880, and was elected. He bears his 
honors well, showing a wealth of reserved power, which fortune 
has been liberal in presenting occasions for full development. 

The Legislature of 1881. — The State officers were inaugurated 
in January, 1881. The Legislature was organized by the election 
of Gen. Horace H. Thomas, Speaker, and W. B. Taylor, Clerk, of 
the House ; W. J. Campbell, President pro tempore, and 
James H. Paddock, Secretary, of the Senate. This Assembly did 
very little in the way of general legislation. All the appropria- 
tion bills were passed pretty nearly as they were recommended by 
the State Board of Public Charities, and by other State officers. 
Laws were passed to prevent the spread of pleuro-pneumonia ; 
to prevent the sale of deadly weapons to minors ; to regulate the 
practice of dentistry ; to authorize Quaker marriages ; to make 
Decoration Day and Washington's birthday legal holidays ; 
to regulate the practice of pharmacy ; to require publishing of 
statements from officers handling public moneys ; for the inspec- 
tion of tenement houses ; and to provide for holding biennial 
elections. This last was to fulfill the requirements of the amend- 
ment to the Constitution, just adopted, and like every other 
important act of the Legislature, aroused an opposition, and 



cullom's administration. 985 

called for "appealing to the courts." Just why an act, which 
was passed at the demand of an amendment to the Constitution, 
for so desirable an object as that of dispensing with the trouble 
and expense of half of our elections, should stir up such an oppo- 
sition, it is difficult to understand ; but it was got into the courts, 
and there decided to be constitutional. 

At the opening of this session, the Governor reappointed Messrs, 
Smith and Bogue Railroad Commissioners for a third term, and 
Mr. W. H. Robinson. In both Houses of the Legislature, inves- 
tigating committees were set in operation, to enquire into the 
administration of the Commissioners. The result was, that the 
Commissioners were confirmed, and were instructed to more ener- 
getically prosecute violations of the law, and to revise the sched- 
ules of maximum rates, reducing the rates wnich were too high. 

The Legislature failed to apportion the State into State and 
Congressional districts, and the Governor called it to meet March 
23, 1BS2, for that purpose, and to submit to the people the propo- 
sition for ceding the Illinois and Michigan Canal to the general 
government, on condition of completion to the Mississippi river. 

In closing this record, before the close of Governor Cullom's 
administration, it is but fair to say, that under his care the affairs 
of the State have been managed in a strict, methodical, business- 
like manner. Whatever changes in the laws have been made at 
his suggestion, have proved improvements. On every hand the 
the State interests have been protected. In every case where 
the legislation, which he has approved, has been brought before 
the courts, notably, in the administration of park matters in Chi- 
cago, the Appellate Courts, the Military and Health Acts, Probate 
Courts, and the Biennial Election Act, he has had the judicial 
approval of the Supreme Court, which, it is not improper to add, 
has been continually politically opposed to him, and is not of 
his creating. The general management of the State institutions, 
charitable and penal, have constantly improved in economy and 
efficiency. The State Boards have grown in usefulness and dig- 
nity and in public estimation. Legislation has been free from 
reproach, and the State freed from debt, and the great inter- 
na tional work, the ship canal across our territory, which from 
boyhood he has held of incalculable importance, seems to be in 
the Hue of imminent probability. The great interests of a great 
State have been cared for by the intelligent, laborious and con- 
scientious Executive. 



Chapteb LXX. 
1883-1885— ADMINISTKATION OF GOVEENOR HAMILTON. 

Early Life in Ohio — Emigration to Illinois — Boyhood Life on a 
Farm — Early Education — Enlisted and Mustered in Union Army 
— College Life and Study of Law — Practice — Elected State Sena- 
tor — Legislative Record — President pro tern, of the Senate — Nomi- 
nated for Lieutenant-Governor — Campaign of 1880 — Becomes 
Governor — Principal Events and Acts of his Administration. 



•John Marshall Hamilton was born May, 28th, 1847, in a log 
house upon a farm about two miles from Eicliwood, Union County, 
Ohio. His father was Samuel Hamilton, the eldest son of Rev. 
William Hamilton, who, together with his brother the Rev. Samuel 
Hamilton, was among the early pioneer Methodist preachers in 
Ohio. The grandfather. Rev. William Hamilton, emigrated to 
Ohio at an early day from Maryland, where he was born, and 
where one large branch of the family resided. The mother of 
John M. Hamilton, before her marriage, was a Mrs. Nancy 
McMorris, who was born and raised in Fauquier, or Loudoun 
County, Virginia, and who was related to the two large families 
of Youngs and Marshalls, well known in that commonwealth, and 
from the latter family name was derived the middle name of Gov. 
Hamilton. Union county, in which he was born, was among the 
newest and latest settled counties of Ohio, being very level for the 
most part, and covered with a dense forest. This forest, consist- 
ing of beech and other hardwood trees of great size, had to be 
gradually subdued and cleared away, in order to prepare land for 
farming purposes. In the midst of this uncleared forest, Samuel 
Hamilton, the father of John, received a small tract of land from 
his father, William, in an early day, built thereon a log house, and 
after years of hard toil succeeded in making a typical Ohio Woods 
farm. There Samuel Hamilton lived for many years, and until 
nearly seven years after John was born, when, in March, 1854, 
having sold the homestead which he had carved out of the forest, 
he loaded his household effects, and his family, consisting then 
of six children, into two covered emigrant wagons, and one travel- 
ing wagon, and started for Illinois. The roads in those days, 
throughout the entire route, were unimproved, with the exceptions 
of an occasional turn-pike or plank road in Ohio and the corduroy 



Hamilton's administration. 987 

roads through the swamps of Indiana. The journey of the family 
continued westward for '21 days, when they reached, in the hitter 
part of March, a farm in Roberts township, Marshall county, 
Illinois, which had been selected by Samuel Hamilton on a pre- 
vious trip of inspection. It was situated, as were most Illinois 
farms then, on the edge of a belt of timber, with the farm lands 
extending out on the prairie. The farm was only partially paid for, 
from the very limited means of Samuel Hamilton, and long years 
of toil and economy on the part of the family ensued before it 
was fully paid for, a new house built and a comfortable home es- 
tablished. John was compelled, along with others of the family, 
to perform all grades of the manual labor of the farm as fast as 
he became large enough or strong enough. Here his means of 
education were quite limited, consisting in the main of three or 
four months of school in the winter time, at the little country 
school house, about a half mile away. He however supplemented 
this as best he could by constantly engaging his leisure time in 
reading such books as he could find and borrow from others, the 
books owned by the family being very few. The light by which 
he studied was usually the blaze of the log fire on the hearth, and 
his teacher his mother. In the financial panic of 1857, owing to 
the father's embarrassment from security debts incurred for 
friends, the family came very near losing their home, and it was 
only after several years hard labor and privation on the part of 
the father, the oldest sons, William and John, that the farm was 
redeemed from the mortgage, and saved. The manner of living 
of the family was always of the plainest and simplest kind. In 
1860, the tremendous excitement of the great political campaign 
in which Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United 
States, spread all over the land, and reached the country neighbor- 
hood in which the Hamilton farm was situated. Samuel and his 
father. Rev. William, had been life-long opponents of slavery. The 
muttering storm of the slave holder's rebellion could be plainly 
heard in the distance, and it roused to eager excitement the 
members of this country neighborhood. 

In the neighboring village of Magnolia, in Putnam county, 
which was the nearest Postoffice, as in hundreds of towns and 
villages, a Republican campaign marching company, called the 
Lincoln Wide-Awakes, was formed, and John, then but thirteen 
years of age, easily obtained the consent of his father to join this 
Company, and after working for wages to obtain money to pur- 
chase his uniform, which consisted of a black oil-cloth cape, a cap 
of like material, a lamp with staff and flag, he was admitted to 
this company of about seventy-five young men and boys, of whom 
he was about the youngest, being assigned to the foot of the com- 
pany. Their Captain, afterwards Maj. Widmer, was an energetic 
young man, and posting himself thoroughly on military tactics, 
once or twice a week assembled his company and put them under 
thorough military drill, besides taking part in all the mass-meet- 
ings in the surrounding country. By the time the election was 
over, it was seen by all, that on account of the signal triumph of 
the Repuldican party, trouble with the South was likely to ensue. 
The organization of many of these Wide-Awake companies, includ- 
ing this one, was kept up and rapidly transformed into Military 



988 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Companies. This Company, in the spring and summer of 18B1, 
met often for drill, and became quite prolicient. When the first 
call for 300,000 men to put down the rebellion came, the most of 
this Company volunteered for service under Capt. Irwin, an old 
Mexican Soldier, and were accepted and assigned to the 77th 111. 
Vol. Infantry, then assembling at Peoria. Young Hamilton 
promptly enlisted and went with the boys into camp, but on 
account of his youth was rejected from the service on muster. 
His older brother, William, at that time was an invalid, and the 
father very much desired John to remain at home to help take 
care of the farm and family. After two ineffectual enlistments 
and attempts to get into the army as a private, and after folio wmg 
it on his own accord for awhile, at the earnest solicitation of his 
parents he returned home, remaining there and working upon the 
farm until the fall of 1863, when his father sent him to an 
academy at Henry, in Marshall county, where he remained until 
the following spring. In May, 1864, he again enlisted in the 141st 
Eeg. 111. Vol. Infantry, a Regiment then being raised at Elgin, 111., 
for 100 days' service. He heard of this regiment being raised, and 
in two or three days had gone around and enlisted every remain- 
ing able-bodied boy in the country neighborhood, thirteen in all, 
and started with them into camp, where they were all accepted 
as privates, though one of them became a Lieutenant afterwards. 
As soon as organized, the regiment was sent to southwestern Ken- 
tucky, and served in that region for about five months in active 
service, watching guerrillas,'" guarding railroad lines, and similar 
duty, the Eegiment being under the command of Gen. Paine. 
Eeturning from the army in November, 1864, the Regiment was 
mustered out at camp Fry, m Chicago, and John returned to his 
home and supported himself that winter by teaching a country 
district school, in the southern part of Marshall county. He 
worked upon his father's farm during the summer of 1865, and in 
September of that year, after repeated and urgent solicitation, his 
father sent him to school at Delaware, Ohio, Ohio Wesleyan Uni- 
versity where he entered the freshman class in the regular classical 
course, having prepared himself for College principally by his own 
private studies, reciting to, and getting help from, whomsoever he 
could in the country. On entering College, he realized the fact that, 
his parents' means being very limited, he must economize time and 
expenses as much as possible, as he would be in danger of having 
to leave College before graduation, for want of money. He went 
diligently to work to accomplish his graduation. During the first 
two years of his College life he not only kept up the regular studies 
of the freshman and sophomore classes, but by permission of the 
faculty, he constantly carried two studies of the more advanced 
class, reciting privately to professors, so that at the end of two 
years he was found to have consolidated three years of the course 
of studies into two. Upon examination he was found to have 
cleared the studies of the junior class out of his way at the end 
of the sophomore year, and was at once advanced to the regu- 
lar senior class, and went with it to graduation, at the end of his 
third year in College, standing, at the end, fourth in a class of 
forty-six. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, which was 
subsequently supplemented with that of Master of Arts from the 



Hamilton's administkation. 989 

same University. He returned to Illinois from College in July, 
18G8, with but $2.50 in money left, and his parents unable to 
assist him further. He at once set about procuring something to 
do, and secured a situation, as principal teacher in charge, of 
Marshall College, at Henry, 111., an institution of the grade of an 
Academy, under the supervision of a branch of the Methodist 
church. He held this place until the following April, when he 
resigned, on account of ill health, and because the financial con- 
dition of the institution was not such as to safely secure his salary, 
which was not paid for a long time afterward. He then rested 
and recruited his health until July, 1869. 

During the last year he had been diligently reading law when 
not engaged in his duties as a teacher, and he now determined to 
pursue that study vigorously to a conclusion and admission to 
the bar. But he was also compelled to find some means of 
subsistence. He therefore went to Bloomington, Illinois, where 
he learned that the Board of Trustees of the Illinois Wesleyan Uni- 
versity wished to employ a temporary professor of Latin, one of 
the regular professors being absent for a year. He presented his 
credentials to the Board, and was at once selected to teach a 
limited number of classes in the forenoon of each day, at a salary 
of $700 for the year. Having arranged for a living, he made 
application, and was admitted as a student in the law office of 
Weldon, Tipton & Benjamin, then the leading law firm of Bloom- 
ington. Each member of this firm afterwards became distin- 
guished as a Judge, the Hon. Lawrence Weldon being now one 
of the Judges of the United States Court of Claims at Washing- 
ton. Here Hamilton, for a year, discharged his duties as a teacher 
in the forenoon of each day, and vigorously pushed the study of 
law in the afternoon and night. Before the school year closed, and 
in May, 1870, he was admitted to the bar, and at the close of the 
school year was given an interest in the law business of Weldon 
& Benjamin, (Tipton having been elected Judge of the Circuit 
Court) and at once entered in the active practice of law. He 
continued with Weldon & Benjamin until October, 1870, when he 
formed a partnership with J. H. Eowell, Esq., under the firm 
name of Kowell & Hamilton. Eowell was at that time Prosecut- 
ing Attorney of the Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of 
McLean, Logan .and DeWitt. He was also a young lawyer, though 
much older in years than Hamilton, and devoted most of his time 
to his duties as District Attorney. 

The new firm started with but little practice, but both being 
very poor, they determined to build up a business and reputations 
as lawyers. Their clients increased in numbers rapidly, and 
their business almost at once became sufficiently remunerative to 
afford them a living. For many years they both worked with 
great zeal and diligence in their profession, gradually rising to a 
firm of first-class rank in Central Illinois, their practice extending 
through all grades of the Courts to the Supreme Court of the 
United States. Their professional business and personal rela- 
tions were always of the most cordial and intimate nature, and 
this law firm continued unchanged and unbroken until the 6th of 
February, 1883, when Hamilton took the oath office and his seat 
as Governor of Illinois, and on the fourth of March following, 



990 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

Eowell took his seat in Congress, to which he had been elected 
thri tall before. The successful law firm of over twelve years 
standing was thus broken up. 

In July, 1871, Hamilton was married to Miss Helen M. Williams, 
the daughter of Professor Wm. G. Williams, the professor of Greek 
in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, having 
formed an acquaintance and attachment with her while in school. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have three children, two girls and one boy. 

Hamilton's political career began in 1876. In the summer of 
that year, findnig his health much impaired by long confinement 
and increasing work in the practice of his profession, and wishing 
to vary his occupation somewhat, he became a candidate for the 
State Senate from the 28tli District, McLean county. He was 
nominated for Senator by the Republican Convention, on the first 
ballot, over several other and older competitors. He took a very 
active part on the stump in the campaign of 1876, for the success 
of the Republican party, and was hnnself elected to the Senate 
by a majority of 1,640, over his Democratic-Greenback opponent. 

LEGISLATIVE PERIOD. 

On taking his seat in the Senate of the Thirtieth General Assem- 
bly, Senator Hamilton at once devoted himself actively to the busi- 
ness of the session. The Senate was so constituted, politically, that 
a combination of the De oaocratic and Independent Senators was able 
to organize the Senate, choosing the Hon. Fawcett Plumb, of La- 
Salie County, as president pro tern., the Hon. Andrew Shuman be- 
ing Lieutenant-Governor. Hamilton was placed on a number of 
leading committees, including Judiciary, Revenue, State Institu- 
tions, Appropriations, Education, and Miscellany. The first excit- 
ing contest of the session was in the election of a United States 
Senator to succeed the Hon John A. Logan, Logan was nomi- 
nated by the Republican caucus, and John M. Palmer by the Demo- 
crats, while a small number of Independents in each house held the 
balance of power, and voted for a number of prominent men dur- 
ing the contest, including Col. Ralph Plumb, Gen. Wm. Ander- 
son, John C. Haines, and Judge David" Davis. As the time ap- 
proached for the senatorial election, Hamilton was at home sick, 
and confined to his bed ; but on the day before the balloting com- 
menced, he caused himself to be carried from his bed to the cars, 
and returned to Springfield to enter the contest. He was an un- 
wavering supporter of Gen. Logan through the long contest which 
followed, never missing a ballot, though often having to be sup- 
ported from his hotel to the capitol. The struggle lasted for ten 
days, when, by a coalition between the Independents and Demo- 
crats, Judge David Davis was elected, Hamilton on the last ballot 
voting alone for Logan, when all other Republicans had voted for 
Judge Charles B. Lawrence, with the hope of getting enough Inde- 
pendent votes to elect him. 

As a member of the Judicial Department committee, he took a 
very prominent and active part in the establishment of the new 
system of Appellate Courts created at this session. He had been 
appointed by the State Bar Association, of which he was a mem- 
ber, on a committee, together with Judge Anthony Thornton, 
Judge Gillespie and others, to prepare and submit to the Legisla- 
ture a bill for the establishment of an Appellate Court, in order 



Hamilton's administration. 991 

to relieve the Supreme Court and litigants generally ; the docket 
of the Supreme Court having become so overcrowded tiiat long and 
numerous delays occurred before cases could be decided. This 
committee prepared a bill and submitted it, which was revised and 
recommended by a joint special committee of the two houses, of 
which Hamilton was a member. The bill in the Senate was put 
in his charge, and passed successfully, with a few amendments, 
one important one being the last proviso of the twenty-fifth section, 
which was offered by him on the floor of the Senate and adopt- 
ed. In this session, also, was passed the first Board of Health 
and Medical Practice Act. A committee appointed by the State 
Medical Society submitted the first draft of the Board of Health 
Act to Senator Hamilton, who, after revising it somewhat, intro- 
duced it and became its champion. It met with fierce opposition. 
The bill was reported favorably from the committee, but was 
several times laid on the table, referred or beaten, but each time 
was again placed upon its feet by Hamilton's persistence. Dur- 
ing the struggle a combination was made between the friends of 
this bill and those of the Medical Practice Act, somewhat antago- 
nistic to each other, by which both were to be passed, but the 
supervision of the whole matter to be in the hands of the Board 
of Health, as will be seen by reference to the Medical Practice 
Act. After a long and doubtful struggle, both bills passed, and the 
Board of Health estabhshed. It has now become one of the most 
popular and useful branches of the State government. 

In this session the act was passed authorizing the location and 
establishment of a Southern Penitentiary. This was vigorously 
opposed by Hamilton on the ground that, as a matter of economy 
and sound business principle, it was better to enlarge the peni- 
tentiary at Joliet to a sufficient capacity to accommodate all the 
prisoners' and keep them under one management and one system. 
He also bitterly opposed and materially aided in defeating a 
proposition to amend the Eevenue law, so as to tax church prop- 
erty. He maintained that inasmuch as both the constitutions of 
1848 and 1870 had authorized the Legislature to exempt church 
property from taxation by law, and as in both instances the Legis- 
lature had by statute exempted such property from taxation, 
therefore the Legislature had now no power to tax church property 
accumulated under the faith of such legal exemptions, and that 
they could only tax church property hereafter established, which 
would be unjust. This opinion was intimated about that time by 
the Supreme Court of the United States, and the bill was beaten. 

When the Thirty-First General Assembly came together it was 
found that the Eepublicans were in the majority in both houses. 
In the caucus of the Republican senators, Senator Hamilton was 
unanimously chosen by acclamation as their candidate for Presi- 
dent pro tern., and was easily elected to that position, receiving the 
entire Republican vote, and that of the one Independent (Artley). 
A United States Senator was again to be elected to succeed Richard 
J. Oglesby. The contestants for the Republican caucus nomina- 
tion were Oglesby and John A. Logan. Logan was nominated by 
a large majority and elected in joint convention, Hamilton again, 
steadfastly adhering to Logan. He presided over the Senate 
much of the time during this session, in the absence of Lieut.- 



992 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Governor Shuman. One of the most memorable contests of this 
session was over the passage of the bill making a Code, and estab- 
lishing the State Militia on a permanent basis. The Eepublicans 
generally supported the measure, while the Democrats generally 
opposed it, with some exceptions on both sides. The friends of the 
bill had barely enough votes in the Senate to pass it when they 
were all present. One day during the absence from the Senate 
Chamber of several of the friends of the bill, it came up on third 
reading and was put upon its final passage. Its defeat seemed 
certain if its absent friends w^ere not found and brought in. Hamil- 
ton at once took the floor, and after debating it awhile, commenced 
a regular and continuous lire of parliamentary motions and de- 
lays, while the capitol was being scoured for absentees, who were 
finally brought in and the bill passed. 

In 1880 Senator Hamilton became a candidate for the Republi- 
can nomination for Lieutenant-Governor. His principal competi- 
tors for that nomination were Hon. Wm. A. James, ex-Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, Judge Robert Bell of Wabash 
County, the Hon. T. T. Fountain of Perry County, and the Hon. 
M. M. Saddler of Marion County. Hamilton was nominated in the 
State Convention, in May, 1880, on the first ballot, over an his com- 
petitors. He at once engaged very actively in the campaign, and 
after it had fully opened he spoke almost daily, making during the 
campaign, sixty-nine regularly appointed speeches, and reaching 
nearly all parts of the State. He was elected by a majority of 41,200 
over his Democratic opponent, Gen. Parsons, of Clay County. As 
Lieutenant-Governor, he presided almost continuously over the 
Senate in the Thirty- Second General Assembly, and during the 
early days of the Thirty-Third, and until he succeeded to the office 
of Governor. During the time he was Lieutenant-Governor, he 
received many testimonials by way of resolutions, presents, etc., 
from the Senate, irrespective of party, for the able and impartial 
manner in which he presided over its deliberations. 

GOVERNOR. 

When the Legislature of 1883 elected Gov. Cullom to the United 
States Senate, Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton succeeded him 
under the constitution, taking the oath of office on the 6th day of 
February, 1883. He bravely met all the annoyances and embar- 
rassments incidental upon the taking up of another's administra- 
tion. The session of the Legislature was a long and trying one, 
but Governor Hamilton early showed the sterling stuff of which 
he was made, and demonstrated the fact that he was fully equal 
to all emergencies. On his succession to the office of Governor, 
the Chicago Evening Journal said : 

He fills the ofiice wisely and well, and it is venturing nothing to predict that 
when the time comes for him to retire from his high ofiice, it will be found that 
he has discharged its duties'and met its responsibilities as able and efficiently as 
had the oldest and best of his "illustrious predecessors." Governor Hamilton is 
a man of education and brains, and although but 3G years of age, has had much 
experience of a kind that he now finds valuable. His fourteen years in the 
practice of the law, his four years' service in the State Senate, serv^ed to educate 
him for the very position he now occupies. And it is very evident that he has 
entered upon the duties of that position with a due sense of their importance 
and his great responsibility. From being a social and jovial gentleman, as we 



Hamilton's administration. 993 



knew him in the Senate, he has become, as Governor, ' 'as grave as a deacon" — and 
jet his sedateness is not of the kind which chills or repels either friend or 
stranger. No man, in or out of ofiBce, is more kindly or more approachable. 
His soberness of face and demeanor— as was the case with Lincoln when he be- 
came President— is that which is inspired by a sense of the dignity of his great 
office and its attendant responsibilities. No one need have one moment's anxiety 
as to our new Governor's fitness or capacity for the Executive office. He will 
'•fill the bill" worthily and with ability. John M. Hamilton is incapable of a 
wrong act, and he has too much good sense to be guilty of a foolish one. 

Governor Hamilton had hardly entered upon the duties of his 
new office when the terrible mine disaster occurred atBraidwood, 
in which eighty lives were lost. He promptly sent the Adjutant 
General to the scene of the calamity to ascertain its extent and 
report the necessities of the sufferers. This report was promptly 
submitted to the Legislature, with a recommendation that State 
relief be afforded the stricken families of the victims of the dis- 
aster. 

Again, on the 6th of March, the Governor called the attention 
of the Legislature to the extraordinary misfortune that had fallen 
upon the citizens of Gallatin and Hardin counties through the 
floods in the Ohio and Wabash rivers. After detailing the suffer- 
ing by this unprecedented flood, and the pitiable condition of the 
drowned out inhabitants, the Governor says that he had already 
sent a special messenger to the scene of the disaster, to report 
upon the situation and the needs of the people. That on his own 
responsibility he had shipped from the State Arsenal 100 army 
tents to shelter the people driven from their homes to the hills. 
He then says: ''The horrible details of the widely extended 
calamity, Hke those of the recent one at the Diamond Mine, near 
Braidwood, appeal in mute, but matchless eloquence to the great 
commonwealth for relief. Since my special communication to 
the General Assembly on the Diamond Mine disaster, I have, by 
investigation, become convinced that no technical constitutional 
objection lies in the way as a bar to relieving the distress of those 
people by legislative appropriation. So far as the objection is 
concerned which is often urged, to-wit : that an appropriation by 
the Legislature to relieve those people would be a bad precedent, 
which would open the legislative doors to all sorts of private bills 
to relieve sufferers from the consequences of every form of acci- 
dent, I beg leave to suggest that both of those to which I have re- 
ferred are very extraordinary and appalling calamities, and that 
as a precedent, an appropriation for relief in these cases would 
only be a guide for future action, so far as would be allowed in 
future cases by the wisdom and good sense of the General Assem- 
bly. The present and imperative wants of these people have, in 
both cases, been temporarily relieved by the voluntary donations 
of a sympathetic and charitable people, but a more lasting and 
substantial subsistence will certainly be required in order to re- 
lieve future want, sickness and destitution, and such relief, it 
seems to me, is immediately required of the Legislature by the 
common dictates of humanity, without prejudice as to future 
action in other cases, and is necessary in order to properly sustain 
the honor and fair name of the Great State of Blinois. 

"I may be permitted to further respectfully suggest, that if, in 
your wisdom, you should see fit to aid the personal necessities of 
63 



994 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



these people by an appropriation, the act should provide the 
character of aid to be given, the manner in which it shall be dis- 
tributed, and should constitute a commission of discreet and 
trustworthy persons, who should receive and distribute the fund 
among those who are found to be most needy ; and the commis- 
sioners should be required to give bond for the faithful perform- 
ance of their trust, and should be required to make a detailed and 
itemized report, in writing, of the manner in which they distribute^ 
such fund, to some proper department of the State Government, 
accompanied by proper vouchers." 

Perhaps at no period of his administration, was this, the 
youngest Governor of Illinois, called upon to exercise more care- 
ful discretion, prudence or good judgment, than in the use of his 
executive power during the riots in St. Clair and Madison coun- 
ties, which occurred in May, 1883. It then became necessary to 
use the State Militia to suppress the outbreaks of mobs and 
rioters, who were defying the law, and the power of the civil 
authorities. The rioters were striking coal miners, working at 
and near Collinsville, Madison County, near the line of St. Clair 
county. The owners of the mines made an appeal for State pro- 
tection, stating that the working miners were being abused and 
maltreated by the strikers, and there was great danger of a serious 
outbreak that would be disastrous to life and property. The civil 
officers Avere unable to control the rioters, as they would move 
from one county to another to avoid arrest. The Governor tele- 
graphed the sheriffs of these counties, under date of May 5, to 
act in conjunction to preserve the peace among the miners, and 
employ enough assistance to protect those who desired to work. 
The sheriff of St. Clair county replied that he was preserving the 
peace there. Nothing official was heard from this vicinity until 
May 2'4, when the Governor was notified by telegraph that between 
three and four hundred armed men had taken possession of the 
Collinsville property, maltreated the men, acd prevented them 
from working ; that deputy sheriffs present had no control over 
the mob, and asking for protection. The Governor telegraphed 
back that "the sheriffs must call out a civil posse strong enough to 
put the mob down — when they are unable to control it, then, and 
not until then, am I authorized to furnish military aid." To the 
sheriff of Madison County, the same response was made, on his 
request for military aid. Col. Barkley, commanding the Fifth 
Eegiment, I. N. G., was then sent upon the ground with all possi- 
ble dispatch, and with instructions to consult with the sheriffs, 
and ascertain the necessity for the use of the militia. The sheriff 
of Madison county was in the meantime telegraphing for aid, and 
this was followed by an appeal from the officers of the St. Louis, 
Alton and Terre Haute Kailroad, who feared the destruction of 
their property. These were supplemented by the following dis- 
patches : 

Collinsville, III., May 25, 1883. 
To GovEKNOR John M. Hamilton : 

We, the undersigned, testify that there are from two hundred and fifty to four 
hundred men, armed with revolvers, clubs and stones, threatening- the peace of 
this and adjoining towns. That they are preventing men employed in the mines 
here from pursuing their lawful business, and threatening the public peace; 



Hamilton's administration. 995 

and that further, in our opinion the Sheriff is not able to provide the necessary 
protection to life and property, and the exigencies of the case demand the inter- 
ference of the State Militia. 

[Signed], HARTLEY LANHAM, 

Deputy Sheriff. 
JAMES M. LAWRENCE, 

Justice of the Peace. 

E. J. CRANDELL, 

Pres't Abbey Coal Mining Co. 
J. H. WICKLIFFE, 

Sec'y Collinsville Coal and Mining Co, 
J. L. R. WADS WORTH, M. D. 
I await your instructions here. Have telegraphed for sheriff. 

J. H. BARKLEY. 

EDvyARDSViLLE, ILL., May 25, 1883. 
To Governor Hamilton: 

Militia ready for orders. They are needed, judging by dispatches this 
morning. 

GEO. HOTZ, Sheriff. 

The Governor, then becoming convinced that there existed a 
mob which the civil ojfficers were unable to control, ordered Brig- 
adier-General J. N. Eeece, commanding the Second Brigade, I. 
N. G., to send a portion of his command to report to Col. Bark- 
ley, at Collinsviile, and Col. Barkley was telegraphed as follows : 

Springfield, .III., May 25, 1883. 
To Col. J. H. Barkley, Collinsviile, 111. : 

Taylorville and Edwardsville companies are ordered to report to you at Col- 
linsviile, immediately. You will take command, and place yourself and force 
under the direction of the Sheriff of Madison County. 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 

Also the following to the Sheriff of Madison County : 

Springfield, III., May 25, 1883. 
To Geo. Hotz, Sheriff, Collinsviile, 111. : 

Two companies of militia ordered to Collinsviile forthwith. Col. Barkley will 
command them, subject to your orders. Act with cool discretion in preserving 
the peace, and avoid a conflict unless absolutely necessary. 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 

During the afternoon of the 26th, Col. Barkley reported the 
rioters dispersed at Collinsviile and vicinity, and asked permis- 
sion to withdraw his forces to East St. Louis, on the next day, if 
everything was quiet. In answer to his dispatches, the Governor 

telegraphed him as follows : 

Springfield, III., May 26, 1883. 
To CoL. J. H. Barkley, Collinsviile, 111. : 

Use your careful discretion about withdrawing to East St. Louis to-morrow. 
If rioters appear again, take as many of them prisoners as you can, and turn 
them over to the civil authorities tobe sent to jail, 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 

And later in the day the following : 

Springfield, III., May 26, 1883. 
To Col. J. H. Barkley, Collinsviile, 111. : 

Wire your judgment and intention as to advisability of remaining in Collins- 
viile to-morrow, or longer, and what chances are for capturing any rioters in 
conjunction with civil authorities. Keep dispatches caref ullj'^ guarded . 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 



996 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



The strikers were scattered, but citizens and property owners 
were very apprehensive of loss of life and property, should the 
militia be withdrawn, and strongly urged the Governor to keep 
the troops at the place of disturbance. The riotous demonstra- 
tions curbed at Collinsville, then broke out at Belleville, and the 
Sheriff of St. Clair County telegraphed as follows : 

Belleville, III., May 26, 1883. 
To Governor HAMn.TON: 

The demand for protection is multiplying in sucjh a way that I cannot get 
power enough to protect all points, and have to call on you for about sixty men, 
militia, at Belleville, as soon as possible, to protect mines and railroads around 
here. 

FRED. ROPIEQUET, Sheriff. 

Collinsville, III. , May 26, 1883. 
To Gov. J. M. Hamilton: 

Have just received telegram from Fred. Ropiequet, Sheriff of St. Clair 
County, as follows. 

"I would like seventy-five men placed at my disposal, on Monday morning; 
men to report at Belleville." 

The request is made to start the mines in the Belleville district. Advise me 
what to do. Governor's Guard, twenty-four men, en route from Cairo to East 
St. Louis, via the Cairo Short line. Shall I hold them at East St. Louis? Tele- 
graphed to Gen. Reece, twice to-day, concerning my course at Belleville mines. 
Have received no answer. Tf you desire to furnish men for Belleville, will need 
Governor's Guard. All quiet here. 

COL. J. H. BARKLEY. 

To these the following answers were given. 

Springfield, III., May 27, 1883. 
To Fred. Ropiequet, Sheriff, Belleville, 111.: 

I cannot furnish troops to guard property. Troops will be supplied to put 
down and suppress rioters, when it is demonstrated that civil authorities cannot 
control them. Troops will be held in Madison County and vicinity until to- 
morrow. 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 

Springfield, III., May 26. 1883. 
To Col. J. H. Barkley, Collinsville, lU. : 

Sheriff Ropiequet, of St. Clair County, has heretofore insisted upon his entire 
ability to keep the peace in that county, and has not called on me for assistance. 
When you have restored peace, and dispersed the mob in Madison Coiinty, with- 
draw your troops, as ordered to-day. Governor's Guard are not under marching 
orders, and should not be detained. 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 

Col. Barkley having been directed to use his discretion in re- 
moving the troops from Collinsville, the mining operators and 
leading citizens joined in a protest against such action, claiming 
that it would be a virtual surrender to mob force. That a mob 
had arranged to go there if the troops were removed, and that if 
the militia was left there, they could get indictments and force the 
sherijBf to act. To these petitions, the Governor answered that the 
militia could not be kept there to guard property indefinitely, and 
that the civil authorities must use the power of the militia prompt- 
ly to disperse the rioters, or arrest and jail them. Col. Barkley, 
in the meantime, withdrew his command to East St. Louis, on 
the morning of the 28th. The Governor, on that day, receiving 
the following dispatches : 



Hamilton's administration. 997 

East St. Louis, III., May 28, 1883. 
To Gov. John M. Hamilton: 

The mob of strikers has congregated at Marissa this morning, about two 
hundred in number. At the request of the Sheriff of St. Clair county, the Cairo 
Short Line will send a special train to take them to Belleville, whence they 
came. There is still considerable apprehension of further trouble in St. Clair 
County, and it is by no means certain yet that the Sheriff can keep the peace 
without your assistance. 

E. F. LEONARD. 

Bast St. Louis, May 28, 1883. 
To Gov. John M. Hamilton: 

Have just received the following telegram from the Sheriff of St. Clair county, 
and await your further orders at East St. Louis. Have wired Sheriff of St. Clair 
county to telegraph you direct. 

Belleville, III., May 28, 1883. 
To Col. Barkley, East St. Louis: 

Cannot master mob at Reinecke, No. 1, on L. and N. R. R. There are about 
300 men and 50 women that want to destroy the pit. I just received telephone by 
L. and N. R. R., to ask for Militia, and I hope that you will send a company 
immediately by special train to Birkner station, from where it is about one mile 
from pit — or to pit itself, if you can do so. 

Fred. Ropiequet, Sheriff. J. H. BARKLEY, Colonel Commanding. 

Belleville, III., May 28, 1883. 
To John M. Hamilton: 

A mob of from 300 to 500 men are now in possession of Reinecke's coal mine 
No. 1, in my county. I am unable to cope with that mob. Can you assist me 
with troops? Have telegraphed Col. Barkley, who refers me to you. Danger is 
imminent. 

FRED. ROPIEQUET, Sheriff. 

East St. Louis, III., May 28, 1883. 
To Gov. J. M. Hamilton: 

All quiet in Madison county. Telegram just received from Sheriff of St. Clair 
county has been forwarded you. Have directed Col. Barkley to hold his 
command here, awaiting your further orders. 

J. N. REECE, Brigadier-General. 

Answer was made in the subjoined telegram : 

Springfield, III., May 28, 1883. 
To Gen. Reece and Col. Barkley, East St. Louis, lU. : 

If you think advisable, and can send part of your command, at least, by fast 
train to aid Sheriff of St. Clair and capture rioters at coal mines, you may do 
so. Sheriff must take command and capture as many as possible to be turned 
over to civil authorities. Use proper discretion. 

JOHN M. HAMILTON, Governor. 

The engagement of the troops with the mob is described in the 
following dispatch : 

East St. Louis, May 28, 1883. 
To Gov. John M. Hamilton: 

All companies except Company "F" en route for home. Arrived with entire 
command at Reinecke mine at 5:45 p. m. Met Deputy Sheriffs Anthony and 
Ragland at station. Rioters fired on train before troops got off cars. Deputy 
Sheriffs ordered rioters to surrender to civil authority. The crowd continued 
firing upon Deputy Sheriff and troops, the Deputy returned the fire with a num- 
ber of shots, and ordered me to arrest the mob. Several shots were fired upon 
the rioters by the troops. One of the mob was killed, and one of the prisoners 



998 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 



wounded. Three hundred rioters and fifty-four women were found at the 
station defying civil authorities. Reinecke, the owner of the mine, was held as 
a prisoner since ten o'clock, a. m. Arrested twenty-six rioters, which have been 
turned over to the Deputy Sheriffs. Company "F" has been left at Reinecke 
mine with prisoners, under order of the deputy. Prisoners will be taken to 
Belleville to-night, and company ordered home by Sheriff of St. Clair county 
probably to-morrow. 

J. H. BARKLEY, Colonel Commanding. 

Feeling ran high after this engagement, but no outbreak occur- 
red, and finally all troops were withdrawn, upon the Governor 
learning that the civil authorities of Belleville had released all the 
miners taken in the act of riot, on their own recognizance, with- 
out trial or bail, — the Governor being justly indignant at this un- 
warranted act in violation of agreement with the officers, and in 
sympathy with the mob. 

In summing up the official history of the affair, the Governor 
reaches the following conclusions, which are of great interest : 

First — That there existed in the counties of Madison and St. 
Clair a mob of several hundred rioters, who were trampling law 
under foot and defying the local civil authorities. 

Second — That the sheriffs of those counties, being unable to 
control the mob with local civil posse, were not only justified in 
calling on the executive for military aid, but were performing 
their sworn duty to keep the peace. 

Third — That the Governor of this State was simply obeying the 
mandates of the constitution, which he has sworn to support, in 
responding to the call of the sheriffs — the mandates of the consti- 
tution being : 

Section 6, Article V: "The supreme executive power shall be 
vested in the Governor, who shall take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed," and section 14, "The Governor shall be 
Commander-in-Chief of the military and naval forces of the State, 
and may call out the same to execute the laws, suppress insurrec- 
tion and repel invasion." 

FoH,rtk — It shows that the constitutional injuction. Article II 
(2), Section 15, "The military shall be in strict subordination to 
the civil power," has been carefully observed, by placing the 
military at all times under the command and direction of the 
sheriffs. 

Fifth — It, without further argument, completely justifies the 
action of the sheriffs and troops at Reinecke's mine. Here the 
deputy sheriffs, and the troops which were under their direction, 
and which had been repeatedly demanded by the sheriff of St. 
Clair county, met face to face with the mob of rioters which had 
for several days been marching from mine to mine in St. Clair 
and Madison counties, disturbing the peace, and intimidating and 
terrorizing the inhabitants, and especially men who wished to 
work in the mines. They had taken forcible possession of a num- 
ber of mines. They took the workmen engaged in the mine at 
Collinsville, and marched them as prisoners nearly twelve miles 
to East St. Louis. They had committed assaults on a large num- 
ber of workingmen, and were, at the time the conflict occurred, in 
actual and unlawful possession of the mine ; were holding the 
owner of the mine a prisoner on the top, as well as a large num- 
ber of workingmen down in the mine, with all machinery stopped, 



Hamilton's administration. 999 



and they were threatening, as the sheriff of St. Clair county says 
in his dispatch, to burn the mine, thus destroying the lives of the 
workmen within. They had been repeatedly commanded to dis- 
perse by the deputy sheriffs, and refused. They had been noti- 
fied that military aid was coming, but they persisted in facing 
and defymg it, and on its arrival began firing on the sheriffs. 
They refused to surrender to the civil authorities, and resisted 
arrest. Under these circumstances, it is wholly immaterial who 
fired the first shot. It was the duty of the sheriffs, with the aid 
of the military, to arrest and disperse the rioters, and use force 
to do it, and if in so doing some of the rioters were hurt, it was 
only a natural and legitimate consequence of their unlawful and 
defiant attitude ; and the only wonder is, that under such circum- 
stances so few of them were hurt. These rioters were in the 
very act of committing a large number of offenses defined as 
<3rimes by the various sections of the Criminal Code of Illinois. 
And when the riotous assembly refused to disperse at the com- 
mand of the sheriffs, the sheriffs and their military aid were 
fully justified in firing upon them, and were fully protected by 
sections 254 and 255 of the Criminal Code of Illinois, the latter 
of which sections provides as follows : "If, in the efforts made as 
aforesaid to suppress such assembly and to arrest and secure the 
persons composing it, who refuse to disperse, though the number 
remaining is less than twelve, any such persons, or any persons 
present as spectators, or otherwise, are killed or wounded, said 
magistrates, and officers and persons acting with them by their 
order, shall be held guiltless and justified in law." 

Sixth — This affair denionstrates the necessity of the main- 
tenance of a reasonable force of well-organized militia in this 
State, as a reserve police power, to be used to aid the civil author- 
ities in emergencies like this, — for without the aid of that power, 
mobs and rioters would have ruled in those counties, and law and 
■civil government would have been powerless. 

I regret as much as any one the necessity which caused the 
-shedding of blood and loss of human life. But in this State, 
men of all classes must seek redress for wrongs by peaceful and 
quiet means, and the remedies afforded to all people in the law. 
They must not attempt to defy the government, trample law 
under foot, and enforce their demands by violence and intimida- 
tion. _ There can be no objection to workmgmen of any kind 
refusing to work, when dissatisfied with their wages, and thus 
peaceably demanding and procuring higher wages, but they have 
no right to assemble themselves into a lawless mob of rioters, 
and go about the country taking possession of property not their 
own, and preventing other workingmen, who are satisfied and who 
want to work, from work, by abuse, assault, threats, intimidation 
and terrorizing, or by forcibly compelling them to cease work. 
The workingmen, just as all other citizens, must and shall be 
protected in all their natural and legal rights, so far as lies in 
my power, while Chief Executive of this State, but whenever 
•they attempt to redress their grievances by violence and force, 
and thus place themselves beyond the pale of the law's protection, 
and in open defiance of its officers, then they will come into un- 
equal contest with all the power of the government, civil and 



1000 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



military, and must expect to get worsted in every such conflict. 
For the government must rule, law must be respected, officers 
obeyed while in the discharge of their duty, and the peace pre- 
served at all hazards, without fear or favor. 

In the summer of 1883, a serious and embarrassing question 
arose, in regard to the fund appropriated for the support of the 
State Militia. Prior to July 1st, 1883, the statute provided for the 
levy and collection of a tax of one-tenth of a mill, for the support 
of the Militia, which was to be distributed and paid by the Gover- 
nor and Adjutant- General, as therein directed. This tax yielded 
a sum varying from year to year, of between $70,000 and $80,000. 
Under this law, the Militia were being paid each year, at the dis- 
tribution of the fund, for expenses incurred during the past year. 
This arose from the fact, that after the act providing for the one- 
tenth mill tax went into force, it was a year before the money could 
Ibe collected and made available, while the Militia were, during 
that year, already organized under the law, and entitled to the 
proceeds of the fund. The thirty-third General Assembly, in the 
session of 1883, passed an act making a direct appropriation 
from the treasury of $75,000 per annum, for the support of the 
Militia, for the years ending July 1st, 1884, and July 1st, 1885, and 
repealing that part of the law providing for the levy of one-tenth 
of a mill tax. This act further provided that, "any unexpended 
balance that may be in the State Treasury to the credit of the 
Military fund on the first day of July, 1833, shall be transferred, 
on the warrant of the Auditor of Public Accounts, to the general 
revenue fvmd, and that any Military tax cohected from the levy 
of 1882, and paid into the State Treasury after July 1st, 1883, 
shall also be placed to the credit of the general revenue fund." 
Nearly or quite all of the Military tax of the last assessment 
had been collected, and was in the treasury. By the custom 
adopted for several years, and by the military regulations, this 
fund was not to be distributed until after July 1st, in each year. 
But on that day, the new law on its face seemed to require that 
the military fund remaining should be turned into the general 
treasury. In this dilemma. Gov. Hamilton construed the term, 
"unexpended balance," used in the new law, to mean that this 
tax Military fund could be used to pay all debts legally con- 
tracted under the law, by the Militia, for the prececlmg year,, 
and that "unexpended balance" meant such as remained after 
paying those debts. Accordingly the Governor, through the Ad- 
jutant General, late in June, (when the act was passed), ordered 
all Military companies and Commands to forthwith send in 
vouchers for their outstanding and unpaid indebtedness. It was 
desirable to get them in before July 1st, so as to avoid any ques- 
tion of construction, and on account of hurry, and misunder- 
standing the order, thinking that it was simply the annual distri- 
bution, some of the Commands sent in vouchers for the whole 
expenses of the past year, without showing what money was on 
hand, if any, or what portion of the expenditures had been paid 
out of the last distribution. This was discovered only on the 
last day of June, and then it was impossible to ascertain, by in- 
spection of the vouchers, to what extent this error existed among 
them, so the Governor refused to certify any of them to the 



Hamilton's administkation. 1001 

Auditor until all could be corrected, and put in proper form. It 
was simply a mistake made by commanding otHcers in the 
meaning of the order, in their haste to get their vouchers in in 
time. On the first of July, the Auditor and Treasurer, constru- 
ing the act of 1883 literally, went through the form of transfer- 
ring the entire Militia fund into the general Eevenue fund, thus 
depriving, as was said, the Militia of their money for the past 
year's expenses. 

The Governor was at once assailed on the part of the Militia, 
for refusing to certify their vouchers to the Auditor before July 
1st, and on the other side, by a few malicious persons, was accused 
of conniving with Militia officers to obtain the old fund on 
fraudulent vouchers. The latter defamatory story he indignantly 
denounced in unmeasured terms, and he explained the real situa- 
tion to the Militia, and told them in a speech during the encamp- 
ment of the 2nd Brigade at Springfield, that summer, that he 
would, by decision of the Supreme Court, obtain and distribute 
their money to them by Oct. 1st, the end of the fiscal year, — the 
Governor being of the opinion that the fund could not be 
converted into the general Revenue fund until the end of the 
fiscal year, and that up to that time, it could be used to pay the 
legal back indebtedness of the Militia. In this view the Gover- 
nor was opposed by the Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney-General, 
the latter choosing to take the side of the Auditor as counsel. 
Gov. Hamilton then employed Maj. James A. Connolly, U. S. 
District Attorney for the southern district of Illinois, and directed 
him to file a petition for mandamus in the Supreme Court of the 
State, against the Auditor and Treasurer, asking that court to 
direct them by mandamus to reinstate the old Militia fund, and 
pay it out on indebtedness of the past year, on vouchers approved 
by the Govea-nor and Adjutant-General. Such proceedings were 
at once instituted by Maj. Connolly, and the case was decided 
late in September. 

The Supreme Court refused the writ of mandamus but held 
that the fund could not lapse, and never had lapsed, by act of 
the Auditor and Treasurer, into the general Revenue fund, but 
remained available for the payment of Militia legal indebtedness 
incurred during the year prior to July 1st, 1883, until Oct. 1st, 
1883, and directed the Auditor and Treasurer to pay out the 
fund on proper vouchers for such indebtedness, approved by the 
Governor and Adjutant-General. 

While this htigation was going on, new and correct vouchers 
for such outstanding and unpaid indebtedness were collected by 
the Adjutant-General, and when the decision of the Supreme 
Court was made known, the vouchers were at once presented to 
the Auditor, and warrants issued which were paid by the Treas- 
urer. Thus the Governor was sustained, and the Militia got its 
debts paid, so far as the money would go. 

Regarding that attack on the Governor, charging him with mis- 
appropriating Militia funds, of which mention has already been 
made, the Chicago Inter-Ocean expressed the following opinion : 

In thpse piping days of peace a little belligerancy is positively refreshing. A 

man with the courage of his opinion, and -with no disposition to call a spade by 

. its wrong name, is an object of interest, to say the least. Our Chief Magistrate 



1002 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



is not Ohe man to "teke sass and not get riled," to use the expressive language 
of our poetic Minister at *iie Court of St. James. When accused of standing 
in with a gang of thieves to rob the State in the name of the militia, he talked 
back so loud and plain that he nearly took the breath away from the muligning 
sheet. The RcgiHter stopped square off in charging fraud, and has done little 
else ever since than gasp its amazement at the fierceness of the defense. 

Among the many important measures which the Legislature of 
1883 presented to Governor Hamilton for approval, was the 
Harper high license bill, establishing a uniform minimum saloon 
license, which, in its contesting, made that Legislature the most 
memorable, perhaps, in the history of the State. The Governor 
was an earnest and open advocate of the measure, was so quoted 
on the floor of the House, and signed it immediately upon its 
passage. 

The Governor's veto of a dangerous railroad bill, during that 
session, showed conclusively the conservative policy governing his 
administration. The bill was an act to enable railroad com- 
panies to extend their lines, or construct branches to points not 
named in their articles of incorporation, and to enable any rail- 
road company in the State to have power to purchase, own and 
hold the stock and securities of any railroad that formed a con- 
tinuous line of travel from this to another State. The Governor's 
first objection was, that the 1)ill was unconstitutional, in that 
more than one subject was embraced in it. A second and more 
serious objection raised, was that a grant of power, "to construct 
and operate extensions, etc.," not named in the original articles 
of incorporation, was dangerous and hazardous to the rights of the 
people, as expressed in the constitution of 1870. Special charges 
and privileges, amended as contemplated in the bill, were declared 
unconstitutional. Regarding the granting of power, as provided 
for in this bill, to any railroad company to purchase, own or 
hold the stock and securities of any road forming a continuous 
line of travel from this to another State, the Governor declared 
it plainly at variance with an existing statute making such pur- 
chase unlawful. He expressed the opinion that the bill was 
designed to repeal the existing statute, by implication, without 
open reference thereto. "To allow this bill to become a law," he 
said, "would be to allow the officers and directors of any railroad 
company in this State to use the surplus earnings of the road, 
which by law belong to the stockholders, in the purchase and 
manipulation of railroad stocks and securities in the market, and 
thus permit them to become powerful speculators in the stocks 
and securities of their own company, and those of all other com- 
panies formed in other States, with whose lines of railroad they 
may connect at the borders of this State anywhere, or with which 
they may form a continuous line of travel." 

Again he found serious objection to the bill, in that it would 
allow corporations organized under the laws of this State to invest 
their surplus capital in the stocks and securities of such connect- 
ing railroads outside the State, tvithout limit, until control was 
secured and a powerful monopoly formed by a consolidation of 
capital in fact, though formal consolidations of corporations are 
expressly forbidden by law, particularly as to parallel or com- 
peting line. 



Hamilton's administkation. 1003 

The last clause of the bill the Governor especially objected to, 
it being, "and any purchases (i. e. of stocks and securities) here- 
tofore made within the purposes of this act, are hereby declared 
lawful." This the Governor denounced emphatically, saying, "the 
object of this clause is plain, and cannot be mistaken. It is to 
quietly legalize confessedly illegal acts heretofore committed. 
Sec. 1-1, of Chapter 114, of the Kevised Statutes above alluded to, 
expressly forbids a railroad corporation to use any funds thereof 
in the purchase of its own stock, or that of any other corporation, 
and this has been the law since March 1, 1872 ; but the last clause 
of this bill irnpliedly admits that some railroad corporation or 
corporations have been heretofore violating the provision of the 
Statute, by purchasing stocks and securities that they were 
expressly forbidden to purchase, and they now ask the Legisla- 
ture and Governor to approve and legalize their unlawful acts, 
that defiance of the law may succeed." 

At the close of the first year of Governor Hamilton's adminis- 
tration, a record was published of the convicts pardoned out of 
Joliet penitentiary, in the previous eighteen years, which showed 
that during that time his predecessors had pardoned as high as 
95 convicts a year, while Governor Hamilton had pardoned but 
8 in a year. 

As a specimen of his public expressions and speeches, is given 
the following extract from the Chicago Inter-Ocean of December 
6, 1883, upon the disposal of the surplus revenue of the United 
States, called out by a published letter irom. Hon. J. G. Blaine: 

Subsequent to the Blaine letter and prior to the publication of 
the message. Governor Hamilton was asked to give his views of 
this subject through an interview with a representative of the 
St. Louis Globe-Democrat. The Governor is as much in favor 
of protecting American industry and taxing whisky as Mr. Blaine, 
but instead of scattering the money among the States per capita, 
he would use it for four purposes : First, waterways ; second, 
education ; third, pensions ; fourth, navy, including coast pro- 
tection. The argument for this fourfold plan is so succinctly and 
cogently stated that we reproduce it as follows : 

1. By carefxilly and systematically improving our great National waterways 
and transportation line, constructing works like the Hennepin Canal in natural 
channels of National commerce, bringing all our navigable rivers to the highest 
possible state of utility, constructing and restoring harbors, both on the sea- 
coast and inland waterways, and by bo supervising and controlling inter-State 
commerce as to check the dangerous and growing power of monopolies. 

2. By aiding with proper regulations and restrictions the extension in the 
States of popular education through our common school system, that civiliza- 
tion and the moral influence of knowledge may become more universal, and 
ignorance, prejudice and crime less common. 

3. That our pension laws should be made still more liberal, that the nation 
might in greater decree encompass the payment of that unlimited debt of grati- 
tude which it owes to its gallant Union soldiers who saved to us a country 
capable of accumulating by easy taxation an overflowing treasury. I see no 
reason why a Union soldier who voluntarily imperiled his existence to Fwe his 
country, or spent the best year — or three or four — of his life in the vicissitudes 
of war should not always be the object of care and solicitude on the part of his 
grateful country, and if by any means he becomes disabled and incapacitated 
from supporting himself, the country ought, as a matter of gratitude, justice 
and right, provide for and take care of him, whether his disability can be 
traced back to a primary cause occurring while he was in the army or not. 



1004 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



4. With the ''redvindant revenue" accumulating from easy and proper sources 
we ought as a Nation to be ashamed of our insignificant and worthless navy, 
our crumbling coast defenses, and inadequate government works for aid to the 
merchant marine along our coast. 

The special excellence of his plan is that it is so well rounded 
and constitutes an admirable balance of sections. The seaboard 
could not complain that the interior was getting more than its 
share, nor vice versa, for the first and fourth objects specified 
maintain an equilibrium between East and West. Nor could the 
North and South quarrel over their allotments. What one gains 
in pensions the other section would make up in schools, for under 
a proper adjustment of an educational fund nearly all of it would 
be expended in the Southern States. 

Early in 1884, Governor Hamilton became a candidate for the 
Eepublican nomination for Governor, and commenced a vigorous 
campaign. When but a few counties had held their conventions 
it became evident that the people desired to again make "Uncle 
Dick" Oglesby their standard bearer. Eecognizing this desire, 
the Governor, on consultation with his friends, published the 
following letter : 

Springfield, Makch 26, 1884. 
To the Republicans of the State of Illinois: 

Some time ago I announced myself as a candidate for Governor of the State 
of Illinois, subject to the decision of the next Republican State convention. 
The party, with great unanimity, nominated me for Lieutenant-Governor four 
years ago and elected me by a large majority. A little over a year ago Governor 
CuUom was elected to the United States senate and resigned the office of Gover- 
nor. In obedience to the mandates of the constitution I took the oath of office 
and succeeded him. I have endeavored to discharge the grave duty of the office 
faithfully and conscientiously ever since. Under these circumstances I thought 
in justice I ought to have one full term in the office, unless the people were able 
to find some grave fault with my administration. I still think so, but whatever 
may be the cause, I am satisfied of the fact, that the sentiments of Republicans 
are in favor of the nomination of ex-Governor Richard J. Oglesby. I am not 
disposed to find fault with or try to thwart this evident wish of the people. I 
have held several important offices which in every instance came to me as the 
strongly expressed wiH of the people, both in the Republican convention and at 
the polls. I never wish to hold an office received in any other manner, so that 
if I were able to defeat the desires of the Republicans of Illinois I would not 
wish to do it, and therefore I have determined not to antagonize or stand out 
against the sentiment in favor of the nomination of ex-Governor Oglesby, and 
for that reason I most respectfully withdraw my name from further considera- 
tion for this office. 

I do this of my own wish and desire, and with no ill-will towards the party 
or the people. I have been a life-long Republican. My first, last and every 
vote has been an unscratched Republican ballot. I give my allegiance to that 
party because I love its history and its principles. My loyalty and devotion to 
it do not in any degree depend ui^on my holding office. I shall be as glad to 
fight in its ranks for victory hereafter as I have ever been heretofore. When 
the State and national Republican convention have made their nominations I 
shall most cheerfully lend whatever aid I am able to secure the party success in 
both State and national contests. I firmly believe we will win a victory in both 
the coming campaigns. I have no wish or ambition to subserve henceforth, but 
to see the country happy and prosperous and the interests of all the people in 
my beloved State, cat ef uUy guarded. In conclusion, I wish to most earnestly 
and warmly express my thanks to my devoted friends all over the State, who, 
under adverse circumstances, have been unwavering in their attachment and 
-loyalty to me. I shall remember them always with great affection and pleasure. 

I am, very respectfully, 

John M. Hamilton. 



Hamilton's administration. 1005 

Grovernor Hamilton was unanimously elected by the State 
Eepublican convention, held at Peoria, April 15, 1884, as one of 
the four delegates at large, to the National Eepublican conven- 
tion at Ciiicago. 

The delegates at large were instructed by the State Convention 
to support John A. Logan, of Illinois, for the nomination for Pres- 
ident. When the time for the National Convention arrived, 
although Governor Hamilton had been steadily confined to his 
room with serious illness for nearly two weeks, he determined to 
take his seat and discharge his duties in the Convention, although 
advised to the contrary by his physicians. In this memorable Con- 
vention, he was one of the forty out of the forty-four delegates from 
Illinois who adhered steadfastly to Logan until after the third bal- 
lot, when a telegram was received from Gen. Logan withdrawing 
from the contest. Gov, Hamilton voted for the colored man, John 
E. Lynch, of Mississippi, for temporary chairman of the Conven- 
tion, as against Powell Clayton, of Arkansas, who was nominated 
by the National Committee. Lynch was elected. On the fourth 
ballot, the Illinois delegates were authorized, by the withdrawal 
of Gen. Logan, to vote for whom they pleased. Although a large 
majority of the Illinois delegation voted for James G. Blaine, of 
Maine, and although it was perfectly apparent that Blaine would 
be nominated on this ballot, Hamilton voted for President Arthur 
as indicative of his second choice and judgment. When Blaine 
was nominated, Hamilton went very actively to work to secure the 
nomination of Gen. Logan for Vice-President, and had the satis- 
faction of seeing his nomination made on the first ballot, by a 
nearly unanimous vote, thus completing what Gov. Hamilton be- 
lieved to be a good ticket. 



Chapter LXXI. 
1818-1885— PUBLIC CHAEITIES OF ILLINOIS. 



The system of relief of suffering through the corporate action of 
the people is, in this State as in others, divisible into two parts, 
namely, relief by the State, and relief by counties and municipali- 
ties. 

Wherever English law is in force, the right of every destitute 
and helpless person to relief, either at the hands of his relatives 
or of the public, is fully recognized. In Illinois, the statutes 
ordain that every poor person who is unable to earn a livelihood, 
in consequence of any bodily infkmity, idiocy, lunacy, or other 
unavoidable cause, shall be supported by the father, grandfather, 
mother, grandmother, children, grandchildren, brothers or sisters 
of such person, if they, or either of them, is of sufficient abihty. 
If not, then such persons are to be cared for by the county or 
town in which they are lawfully resident. 

In the year 1819, the year after the admission of the State into 
the Union, the legislature passed an act for the relief of the poor, 
which was altogether too complicated and harsh to meet the wants 
of a sparsely settled community. Under this act, the overseers of 
the poor were required, on the first Monday in May, of each year, 
to farm out, at public vendue or outcry, all poor persons who 
were, or might become, a public charity. It continued in force 
for eight years, when a new act was substituted for it, by the 
terms of which township overseers were abolished, the regula- 
tions relating to settlement were repealed, and the boards of 
county commissioners were authorized to grant aid to the desti- 
tute at their discretion, either by entering into contract for their 
maintenance, or by employing agents to oversee and provide for 
them. The discretion vested in the commissioners was afterward 
limited, by the passage of an act directing them not to grant re- 
lief except on proof of twelve months' residence in the county. But 
in 1839 the term of residence was reduced to six months, and in 
1841 to thirty days. By the act of 1839 the charge of the poor was 
vested in justices of the peace; but the county commissioners 
were authorized to erect and maintain poor-houses. 

The permission given to counties, in 1849, to adopt township 
organization, led to much special legislation relative to the care 
of the poor, which was abrogated by the adoption, in 1874, of the 
Kevised Statutes. 

As the law now stands, the responsibility for the relief of 
pauperism rests on overseers of the poor, who, in counties retain- 
ing county organization, are appointed by the county board, but 
in counties with township organization, the supervisors are ex 



PUBLIC CHARITIES. 1007 



officio overseers of the poor in their towns. The obhgation to 
support the poor in counties with tow-nship organization, rests 
upon the towns, unless a majority of the legal voters in any 
county elect to abandon that mode of support, which all except 
about a half-dozen counties have done. The county board in any 
county in which the poor are not supported by towns, has power 
to buy a farm and erect and maintain a county poor-house ; but if 
the county has no poor-house, the overseers of the poor may com- 
mit the care of the paupers to some moral and discreet household- 
er, under contract with the town or county board, as the case may 
be. Six months' residence gives a claim to relief. 

There are one hundred and two counties in Illinois. In ninety 
of them the county board maintains an almshouse ; in live more, 
the poor are placed in the hands of a contractor, on a private 
farm ; in seven, the towns support their own poor. The amount 
invested in lands and buildings may be estimated at one and a 
half million dollars, the total annual cost of maintaining paupers 
by the towns and counties, somewhat exceeds one million dollars, 
of which two-fifths is expended on the county farms, and a little 
more than one-half is paid out in out-door relief. The number 
of paupers upon the county farms, according to the census of 
1880, was 3,684. The total acreage of these farms is about four- 
teen thousand acres. 

State aid may be regarded as an extension of the system of 
county and municipal relief. Of the three or four thousand 
inmates of our State charitable institutions, the great majority 
are "unable to earn a livelihood in consequence of bodily infirm- 
ity, idiocy, lunacy or other unavoidable cause." Very many of 
them, but for the intervention of the State, would be upon the 
county farms. This is pre-eminently true of the pauper insane, 
who fill our insane hospitals. It is very doubtful whether one- 
third of the beneficiaries of the State charitable institutions 
would, under any circumstances, be self-supporting, and concern- 
ing this uncertain fraction it may be said that the State, by 
assuming the care of them for a time, prevents them from falling 
into a condition of helplessness and dependence. On another 
side, the system of State aid has a certain connection with the 
public school system, inasmuch as it furnishes to certain classes, 
(the deaf and the blind, for instance,) a special education, which 
the public schools cannot supply, and perhaps few, if any, of those 
included in these classes would derive any benefit from attend- 
ance upon the public schools. The system may, accordingly, be 
described as partly one of relief, and in part preventive or educa- 
tional. It is maintained as a matter of convenience to the pub- 
lic, to whom it makes little difference whether moneys paid in 
the shape of taxes are collected through the agency of the State 
or of the county governments, but the public is deeply interested 
in the return received for this outlay. It undoubtedly believes 
that the State government is in a position to take better care of 
the beneficiaries under its charge than can ordinarily be given by 
the counties, otherwise this system would never have grown to 
its present dimensiolis. 

The seed was planted in 1839, when Gov. Carlin approved the 
act establishing the '•Illinois Asylum for the Education of the 



1008 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



Deaf and Dumb." In 1847 was created the "Illinois Hospital 
for the Insane," and in 1849, the "Institution for the Education of 
the Blind." All three of these were established at Jacksonville. 
None of the other so-called charitable institutions were added to 
them until after the close of the Civil War. But in 1865, the 
legislature created three more, namely : the Soldiers' Orphans' 
Home, at Normal, which was an outgrowth of patriotic feeling 
toward the defenders of the Union ; the Experimental School for 
Idiots, at Jacksonville, which was an offshoot of the Institution 
for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Chicago Chari- 
table Eye and Ear Infirmary, which was originally purely a pri- 
vate charity. Then, in 1869, the demand for additional provision 
for the care of the insane led to the institution of the "Northern 
Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane," and an "Asylum 
for the Insane," which it was intended to build in the southern 
end of the State, though this intention was not expressed in the 
act. The rapid and constant increase in the number of the in- 
sane induced the legislature, in 1877, to add a fourth hospital for 
the insane to the three already existing, and the commissioners 
to select a site placed it at Kankakee. It is known as the "Illinois 
Eastern Hospital for the Insane." 

By the organic enabling act of 1818, a fund was created, con- 
sisting of three per cent, of the net proceeds of the sales of pub- 
lic lands in this State, from and after the first of January, 1819, 
together with the proceeds of the sale of thirty-six sections, or 
one entire township, in addition to the sixteenth section in each 
congressional township, known as the seminary lands. This 
fund was invested by the General Assembly, in 1835-37, in the 
State debt, and the interest, at six per cent, was set apart forever 
for the uses contemplated in the enabling act. The fund amounts 
to nearly eight hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. 

The act creating the asylum for the education of the deaf and 
dumb required the auditor of State to pay over to its directors, 
annually, out of the interest on the school, college and seminary 
fund, a sum not exceeding one quarter of one per cent, upon the 
whole amount of said fund. From this source the institution 
received, for more than thirty years, a small income, amounting 
in the aggregate to a little over eighty thousand dollars ; it was 
cut off in 1873, when the whole of the interest on this fund was 
made payable to the State Normal University. 

When the hospital for the insane was created, in 1847, it was 
thought best to provide for its maintenance by imposing a special 
tax of one-fifth of a mill upon the dollar, upon all the taxable 
property of the State. The same plan was adopted in 1859, for 
the support of the institution for the blind, but the rate was fixed 
at one-tenth of a mill, which proved to be largely in excess of its 
actual needs. In 1851, a special fund was created for the benefit, 
of the asylum for the deaf and dumb, by setting apart for its use^ 
one-sixth of a mill on the dollar, to be taken from the general' 
revenue fund. But in 1855, the legislature abolished all these > 
special funds. The amounts realized by the. institutions, during 
their continuance, were : by the hospital for the insane, more 
than two hundred thousand dollars; by the institution of tha 




iiiillllil 



PUBLIC CHARITIES. 1009 



blind, ninety thousand dollars ; and by the asylum for the deaf 
and dumb, about sixty-two thousand dollars. 

Though the charter of the asylum for the deaf and dumb was 
granted to that corporation in 1839, it was not until the expira- 
tion of three years from that time, that the citizens of Jackson- 
ville subscribed the fund of nine hundred and seventy-nine dol- 
lars and a half, which the directors devoted to the purchase of a 
site ; and the eight rooms on the first floor of the original building, 
which it was thought would be "sufficient in the commencement 
of operations," were not ready for use until the summer of 1845 ; 
while this building, which cost only twenty-five thousand dollars, 
was not completed until 1849, ten years from the date of the 
charter. The school opened in January, 1846, under Mr. Thomas 
Officer, with four pupils, and when the term closed, there were 
but nine. 

In order to bring the school to the notice of parents of deaf 
children, Mr. Officer was obliged to spend his vacations in travel- 
ing about the State. Pupils were admitted from Missouri, lo^va 
and Wisconsin, and it was not until a tour with the children for 
the purposes of giving public exhibitions of their proficiency was 
undertaken, in 1853, that the school can be said to have attained 
any considerable portion of popular favor. 

The school for the blind opened, under the charter, in April, 
1849 ; but it had already been in operation for a year, having been 
taught by Mr. Samuel Bacon, a blind man from Ohio, in a rented 
house. The building erected by the State was not completed 
until 1854. It was afterward destroyed by fire, in 1869, and an- 
other subsequently built on the same site. 

All the world has heard and holds in reverence the name of 
Dorothea L, Dix, whose life has been spent in the effort to 
awaken a deeper interest in the welfare of the insane. She visited 
Ihinois in 1846, and inspected the poor-houses of the State ; in 
January, 1847, she appealed to the General Assembly on behalf of 
their insane inmates, and the response was as prompt as her 
own sympathies were acute and her judgment sound. The 
trustees of the hospital for the insane at Jacksonville procured a 
tract of land, which was placed in their possession in the spring 
of 1848. They at once proceeded to build the south wing of a 
structure originally planned for two hundred and fifty inmates ; 
and in November, 1851, they admitted the first patient, a mar- 
ried woman, from McLean county. The first superintendent of 
the hospital was Dr. J. M. Higgins, of Griggsville. A change of 
superintendents was made by the board in 1854, but not until after 
the right of Dr.Higgins to the position had been adversely passed 
upon by the supreme court. Dr. H. K. Jones acted as superinten- 
dent ad interim, until the arrival of Dr. Andrew McFarland, for- 
merly superintendent of the New Hampshire Asylum for the 
Insane, in June, who continued in office until 1870, when he was 
succeeded by the present incumbent, Dr. H. F. Carriel. 

A great evil, both in this institution and in that for the deaf and 
dumb, was the employment by their respective boards of a super- 
intendent and a steward, independent of each other and accounta- 
ble only to the board. The conflicts which ensued did not come 

64 



1010 HISTOBY OF ILLINOIS. 



to an end until the passage of an act forever abolishing, in all the 
charitable institutions of the State, the office of steM^ard. 

A question which necessarily arose in the early history of the 
institutions was, whether to make any charge for board, tuition 
and treatment, or to receive inmates gratuitously. No charge 
was ever made at the institution for the blind, and the pay-list at 
the asylum for the deaf and dumb was abolished in 18-47, but at 
the hospital for the insane, from 1861 until 1877, patients who 
possessed the requisite ability were required to pay for their sup- 
port. By the act to regulate the State charitable institutions, 
passed in 1875, all of them were made free to citizens of the 
State of Illinois. 

A more important question related to the commitment of 
patients to the hospital for the insane. The great mistake was 
committed, in 1851, of allowing the superintendent to receive and 
detain married women and infants without the evidence of insan- 
ity required in other cases, on the request of the husband of the 
woman or parent or guardian of the infant. Under this act Mrs. 
E. P. W. Packard, of Kankakee county, was committed to the 
hospital, where she remained for three years. After her discharge 
she devoted herself to the redress of the wrong which she believ- 
ed to have been done her in her incarceration, and she succeeded 
in awakening, by her books, her addresses and her conversation, 
a good deal of feeling, which culminated, in 1867, in the passage 
of what is called the "personal liberty bill," and a legislative , 
investigation of the management of the institution. The act for 
the protection of personal liberty is still in force. It forbids any 
superintendent or other officer of any hospital or asylum for the 
insane in this State to receive, detain or keep in custody, against 
his will, any person who has not been declared insane or dis- 
tracted by the verdict of a jury, thus rendering a jury trial in 
every instance an indispensable requisite of treatment. This law 
has been very severely criticised, both from the medical and from 
the legal point of view, and its practical working is said to be in- 
jurious in many cases, particularly where women whose insanity 
is not disputed are dragged into open court and all the details of 
their infirmity made public. The fear of such an exposure often 
prevents that early attention to the case which is so important 
in order to the recovery of the patient. The investigation of the 
affairs of the hospital resulted in a report by the joint committee 
of the legislature, in which the officers were acquitted of extrava- 
gance in the financial administration, also of retaining in custody 
persons who were not insane, but the committee found that in 
some instances patients had been received without the requisite 
legal formalities, and that a number of attendants had been 
guilty of unkind treatment of the unfortunates committed to 
their care. They recommended a change in the office of superin- 
tendent, but none was made : Dr. McFarland retained his posi- 
tion for three years longer, when he resigned on account of the 
condition of his health. 

A very important result of this investigation, however, was the 
creation of the State Board of Public Charities. The joint com- 
mittee investigated not only the insane hospital, but all the 



PUBLIC CHARITIES. 1011 



charitable institutions. Senator Fuller, of Belvidere, was chair- 
man of the committee ; and at the next session of the legislature 
he introduced a bill, which, being approved and sustained by 
Gov. Oglesby, become a law, and it remains to i this day unre- 
pealed and -without amendment. But this is anticipating the 
course of events. 

It has already been stated that in 1865 the General Assembly 
incorporated three charitable institutions. One of these was the 
Chicago Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary. The association for 
founding and maintaining this institution was organized in May, 
1858, when Chicago, though boasting eighty thousand inhabitants, 
had as yet no public hospital. For six years the association did 
no more than maintain a dispensary ; but in 1864, through the 
liberality of Mr. W. L. Newberry, its president, it was enabled to 
open an infirmary, at Nos. 16 and 18 East Pearson street, but- 
the civil war was the occasion of its springing into prominence 
and usefulness. Many soldiers with diseases of the eye were sent 
to it, by the Governors of the Northwestern States, and by the 
Northwestern Sanitary Commission. The charter granted to it 
in this year was a private one, and its reception into the circle 
of State Institutions did not take place until 1871, after the adop- 
tion of the new constitution. 

The Twenty-Fourth General Assembly also called into existence 
the present Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, by authorizing 
the trustees of the Institution for the Education of the Deaf and 
Dumb to open an Experimental School for Idiots, in a rented 
house in Jacksonville. This school opened, with three pupils, in 
May, 1865, under the ex officio superintendence of the principal of 
thelnstitutionfortheDeaf and Dumb; but in September of the same 
year. Dr. Charles T. Wilbur entered upon the duties of this posi- 
tion, which he held until the autumn of 1883, when he resigned, 
and Dr. W. B. Fi^k was appointed to succeed him. A separate 
charter was granted to this school after six years trial, when the 
name "Experimental" was dropped, and the title changed to that 
of "The Institution for the Education of Feeble-Minded Chil- 
dren ;" the title was again changed in 1875, when an appropriation 
was made for the purchase of a permanent site and the erection 
of a suitable building, and the institution was removed from 
Jacksonville to Lincoln. 

The attempt, in 1865, to establish a Soldiers' Orphans' Home, 
proved abortive, in consequence of the failure to make any 
appropriation from the State treasury in its behalf. It was sup- 
loosed that a patriotic public would subscribe the necessary funds 
for this purpose, but this hope was not realized. Accordingly, at 
the next session of the legislature, a request was preferred, that 
what was known as "the deserter's fund," amounting to thirty 
thousandjfour hundred dollars, should be given to this institution, 
which was done, and a further appropriation of seventy thousand 
dollars made in addition. The site for the Home, at Normal, 
was given by Judge Davis, afterward vice-president of the United 
States. The building, which was estimated to cost sixty-eight 
thousand dollars, but did in fact cost one hundred and thirty-five 
thousand, was completed and occupied on the first day of June, 



1012 HISTOKY OF ILLINOIS. 



1869. Temporary homes had been maintained for two years pre- 
vious in Springfield and Bloomington, whicli were then consoli- 
dated, under the superintendence of Mrs. Virginia C. Ohr, a sol- 
dier's widow, who has for hfteen years given her life to this work. 
The affairs of the Home were for a time very loosely managed, 
and not until after a painful investigation by a joint committee 
of the legislature, in 1871, which brought to light and corrected 
the evils complained of, did it fairly enter upon its career of use- 
fulness. It was supposed that it would be discontinued in 1879, 
when all the original inmates would have arrived at the age of 
fourteen years ; but the legislature so modified the law of admis- 
sion, in 1875, as to permit the trustees to receive the orphan 
children of deceased soldiers, whether they died in the war or 
since the war, so that the Home is now fuller than at any past 
period of its history. 

The history of the State charitable institutions of Illinois may 
be divided into three periods or stages of development : the first, 
prior to 1869, when the State Board of Charities was established ; 
the second, from 1869 to 1875, when the legislature passed the 
act to regulate the State charitable institutions and the State 
reform school, to imj^rove their organization and to increase their 
efficiency ; and the third, from the passage of that act until 
the present time. 

The session of 1869 was a memorable one on several accounts, 
but especially, perhaps, because it was then that the State entered 
upon its policy of making provision for all its insane, which has 
been steadily pursued, until now we see the hopes of its advocates 
for the first time apparently about to be realized. 

The creation of the Northern and Southern Hospitals for the 
Insane was simultaneous with the establishment of the Board of 
State Commissioners of Public Charities, and by the advice of 
Governor Palmer, the first attention of the new board was devoted 
to the question of the needs of the insane and the best methods 
of supplying them. One of the first acts of this permanent 
commission was to summon the trustees of the three insane hos- 
pitals to a conference, which was held in the library of the old 
State house. This conference deserves more than a moment's 
passing notice, because it was destined to exert an important 
inriuence upon the history of provision for the insane in the 
country at large. It was attended by the State officers, by the 
members of the State Board, by the hospital trustees, and by 
several invited guests, notably by Dr. Woodburn, of Indiana, Dr. 
Hoyt, of Wisconsin, and Dr. Patterson, of Batavia, in this State, 
as well as by Dr. McFarland and Mr, Gillett, of Jacksonville. 
Letters were read from nearly all the leading superintendents of 
hospitals for the insane in the United States and Canada. The 
principal address was made by Dr. McFarland, who advocated 
a modified system of organization and construction of institu- 
tions for the insane, very much like that which has since been 
put in operation at I\ankakee. The views of Dr. McFarland 
were almost identical with those of other superintendents, who 
represented the advanced thought of the country on the qustions 
at issue. Dr. Edward Jarvis, of Boston, for instance, said in a 
letter to Dr. Charles Lee, of Peekskill, N. Y., "I find that very 




miiiljf 



■'■TH^ 



iSf . 'U, 



PUBLIC CHARITIES. 1013 



many of the insane need only to be separated from disturbing 
causes, and thus advised and managed, they recover. A lar»e 
part of the others only need guardianship and constant employ- 
ment. They need no repression, no grated windows, no double 
doors, no bolts, no locks. Very few need the last. Confidence in 
these patients, and the encouragement of their self-respect, are 
the most important means of restoration. All undue repression 
prevents the action of the healthy elements. Locks, bars and 
grates mortify and prevent this self-action and co-operation. In 
regard to hospital construction, my main idea is, repression 
limited by the needs of the patient ; hospitals diverse in their 
parts— not built in one magnificent block, to suit the architect's 
eye and be praised by the outer beholders, but varied, to meet 
the wants of the patients, to enable the managers to do their 
work in the surest and easiest way, as a shop or factory is fit for 
that and nothing else. The hospital should be in detached sec- 
tions ; the houses separate and diverse ; all the parts as nearly 
like an ordinary house as possible, to remind the inmates as 
little as possible of repression and confinement. Few of them 
should have grates or locks. They should have wooden-sashed 
windows, and light airy rooms, looking not on another wing 
hke itself, but on trees, lawns, fields or other attractive dwell^ 
ings." The words of Dr. DeWolf, of Nova Scotia, are also 
worthy of reproduction here : "To render asylum life more Hke 
the outside world, something else is needed, however, besides 
detached residences — a greater variety of amusements, more fre- 
quent assembling together of the insane and the sane, more 
extended intercourse between patients and their friends, a system 
of recompense for the patients' labor, greater freedom of action 
accorded to convalescents and to trustworthy patients, the intro- 
duction of female influence into the management of the men's 
wards, and especially the entire abolition of mechanical restraint." 
Notwithstanding the adoption, by the conference, of resolutions 
declaring that a combination of the cottage system, in insane 
asylums, with that now in vogue, is practicabre, desirable, and 
likely to result in increased economy and efficiency of administra- 
tion, the trustees of the two new hospitals adhered to existing 
usage and followed the corridor plan of construction — the hospital 
at Elgin being modeled after that of the District of Columbia, 
and that at Anna somewhat after the one at Danville, Pennsylvania! 
Both of these sites were given, in whole or in part, by the citi- 
zens of the towns named. The State pursued for many years the 
custom of asking donations from private citizens, in consideration 
of the location of her public buildings ; but the practice has been 
abandoned, in consequence of the belief that it is not only contrary 
to the dignity of the State to place it in the attitude of a beggar, 
but that the putting an institution up at auction, so to speak, 
leads to the selection of inferior sites, and lays a foundation for 
local interference with the control of the institution in the interest 
of the State itself. 

The first patient was received at Elgin in April, 1872 ; at Anna 
in December, 1873. The Elgin hospital was completed (centre 
building, rear building, and both wings) by July, 1874 ; the Anna 
hospital not until November, 1877. Dr. E. A. Kilbourne, of Aurora, 



1014 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



was elected superintendent of the Northern Hospital, in Septem- 
ber, 1871 ; and Dr. A. T. Barnes, of Centralia, was elected to the 
same position in the Southern Hospital, in September, 1873. Dr. 
Kilbourne still retains his position at Elgin, but Dr. Barnes re- 
signed the superintendency at Anna, in July, 1878, and was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Horace Wardner, of Cairo. 

The State Commissioners of Public Charities, in pursuance of 
the advice given them by Gov. Palmer, undertook to make a 
census of the insane,by correspondence with physicians throughout 
the State. After a great deal of effort, they succeeded in getting 
a list of 2,367 insane persons and 1,738 idiots. This list was after- 
ward compared with that obtained by the enumerators employed 
in taking the Ninth Census, and a consolidated list prepared, 
which contained, after cfirefully purging it of duplicates, the 
names of 3,002 insane. These figures were so far in advance of 
those reported in the Cenfus, (1,624 insane in this State) that much 
doubt was expressed as to the accuracy of the consolidated list 
prepared by the board, but it is confirmed by the result obtained 
in the Tenth Census, according to which there were in Illinois, in 
1880, no less than 5,134 insane. If any justification were neces- 
sary for the liberal appropriations made for the erection and sup- 
port of our insane hospitals, these figures supply it. 

At this point, it seems in place to say a word or two respecting 
the peculiar function and work of the State Board. As has been 
already stated, this board was the final result of the general investi- 
gation of the State institutions by a joint committe of the legisla- 
ture, in 1867-68. At that time there were similar boards in three 
States, namely : in Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. Their 
establishment marks an era in the history of charitable work in 
the United States, and is a symptom of the tendency to a more 
thorough organization in all departments of the government. The 
first one, in Massachusetts, was born while the Civil war was at 
its height, in 1863. The number at present is twelve, of which 
that in Illinois is chronologically the fourth. When it was cre- 
ated, the legislature had but a vague idea of the part to be taken 
by it in the development of the charitable system of the State. 
For a number of years, it was the object of attack on the part of 
persons not familiar with its spirit and work, but these attacks 
have ceased, as the beneficial results of its labors have become 
a})parent. It is a supervisory board, with no executive powers or 
responsibilities, charged with the inspection of the State charita- 
ble institutions and the State reform school, and of the county 
almshouses or other places where the insane may be confined, (by 
which are supposed to be meant the county jails, and private 
institutions for the insane at Jacksonville and Batavia.) To these 
institutions it stands in the attitude of a critic ; to the legislatui-e, 
in that of a counselor ; to the executive department of the govern- 
ment in that of an agent. Since the act of 1875, it has virtually 
audited the accounts of the State institutions under its charge, 
and its certificate is accepted by the State Auditor as proof of 
their accuracy. The Governor may at any time make use of it 
for the purpose of ordering any special investigation into the 



PUBLIC CHARITIES. 1015 



affairs of any institution which he may deem necessary. But the 
management of the institutions is wholly in the hands of local 
boards of trust, over whom the State Board has no authority, nor 
direct, mandatory power. Its influence is purely a moral one. 
8uch a commission, authorized to employ a paid secretary, has 
the opportunity to make a systematic study of the whole subject 
of charitable relief, such as is not possible by any other body. 
The committees of the legislature who inspect the institutions 
have too ephemeral an existence, their attention is taken up with 
other matters of legislation, and the view which they gain of the 
condition and wants of the State institutions is necessarily super- 
ficial, while the local trustees have ordinarily little or no knowl- 
edge of any institution except the one under their immediate 
charge, and the time of superintendents is largely taken up with 
details of administration. To all of these a capable and con- 
scientious central board of inspectors may be of the greatest ser- 
vice, (if free from prejudice, ambition or party spirit), by its 
I'esearches into legislation, statistics, methods of organization 
and administration, causes, modes of treatment, results, and 
other particulars in the history of benevolent and correctional 
work, at home and abroad, in more than one department of the 
general field of effort, its investigations are by the comparative 
method, which is always the most fruitful. On the other hand, 
its freedom from responsibility for failures due to practical mis- 
management renders it a disinterested witness, whose word has 
corresponding weight. 

With the creation of this board the State entered upon a period 
of expansion of the system of State care, but this expansion is 
not to be referred to the influence of the board. It was due to 
other causes, and especially to the rapid growth of the State in 
wealth and population. For six years, the board exercised juris- 
diction over the universities, as well as the other institutions, and 
it accordingly witnessed, not only the erection of the two addi- 
tional hospitals for the insane, at Elgin and Anna, the rebuilding 
of the burned asylum for the blind, at Jacksonville, the removal 
of the soldiers' orphans from their temporary homes to their new 
and permanent Home, at Normal, the enlargement of the insti- 
tution for the deaf and dumb, the construction, after the great 
Chicago fire of 1871, of an admirable hospital for the use of the 
Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the renovation of the Jacksonville 
hospital for the insane, under the efficient management of its 
new superintendent, Dr. H. F. Carriel ; but it watched also the 
building of the Southern Normal University, at Carbondale, 
and the development of the Industrial University, at Urbana. 

During the first six years of its existence, it devoted its atten- 
tion to the examination of the statutes relating to the institutions, 
which it assisted in codifying ; to the improvement of the records, 
particularly of the financial records and system of keeping 
accounts ; and to investigations into the number and necessities 
of those unfortunate persons for whom the State was engaged in 
making provision. The new constitution was adopted in 1870, 
and was followed by a revision of the statutes, adopted in 1874. 
In 1875, the laws relating to the State institutions were revised, 



1016 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS, 



and an act adopted, which was in effect a new and common char- 
ter for them all, by which the relation of the State board to them 
was much more clearly defined. The jurisdiction of the board 
over the universities was withdrawn, and for the first time the 
State Reform School was made subject to its inspection. It was 
also given a more direct oversight of the accounts and expendi- 
tures of the institutions. It is under the operation of this act 
that the institutions have reached their present high degree of 
economy and efficiency. 

The State Reform School, of which no mention has been thus 
far made in this sketch of the history of charitable work in Illi- 
nois, owes its existence to a long continued effort by the State 
Teachers' Association. As long ago as 1855, the city of Chicago 
established a reform school, (now discontinued), which was 
opened in the old poor-house buildings of Cook county, with seven 
inmates, under the tuition of the Rev. D. B. Nichols, superintend- 
ent, who was succeeded, in 1859, by Mr. Geo. W. Perkins. The 
act for the creation of a State Reform School was passed in 18;37, 
but by a singular oversight the trustees were required to receive 
bids for the location, but municipalities were not authorized to 
make proposals to them. This defect was cured in 1869, and the 
offer then made by the county of Livingston and city of Pontiac 
was accepted. Fifty thousand dollars in bonds of the county and 
twenty-five thousand dollars in bonds of the city were deposited 
with the local treasurer, a banker, who failed with the funds of 
the school in his hands, which proved to be an almost total loss. 
The Livingston county bonds were afterwards declared by the 
supreme court to have been illegal and void from the beginning, 
for want of consideration. 

In 1870, the superintendent of the Chicago school, Mr. Geo. W. 
Perkins, was elected superintendent of the school at Pontiac, 
which opened June 1, 1871. Mr. Perkins soon afterward resigned 
his place and was succeeded by Dr. J. D. Scouller, the present 
superintendent. 

In 1877 the legislature, by a committee of the house, instituted 
an inquiry into the condition and number of the insane upon the 
county farms, which revealed about eight hundred supported by 
the counties, (not including Cook county, which has an insane 
hospital of its own, erected in 1870). The replies from county 
clerks were so decidedly in favor of action by the State, that a 
fourth hospital, (which was subsequently built at Kankakee), was 
created at this session. The committee, in their report, said : 
"We have left the question of the mode of construction open (in 
the bill prepared by them) to examination and decision by the 
trustees, in the hope that they may be able to ascertain and 
demonstrate the feasibility of a reform in this particular, by the 
adoption of the village plan of construction, with detached build- 
ings, erected at less expense and affording a greater measure of 
comfort to the inmates than is secured by the existing plan of 
construction in this country." At the same session, the legisla- 
ture authorized the Governor to appoint a commissioner to repre- 
sent the State at the International Prison Congress at Stockholm, 
in 1878, and Mr. Fred. H. Wines, the secretary of the State Board 



PUBLIC CHAKITIES. 1017 



of Charities, received the appointment. Mr. Wines made a re- 
port of his visit, (during the course of which he examined into the 
methods of caring for the insane in England and upon the conti- 
nent), in which he remarked upon the disuse, in the Enghsh iios- 
pitals, of mechanical restraints ; the French system of detached 
bathing estabhshments in connection with their institutions for 
the insane ; the great use made everywhere in Europe of asso- 
ciated dormitories ; the advantages of common dining-rooms ; the 
possibility of dispensing with barred windows and locked doors, 
with special mention of the Scotch practice in this respect ; the 
open tires so often seen in English lunatic wards ; the renting of 
ordinary dwellings for the insane, as practiced at Cheadle, under 
Mr. Mould ; the stress laid upon occupation by alienists of Europe, 
and the great success which they have in securing it for their 
patients ;— in a word, the possibility of a freer and more natural 
life for the insane than that which they usually lead in American 
institutions. This report had sufQcient weight with the legisla- 
ture and with the trustees of the Kankakee hospital, to lead to 
the making of an appropriation, in 1879, for the first detached 
wards ever constructed in Illinois ; this hospital was originally 
planned with a view to their introduction, and the grounds were 
laid out like regular streets, for this purpose. These wards met 
with so much favor, on the part both of the officers of the hospital 
and of visitors, that a very short trial of them resulted in their 
approval by the legislature, and the extension of the hos- 
pital, on this plan, to accommodate fifteen hundred patients, of 
both sexes. The hospital, under the superintendence of Dr. E. 
S. Dewey, has attracted attention on both sides of the Atlantic, 
and already other States are preparing to imitate it. In ad- 
dition to its attractive appearance, it has the merit of being 
cheaper than the ordinary insane hospital, and it thus offers a 
possible solution of the problem, how shall we take care of all our 
pauper insane ? 

On the nineteenth of April, 1881, a fire broke out in the north 
wing of the hospital at Anna, which destroyed it completely, ex- 
cept a portion of the walls. While it was rebuilding, the patients 
occupied temporary wooden barracks, of the simplest possible 
pattern, and slept in large associated dormitories, with seventy- 
five beds in each, under the eye of a night-watch. The result was 
so unexpectedly good, that the officers of the hospital asked for 
money with which to finish these barracks and occupy them perma- 
nently, which was granted, thus increasing largely the capacity of 
the hospital. 

It would be absurd to claim that the charitable institutions of 
any State are legitimate cause for pride on the part of her citi- 
zens, but the people of Illinois have at least no cause to be 
ashamed of theirs, in comparison with those of any other State. 
The number of beneficiaries is, or soon will be, four times as great 
as it was fifteen years ago ; the per capita cost of maintenance 
has fallen from three hundred to two hundred dollars per annum, 
and is lower than that in similar institutions elsewhere ; the 
insane are being provided for, at the rate of four hundred dollars 
a bed, where a short time since, from twelve to fifteen hundred 
was required for the same purpose ; and a distinguished foreign 



1018 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



visitor, upon a tour of inspection of the insane hospitals of the 
world, after seeing every one of them upon the American conti- 
nent, has pronounced those of Illinois in advance of any which he 
has seen elsewhere. There have been few scandals, few legislative 
investigations, and few changes of ofi&cers among them, in the 
whole course of their history. There have been but two superin- 
tendents of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, since 1845 ; but 
two of the Institution for the Blind, since 1850 ; but two of the 
Jacksonville Hospital for the Insane, since 1854 ; neither at Elgin, 
Normal nor Kankakee, has there ever been but one superin- 
tendent ; and there have not been more than two in either of 
the other State charitable institutions. It has been many years 
since there was a defalcation or deficiency in any of them ; and 
the internal management has been singularly free from political 
bias or control. This element of permanence has afforded oppor- 
tunity for the development of an intelligence, skill and sense of 
responsibility in their management, to which, taken in connection 
with the thorough supervision of their affairs by the State Board, 
and the minute attention paid to the details of their business by 
the committees of the General Assembly, much of their excellence 
is due. 



Chapter LXXII. 

THE EAILEOAD QUESTION— LEGISLATION AND 
LITIGATION. 

The preliminary condition — The ConstitiUional Conventiori — Popular 
Sentiment — Legislative Action — Dissatisfaction — Attempts to En- 
force the Laws — Judge Wood's Decision — The Lexington Case — 
Jude Lawrence's Decision and its Residts — The Act of 1873 — The 
Eighth Section — The Schedules — ''The Grangers" — Financial 
Depression — Renewed Litigation — Warehouses — Court of "Last 
Resort" — Justice Field's Dissent — Other Cases — The Neal Rug- 
gles Case — Conclusion. 



The condition of affairs. — To understand fully the matter which 
is the subject of this chapter, a statement of the condition of 
affairs, at the time the discussion of the Eailroad question opened, 
will be necessary. The Eailroad age in this State dates from 
May 1852, when the two rival Michigan lines were completed to 
Chicago, followed closely by the building of Galena and Chicago, 
the Eock Island, Central Military Tract — now C. B. & Q.— the 
Chicago & Mississippi, — now C. & A. —the Illinois Central, and 
others of that date. These roads were great public necessities. 
The impossibility of transacting the internal and Inter- State 
commerce of the State without them, will not be questioned. Our 
soil, the richest in the world, was of such a nature that no other 
roads would be of use, and the topography of the State was such 
that a system of canals was out of the question. 

While it is not absolutely true that the date given was that of 
the first railroad building, it is nevertheless true that all railroad 
plans up to that date were practically abortive. For twenty 
years the people of the State had labored and prayed, voted and 
taxed for railroads, without avail. The enormous debt under 
which the State had staggered and lain down, was the only result 
of this desire, wise or unwise, for railroad communication. That 
the capital and enterprise which came into the State and entered 
into her grand development, was welcomed by liberal legislation, — 
unrestrained privileges in charters freely granted, — was natural. 
Nobody seemed to look upon railroad enterprise as other than 
unmixed good. As early as 1849 a general law was passed, entitled 
"An act to provide a general system of railroad incorporation," 



1020 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 



approved November 5th, which provided, in addition to a system 
for organizing and building, that reports should be annually 
made of the stock, amount expended, indebtedness, receipts, ton- 
nage, salaries, dividends, accidents and all the incidents of build- 
ing and running the road. It provided further, that the Legisla- 
ture might change the rates of fare, on freight in case profits 
exceeded 15 per centum. All, or nearly all, the roads built, how- 
ever, preferred to and did secure special charters, which were 
even more liberal than the general law. No company would 
organize under the general law when it could secure a charter 
with special privileges simply for the asking. In addition to the 
inducements thus held out to capital and enterprise, the Govern- 
ment, at this date, offered a still more valuable one by com- 
mencing a system of grants of alternate sections of land along the 
line of the contemplated road, to secure and aid in its construc- 
tion. The first grant of this kind was made to the State of Illi- 
nois, and by it conveyed to the Central Eailroad Company. The 
policy of granting millions on millions of acres of land to railroad 
corporations has been very severely criticised, but it cannot be 
successfully denied that the roads to which they were granted 
could not have been built but for such subsidies, and the land had 
been in the market for twenty-five years without purchasers, — it 
was without value. While we were thus in the very opening of the 
railroad age, and before public attention had been called to what 
must be the inevitable results of giving to corporations unbounded 
privileges and unrestrained powers, a conflict of a very different 
nature arose, and one which for the next twelve years occupied' 
the attention, taxed the resources and drew the services of the 
people to the exclusion of every other topic. The "irrepressible 
conflict" which stalked forth from that Pandora's Box, — the Mis- 
souri Compromise, — was laid at Appomattox, and a million men 
who had been extravagant consumers, returned to their farms 
as producers, and many more gave their thoughts, their studies, 
their pens andvoices to the discussion of economic subjects. The 
close of the rebellion did more. Thousands of men, accustomed 
to command, sought in fields of enterprise to prove that "peace 
had her her victories no less renowned than war. " To men so 
schooled, no more inviting filed presented itself than railroad 
building and management. Our people, apparently not satisfied 
with the extraordinary privileges given to the corporations, the 
chartered contracts by which they were permitted to charged 
whatever they saw fit, to go where they chose under what pre- 
vious to this, had been held as a sovereign right — eminent 
domain— and the grant of subsidies without a parallel in value, 
now began petitioning the Legislature to authorize the issue of 
bonds by counties, towns and cities, wherever and to whatever 
extent asked for by ambitious and impecunious builders of 
railroads. Our biennial session of the Assembly seemed to be 
doing little else than granting unlimited charters, and passing 
laws authorizing the contracting of huge debts as premiums to 
to railroads. To cap the climax, if indeed such were possible, 
the act known as the grab-law was passed in 1869, over the 
Governor's veto, and against his earnest protest, which gave 
to all counties, towns and municipalities authority to vote bonds 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1021 

to railroads, and gave to all such debt-bearing communities 
all of the State tax which was raised upon the increased 
assessment over the assessment of 1868, as a fund to redeem 
such bonds. The result of such a law was but too evident. It 
gave to every community a money interest in running in debt, on 
the theory that the State taxes would be taken for the payment 
of debts of some other community, if their own did not run head- 
long into debt. Under this law the local bonded debt of the State 
was increased about eighteen millions, and in almost every case. 
of course, the stock of such roads thus built soon became worth 
less, and was wiped out by foreclosures. 

The same Assembly — 1809 — also passed, over Gov. Palmer's 
veto, the Lake Front I3ill, by which the State gave to the Illinois 
Central, Michigan Central and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 
Eailroad Companies, that portion of the Lake Front in Chicago, 
south of the river mouth, sufficient to construct miles of dockage 
and outside harbor, on condition that the companies should pay 
to the city §800,000, in case the city would receive it ; but in case 
it should refuse, then the tender alone should constitute full pay- 
ment. The law also provided that such portion of this outside 
harbor as was used by the Illinois Central Eailroad, should be 
under the same liability to pay seven per centum of its gross 
income as was the road itself. The act never went into elfeci, for 
its passage aroused such a storm of opposition, by reason of its 
skillfully drawn provisions, that the courts were appealed to, and 
injunctions followed. These two acts, probably more than any 
others, aroused public sentiment in regard to the subject of rail- 
road legislation, and added the suspicion that legislation was not 
entirely disinterested. 

In some portions of the State, and on some railroads — though 
very rarely — parties owning certain elevators were given prefer- 
ences under exclusive contracts ; and a practice still more com- 
mon was the delivery of grain exclusively to certain terminal ware- 
houses, thus constituting monopolies which were subject of com- 
plaint. The consolidation of roads had begun. In the eastern 
States canals, the routes of cheaper transportation, had been 
closed up. After a long and determined contest, the courts had 
finally settled the question of the right of railroad companies to 
bridge navigable streams wherever they saw fit. Old doctrines in 
regard to navigation were being broken down. The aggregation of 
wealth, power and influence in the hands of a few who controlled 
these vast highways of trade, was seen and feared. The large sub- 
sidies which many of them were receiving from the Government, 
or State, county and local sources, aroused that sense of justice, 
which, though often sleeping, always rests in the people ; the fear 
that the companies would combine to retain and increase the 
power already obtained was felt. When four men surrounded by 
wealth, under the infiuence of the speculative atmosphere of 
wealth centers, far distant from, and little influencecl by, the 
producers, can, without leaving their offices, agree to a schedule 
of rates, which, in a moment of time can add to, or take from, 
the price of every bushel of grain, every pound of provisions, the 
legitimate profits of every dealer, the price even of every farm, 
and make havoc with legitimate trade, it is not singular that 



1022 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. * 

these corporations should be called monopolies, and that such 
fears should grow into settled convictions. The fact, well known 
and hardly denied, that in many States Legislatures were being 
continually corrupted by the agents of great corporations, and 
the exposures of such swindles as the Credit Mobillier, added 
strength to such convictions. 

In the Constitutional Comiention. — Such was the condition of 
legislation, and such the feverish tone of public sentiment, when 
the Constitutional Convention met in 1870. That convention of 
twenty- seven members contained about equal numbers of republi- 
cans and democrats, with a few elected in the counties of Cook and 
Lake as independents holding the balance of power. It was 
fortunately constituted for the radical work it was destined to 
perform. In this chapter we have nothing to do with it except to 
explain its actions with reference to railroads and warehouses. 
Among the most "independent" of its members was Hon. E. M. 
Haines, a man of considerable legislative experience, of positive 
views, consummate skill and energy which knew no bounds, plaus- 
ible, wonderful in resources, and who had espoused the cause of 
those who, in his home, had commenced a determined fight against 
a certain warehouse which was being managed on the monopolist 
plan. To be elected, he had pledged himself to have incorporated 
in the new Constitution authority to regulate warehouses. There 
were others who were as positive and as firm as he, men of clear 
heads and convictions, who were no less influential. E. M. Ben- 
jamin had no superior as a clear, logical presenter of the great 
central doctrine of the right of the State to control all its creatures. 
His presentation of the case was masterly and convincing. Mr. 
L. i). Whiting, who had served one term in the State Legislature, 
where he still remains, was a determined and positive representa- 
tive of the farmers' interests, a plain, honest and sincere man. 
Jesse Hildrup, with perhaps less prominence, was one of the 
most determined and useful members in this line. Messrs. Gary 
rtnd Church, from the same portion of the State, were thoroughly 
imbued with the spirit of their constituents upon this question. 
There were other members like Jonathan Merriam, unused to 
debate, but who had firm convictions and a positive purpose to 
see matters righted, so far as the Constitution could do it. As 
early as January 10th, Mr. Whiting offered the following reso- 
lution : 

''Resolved, That justice and necessity require that hereafter rail- 
road corporations shall be deemed public corporations, subject to 
be regulated and controlled by the law-making power, like other 
public interests" 

The remarks which he made upon this resolution show that he 
grasped the full value of the importance of the subject. 

Mr. Hildrup made an exhaustive speech on the clause defining 
the extent of the power and exercise of the right of "eminent 
domain." 

He said: "If it is true that chartered corporations are pro- 
tected by the Federal Constitution, they have rights more sacred 
than individuals, and can call the government to their aid even 
to the destruetion of the State. The modern application of the 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1023 

doctrine of vested rights, and the modern interpretation given to 
the clause in the Federal Constitution, are monstrous legal here- 
sies. If it be true that a charter is a franchise which cannot be 
taken for the public benefit, then the State has created a being 
greater than itself, which only needs to be stated to prove its 
absurdity. The State cannot invest an association with powers 
which cannot be resumed. The power of eminent domain cannot 
be thus exhausted, frittered away or delegated to a corporation. 
If the Legislature could thus part with this power, it might, with 
the same reason change the whole character of the government, 
and invest railroads with all the essential attributes of sover- 
eignty. A charter cannot be a contract in any such sense. Emi- 
nent domain is defined to be the superior right of the government 
to take and appropriate private property to public uses, a right 
which exists absolutely in the State. It was adopted as part of 
the organic law of the Roman Empire, recognized in the Code 
Napoleon, and in nearly all the States in Europe, — the only limita- 
tion being that the property taken must be paid for. The Dart- 
mouth case does not deny the right of eminent domain against a 
corporation, and the West River Bridge case expressly affirms it. 
This right should be affirmed in the Constitution, though it may 
not be necessary to use it. Mr. Justice Daniel says that in every 
political sovereignty there inheres necessarily the right and 
duty of guarding its own existence. Mr, Wells said it had always 
been the law, and was now, that the State might exercise the right 
of eminent domain against a corporation. Our Supreme Court 
has virtually decided that the Legislature can grant to a railroad 
company a right that can never be taken away from it by the 
State, so it becomes our duty to forbid such a proceeding. Mr. 
Underwood argued that the question whether a rate of fare or 
freight was unreasonable, must be for the courts to decide, and not 
for the Legislature. Mr. Hay said a legislature had not the right to 
fix tolls which by the charters was given to the company. These 
charters have, however, certain common law incidents, one of 
which is that the franchise shall not be abused, and that an 
abuse may work a forfeiture. Common law remedies exist by 
which abuses may be inquired into and corrected. The power 
granted by charters to fix tolls, subject to the reserved right of the 
State to correct and punish abuses, involves no necessary sur- 
render of the governmental power. Mr. Allen had no doubt of the 
existence of remedies at common law, but believed it was the 
duty of this convention to give direction to the General Assembly, 
so that it may prescribe modes by which redress may be had. 
Mr. Snyder said if there was any one question upon which there 
was unanimity in this State, it was on restrictring these railroads. 
The warehouse article was also very fully discussed. That which 
was agreed to, and accepted with very many misgivings, was, as 
stated by Mr. Medill, that the farmer and shipper should have his 
grain sent to the elevator where consigned ; that the weight and 
quality of the grain should be the same when delivered as when 
sent ; that the quantity of grain in store should be known to the 
public ; that grain should be graded honestly ; and that railroads 
should be compelled to make connections to competing elevators. 
Ordaining this, the convention left to the Legislature the authority 



1024 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



to pass laws to punish the issue of fraudulent warehouse receipts. 
The discussion of this article developed a wonderful amount of 
dense ignorance as to really what ought to done. Whether it 
should be done by the Convention or the Legislature, and what 
effect, whatever was done, it would have on the trade or the 
farmers' interests. 

The first question decided was with reference to the canal. It 
was charged and assumed that the railroad interests of the State 
was inimical to the canal. Only a small portion of the State 
received any direct benefit from its navigation, and its popularity 
was rapidly on the wane. It was thought at one time that the 
convention would purposely leave it in such shape, that Illinois 
would follow the precedent of eastern States, but the argument, 
skillfully presented, that the railroad interest demanded the dry- 
ing up of the only water route across the State, saved the canal, 
destined 'ere long, it is hoped, to be enlarged to the contemplated 
proportions of its original plan. This contest over the canal was 
taken in its result to settle the question, so far as this convention 
was concerned, of State control of corporations. The following 
will be interesting, as showing how the question was handled in 
the convention. 

Mr. Whiting said: "The theory that railroad corporations 
were private, and that their charters could not be altered 
or amended by the power that granted them, could not be main- 
tained. The Dartmouth College decision, upon which they relied, 
had been wrung from the Supreme Court before railroads were 
known. Eailroads were modern institutions and cannot be judged 
by musty precedents laid down by men whose ears had never 
been regaled by the shrill whistle of a locomotive. It is well for 
those who talk of 'vested rights' to remember that the people 
have inalienable rights. This is a land of equal rights. Extor- 
tion and unjust discrimination are contrary to our common law." 

Mr. Benjamin said: "In theory, railroad corporations are 
created for the public good ; in practice, for public oppression. 
The Legislature is charged with giving away the rights of the 
people, — the 'governmental powers,' — because in absence of a 
charter, the power to regulate is absolutely unquestioned. If the 
Legislature has not given away these governmental functions, 
then the power and authority remains to regulate and control. 
It has not granted them away — why ? Because it cannot. The 
Legislature is in no sense the 'sovereign.' The sovereign is the 
parent, of which the Legislature is the creature. Ail power is 
inherent in the sovereign, and this sovereign — the people — in this 
State has granted certain powers to the Legislature. The pas- 
sage of laws to regulate railroads is a public duty, the suspension 
or abandonment of which is wholly beyond the constitutional 
competency of the Legislature. Again, a corporation which 
accepts from the Legislature any essential attribute of sovereignty, 
should be treated, both in law and in morals, as being a party 
to a fraud upon the inherent rights of the people. Eights which 
are inalienable, cannot be given, bartered or contracted away. If 
legislative powers can be bartered away, why not the judicial and 
executive powers also ? Our courts will soon come to this position. 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1025 



The Legislature may sell the property of the State, but cannot by 
any reasoning or any rule barter its sovereignty. Tuerefore cor- 
porations must be subject to the same control as natural persons. 

Mr. Browning said : "Whatever vested rights corporations have, 
this Convention cannot take away. If former Legislatures had 
assumed to give what they had no right to give, the courts will so 
decide. It is a judicial question." 

Mr. Medill did not think it possible to give to corporations 
rights not possessed by the individual. Mr. Boss fully subscribed 
to the views of Mr. Benjamin. Mr. Bromwell held the same view, 
and insisted that this Convention should boldly take that ground. 

Mr Pierce said : "We cannot depend on competition, for if you 
provide by law that competing lines shall not consolidate, you 
cannot prevent stockholders of one from becoming stockholders 
of the other, and the result is amalgamation. No matter if there 
IS, from the Dartmouth College case down, an unbroken line of 
decisions making charters inviolable contracts, the courts can 
and will overthrow that line, as they have the precedents against 
bridging navigable streams, in the interest of the people and of 
commerce. A court once said a colored man had no rights which 
a white man was bound to respect, and now there is not a lawyer 
m the land who would venture such an opinion." 

Mr. Anthony wanted a clause added forbidding the increase of 
stock, except on sixty days notice, and Mr. Whiting wanted to 
provide for a Board of Commissioners. 

In submitting the Constitution to a vote of the people, these 
articles were submitted separately, and received, for the article 
on railroads, 144,750 ; against the same, 23,525 ; for the article 
on warehouses, 143,533 ; against the same, 22,702. This, in a 
State which, m 1868, cast 449,436 votes, must be looked upon as 
showing a neghgence in regard to the organic law, hardly in 
keeping with the intense feehng said to exist in regard to throt- 
tling monopolies. 

Popular ^ewfmewt— Popular sentiment was rather aroused than 
allayed by the adoption of these radical sections in the Constitu- 
tion. The public began to discuss the questions intelligently ; saw 
that_ there were two sides to it, and almost came to the con- 
clusion that a man might be honest who respected Dartmouth 
College, and the men who made it famous as the title of a famous 
case. On the one hand, it was argued that the railroads had 
proved the great developers of the country; that they made a 
market for our great staples possible ; that the capital to build 
them had come to us under promises which were made in good 
faith, and which good faith required us to keep ; that it savored 
of communism and repudiation to take away the value of their 
property; that however much you might sneer at "vested rights," 
such rights were actual facts ; that a great State could not afford 
to be unjust even by way of retahation, and that they were worth 
infinitely more to the State than the incidental injuries claimed. 
On the other hand it was argued that to admit the positions 
claimed by corporations, would make them superior to the State 
which gave them power and life ; that extortion and unjust discrim- 
mation could not be tolerated ; that water could not rise above its 



1026 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

source ; that all chartered rights must be taken as subject to the 
right of the State to regulate all its creatures ; that the people 
have continually regulated ferries, hacks, omnibuses, mills, and 
other private interests in public occupations ; that railroads had 
no right to earn dividends on fictitious stock ; and that in a State 
like this where roads could be built so cheaply, the charging of 
higher rates than were charged by roads built more expensively, 
Avas a gross injustice to the people. The argument of these ques- 
tions became general through the press and among the people, and 
waxed warmer as the time for action drew nearer. 

Legislative Action. — The 27th General Assembly, the first one 
under the new Constitution, met in January, 1871, and promptly 
answered the requirements of the Constitution and the popular 
demand, by passing live separate acts : 1st, to establish a Board 
of Eailroad and Warehouse Commissioners. 2d, a general act 
for the incorporating of companies to construct and operate rail- 
roads. 3d, an act to prevent and punish extortion and unjust 
discrimination. 4th, an act regulating the receiving, transporta- 
tion and delivery of grain ; and 5th, an act to est:ihlish reason- 
able maximum rates for passengers. The discussion of these 
various measures brought out nothing new beyond the practical 
difficulties in framing laws to cover the cases. The first was 
introduced and urged through by Gen. Allen C. Fuller, and 
covered the ground which Mr. Whitnig had in vain attempted to 
incorporate into the Constitution. All the others were passed to 
fill the requirements of the Constitution. The law provides for 
the appointment of three commissioners, none of whom shall be 
interested in, or in the employ of, any railroad company or ware- 
bouse. They were to require annual reports from all the rail- 
roads doing businesss in the State, and from all owners or lessees 
of warehouses, whenever called on, and inquire into the manage- 
ment, and punish violations of law by prosecutions. In addition 
to these, the law regulating the control of warehouses, was passed. 
These, with the exception of the second one, liave been the subject 
of all litgation and decisions embraced in what is known as 
the "Eailroad question in Illinois." 

As this State was the first to take State action on this question, 
and by its Constitution, laws and the decisions following them, 
has been the first in the matter of State control of railroads, 
here in its history is the place for a careful, truthful and succinct 
statement of what was done, and the present status of this ques- 
tion. 

Dissatisfaction. — The six laws passed by the General Assembly 
of 1871-2, in plain accordance with the requirements of the Con- 
stitution so recently adopted by a vote of more than six to one, 
were received by the people as effectually settling the vexed ques- 
tion. They were not so looked upon by the railroad com- 
panies and warehousemen however. No attempt was made to 
obey them in a single instance. The Board of Commissioners, 
consisting of Gustavus Koerner, Eichard P. Morgan, Jr., and 
David L. Hammond, organized and set about accomplishing 
their official duties. By the law regulating the passenger rates. 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1027 



the roads were divided into four classes, according to their gross 
receipts per mile, A, B, C, and D, and were limited by law to 
charge respectively 21 , 3, 4 and 5h; cents per mile. None of the 
roads paid any attention to the law, and no rate was lowered in 
consequence of it. The Commissioners were not long in discover- 
ing that the laws were in some respects faulty and inconsistent 
with each other. Only twenty companies made reports, which 
showed, among other things, that the receipts varied from $2,000 
to $10,000 per mile. Twenty-two more roads were in process of 
building, most of which have since been completed. It must be 
admitted that public sentiment was far from being a unit upon 
this matter. In some portions of the State, especially in Chicago, 
there was a feehng that this was a war upon capital which 
savored far too much of agrarianism, which, so far as it had any 
results, would be injurious, if not dangerous. Counties anxious 
for more railroads were averse to any action. In other portions 
there was apparently no organized sentiment, while in the great 
corn-growing counties, the feeling was most warhke. Their staple 
was one of the cheapest commodities, and as such, the freiglit 
charges bore a greater proportion to its price at home, thaifin 
case of other products. The summer of 1872 produced one of 
the largest, if not the greatest, corn crops in these counties ever 
raised, and farmers were anticipating an extraordinary return 
from this yield. In December, corn in Central Ilhnois com- 
manded seventeen cents per bushel, while the freight charges to 
New York were thirty-five cents. It took two bushels of corn to 
get one to market, and in the light of the experience of years, it 
must be said that the farmers were not unreasonable in feeling 
that freights were eating up all their expected profits, and a good 
percentage of their labor and capital. It did not satisfy men in 
their position, especially those who were in debt, to teh them 
competition would settle all these questions, that extortion and 
unjust discrimination were all wrong, but that we had common 
law remedies for all these evils, that railroads were common 
carriers, and were obliged to do the fair thing by all who shipped 
over their lines. The feivmer felt that he was being swindled, and 
knew that he could not help himself unless the State could enforce 
some just statute law. The intensity of this feeling, it may well 
be believed, was not allayed, when in suits brought to test the 
laws in regard to passenger and freiget rates, both laws were 
declared unconstitutional. But of that farther on. These people 
complained that the railroads made it a common practice to 
charge the people of this State higher rates for carrying their 
grain to market than was charged people of other States whose 
produce was carried entirely across the State. That the people 
who had given of their bonds and helped by the granting of the 
power of eminent domain, to build these roads, found themselves 
discriminated against when they desired to use the roads. That 
the stock upon which the companies claimed the right to earn an 
income, was in many cases "watered;" that freight lines which 
were owned by officers of the roads were making huge profits out 
of the roads, the deficiency for which was sought to be made good 
from patrons ; that rebates and privileges were given to favored 
ones, and that by the liberal system of free passes to infiuential 



1028 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



men, they and the press were being subsidized, while the com- 
mon people paid excessive rates to make it up. 

Attempts to Enforce the Law. — The first suit which was brought 
under the Htate law was that brought by Stephen R. Moore, an 
attorney at Kankakee, against the IlUnois Central Railroad Com- 
pany for charging and receiving four cents per mile, whereas by 
the passenger act the road was in Class B, and entitled to charge 
only three cents. The case was tried before Judge C. H. Wood, 
in the Circuit Court of Kankakee County, on an agreed state of 
facts, wh) rendered a decision December 4th, 1872, for the defend- 
ant, holding that the charter of the company was a contract 
between the State and the company, which was inviolable under 
the inhibition of the National Constitution; that as it was not set 
up in the case that the rate complained of —four cents per mile — 
was unreasonable, the court would not interfere ; and that it was 
not the province of the Legislature to fix an absolute rate of fare, 
as the Constitution only authorized the Legislature to fix reason- 
able maximum rates, hence the law was unconstitutional. The 
decision was not appealed from, and was looked upon at the time 
as being a strong and clear exposition of the law, by many who 
were the best qualified to judge. The opinion and the judge were, 
however, furiously denounced by the champions of the doctrine of 
legislative control of railroads, and the "Granger element," as 
showing that the judiciary could not be depended on in this war 
against monopolies. 

In a later case, which will appear hereafter, the Supreme Court 
held — two judges dissenting— that this law was constitutional, 
but not until two years after it had been repealed, the repeal hav- 
ing been accomplished from the belief that the opinion of 
Judge Wood, in regard to "reasonable maximum rates," was 
correct, '' 

The Commissioners, anxious to bring the questions to a speedy 
settlement, sought the advice of the Attorney-General, W^ashing- 
ton Bushnell, who responded to their inquiry, that the laws 
passed were so "crude and imperfect," that it was impossible to 
test any important principle under them. The people did not 
choose to avail themselves of the risks in commencing suits, 
excusing themselves by declaring that they could not afford to 
make an enemy of the road which was doing their business. In 
this condition of aff'ars, with popular clamor daily becoming 
more warlike, the Commissioners decided that they must answer 
the public demand, and commenced thesuitiu the McLean County 
Cii'cuit Court, — known as the "Lexington case," — against the Chi- 
cago & Alton Railroad Company, for violating that provision of the 
freight law of 1871, which forbid charging the same or a greater 
sum for transporting freight than that charged for the same kind 
of freight a greater distance. The complaint, before Judge 
T. F. Tipton, charged the following facts : That the railroad had 
repeatedly, and was continually charging and receiving '$5.65 per 
thousand feet for freight on lumber from Chicago to Lexington, 
110 miles, while it charged only $5.00 to Bloomington, 125 miles. 
The pleas of the defendant set up the different acts of the Legis- 
lature under which the road was incorporated, which gave it the 



CONCLUSION— MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1029 

right to fix its rates of toll. The plea was demurred to, and 
argued on the demurrer. As showing the arguments on the rail- 
road side of the question, the following condensed abstract of 
Hon. Corydon Beckwith's is given : 

"The Legislature has, by the several acts, given to the officers 
of the road the right to fix the rates of toll ; the rate charged at 
Lexington is reasonable ; that to Bloomington is unreasonably 
low, but has been so fixed by the company in order to protect its 
customers against the eft'ects of competion with the Illinois Cen- 
tral, at Bloomington. The contract made by the Legislature with 
this company was accepted by the corporators. The corporators 
had the right under the common law, without legislation, to build 
a road of any kind over their own land, and put on it any kind 
of vehicle. While they would have been required to deal by all per- 
sons alike under like circumstances, they might have charged more 
for a shorter than a longer distance. Compensation for transpor- 
tation was not 'toll' at common law ; hence the franchise of this 
defendant was not that it might build a road, charge and receive 
compensation, etc., but that it might do as a corporation what 
a natural person might do. A common carrier has a right to 
compete for business, and in such competition has the right to 
carry a longer distance for a less sum. The power to make dis- 
crimination between places is essential to the business of a com- 
mon carrier, a proper exercise of which results in public good. 
In England, this is settled beyond controversy. It is admitted 
that the rates must be 'reasonable' and the discrimination not 
'unjust,' but in all questions of justice, whether of public duty 
or private right, the courts and not the Legislature, must decide, 
for in the courts questions of law and fact are adjudicated on 
established principles. Now as to the right of the Legislature to 
contract : The State had the power to contract and the defend- 
ant the capacity to be contracted with, so that the only question 
is, whether the contract made was of such a nature as the State 
might make without surrendering any inahenable right ; but the 
judicial branch of the government has the authority to determine 
what rates are or are not reasonable, what discrimination is or is 
not just, so that no inalienable right is abandoned. In no sense 
can the State be said to have surrendered rights necessary to its 
preservation. The contract made makes the^judiciary the judge 
between the contracting parties, and the attempt by the Legisla- 
ture to define the rights of the defendant by legislative enactment, 
is simply the judgment of one of the parties. The State has not, 
by virtue of its police power, the right to deprive the defendant of 
its contract rights." 

This abstract, which only presents the points made by the 
learned counsel, shows that the position was an extremely strong 
one, and elaborated as it was by Mr. Beckwith, is justly regarded 
an exceedingly clear and able argument. It shows niore, for it 
shows how strongly entrenched the railroads were in law, in 
argument and in counsel, and gives reasons for such decisions as 
Judge Wood's above referred to, other than violently presuming 
that he was "under railroad influences." 



1030 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 



The argument for the people was presented by Capt. J. H. Rowell, 
State's Attorney of McLean county, Hon. R. M. Benjamin and 
Hamilton Spencer, Esq., from the following points : "The only 
question presented is whether the act of 1871, forbidding this dis- 
crimination, is in conflict with the provisions of the Constitution 
of the United States, in regard to the obligations of contracts. 
1st. Corporations are subject to government and subordinate to 
legislative control, precisely the same as individuals. 2d. Legisla- 
tive authority is a trust which the Legislature cannot irrevocably 
delegate or abandon. 3d. This authority has the same extent and 
is the same unlimited power with regard to legislation which 
resides in the British Parliament, except where restrained by writ- 
ten constitutions. 4th. The preventing of unjust discrimination 
and extortion comes within the exercise of the police powers of 
the State. 5th. It cannot be presumed that the Legislature 
intended irrevocably to part with the power of preventing unjust 
discrimination between communities, — nothing is taken against 
the State by implication. 6th. Railroads are improved public 
highways, and their companies are public agents created for the 
practical administration of public property, and must remain 
subject to public control." In concluding their argument they say : 
"The great question in this case is not one of vested rights under 
a contract, but one of constitutional power on the part of the Legis- 
lature to make such contract, and thus divest itself irrevocably of 
all power of control over public highways. The Legislature 
cannot change the Constitution, or make a new one, and yet it 
would be doing just this, if it could limit the governmental powers 
of future legislatures." 

The argument was very full and exhaustive, and presented the 
case for the people in its best light. 

Judge Tipton overruled the demurrer and gave judgment of 
ouster against the road. His written opinion shows that he was 
not without doubt in regard to it, but realized that it would at 
once go to a higher court. It was promptly appealed, and was 
heard at the January term, 1873, of the Supreme Court. 

Judge Lawrence s Decision and its Effects. — In the argument 
befol'e^ that Court, the following points, in addition to those given 
above, were presented by counsel for the people and fully argued: 

1st. In exercising the essential functions of appropriating pri- 
vate property for right of way, and taking tolls for transportation, 
railroads are public corporations, acting as trustees for the public. 
2d. It is only upon the ground that they _are_ public institutions 
that counties and towns can impose taxes in aid of their construc- 
tion. 3d. The provision of the charter under which the company 
chiims the right to fix rates, according to its terms, is absolutely 
void. 4th. The assumption that the decision in the "Dartmouth 
College case," establishes the proposition, that every charter is a 
contract, and that every provision of that charter becomes fixed 
irrevocably, is imwarranted. 

The Supreme Court, at the January term, 1873, reversed and 
remanded the case, saying, among other things, in an able 
opinion, written by Judge C. B. LaAvrence, that the Court would 
not, in this opinion, go into a discussion of, or decide, the question 
which had been raised by counsel,— the irrevocability of charter, 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1031 

the protection of its terms by the Federal Constitution, the status 
of a corporation by reason of its having authority to exercise the 
right of eminent domain, or the extent of pubhc power of the 
State, — for the Court still holds the opinion that the Legislature 
has the clearest right to pass an act to prevent unjust discrimina- 
tion between persons or communities. This Court has repeatedly 
decided the questions of unjust discrimination against persons, 
and can see no difference as to such discrimination against locali- 
ties. The fact that there is competition at Bloomington, does not 
make discrimination against Lexington just. Had the Legisla- 
ture directed its penalties against "unjust" discrimination only, 
the facts which have appeared would not have justified a reversal 
of the case. The fact that a less rate was permanently charged 
for a greater distance, if it could be explained only by the fact 
that there was competition at Bloomington, might be well accepted 
as conclusive proof that the rate to Lexington was not reasonable. 
If the rate to Bloomington is not unreasonably low, the one to 
Lexington is unreasonably high ; if it is unreasonably low at 
Bloomington, is it not certain that the company will indemnify 
itself by charging, at stations where there is no competition, a rate 
unreasonably high ? 

The object of the law was clearly within the power of the Legis- 
lature, but before it can be enforced, it should be so amended as to 
correspond with the requirements of the Constitution, by directing 
its penalties against "unjust" discrimination. Before the property 
of a company can be forfeited, the company must have an oppor- 
tunity to show in court that the discrimination complained of is 
not unjust. The law ought also to make the fact of discrimination 
prima facie evidence of injustice, and should give the companies 
the right of trial by jury as to the fact, and the justice of the dis- 
crimination. The Court also intimated that forfeiture of the fran- 
chise was rather beyond the "adequate penalties" provided by the 
Constitution for the first conviction. 

This decision, so just and so sound, and withal so careful to 
point out just what amendments should be made to the law, and 
received now everywhere as good law, and as the basis of whatever 
, success has followed the attempts to regulate chartered corpora- 
tions, was received, in the excited state of public opinion, by an 
outbreak of denunciation without a parallel in the modern judi- 
-cial history of the State. Men publicly and privately denounced 
the Court, and especially the writer of the opinion, as being in 
the pay of the railroads, and as being in conspiracy against the 
rights of the people ; as being no better than robbers and highway- 
men ; and those who endorsed it were charged with being opposed 
to the "interests of the people." The Legislature was in 
session, and after a good deal of discussion and hesitating, a law 
was passed embracing all the suggestions which Judge Lawrence 
had made, which has stood the tests of all the courts. The 
author of the opinion was, however, less fortunate, if we consider 
immediate results. A man of large information, clear judicial 
T»erceptions, of uncompromising honesty, and ripe experience on 
the bench, he was defeated through the temporary insanity of the 
people of his district, when a candidate the ensuing summer for 
reelection to the bench he graced, by a man little known, and 



1032 HISTOEY OF ILLINOIS. 



"whose qualifications were less thought of than that he was not 
Judge Lawrence. The writer of the opinion in the Lexington case 
can well afford to await the justilication which hfstory will 
give him. 

The Act of 1873. — The law which was passed in 1873, besides 
incor|)orating every suggestion made by the Su]3reme Court, pro- 
vided in the 8th section that the Commissioners should prepare a 
schedule of maximum rates for each railroad in the State, which 
are prima facie reasonable and just, which is really the central 
feature of the law. The history of this measure and of the eighth 
section, without going into minutia, is this : 

Neither house did anything in regard to preparing railroad 
legislation until Judge Lawrence's opinion was given, although 
several bills were sleeping in the members' pockets. Upon the 
announcement of that opinion, several bills were introduced, of 
which the one which received the most favor was one prepared by 
Mr. Hurd and Mr. Whiting and several other Senators, the dis- 
tinctive features of which was that it was prepared especially to 
follow the suggestions made by Judge Lawrence. This, known as 
the Donahue bill, passed the Senate and reached a third reading in 
the House, where it was made a special order, along with all the 
other railroad bills. The result of such a grouping together of 
various bills could hardly have been otherwise than that all would 
be defeated. They were then all committed to a special committee, 
which in turn referred them to a sub-commitee of live, and a bill 
was agreed on which contained all the vital features of the Dona- 
hue bill — the Lawrence suggestion — when Mr. Oberly presented 
the eighth section as an amendment. From that time, through 
its every stage, sub-committee, special committee. House and 
Senate, this eighth section was the only one which caused opposi- 
tion. The author of the section was, by the admirable tact of 
which he was master, able to overcome this opposition, and his 
measure, which had few friends at first, became and remains the 
law of the State. It is doubtful whether any one was more sur- 
prised at the readiness with which he became a great law-maker 
than the Cairo editor himself, but such is fame. 

The peculiar strength of the law (and this was the suggestion • 
of Judge Lawrence), lay in making the rates of the Commissioners' 
schedules prima facie reasonable and just. This put the com- 
panies on the defensive. They who had all the facts upon which 
evidence could be based, were required to prove, by a preponder- 
ance of testimony, that these rates were unreasonably low. What 
suggested this to Judge Lawrence, there is no means of saying, 
but that it was the suggestion of wisdom, is not open to debate. 
It ought to have been sufficient to put at rest all cavil in regard 
to him. 

This law, which by the terms of the Constitution could not go 
into effect until July 1st, by its own terms did not, so far as the 
eighth section was concerned, go into effect until January 20th, 
1874. This was to give the Commissioners time to prepare and 
publish the schedules. The law met the popular demand, but the 
delay in enforcing it did not. A new board of commissioners had 
in the meantime been appointed. 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1033 

The Schedules.— The new Board consisted of John M. Pearson, 
of Madison county, 1). A. Brown, of Sangamon, and H. D. Cook, 
of McLean. A. McLaughlin was appointed Secretary, and the 
Board gave its attention to the study of the question pertaining 
to the preparation of a reasonable schedule of maximum rates of 
fare and freight. It was, in the main, a new field for their inves- 
tigation and decision. It may be said that the field was not one 
of their seeking. The work had been thrust on them by the 
Legislature, after a long and thorough discussion, wherein the 
original almost unanimous opposition to the eighth section had 
gradually, through the unanswerable arguments presented, dis- 
appeared,— dissipated like the fog which surrounds a new clay 
when the sun arises. 

The Hon. F. Clay, justly recognized as the leading thinker 
upon, and student of, the railroad question, though admitting his 
own failure to build a reahzation of such suggestions, wrote, 
in 1871 : 

"Should the Illinois Legislature undertake to deal otherwise 
than by general laws with the innumerable discretionary ques- 
tions involved in every railroad system, then, in so far as the 
present discussion is concerned, the new Constitution is a pre- 
destined failure. Should it, however, carry on the work in an 
intelligent spirit ; should it do what has never yet been done in 
America, create an able and experienced tribunal to stand between 
the community and the railroads ; should it clothe this tribunal 
with all necessary power and dignity, and delegate to it that dis- 
cretion, necessarily left somewhere, in applying general laws to 
monopolies; should it declare its decision final on all points, 
from which no appeal should lay to courts of law by constitutional 
right, then we shall know whether anything is to result from this 
Illinois experiment. It is the one alternative, with State owner- 
ship the other. The national question is impending. Illinois, 
for the present, must deservedly attract the greater degree of 
attention. That great State was first to recognize in her Consti- 
tution the magnitude of the problem. Under that Constitution she 
would not fail to be the first seriously and thoroughly to grapple 
with it." 

So far as these rather radical views of it could be followed by a 
written Constitution, jealous of innovations upon settled theories, 
they were followed. Opposition to governing by Commissioners 
had to be overcome. But the Commission, when established, could 
not make law. Its powers were fully tested in attempts to enforce 
laws made by another branch of the government. The making 
of just and reasonable schedules was a work which taxed the wis- 
dom and judgment of the Board, while other labors of exacting 
nature, the collecting of reports, the testing of laws, the making 
of rules, the preparing of e\ddence, all required attention. The 
deciding of questions of maximum rates was exacting above all 
others,— neither precedent nor law could help to solve the problem. 
They became satisfied that, as Judge Lawrence so forcibly put it, 
"what is a reasonable rate of freight, is at best a matter of opinion, 
depending on a great variety of complicated facts." The ultimate 
facts upon which the rates were fixed, were the amount and kind 
of business a road can command and do ; the value of the article 



1034 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

as affecting the risk or hazard of handling or transporting ; the 
distance carried ; the amount carried ; and the permanency of 
the business. That they did not perfect a schedule of maximum 
rates above criticism, is not to be wondered at. They went into 
etfect in January, 1874, and met the same fate as all the legisla- 
tion on the subject, — were not recognized by the railroads as of 
any binding force until the Supreme Court had affirmed their 
constitutionality. 

This schedule was not only a new departure in legislation, but 
was new to transportation. The raih-oads, while they always 
kept on hand in their offices, schedules of rates, nev^er governed 
themselves by them in the bargains which they made with 
shippers. Their officers admitted that they carried freight for 
what they could get. As a leading writer on railroad topics tersely 
expressed it, "when they had to compete they competed, and where 
they had to extort they extorted." Those who had studied this 
subject most carefully had reached the conclusion that competi- 
tion — in the common sense in which that word is used — did not, 
and does not, exist between railroads, except where in some fevv' 
instances they run parallel. Indeed it cannot. Eaih-oads which 
compete for trade and traffic, cut down to ruinous rates, and 
unless they can extort, or discriminate, to make good their losses, 
on some less favored community, they fail. It is the natural and 
inevitable law of nature applied to trade. Natural selection and 
the survival of the strongest, legal, equitable rates, are as neces- 
sary to the railroads as to the shippers. 

Suits were soon commenced against various roads, to test the 
different provisions of law. These suits extended through years, 
but resulted in a substantial vindication of the principles which 
had been contended for. In this long and important litigation, 
the State was represented by its Attorney-General, Mr. James K, 
Edsall. Though in some instances often assisted by able special 
counsel, the duty of preparing and giving direction to the cases 
was largely his, and the credit for winning these cases, in a new 
field of legal contest, over the ablest lawyers such powerful cor- 
porations could retain, is due to him more than to any other 
man. It is rare, indeed, that the law officer of the State has been 
so uniformly successful where such great interests were at stake. 

The Grangers. — By this time popular excitement upon the 
railroad question had reached its highest pitch. Eefusal of the 
railroad companies to obey the law, was the constant subjeeh of 
discussion. Public meetings were held whose time was divided 
between denouncing monopolies for their encroachments on the 
rights of the people, and denouncing the State authorities for not 
compelling a summary obedience of the laws. Threats were 
freely made in some instances to tear up the tracks, and men 
banded together to get on the trains, and when there, tendering 
only the legal rates of fare, daring the conductors to put them off. 
In one case at least a dozen such citizens had suits began against 
them under the law known as the "Ku-Klux Act," though the 
suits were never prosecuted. The failure of Jay Cooke & Co., fol- 
lowed by the panic, and general finraicial depression, still farther 
complicated the case. It alarmed the people, reduced the prices 



CONCLUSION — MISCItlJ.ANEOUS SrB-lECTS. 1035 

of their commodities, their opportunities for obtaining a livelihood, 
and every thing but their debts. Grangers of the Patrons of 
Husbandry, a semi-secret organization, spread all over the West, 
and became centers for free, not to say violent, discussion against 
railroads, middlemen and the unproductive classes. So general 
did they become, that the sentiments which they advocated, the 
methods they proposed, and the remedies they demanded, became 
known as "Granger Sentiment," "Granger Laws," etc. Men 
who, not being themselves farmers, advocated any of the doctrines 
looking to the control of railroads by State action, were ridiculed 
as trying to gain favor with the "Grangers," and as having "hay- 
seed in their hair." This sentiment, and the organization which 
surrounded it, began to assume party form, and ni many counties 
the "Anti-Monopoly" party became strong enough to hold the 
balance of power between the parties, and by union with the 
Democratic party, upon one State candidate, succeeded in defeat- 
ing the only Kepublican State candidate which has been defeated 
in twenty years, in 1874, and by a like union elected David Davis 
to the United States Senate. 

Litigation. — The impatience of the people was not allayed, 
when, instead of conforming to the schedules, the railroads, as 
by combined understanding, increased their rates, and gave out 
that such increase was the effect of the law. • This showed their 
animus, which could only be interpreted as a hostility to the law 
of the State under which they had life and being. The Com- 
missioners, taking this view of the case, caused several suits to 
be brought against the leading railroad companies, preferring only 
to bring enough suits to test the laws in the courts. As the real 
point at issue involved the question of the power of a State legis- 
lature under an interpretation of the National Constitution, noth- 
ing could be settled until the United States Supreme Court had 
passed upon it. The first decision in that Court, and one which 
will stand for all time the "leading case," and hence given here 
more fully, was the case brought in the name of the people, 
against Munn & Scott, for refusing to take out a license as Avare- 
housemen, and conform to the laws of this State regulating public 
warehouses, and known in the United States Court as Munn vs. 
Ilhnois. Later decisions only settled the same question where 
corporations were operating under a charter. 

Warehouses. — The Constitution of 1870, required that laws 
should be passed to regulate and supervise public warehouses, 
that is, those in which grain was received for compensation. It 
also directed that laws should be passed to regulate the inspec- 
tion of grain, to prevent and punish the issue of fraudulent 
receipts, and for the protection of producers, shippers and 
receivers of grain. At the time of the convention, Chicago had 
become the great center of grain receiving. The board of trade, 
which, in the absence of statutory law, had the management of 
the business, was a voluntary association of dealers in these 
staples, and it was believed that public confidence could only be 
maintained to the extent which the importance of the great inter- 



1036 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

est required, by placing the receiving, inspecting, grading and ware- 
housing of grain under tiie supervision of the btate, leaving the 
questions of trade, only, to the board to which it legitimately 
belonged. 

There was a belief that [the temptations of brisk trade and 
speculation were strong enough to shade the judgment and blunt 
the integrity of such, being the creatures and appointees of the 
men who were doing the trading, as had the inspecting of, and 
certifying to the grain ; that to stand well before the world of 
commerce, Chicago inspection must be above suspicion, and to 
command those who purchased grain receipts, some means must 
be adopted to make it certain that the receipts offered really 
represented the amount and kind they assumed to be. The Leg- 
islature, in 1S71, promptly passed the law it was directed to. 
The law provides that all public warehouses should be divided 
into three classes. A, B, and C. Class A are those in Chicago 
where the grain of different owners is mixed in bulk ; B, those of 
the same kind in other places, and C, all others. The proprietors 
or lessees of class A, shall take out a license under penalty of sjilOJ 
per day for refusing. The law also provides for inspection. The 
Governor shall appoint a Chief Inspector, his duties are prescribed 
and also the maxnnum rates which the warehousemen may 
charge for storage ; heavy penalties are prescribed for issuing 
false or fraudulent receipts, or failure to cancel receipts when 
grain is delivered on them. The warehouses of class A refused 
to take out licenses. 

At the July term of the Criminal Court of Cook County, the 
State's Attorney, Hon. C. H. Reed, filed an information against 
Munn & Scott, the leading warehousemen in the city, on behalf 
of the People, for failing to take out a license and transact its 
business as required by the law. The Court gave judgment for 
the People, and the defendants took it to the Supreme Court, 
where it was submitted on an agreed statement of facts, in order 
to enabla the constitutionality of the law to be decided. 

Hon. John N. Jewett presented the case for the warehouse. 
He opened with a sharp criticism on the men who framed the 
Constitution, for having in so many instances made its provisions 
those of legislation instead of being satisfied with announcing 
principles with which legislation must be made to conform. The 
attempt to make a man's private property public, could not meet 
the sanction of this Court ; the Court must consider it legislation ; 
there was no authority for it, either in the law which authorized 
the convention, or the convention itself ; this clause of the Consti- 
tution conflicts with the principle found both in the State and 
National Constitutions, forbidding the taking of private property 
for public use ; it must be inoperative, for a State Constitution is 
one of limitations, "its object is not to grant legislative powers, 
but to confine and restrain ;" keeping this in view the article only 
limits the power of the Legislature — it cannot do more. We are 
supposed to be living under a form of government which guaran- 
tees equal rights, where no class of citizens can be selected from 
the mass, to bear burdens and indignities except for offenses. 
Something is due to the spirit of our institutions, and the courts 
must regard it in construing the law and constitution. This is 



CONCLUSION — MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1037 

a demoralizing tendency closely bordering on agrarianism and 
communism. The tendencies of majorities are toward aggression. 
Capital and enterprise are in a minority. They can look to the 
courts only for protection. The objections to the law are : 1st. 
It is class legislation. 2d. The law is especially repugnant, not 
only to right and reason, but also to the Constitution itself. 8d. 
The fourteenth amendment of the National Constitution was 
intended to prevent discriminating legislation by States. 4th. 
Every man's private property is secured to him by solemn guar- 
antees, both moral and constitutional. Such special class legis- 
lation is demoralizing and mischievous. 

For the people, Hon. E. M. Benjamin presented and fully 
argued these points : The regulation of public warehouses is a 
constitutional exercise of the power to regulate the internal com- 
merce of the State ; commerce includes not only traffic, but transit 
of goods ; the power to regulate commerce is the power to regulate 
the instruments of commerce ; the power of a State to regulate its 
instruments of commerce, wholly within the State, are consti- 
tutional, at least in the absence of congressional action ; com- 
mon warehousemen in regard to their lien and charges, stand on 
the same footmg with ferrymen, draymen and common carriers, 
and like them exercise a public employment, and subject to like 
legislative control ; legislative limitation of rates is justifiable, as 
a proper exercise of the police power of the State. 

Attorney-General Edsall, for the people, presented, by forcible 
argument, the following points : This is not parallel with an 
attempt to fix the prices at which merchants or farmers should 
sell their goods, — it is an attempt to prevent extortion and 
oppression ; any legislative act which does not encroach upon the 
power apportioned to other departments of the government, being 
prima facie valid, must be enforced, unless expressly prohibited; 
the article on warehouses in the Constitution is not a limitation 
upon the power of the Legislature ; the act is not special in its 
nature, because it only applies to cities of 100,000 inhabitants, 
but even if it were, warehousing is not one of the subjects in 
regard to Avhich special legislation is prohibited by one Constitu- 
tion; the law at bar does not "deprive" warehousemen of their 
property, within the settled meaning of that word ; the act is not 
an infringement of the 14th amendment of the Federal Constitu- 
tion ; in an agricultural State like ours, the functions of such a 
warehouseman are intimately connected with the public welfare ; 
the exercise of the police power may be referred to the maxim, 
salus popidi suprenia est lex : it would be difficult to discover a 
more appropriate subject for its exercise ; that there are no judicial 
or legislative precedents for this law, should not be taken as proof 
that the power is wanting to press it. The case was argued a 
second time, because, between the time of the first argument and 
a decision, the places of Judges Lawrence and McAllister on the 
bench had been filled by the election of Judges Craig and Dickey. 
The Court affirmed the decision of the lower court, holding in 
substance that the law was constitutional, tliat it was not in con- 
flict with the fourteenth amendment of the National Constitution ; 
that anticipated profits were not property in possession ; that the 
law was not "special;" and that the object sought to be attained, 



1038 HISTORY OP ILLINOIS. 

the breaking up of the organized monopoly in grain handhng, 
was a legitimate subject for legislation than wliich it would be 
difficult to conceive one more so. Chief Justice Wait, in giving 
the opinion of the Court, says the law in question is in no way 
repugnant to the Constitution of the United States, and that 
property "becomes clothed with a public interest when used in a 
manner to make it of public consequence and affect the com- 
munity at large," or, as a layman would say, men cannot use their 
property in such a way as to make its use a grand monopoly, and 
then appeal to the courts of the country to overthrow just laws 
made to regulate them. Justices I'ield and Strong dissented 
from the positive opinion of the Court, and say in effect: "The 
Constitution of Illinois cannot make private property public by 
saying so, any more that it can make black white ; that the ware- 
house of Munn & Scott was and is private property, and as such 
is not subject to legislative control, in the matter of making it 
take out a license, or the rates to be charged for its rates or earn- 
ings ; neither can the Legislature control it under the assumed 
police powers." The warehousemen submitted, after this long 
contest, as gracefully as possible, applied for and obtained 
licenses, and charged only the rates permitted by law. The 
dangers which they saw in the immediate future, destruction of 
their rights and confiscation of their property, did not overtake 
them, and the busniess has been well conducted, and fairly 
remunerative. The first "result" of the "Granger's doctrine" 
has been such as to be a credit to their judgment. 

The settlement of this important question reflected credit, not 
more upon the men who from the first insisted that the great 
grain trade of the northwest should be conducted according to 
well defined law, than upon the law officer of the State upon 
whom the legal contest rested, and the Commissioners whose 
duty it was to support and enforce the law. The laws they sus- 
tained were wholesome, legitimate and just, and their benefits are 
only beginning to be felt. It is worthy of note that the warehouse 
law of 1871 has never been amended in any essential particular. 

Other Cases. — The important cases which were taken to the 
Supreme Court of the United States from Iowa and Wisconsin, 
and known in common parlance as the "Granger cases," were all 
decided in favor of the laws of those States, following the reason- 
ing and decision in the case of Munn vs. Illinois, in every case. 
In the opinion filed, the Court makes only one reservation in 
regard to the power to control the rates charged by the railroads, 
that is, where, by law or charter, the State had made a contract 
with the company before the building of the road, that it would 
not exercise the reserved authority which remained in the State 
unless the profits of the company exceeded a certain named 
amount. From this it would appear that, had the railroads of this 
State been satisfied to have incorporated and built under the gen- 
eral law of 1849, instead of asking for special charters, they would 
have escaped being subjected to the law fixing maximum rates. 

A suit was brought against the Illinois Central railroad, in 
Alexander County, in 1874, for "extortion" in charging six 
dollars per car load for grain delivered on track, over what was 



CONCLUSION— MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS. 1039 



charged for that dehverecl to an elevator, eqiial to an elevator 
charge of nearly two cents per bushel. The Court, hi January, 
1875^ gave judgment against the company, and the practice was 
unanimously discontinued by the railroad companies. A suit 
was commenced against the Chicago and Alton road, in Sanga- 
mon county, in February, 1875, for extortion. An attempt was 
made to take this case to the United States Circuit Court, on a 
writ of certiorari, under what is known as the "Ku-Klux act." 
Both the State Circuit Court and the United States Circuit Court, 
denied the right to so remove the case. Judge David Davis, of 
the Supreme Court, sitting with the other judges to hear the argu- 
ment. Appeals were taken in both cases, rather in both branches 
of the same case. That in the State court was sent back to the 
Circuit Court, for error in the record, and afterward dismissed. 
That in the United States court was never prosecuted by the 
appellant, the railroad company. 

The Neal Ruggles Case.— On March 7th, 1873, A. Lewis got on 
board a train of' the Chicago, i3urlington and Quincy Railroad, at 
Buda, to go to Neponset. The distance was six miles, and he 
tendered eighteen cents, the amount which the law of 1871 fixed 
for that road. The conductor, Neal Buggies, would not accept it, 
and attempted to put him off, using no unnecessary force. Lewis 
procured his arrest for assault. He was fined and took an appeal, 
which was finally heard in the Supreme Court. The Court held : 
The Legislature of this State has the power, under the Constitu- 
tion, to fix a maximum rate of charges by individuals as common 
carriers, or others exercising a business public in its character, 
or in which the public has an interest to be protected against 
extortion or oppression ; it has the same power in respect to cor- 
porations, and such regulation does not impair the obligation 
of the contract in their charters. The Court held the act consti- 
tutional. This was the law declared unconstitutional by Judge 
Wood, and no attempt had been made to enforce it, owing to a 
general belief that it was. It was repealed in 1874. 

The case against the Illinois Central, commenced in Douglas 
county, to test the law as applicable to that road, was decided m 
our State Supreme Court in favor of the people, at the January 
term, 1880, and is pending in the United States Supreme Court 
at this writing. 

During the latter part of this contest, the executive arm of tbe 
State in this line, the Eailroad and Warehouse Commission, has 
consisted of Hon. W. H. Smith, Hon. Geo. M. Bogue and Hon. 
John H. Obeiiy. They were appointed by Governor Cullom 
in 1877, re-appointed in 1879, and the two former re-appointed m 
1881 ; the place of the third was supplied by the appointment of 
Mr. W. H. Bobinson. In 1881, according to the instructions of 
the Legislature, they revised the schedules, making an aggregate 
reduction of nearly thirty per cent. 

The cases given, and the arguments and decisions here sum- 
marized, give a fair and correct hi-story of the legal side of the 
railroad question in Bliuois. In summing it up, the following 
proposition seems to be settled : 1st. Private corporations and 
priva^te persons are ahke subject to legislative and judicial con- 



1040 HISTORY OF ILLINOIS. 

trol, wherever their business and property become clothed with a 
pabhc interest. 2d. The Legislature of this State has the power 
to hx a maximamrate of charges for warehousemen and common 
carriers. 3d. The courts wiU protect the people against extor- 
tionate and unreasonable rates, and will protect corporations or 
individuals to the same extent, against unreasonable legislation, 
4th. As to their relations with the public, corporate persons and 
natural persons have exactly the same rights and are under the 
same obligations. 5th. A charter is a contract, but, like all 
contracts, is subject to construction by the courts. 6th. All such 
contracts are made with the implied limitation that under them 
extortion and unjust discrimination shall not be practical. 

In this long legal contest, the Board of Railroad and Warehouse 
Commissioners have been the arm of the executive power of the 
State in hearing and examining complaints, in studying and 
mastering the innumerable questions which surround this problem, 
in correcting abuses, in collecting annually and publishing a 
mass of facts and figures alike valuable to the roads and the peo- 
ple ; in making the power of the State felt and respected ; in per- 
fecting and maintaining a valuable and equitable system of grain 
inspection ; and in preventing any deviation from what the State 
started out to do in 1870 — maintain its right to control all its 
creatures and protect its citizens. 

Conclusion. — We have a State of which every Illinoisan may 
well feel proud. In natural resources it is unparalleled ; with a -^ 
soil capable of sustaining a greater population to the square mile 
than any equal body of land on the globe ; with nearly six 
hundred miles of navigable waters by which the commerce of a 
great people can be cheaply conducted ; with coal enough to turn 
those rich prairies into places of manufacturing industry ; give 
occupation to the millions who will find a home here ; with scarcly 
an acre of waste land; and her productiveness only beginning to 
be tested. In only half a century from the time her rich prairies 
began to attract general attention, she is the home of more people 
than resided in the thirteen original colonies when they carried 
on a successful war against the mother country ; first in the 
production of the great cereals, and though in its infancy, the 
enterprise of manufacturing railroad iron is second in annual 
product only to Pennsylvania ; its principle city, the surprise of 
the age, the center of some of the most important enterprises in 
the world of trafiic ; and its influence felt wherever trade and 
commerce is mentioned. With the future the historian has not 
to do, but there are possibilities there which man cannot limit or 
conceive. Rich in everything which tends to make true greatness, 
soil, education, enterprise, intelligence of the masses, patriotism, 
opportunities and health, fate has decreed her to be, by the sure 
law of natural selection, the richest State in the Union. 



^^^^^^ 



INDEX. 



THE FIGURES BEFER TO THE PAGES. 



Abenakis, 91,04. 

Adams, Capt. in Black Hawk war. 38G. 

Adjutant Gen's oflace, 738. 

Algonauins, 32. 

Allen. J. C, 877. 

Altou,420, 4:59, 560,917. 

Anderson, Lt. Gov., 442. 

Antiquities of Illinois, 23. 

Appellate Court, 977. 

Apportionment Bills of 1857-9, 664-5. 

Appropriations, sick and wounded sol- 
diers 1861, 870; what they got, SStt; 1863. 
887: for war purposes. 1861. 869: by 
democratic mass convention, 1863, 901; 
by constitutional convention, 1862. 875. 

Armistice resolutions of 186.3, 882. 

Attempts to enforce railroad law, 1028. 

Atkinson, Gen.. Black Hawk War, 382. 



Bakus, E.. land commissioner, 236. 
Baily, Major in Black Hawk war, 383, 
Baker. E. D.. 512, 525. 526, 5:38, 542, 
"Baker. David J., senator, 681. 
Banks, territoriol, CairO'City, 292; Shaw- 
neetown, 292, 305; revived, 418; breaks, 
425; first state. 304; branches, 305; how 
wound up, 307; second state, 418; how 
they built up business centers. 420; 
branches, 421; suspensions legalized. 
423; they break, 425; forced into liauid- 
ation. 468. 451; Free or Stock banks. 
585; arguments for and against, 586-7; 
election of bank bill, 588; how started, 
588: ultimate security, 590; wild-cats, 
588; Foreign small note act, 591; panics 
of 1854-7. 593-4: effect of the Rebellion, 
596; stump-tail money, 598. 
Bar of Illinois in 1790, 214. 
Battles of the Hebellion in which Illinois 
troops were engaged: Lexington, 748; 
Monroe. 750; Charleston. 750; Ereder- 
iektown. 751; Belmont. 752; Pea Ridge 
754; Fort Henry. 757; Donelson. 758; 
Columbus, occupation of, 763; New 
Madrid, capture of, 764; Island No. 10, 



capture of, 866; Shiloh or Pittsburg 
Landing, 770: Mittchell's Campaign, 
779; Corinth, seige of, 782; Farmington, 
783; Perryville. 786; Bolivar, 788; Brit- 
tan's Lane. 789; luka, 789; Corinth, 790; 
Stone River or Murfreesboro, 792; 
Coflfeeville, 802; Holly Springs, 802; 
Chicasaw Bayou, 805; Arkansas Post. 
80S; Port Gibson. 813; Raymond, 814; 
Jackson, 815; Champion Hills. 815; 
Black River Bridge, 817; Vicksburg, 
siege and capture, 822; Chicamauga. 
827; ■Wuahatchie,831; Lookout Moun- 
tain, 832; Mission Ridge, 833: Knoxville 
siege, 834; Rocky-Face Mountain, 837; 
Resaca, 838; Kennesaw Mountain, 839; 
New Hope Church, 839; Poach Tree 
Creek, 841: Atlanta, 842; Jonesboro, 844; 
Franklin, 846; Nashville, 847; Pleasant 
Hill, 852; Mobile, reduction of, 853; 
March to Sea, 854; Wilmington, reduc- 
tion of, 862; Bentonville, 863; Close of 
the war, 864, 
Beaujeu, M.. defeats Braddock. 135. 
Beveridge, Gov. Administration, 945. 
Beveridge, Gov. closing message, 959. 
Bienville takes Pensaeola, 120, 126. 
Beardstown, rendezvous in Black Hawk 

war, 376. , 

Birbeck, Morris, 349, 354. 
Bissell, Col., 525; at Buena Vista, 534, 535. 
536; dueling affair, 630; nominee for 
Governor. 652; his administration, 656; 
life and character, 657; censure, 661; 
signs and recalls apportionment bill. 
664: funds the Macalister and Stebbins 
bonds. 673; Controversy with Morrison, 
678; his death, 667. 
Black Bird. Indian Chief, 190. 
Black Hawk, life and character, 373, 414. 
Black Hawk War, 370; causes, 371-5; Gov. 
calls for troops, 376; council with the 
Indians, 377; the volunteers, 378; Indi- 
ans flee across the Miss., 379; treaty 
made and what the volunteers thought 
of it, 380; Second Campaign, 381; In<li- 
ans induced by White Cloud to re- 
cross the river, 382; ordered to return 



n 



INDEX. 



and refuse, 382; State forces re-oi^ 
ganized, 383; movements of army, 385; 
Indians immolate dogs to appease 
Great Spirit, 381; battle of Stilmau's 
Eun. 385; anecdote of Col. Strode, 387; 
new levies, 388; massacre on Indian 
Creek and pursuit of Black Hawk, 388; 
troops disbanded, 3811; Third Cam- 
paign, 39<i; skirmish, attack on Apple 
Creek Fort, 390; Dodge meets Indians 
on the Pekatonica, 391; Stephenson's 
encounter. 391; new levies and re-or- 
ganization of army, ,392; battle of Kel- 
log's Grove, 392; Potawatamies and 
Winnebagoes join the army, 394; fruit- 
less pursuit by Gen. Atkinson, 396; 
forces of Gens. Henry and Alexander 
sent to Fort Winnebago, 395; stampede 
of horses 395; Gen. Henry finds the 
Indians, disregards orders, pursues 
and fights the battle of the Wisconsin, 
397; its importance, 399; jealousy of 
superior officers, 401; further pursuit, 
402; Capt. Thrograorton, of the steamer 
Warrior, disregards white flag, and 
fires upon the Indian camp, 403; Black 
Hawk decoys Gen. Atkinson from 
main trail, Henry finds it and fights 
the battle of Bad Axe, 404; war ended, 
405; cholera, 406; arrival of Gen. Scott- 
408; army disbanded, and noted men 
in it. 407; Gen. Henry, 408; treaty, 409; 
Black Hawk a prisoner, eastern tour, 
liberation, character and death. 408-14'. 

Black Laws, 234,310,314,317.318; repeal. 911 

Black Patridge, chief. 2(j6. 

Boards, State, 977. 

Block house forts, situation and construc- 
tion, 250. 

Boisbriant, first French governor of Illi- 
nois, 121. 

Bloody Island Dike, speck of war, 558. 

Bond, Gov., 299; his first message, 302. 

Boundary, State northern, 295, and note 
296. 

Boquet, expedition to Muskingum, and 
release of white prisoners, 151. 

Brady's expedition to the St. Joseph, 1777 
172. 

Braddock's defeat. 135. 

Brayman, Mason, 518, 408. 

Breese, Judge, 454, 460; claims credit of I. 

C. R. R.. 583; senator. 684, 715. 

British emissaries incite Indians in 1811 
247. ' 

British governors in Illinois, 164. 
Brokman in Mormon war. 518. 
Bross, Lt. Gov., life and character, 909. 
Brown, L. C, Supreme Judge, 300, 453 46o 
note. ' ' 

Browning, 0. H., 553, 871. 
Burr, Aaron, visits Kaskaskia. 233. 
Buena Vista, battle of, 530. 
Butterfleld, Justin, 482. 582. 



Cahokia, Pitman's description, 170; sur- 
render of, 181, 213. 
Caldwell. Billy, 267, 394. 

Calhoun, John, 645. 

Cairo. Bank, 292; City and Canal Co., 573; 
occupied by troops, 7oS. 

Camp Russell, 250. 

Campaigns, political, in 1830 and prior, 
356-7. 

Canal to unite Miss, and Ohio rivers, 293. 

Canal, I. & M.. 474; Gov't aid, 476; a means 
to lead State out of financial embar- 
rassment, 482; its success, 486; the 
Chicago deepening, 487; low water, 488. 

Canal Scrip Fraud, 668. 

Capitols, territorial and state, 439 and 914. 

Carr, Gen., 818; sketch of. 854. 

Carlin, Gov., his admin.. 441, life and char- 
acter, 422; advocates Int. Improve, sys- 
tem, 443. 

Carlin. Col., at battle of Perryville, 787. 

Casey, S.. Lt. Gov., 365; in Black Hawk 
war, 392, 563; in anti-war convention 
of 1860, 866. 

Cerro Gordo, battle of, 537. 

Chandler. Lt. Col.. 797. 

Charlevoix, account of the Cahokia and 
Kaskaskia missions In 1721. 111. 

Chicago, its early history and name, 260, 
939; massacre of, 260; first surveyed, 
477; kept pace with the canal, 486, note; 
conspiracy, 905; its great fire, 9-39. 

Chicago Times, military suppression of, 
892. 

Cholera in 1832, 406. 

Charities, State Board, 965. 

Chickasaw conspiracy, 121; 1st campaign, 
122. 

Chickasaw war, 125; second campaign, 126, 

Circuit Court system of 1825 repealed. 342, 

Clark. George Rogers, life and character, 
173; his services for Kentucky, 174; 
plans an expedition to Illinois, 174; 
authority from P. Henry, 975; capture 
of Kaskaskia, 178; expedition against 
Cahokia, 181; value of the conquest, 
182; obtains possession of Vincennes^ 
184; treats with the Indians, 186; roman- 
tic incident, 188; Vincennes captured 
by the Brittsh, 194; his expedition for 
its recapture, 193; the arduous march 
and success of the campaign, 194-8; his 
death. 200. 

Clark, Gov. of Mo., expedition to Prairie 
du Chien 1814, 279. 

Olimatolgy of Illinois, 20; its influence on 
cereals, 21. 

Coal fields of Illinois, 6. 

Coles, Gov. his administration, 309;life and 
character, 321; fined for settling his 
freed slaves in Illinois, 322. 



INDEX. 



Ill 



Colonists, early European, 349. 

College, Industrial, location, 913. 

Commerce in territorial times, 293. 

Comet of 1U80, 84. 

Common Fields, French, 128, 

Commons, French, 128. 

Conclusion, 1('40. 

Constable, Judge, 891. 

Constitutions, 1st State, 207; of 1848, 546; of 
1870, 937. 

Covenanters, 298, note. 

Constitutional Convention. 1818, member 
of. 297; of 1817,543; of 18G2, 871; of 1870, 
1022. 

Contest for Congress in 1826, 338. 

Convention campaign to introduce slav- 
ery, 321. 

Conventions, party, of 1838. 441; 1842, 462; 
1846,551; 1852,600; 1854, 642; 1856, 650-!; 
Bloomington. 652; 1860.717; 1861, anti- 
coercion, 866, 1864, 907-8; 1868, 929-930; 
anti-war of June 17th. 1863, 899; &% Peo- 
ria. 904; Springfield, 904. 

Cook, Daniel P.. 336, .3:37; note, 475. 

Costumes of the early French, 130. 

Counties, St. Clair organized, 213-14; Ran- 
■dvlph established, 227; organization in 
territorial times, 284-289; No. organized 
in 1818, 302; settlement, 347. 

Courts, first common law in Illinois. 165; 
imperfect condition from 1789 to 1790i 
207; county, 213; practice in them, 215. 

Craig, Capt., burns Peoria, 271-4. 

Crittenden, J. J., Atty. Gen. of Illinois, 244. 

Croghan's mission to III., defeat and cap- 
ture, 158. 

Crozat, operations in 111., 112. 

Cullom, Gov., administration, 967. 

CuUom, Gov., sketch, 968. 

D 

Davis. D. Senator, sketch, 970. 

Darniel, lawyer, 219. 

D'Artaguette, Gov., 124; his death. 125. 

Dearborn, Fort, 260. 

Debtors, theirclamor for banks, 306. 

Deeds of Cession from Virgiua, 206. 

Deeds, Curious Indian, 168. 

Dement, Col. in Black Hawk war, 392. 

Democratic hostility to banks, 423. 

Democratic sentiment during rebellion in 

1861. 866; 1863, 878, 882, 901, 
Democratic Legislature, last, 879; its work 

884; its prorogation, 896. 
De Montbrun, Commandant, 204. 
Detroit, history, 143; siege of. 145, 159. 
De Yilliers, of 111., defeats Washington, 

135. 151. 
D'Iberville, 108. 
Dickey, Col.. 8(i2. 
Dillon, Nathan, his account of the early 

settling of Sangamon and Peoria, 347 



Doctor Estes, 292. 

Doctors parcel out Illinois, 291. 

Dougherty, John. State's Atty.. 418, 544, 

715, Lt. Gov., 930. 
Douglas, S. A., 454, 457, 460, note, 470, 574, 

583, 634; mob denies him free speech in 

Chicago, 6:^9; answers Lincoln, 64t; 

senator, 685; life and character, 697; in 

senatorial canvass with Lincoln, 707, 

867, 870. 
Dubois, J. K., 652 and note, 676. 
Duels, and "affairs of honor," 618. 
Duncan. Joseph, 337, .378: Gov., his admin. 

416; sketch of life, political status. 417; 

recommends banks, 417, 462; procures 

first free school law, 611. 



Earthquake of 1811, 293, note. 

Edgar, Mrs. John, 229. 

Edwards, Cyrus, 441. 

Edwards, Gov. of Territory, 243, 245; his 
reauisition upon the Indians and 
council with them, 251-8; military 
campaign to Peoria lake, 268; its re- 
sults, 273; 2d campaign and result- 
276-7; vetoes bill abolishing slavery, 
316; senator, 300. 679; < Jov. of State, 335; 
sketches of life, 243, 'i35; character of 
his speeches ascandiilate, 3,38; charges 
against the bank officers, ;i39, and re- 
sult, 342; claims title in State to all the 
public lands, 343; Winnebago War, 372. 

Edwards. N. W., 615. 

Egypt, origin of the term applied to S. 
111,351, note. 

Election, 1st State, 299, 300; 1862, 877; 1863. 
903. 

Election of 1874, 952. 

Election state officers 1878, 979. 

Election, Senator Logan, 981. 

Enroachments upon the country of the 
Sacs and Foxes, 370-5. 

Equalization, state Board, established, 
91.3. 

Erie, Post of. taken. 148. 

Ewing, W. Lee D., acting Gov., 309; sena- 
tor, 682. 



Farmers' Movement, 951. 

Field, A. P.. 454. 

Financial embarrassment of the State, 448, 

451-2, 466-8. 
Financial condition of State inl8l8, and in 

1830. 350, 307; in 1840, 448,466, 472; ia 1850, 

556; in 1856,605; in 1860,720-1; in 1864i 

910-11. 
Flowers, George, 349. 
Floods in Gallatin and Hardin counties, 

993. 



IV 



INDEX. 



Forts, Chartres, when built, 121; descrip- 
tion of, 171; Creveeoecure built, 76, 109; 
Dearborn, 260; Du Quesne, 134; Ed- 
wards, 281; Frontenao, 67; Gage, des- 
cription, 172; Machinaw, 147; Massac, 
origin of name. 136 and note; Prud- 
homme, 94; Rosalie, 122; Russell, 251; 
Watauon, 147. 

Ford, Gov., admin., 462; life and character 
463; opposes repudiation, and recom- 
mends taxation. 470; what he accom- 
plished toward relieving embarrass- 
ment of the State, 472; in the Mormon 
war, 502, 524, 548. 

Forauer.George, 463. 

Formau, Col., 525, 528, 536, 539. 

Foster, Supreme Judge, 301. 

Foxes, see Sacs and Foxes. 

Fouke, Phil., Col., anecdote, 754, note, 

Fraud, Canal Scrip, 668. 

Frauds in land claims, 236. 

French, the, on St. Lawrence, 54; colonies 
in Ills., 109; their condition in 1750, 127; 
manners and customs, 127: intercourse 
with Indians, 129; their amusements, 
power of the priests, and litigation, 
130; want of enterprise, 132; their ex- 
odus, 103; take oath of allegiance to 
Yirginia, 203; decline of their settle- 
ment and impoverished condition, 216. 

French and English war, origin, 133. 

French, Gov., 548; his admin., 551; life and 
character, 553, 507. 

Frontenac, Gov., 56. 

Frost of August, 1863, 910. 

Fry, Jacob, 481, 485, 668. 

Fuller, A. C, Gen., 738. 

Funding acts, 554. 

Funk's speech, 885. 



Galena, 346; note, 543; alien case, 455, 621. 

Geology of Illinois, 1. 

Gibault, priest, 184, 216. 

Gillespie, Joseph, 569, 716. 

Glenn's claim, 958. 

Gomo, chief, 251; speech to Gov. Edwards, 

259. 
Governors, British, 164. 
Grammar, John, anecdote, 284. 
Grand Door, Indian chief, 185-6. 
Grant, Gen., sketch of, 752. 
Grangers on the railroad question, 1034. 
Gravier, father, removes mission of I. C. 

from the Illinois to the Kaskaskia, 110. 
Greeley, H., opinion of Douglas, 696. 
Gregg, David, 599. 
Green, W. H., military arrest, 891. 
Gridiron Bill. 88S, note. 
Grierson's Raid, SI9. 
Griffin, the, first vessel on lakes, 70; loss 

of, 77-80, 



Griswold, Judge, 244, 251. 
Growth of State, 720. 

H 

Hall, James, author, 354. 
Haines Legislature, 953. 
Haines, sketch of. 954. 
Hamilton, Gov. of Detroit, 192. 
Hamilton, J. M., Lt. Gov., sketch of, 984. 
Hamilton, J. M., Gov., administration of,'.».s(; 
Hamilton, J. M., veto ot dangerous rail- 
road bill, li'02. 
Hamilton, J.M., Gov., letter of withdrawal. 

1004. 
Hard times, 448. 
Hardin, J. J., 458-9. 524-6, 532-4; in Mexican 

War, 612, 515; death and burial, 536-9. 
Hard scrabble, Indians attack, 257. 
Harris, Major, .525, 639. 643, 693. 
Harrison, Gov., 233; negotiates Indian 

treaties. 234; supercedes Gen. Hull, 268; 
Hay, John, 244. 
Haynie, Gen., 739, 759, 804. 
Head-rights, 226, 235. 
Heald, Oapt., ofBcial report of Chicago 

massacre, 265. 
Helm, Capt., 185, 192. 198. 
Helm, Mrs., 264. 
Henry. J- -D-. Gen., 392; life and character, 

408. 
Hennepin, Louis, 68, 69, 73; explores upper 

Miss., 78, 107. note. 
Higgins, Tom.. Indian fight, 278, note; 

duel, 621. 
Hill's Fort attacked, 2.58. 
Hoffman, Lt. Gov., 716; sketch of life, 720. 
Hogg, Col., at Bolivar, 789. 
Holbrook-charters, 973. 
Homestead Exemption, first, 557. 
Hopkins, Gen., expedition into Ills., 209. 
Howard, Gen., expedition up Miss., in 

1814, 279-9. 
Hubbard. Lt. Gov., 309, 330,335. 
Hurlbut, Stephen A. Gen., sketch of. 778, 

791; in Meridian campaign, 851. 



Illinois Confederacy, Indian. 36; 6th tribe, 
31; residence in 1070,79; removal in 
1682, 35; assistance in reduction of 
Louisiana, 30; defeat by the Iroauis_ 
86: return, 89, 

Illinois, a dependency of Canada, 108; a 
theocracy, 112; part ot Louisiana, 112; 
under the Co. of the West, 115; wit.h 
ouisiana under the royal governors. 
124; a British province, 162; conauest 
of, by Clark, 173; authority of Virginia 
es'tabUshed. 185; as a county of Vir- 
ginia, 202; its cession to the Union and 
the delays incident thereto, 204-6; 
under the gov't of the N. VV. T.. 210: 



INDEX. 



Dart of Indiana territory, 232; a sepa- 
rate territory, 241; auti-separationists 
24J; its territorial organization, 244; 
first srrade of territorial government, 
241; advance of the settlements, 245; 
in the war of 1812, 2tiS; milifary expe- 
ditions, 279, 281; 2d grade of territorial 
povornmeut, 2815; civil affairs, 283; 
enabling: act, 29tj: admission into the 
Union, 302; at the Centennial, Oor,; 
Educational display at the Centennial, 
I»5(i; Agricultural display at the Cen- 
. tennial, 957. 
Illinois Central R. R., 367, 436; Charter, 
571; grant of land, 572; legislation, 573; 
Holbrook charters, 573; release of 
them, 575; memorial of corporators, 
577; opposilion, 57S; bond holders 
scheme, 579; 7 per ct. gross earnings, 
5St); benefits, 582; jealousy of public 
men for its praise, 583, note. 
Immigration, 203; renewal of after treaty 
of Greenville 225; after war 1812,291; 
in 1825, 330. 
Immigrants, fatal sickness of, in 1797, 226. 
Impeachment trial of Judge Smith, 3o0. 
Improvements, State System, 4;j;i; means 
used to introduce it, 434-9; Gov. Car- 
lin's advocacy, 442; its collapse, 447-8. 
Improvement rights, 236. 
Indian hostilities, 17S3 to 1795, 217; encour- 
aged by the British, 219; in Illinois, 222; 
in 1811, 247, 249; troubles preceding 
war of 1812, 247; 1813. 275; 1814, 277. 
Indians of Illinois, their origin, 30; Algon- 
quins and Iroctuis, 32; migratory circle 
of, 32; Illinois tribes, 34, 41; war dance, 
43; art of hunting, 44; manner of kill- 
ing buffalo, 44; use of bow, 45; councils 
could give no force to its decrees, 46; 
specimens of oratory. 47; constitution 
of family and methods of sepulture, 
47-8; religion, 49; general likeness re- 
gardless of geographical distribution, 
50; Craniel development, stature, and 
grounds of justification for their ex- 
pulsion, 50-1. 
Indian colony of La Salle, 98. 
Indiana territory, 232-9. 
Indiana, statutes of. 240; in chaos, 242. 
Ingersoll, E. C. 878; R. G., 929. 
Iroquois, their invasioris of Illinois, 85; 
burn ancient town of Illinois, 87; they 
massacre the women and children, and 
feast on the dead, 89. 



Jenkins, A. M., Lt. Gov., 416. 

Joliet, meets La Salle, 58; birth and char- 
acter, 59; explorations, 60; discovers 
the Mississippi, 61, 62; at the mouth of 
the Arkansas, 63; ascends the Illinois, 
and stops at the Indian town of Kas- 



kaskia, 64; loss of his manuscript, 64; 

celebration of his success, 65. 
Jones, J. Rice, 214. 
Jones, Michael, 236. 
Judd, N. B., 545. 
Judges. N. W. T.. 212; first county, 213; 

Ind. Territory, 243; III. Tor., 243; first 

State, 300. 
Judiciary, reorganization of in 1814, 288; in 

1818. 300; in 1825, 328, 342; in 1841, 453, 459. 
Judy, Capt. Ranger, 272. 
Jummonviile, death of, 134. 

K 

Kane co. poet, specimen, 356. 
Kane, E. K., senator, 326, 680. 
Kaskaskia, on the Illinois, 35. 
Kaskaskia, removal of the Mission to the 

River of that name, 110; probable date 

of settlement, 175-6. 
Kaskaskias, an Illinois tribe. 34, 40. 
Keokuk, chief, 370, 410, 412. 
Kickapoos, residence in 1703, and removal 

to Sangamon, 39; wars with the Kas- 

kaskias, 40. 
Kidnapping of blacks, 318. 
Kilpatrick, 172, 552. 
Kin&ey, John, trader, 261-2. 
Kinney, Wm., Lt. Gov., 336; sketch of, 363. 
Kirk, Gen., at Stone River, 795. 
Koerner, Judge, 560; Lt. Gov., sketch, 603. 



La Balme's expedition, 204. 

La Boeuf, Post, taken, 148. 

La Buissonier, Gov. of 111., 133. 

La Fayette, visit to 111,, 331. 

La Forest, 92. 

Lake Front Bill, 935. 

Land companies, the Wabash, 168; the 
United Illinois and Wabash, 169; legis- 
lation for, 936. 

Land, frauds, 237; speculation by a court 
at Vincennes, 208. 

Lands, public. Gov. Edwards claims for 
the State, 343; St;ate allowed to tax 
after sale. 555; Swamp, granted, 572. 

Lages, the Big Gate, chief, 191. 

La Salle, birth and character, 55; emi- 
grates to Canada, 56: meets Joliet and 
discovers the Ohio, 58; builds Fron- 
tenac, 67; builds warehouse at the 
Niagara. 69; builds the Griffin, 70; 
voyage over the lakes, 71; visits Illi- 
nois, 73; builds fort Crevecoeure, 76; 
sends Hennepin to explore Upper 
Miss, 78; journey through Michigan, 
79; return to Ills., 82; forms his Indian 
colony. 91-98; o.xplores the Mississippi 
discovers its mouth, and takes posses- 
sion of the country in the name of the 
King of France, 94-6; builds fort St. 
Louis on Starved Rock, 97; placed 



VI 



INDEX. 



under arrest and sails for France, 100: 
sails from Rochelle with a colony and 
lands at Matagorda Bay, 101; attempts 
to find tlie mouth of the Miss., to re- 
turn to Canada, and his murder, 102-4: 
concealment of his death, 105: mas- 
sacre of his colony, 106: greatness of 
his exploration, 107. 
Law, John, his theory of banking, 115; 
Mississippi scheme, 116; public in- 
fatuation 118, note; driven from Paris, 
119. 

Lawler, Gen., 819. 

Lawrence, Judge, decision and its effects 
on Railroad law, 1030. 

Laws of the N. W. T., 213; of the Gov. and 
Judges, 227; Ills. Territory, 1st grade, 
244; 2d grade. 286; their frequent 
changes, 289; curious territorial, 290; 
Blaak, 317, 911. 

Lead Mines, 183 and note. 346, 

Leavit, David, 480, note. 

Le Compt. Mrs., 228. 

Legislstion, territorial specimens, 289; in 
1824-C. 328; in 1861, 869; in 1865,911; in 
1867, 912; in 1869, 933. 

Legislature, 1st State, 300. 

Legislative, escapades, 423, 667, 898; 
squabbles, 663; rows. 666, 888; frauds. 
886, 888 and note and 912. 

Levering, Capt. at Gotno's village. 251. 

Lewis & Clark's expedition, 234. 

Lincoln, A., duelling affair, 623; speech at 
first Republican convention, 644; plea 
for harmony in 1856, 654; life and char- 
acter, 702; senatorial canvass, 707; fare- 
well speech at Springfield. 727: on 
route to Washington, 728. 

Lindly.his ride, 258. 

Literature and Literati, 354. 

Little Meadows, battle of, 134. 

Lively family murdered, 275. 

Lockwood, Judge, 325, 329, 453. 

Loftus. Major, repulsed, 155. 

Logan, J. A., speech against Bissell, 661; 
senator, 715; at Belmont, 754; compli- 
ments of Gen. Sherman, 784; at Ray- 
mond and Jackson, 815; Champion 
Hills, 857; sketch of, 824, 836; Atlanta, 
842: address to soldiers, 890. 

Logan, Stephen T., 647, 868. 

Logan, J. A., sketch. 981. 

Lovejoy. E. P., slavery agitation. 427; his 
death. 432. 

Lovejoy, Owen, 653. 

Louisiana Territory under the Ind. Terri- 
torial Gov't., 233. 

M 

Macallister and Stebbins bonds, 426; their 

funding, 67.3. 
Mackinaw, msssacre of, 147. 



Mail routes, early, 352. 
Maine Law, 606; riot in. Chicago, 608. 
Marsh, Col., 775,797. 

Marquette, Father, birth and character, 
59; with Joliet discovers the Mississip- 
pi, 61; stops at Kaskaskia on the Ills., 
64; establishes mission of I. C. at the 
great town of the Illinois tribes, 65; 
death, burial and removal of his re- 
mains, 66. 
Mascoutins, 6th tribe of the Illinois. 41. 

Massac evacuates DuQuesne, and builds 
Fort Massac, 136. 

Massacres, Chicago, 260; Indian Creek, .388; 
Mackinaw, 147; Rosalie, 122; of theTam- 
aroas, 89. 

M' Arthur, Gen., 760, 791, 818. 

M'Clernand, J. A., 454, 469, 600, 649; Belmont. 
754; Henry, 758; Donelson, 759; Shiloh. 
771; commands army of the Miss., and 
captures Arkansas Post, 807-8; sketch 
of, 810: at Port Gibson, 813; at Black 
River Bridge, 817; assault on the en- 
trenchments of Vicksburg. 819; Union 
speech, 867, 890. 

M'CuUoch. Lt. Col., 802. 

M'llvain, Major, 797. 

M'Lean, John, 300, 300; senator, 680. 

M'Roberts, Samuel, 322. 329; senator. 683. 

Matheny. C. R.. 300; J. H., 690, note. 

Mather, Thos., 419, 437. 

Matteson, Gov., his admin., 599; life and 
character, 602; prosperity of the State, 
605; his canal scrip fraud, 668; death, 
673: note. 

Meillet's expedition to St. Joseph, 1778, 172. 

Membre, Zenobe, 68, 78, 93, 97. 

Menard, Pierre, Lt. Gov., 299. 

Merchandising in early times, .351. 

Mexican war, 522; calls for volunteers, 523; 
response, 524; organization of regi- 
ments, 525; destination, 527; battle of 
Buena Vista, 530; Cerro Gordo, 537; 5th 
and 6th Regiments, 540-1. 

Michigan separated from Ind., 234. 

Milburn, Rev. W. H.. opinion of Douglas. 
710. 

Military arrests, 890. 

Militia rights, 236. 

Militia system, 358; how brought into dis- 
repute, 361-2. 

Mills in early times, 226. 348. 

Missionaries. Jesuits, 53. Recollets, Supi- 
tians, 54. 

Missionary fathers, early French, 110. 

Mississippi scheme, 117. 

Missouri levies tribute upon Illinois pro- 
duce, 564. 

Mitchell's campaign, 779. 

Mohegans, 91, 94. 

Monks' mound, 25. 

Moore, Andrew. 257. 



INDEX. 



VII 



Moore, Lt. Gov., 462; sketch of, 465, 525 
537. 

Mormons, 489; their prophet, 489; book of, 
490; heeiras. 494; arrival ia Ills., 495; 
their charters, 490; arrest of their 
prophet, 497; assassination, 508; trial 
of the accused, 513; Apostles assume 
gov't of church, 511; Mormons driven 
from Lima and Green Plains, 51(5; battle 
of Nauvoo, 518; final expulsion, 519. 

Morris, Capt. mission to Ills.. 1764, 152. 

Morris, I. N., 880. 

Morrison, Don, 525, 553, 581, 600, 657. 

Morrison, Mrs. llober:, sketch of, 229. 

Mound Builders, 27, 

Mounds, artifleial, 24-5-0-8; natural, in N. 

111., 14. 
,Mulligan, Col., 749. 

Municipal taxation, 936. 

N 

Nuopope, Indian, 381. 

National Guards, 977. 

Natehes, Indians, La Salle's visit to them 
96-7; massacre of whites by them, 122; 
their extei-mination, 122. 

Neal Ruggles Case, 1039. 

Northwestern Territory gov't proposed 
for it in 1784, 206; organized under or- 
dinance of 1787, 210. 

Notable women of old Illinois, 228. 

Nauvoo, battle of, 518. 

New Design, settlement, 226. 

Newspapers, early, 353. 

Non resident lands, trespasses upon. 418, 
note. 



Oakley, Chas.,fu]jd cora'r, 437,445. 

Officers, first State, 300. 

Oglesby, Gov., his admin. 907; sketch of 
908; atFt. Donelson.760; at Corinth, 791. 

Old Man's creek. Ijattle of, 386. 

Ohio company, 133. 

Ordinance of 1787,210,28.3. 

Osages mislead and murder Spanish ex- 
pedition against Ills., 121. 



Palmer, J. M., at Bloomington convention 
651; Gen. at Farmington, 783; at Stone 
River, 792: Chicamauga,828,836; Peach 
Tree Creek, 841; resigns, 843; Gov., his 
' admin., 929; life and character, 931; 
takes State's rights ground, 933; vetoes 
934; connection with Chicago lire, 942; 
embroglio with the military authori- 
ties, 944. 

Tarties, Republican, 635; Whig, dissolu- 
tion of, 638; Know-nothing, 646. 

Partisan feeling buried and revived in 
1861, 870. 

Party affairs during rebellion, 866. 



Party principles, 330, ;^5'i, 3o5, 417, 441, 462, 

552, 600. Ot2, 652, 716, 878. 907, 930. 
Party tickets, first, in 1838, 441. 
Payment of Militia, lOoo. 
Peace Congress, members of, 868. 
Peace convention of the democracy in 

1863, 899; in 1S64, 904. 
Peace movement of the Legislature in 

1863, S8I. 

Peck, Ebenezer, 460. note. 

Peck, John M., D. D., 326, 355. 

Penitentiary, Northern, 924. 

Penitentiary, Southern, 972. 

Pensacola, capture of, 120. 

Peoria, early hist, of, 274, note; in 1827, .351. 

Peoria Lake, expeditions to, in 1812. 268. 
276. 

Phillips, Supreme Judge, 300, 326. 
Piankisliaws, residence and relationship, 

41. 
Piasa. pictured rocks of. 62. note. 
Pioneers in counties, 347, 356, note. 

Pitman's report on the Freach settlements 
in 1766, 175-6. 

Politics of the people in 1830, 356. 

Pontiac, his conspiracy, 137; sketch of him 
137, 140; encouraged by tbe Illinois 
French. 139, 141, 146; plot frustrated by 
an Indian girl, 144; his allies reduce 
all the forts west of the Allegh-nies, 
147; m;-;ssacres, 149; De Villers in Ills, 
withholds further aid, 151; enraged he 
raises the siege of Detioit, and with 
his warriors visits Fort Chartru.~, 154; 
sends belt of wampum to Southern 
Indians, 155; repulse of Major Lottus, 
and deterring of Capt. Pitman at N. 
Orleans, 155; his embassadors demand 
aid from the Gov. of N. Orleans, 156; 
bends to destiny, 158; meets Croghan, 
159; last appearance before his eon- 
guerors, 160; death and burial, 161. 

Pope, John Gen., 768. 

Pope, Nathaniel, sec. of 111. Ter., 244; in 
congress, 295, 296, note. 

Population of Illinois in 1765, 163; in 1880, 
217, 232. 235; in 18lo, 245; in 1820, 3;i2; in 
1825, 331; in 1830, 367; in 18.35, 438: in 1840, 
543; in 1845, 543, in 1850, 664; in 1855, 664; 
1860,720; 1«65, 910; 1870.438. 

Posey, Alex.. Gen., 392. 

Potawatamies, origin and early habita- 
tation, 42; power, 43. 

Prairies, oiigiu of, two theories, 18. 

Prentiss, B. m.. Gen., occupation of Cairo 
733,743; atShiloh, and sketch of, ;78. 

Proclamation of British commander to 
the French, 164. 

Prophet, the one-eyed, 256; the Mormon, 
498. 

Public charities of Illinois, 1006. 



Quebec, fall of, 136; Bill, 105. 



VIII 



INDEX. 



R 

Railroads first charters, 376, 417; Central 
367,571; N. Cross, first operatiou, 447; 
its sale, 555; charters refused under 
State policy, 562; policy abandoned, 
567; their bad faith, 568; railroad era 
dawning, 567; conventions, 5U3, 570; ex- 
tent of, 1851,571; 3 cent law and tax 
grabbing law, 934; municipal taxation 
for,934, 936; Legislation and Litigation, 
1019; Cases other States. 103s; Neal 
lUiggles Case, 1039. 

Rain fall, mean annual and monthly table, 
19. 

Randolph co. established, 227. 

Rangers, first organized, 249. 

Ransom, Gen., 819; sketch of, 853. 

Rawlings, fund eom'r, 437, 445. 

Rebellion, reaction against peace move- 
ment. S89, 

Rebellion, Illinois in the war of, 722; cause 
of, 723-4; Gov's proclamation, 731; up- 
rising of the people and enlistments 
731,732,734,869; schedule of regiments- 
infantry, 733; cavalry, 738; artillery, 
739; A.dj. Gen's office, 738; medical dcp't 
and camps, 740; patriotism of women, 
741; Soldier's homes and sanitary com- 
missions, 742; occupation of Cairo, 7:33, 
743; seizure of arms from the St. Louis 
arsenal, 744; Illinois in Missouri, 746; 
on the Cumberland, Tennessee and 
Mississippi, 757; in Northern Miss, and 
Ala., 769; Kentucky, Northern Miss, 
and Middle Tenn., 785; Vicksburg cam- 
paign, 799, 811 ; movements on the Miss., 
800; Chattanooga, campaign, 825; At- 
lanta, (836) and Nashville campaigns, 
836, 845; Meridian campaign, 851; Red 
River Expedition, 851; March to the 
Sea. 854. 

Rector, Stephen, Capt.. 279, 280-1. 

Red Bird, chief, 372. 

Regulators, 292. 

Renault, operations in Illinois, 120. 

Republican party, organization, 635; con- 
vention and first platform, 642; 1st cam- 
paign, 645; its Bloomington platform, 
652; position of advanced anti-slavery 
men, 650. 

Repudiation, State on verge of, 452. 

Retrospect from 1830, 346. 

Revenue, territorial, 287; State, how rais- 
ed, 305,307,338, 367; deficiency, 481; suf- 
ficiency, 556; System Illinois Railroad, 
971. 

Revised Statutes 1874, 948. 

Reynolds, John, soubriquet of Rangei-, 
274; Judge, 301 and note; Gov., his ad- 
min., 363; life and character, 364; mes- 
sage, 366; as financial agent, 444. 

Reynolds, Thos.. Judge, 300, 324. 



Ribourde, Gabriel, 68, 88. 

Richardson, W. A., candidate for Gov., 

650, 656. 661. 878; senator. 715. 
Rigs, Capt, 279. 

Riot, Chicago, 608, 639; riots, of 1877, 974. 
Rivers, Illinois system, 14; the Fox antJ 

Wisconsin, 395, note. 
Roeheblave, 179, 185. 
Rogers, Robert, French surrender to him, 

138. 
Robinson, S. M., senator, 681. 
Ruggles, Neal, railroad case, 1039. 
Russell, Col. of U. S. Rangers, 270. 
Russell, John, author, 355. 
Ryan, Michael, State senator, 484. 



Sacs and Foxes, their imigrations, wars, 
settlements, tribal distinction and 
strength, 36-8; in Black Hawk War.. 
373. 

Salaries of 1st State officers, 303; in 1825, 
329; constitution of 1848, 548; of 1870,938. 

Sanitary commissions, 742,886-7. 

Seats of Government, 914. 

Secret politico-military societies, 894. 

Semple, James, senator, 685. 

Senators in Congress, sketch of, 679. 

Senatorial campaign of Douglas and Lin- 
coln, 691. 

Settlements, advance of, in 1818,302; 1830,. 
346; 1840,449. 

Scates.W. B.,877. 

Schools, common, 609; free of, 1825, 611;: 
present system established, 615. 

Scott, 19th 111. Reg., 796. 

Scott, Gen. Chas., expedition against the 
\Veatowns,220. 

Shawnee prophet, 256. 

Shawneetown, 158; settlement and sur- 
vey, 245, note. 

Shawnees, character and migrations, 40. 

Shields, James, 524, note. 528, 538; dueling 
affairs. 623, 627; senator. 685. 

Short, Capt., fight with Indians, 278. 

Shuman, Lieut. Gov., sketch of, 969. 

Sickness, fatal, in 1797,226. 

Sims, Capt. in Clark's expedition. 185. 

Slavery, action of Congress, 1784, 207; and) 
in 1787,212. 

Slavery in Illinois, French, introduced, 
309; recognized by Great Britain, 310;: 
by Virginia. 311; prohibited by ordi- 
nance of 1787,311; Congress petitioned 
to suspend restriction, 312; indentured 
314; rendered valid by Const, of 1818,^ 
315; bill abolishing it vetoed by Gov. 
Edwards, 316; effort to amend const, ol 
State to recognize it, .321; conduct of 
the slavery party, 324; the advocatea- 
forand against, 325-6; the vote, 327. 

Slaves, No. in 111., 310, 311. 

Sloan, Wesley, 564. 



INDEX. 



IX 



Sloe. Thos. C.,335. 

Sloeumb.Rigdon B.,365. 

Smith, Edward, 443, 435. 

Smith, Joseph, life and character, 489; his 

arrest, 497; his death, 508. 
Smith, T. W., Judge, his impeachment 

trial, 368, 453, 458; dueling affair, 622. 
Snyder, Adam W..4(J2. 
Society, character of, in 1818,303; 1830,357; 

in 1840, 449. 
Soil, formation of, 15. 

Soldiers in the field, their patriotism, 890. 
Socialists, 982. 

Spanish expedition against Ills., 120. 
Sprigg, territorial judge, 213. 
St. Ange refuses further aid to Pontiac, 

154; yields Fort Chartres and leave 

the country, 163. 
St. Clair, Gov. sketch of. 212; in 111., 213; his 

defeat, 221; confirms land titles, 236. 
St. Louis founded, when, 163. 
Stampede of horses in B. H. war, 395. 
Starved Kock, 79,80,97. 
State, condition and wealth, 1851-3, 604-5; 

growth in 1860,720; wealtli in 1864,911. 
State enabling act, 296. 
State Institutions, 960, 
State policy, 562. 
Steamboat, 1st in the west, 293. 
Stillman, major in B. H. war, 386. 
Sterling, Capt., takes possession of Fort 

Chartres, 156. 
Stokes, Capt., seizes St. Louis arsenal, 744. 
Stuart, Alex., territorial judge, 243. 
Sucker, origin of the term, 347, note. 
Sugar cane brought from San Domingo, 

127. 



Taensas Indians, habitation, life and 
worship, 95. 

Tamoroas, their massacre, 89. 

Tax grabbing act, 934. 

Tax, non-resident, 307. 

Tecumseh, council with Harrison, 248; his 
union of the Southern tribes, 256. 

Temperature, mean annual, 19. 

Territorial Legislatures, of N. W. T., 227; 
of thelnd. T., 239, 242, note; of the Illi- 
nois T; 283,289; sketch of members 284. 

The Nation's guest. La Fayette, 331. 

Ttiomas, Jesse B., election to Congress, 
2-12,300; senator, 679. 

Thompson, Samuel H., 336. 

Times, Chicago, suppression of, 892. 

Tippecanoe, battle of, 256. 

Times, Hard, 304, 448. 

Todd, John, Virginia Gov. of Ills., 185; his 
instructions, 202; proclamation, 203; 
death at bat. of Blue Licks, 204. 

Tonti, Henri, accompanies La Salle, 68; 
at Ft. Crevecoeur,78, 85; encounter with 
the Iroquis, 86; expulsion from the 



great town of the Illinois, 88; at the 
mouth of the Miss., 94; efforts tores- 
cue La Salle's colony in Texas, 106; his 
important services. 109. 

Topography of State, 14. 

Towls, Judge, 244, 

Town, great, of the Illinois Indians, 89, 97. 

Township organizatioD,556. 

Trade and commerce, early, 293,350. 

Treat, S. H.,460. 

Treaties, of Paris. 141. 164; Indian, 222, 225. 
234,235,371,379. 

Treating at elections, 357. 

Trembling lands, 394, note. 

Tribune, Chicago, 650, 91)9, 934. 

Trotier's mission to Kickapoos, 256. 

Trumbull, L., 460, 469, 482, 551; senator, 688. 

Truehin, Basil, Gen., sketch of, 782. 

Turning point of the State, 473. 

Two-mill tax, 546, 650, 555. 



V 



Venango, Post, taken, 148. 

Vigo. Col., reconnoitres Vincennes, 192. 
193. 

Vincennes, submission to Virginia, 184; 
recaptured by the British, 192; surren- 
der to Clark, 198. 

Vincennes, De. his murder, 126. 

Virginia establishes Illinois county, 202. 

Voudouism in 111., 230. 

W 

"Wait, "W. 8., 470, 484, 563. 

Wall. G. W., 891. 

Wallace, W. H. L., sketch of, 777. 

War, Chickasaw, 124; French and English, 
133; Pontiac's, 137; of the Revolution, 
172, 173, 204; Indian, from 1783 to 1795. 
217; of 1812, 247, 260. 268; Winnebago, 
370; Black Hawk, 373; Mormon, 508; 
Mexican, 522; Rebellion, 722. 

Warehouses, 1035. 

Warren, Hooper, 325, .353. 

Wayne, Gen., campaign on Maumee, 225. 

Webb, E. B., 438, 446, 601. 

Wells, Lt. Gov., 551, 553, 669, 673. 

Waubansee, chief. 266,394, 

Wells, W. Wayne, Capt.. 263-5. 

West, company of the, 115; its charter re- 
voked, 123. 

White Cloud, chief, 381. 

Whitesides, Samuel, Gen. in B. H. war, 
276.281. 

Whitesides, J. D., fund com'r, 426, 451, 674; 
dueling affairs, 625, 628. 

Wiggins loan, 307. 367, 

Williams. L. D., Col., 797. 

Wilkins, English Gov. of III., 165-7. 

Wilkinson. Gen., expedition in lad., 220. 

Wilmot proviso of 111., 636. 



INDEX. 



Wilson, W., judge, 302; life and character, 


Y 


329,463,454. 






Wilton, Harry, 352. 




Yates, Richard, 645; senator, 715; adminis- 


Winds of Illinois, 21. 




tration as Gov., 716; life and character- 


Winnebagos, ancient habitation. 39; 


war. 


718; atShiloh,776; conflict with const. 


370-1-2. 




conv. of 1862, 873-4; earnest calls for 


Winnemeg, chief, 261. 




appropriation for sick and wounded 


Winnesheik, chief, 406. 




soldiers, 887; prorogation of the Legis- 


Witchcraft, 230. 




lature, 896, 


Women of the olden time, 228. 




Young, R. M., State finance agent 444; sen- 


Wyman,Gen.,his death, 805. 




ator, 682, 



